3.5.5　Transcription

Transcription refers to copying directly from the original texts.This strategy is appropriate when translating between two languages that have similar cultural backgrounds or are from the same language family.With these preconditions,it will be easy to find corresponding expressions between the two languages.However,in E-C translation,it will be much more difficult to find a direct equivalence.

In English to Chinese film translation,subtitlers find practical ways to explain the original expression,and sometimes even use rewriting in order to help the target audience make sense of the source text.In the sample film,there are 67 subtitles that are translated in this way:

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However,within current E-C translating processes,people’s names,place names and some common/well-known abbreviations are copied directly from the original text,which means there is no necessity to translate them into a meaningless combination of several similarly pronounced Chinese characters.Hence,the strategy of transcription is applicable when we encounter proper nouns of this kind.In the sample film,there are 39 subtitles (excluding repetitions) involving the main characters’ names,place names,or common noun forms of objects that are all direct transcripts or possess a standard Chinese equivalence,as demonstrated below in bold:

Combined with the previous two discussed strategies of transfer and imitation,the translation of the names is a special case,which can be used in transfer,imitation and transcription.Subtitlers may choose to use a different strategy in their translations: 1) they may use transfer to express the original meaning of the names; 2) they may also use imitation to find similar meanings in Chinese words when translating names or even imitating pronunciations of original names; 3) they may use transcription in the translation of the original names as well.However,unlike transfer and imitation,transcription is a difficult strategy with regard to the target audience,as it requires them to have a certain knowledge of common English names,landmarks,famous places etc.(e.g.,main cities in different countries and historical places),which,in turn,enables them to make sense of the direct transcription of these original names.With the development of globalization,the transcription of English names in the translation of E-C subtitling is a way to promote communication between different cultures.Therefore,to further explain Wang’s suggestion (2012) of using the original English names in translation,I recommend that future subtitlers of English language translated animation films use a transcription strategy to deal with common English names (e.g.,Tom,Rose,Anna),famous landmarks (London Eye,Times Square) and well-known places (New York,London,Paris).In the course of further discussion concerning the translation of names,I will reinforce this particular translation area in the following chapters from varied perspectives (pp.147-150 in 5.4; pp.206-208 in 6.6; pp.247-250 in 7.2).