A Register Comparison Between Mandarin And Cantonese Subtitle Translation

As the film industry increasingly globalizes,translation happening in audiovisual field has become more and more frequent.Subtitling and dubbing are the two most applied translation methods in film translation.However,for its lower cost,bigger audience,and better synchronization,subtitling has gradually taken the place of dubbing to become the first choice of film translation.However,the research on subtitle translation started late and has not received much attention.The related research results are not enough to support a complete guidance system to guide subtitle translation.In recent years,when it comes to film subtitle translation,people mostly pay attention to or carry out research from the perspective of equivalence theory and skopos theory.Few people engage in the combination of register theory and film subtitle translation.Register theory is one of the most important theories in systemic functional linguistics.According to the famous linguist Halliday,register concept is a combination of three situational variables related to register,field,mode and tenor.These three variables in register theory can play an important guiding role in film subtitle translation and improve translation quality as proved in the research outcome.Foreign films imported into the mainland are shown with Mandarin subtitles,while,in HKSAR,some are translated into Cantonese vernacular,(some are translated into standard Chinese.)which is full of Cantonese slang with a great deal of humor.The paper is intent on comparing Mandarin and Cantonese subtitles of the film A Star Is Born directed by Bradley Cooper as an attempt to analyze how the three variables of register guide the translating of the two types of subtitles,and to figure out their characteristics,and respective strengths and weaknesses.The goal is to diversify the study of subtitle translation.The paper first discusses the research background,significance,questions and methods adopted in chapter one.Chapter two is a detailed introduction of subtitletranslation and relevant studies at home and abroad.In chapter three,the history of register theory and the three variables are elaborated on.The core part of the paper is chapter four,where the study subject is introduced and in-depth comparative analysis is made.In last chapter,a conclusion is drawn.