Towards Segmentation Norms for Arabic Subtitles

This thesis investigates the current subtitles’ segmentation norms in the Arabic language through a corpus of 400 selected subtitles. By adopting constituent analysis from the Hallidayan Systemic Functional Linguistics approach and using the work of Díaz Cintas and Remael (2014), this study seeks to identify the current norms followed in segmenting Arabic subtitles and contrast them with the norms used for English subtitles. Although there has been a common practice of following the norms for English language subtitles, there is an increasing need for a set of standards that respects the characteristics of the Arabic language. The reason for focusing on segmentation is the lack of studies based on a syntactic analysis of Arabic subtitles and the need to test how applicable the English segmentation norms are to the Arabic language. This study will provide a principled analysis of the corpus by building upon studies that were carried out by different researchers in the Audiovisual Translation (AVT) domain, such as Díaz Cintas and Remael (2014), Karamitrouglou (1998), and Neves (2005), which provide guidelines for regular subtitles and subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing (SDH). The Hallidayan Systemic Functional Linguistics framework (2009) is used in this research because it is an applicable and problem-oriented theory that can be used to explain and analyze the subtitles as constituents, and thus reach a deeper analysis for subtitles’ constituents that is scientifically-founded for easier application by subtitlers. This corpus-based study aims to provide direction for other academics to study segmentation further and examine its effect on reading and comprehension. The importance of this study lies in the need for further studies on AVT in the Arab world that focus on the structure of the Arabic language in relation to segmentation and adapting Western norms accordingly. As will be demonstrated in this thesis, the analysis of the selected subtitles suggests the lack of consistent subtitling norms in the Arab world.