0 UNIVERSITY OF VAASA Faculty of Philosophy English studies Mikaela Smeds “Don't y'all care about nothin' other than prettifyin'?” Idiolects in three dubs of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Master’s Thesis Vaasa 2016 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 5 1.1 Material 8 2 METHODOLOGY 15 2.1 Method 15 3 THEORY AND TERMINOLOGY 20 3.1 Dubbing 20 3.2 Synchronization 23 3.3 Differences between English, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish 27 3.4 Dialect, slang and idiolect 29 3.5 Wordplay 32 3.6 Neologisms 37 3.7 Rhyming 37 3.8 Alliteration 38 3.9 Code-switching 39 3.10 Summary of Theory and terminology 39 4 ANALYSIS 41 4.1 Pinkie Pie 41 4.1.1 Wordplay 42 4.1.2 Neologisms 48 4.1.3 Alliteration 49 4.1.4 Rhyming 51 4.1.5 Regularized superlative formation 52 4.1.6 Summary of results on Pinkie Pie 54 4.2 Applejack 54 2 4.2.1 Deleted auxiliary verbs 55 4.2.2 Relaxed forms 56 4.2.3 Double negatives 57 4.2.4 Irregular subject-verb agreement 58 4.2.5 Prefix a- 59 4.2.6 Y’all 60 4.2.7 Fixing to 61 4.2.8 Ain’t 62 4.2.9 Intensifying adverbs 62 4.2.10 Absence of –ly endings 63 4.2.11 Vocabulary 64 4.2.12 Nonstandard pronunciation 67 4.2.13 Summary of results on Applejack 68 4.3 Rarity 69 4.3.1 Code-switching 69 4.3.2 Summary of results on Rarity 71 5 CONCLUSIONS 73 WORKS CITED 77 3 UNIVERSITY OF VAASA Faculty of Philosophy Discipline: English Studies Author: Mikaela Smeds Master’s Thesis: “Don't y'all care about nothin' other than prettifyin'?” Idiolects in three dubs of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Degree: Master of Arts Date: 2015 Supervisor: Kristiina Abdallah Följande avhandling är en kvalitativ fallstudie av översättningen av idiolekter i de svenska, norska och finska dubbningarna av animationsserien My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I den engelska originaldialogen använder sig var och en av seriens huvudkaraktärer av karaktärsspecifika stildrag som framhäver deras personligheter, som ett led i seriens produktions- och konstnärliga ledare Lauren Fausts mål att skapa kvinnliga karaktärer med distinkta personligheter. Stildragen utgörs av dialekt, språklekar (allitteration, rim, ordlekar, neologismer) och kodväxling (lån av ord från ett språk medan man kommunicerar huvudsakligen på ett annat). Avhandlingen undersöker om dubbningarna återskapat stildragen eller ersatt dem med mer konventionellt språk, och om och hur de använda översättningsstrategierna inverkat på karaktäriseringen och i förlängning seriens feministiska målsättningar. Analysen baseras delvis på István Fodors teorier om synkronisering, men även på praktiska aspekter av dubbningsarbetet. Resultaten av studien visade att framför allt karaktären Applejacks karaktärisering påverkats då dialektala drag bytts ut mot mer allmänna talspråkliga drag i alla dubbningarna, och även flera av karaktären Pinkie Pies språklekar hade strukits i framförallt de svenska och finska dubbningarna. Avhandlingens slutsatser kan intressera framförallt personer verksamma inom dubbningsindustrin och/eller intresserade av hur kvinnliga karaktärer porträtteras i media. KEYWORDS: Dubbing, characterization, cartoon, dialect, language play, code- switching 4 5 1 INTRODUCTION At the end of the 20th century, research on audiovisual translation, also known as AVT or screen translation, experienced a boom (Díaz Cintas 2009: 1). However, Eithne O’Connell (2003a: 222), who has researched dubbing of audiovisual texts for children, points out that the publications on this particular topic within AVT are few so far. Previous research on audiovisual translation for children include for example O'Connell’s (2003b) doctoral thesis on minority language dubbing for children, and a study by A.L. Peeters, A.C. Scherpenzeel and J.H. Zantinge (1988) examining schoolchildren’s comprehension of subtitled and dubbed programs. O’Connell (2003a: 222, 224) suggests the lack of research on the linguistic complexities of dubbing for a specific audience, such as children, can be explained by an emphasis on the technical challenges posed by the dubbing process, and by its nature as collaborative work. This thesis will contribute to the research on translation of audiovisual children’s media by focusing on the 2010-2011 first season of the US cartoon My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (henceforth MLP: FiM) and its Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish dubs. More specifically, it will examine how these compare to the original English voicing regarding characterization in terms of translation of character-specific speech habits. As noted by Díaz Cintas and Remael (2007: 184—185), audiovisual media often draws on linguistic variation and individual speech features for characterization, such as when revealing personality and background, which has also been done in MLP: FiM. As described in Material (section 1.1), in addition to distinct personalities and appearances, in the English voicing each of the six female main characters of MLP: FiM has particular speech habits and vocabularies that emphasize their individual personalities. Among others, these traits include dialect, neologisms, slang, language play, and code- switching (in this case the use of French words in otherwise English-language speech), features that have been given definitions in chapter 3 of this thesis, Theory and terminology. However, have these features been retained or deleted in the dubs, and does this affect how the characters are perceived when traveling abroad, in another linguistic and cultural environment? My method for investigating this topic has been described in chapter 2, Methodology. 6 The characterization in MLP: FiM has been specifically highlighted by the creative director and executive producer of the series, Lauren Faust. Faust has stated that her goal with the cartoon was to produce quality animation featuring female characters with more diverse, distinct and well-rounded personalities than she had previously seen on television (especially in programming aimed at a young female demographic) (Faust 2010; Tekaramity 2011). However, while the characters in the original voicing have personalized speech styles, it appears that in dubbing and in translations of children’s literature there exists a tendency towards lexical simplification and/or more standardized language when compared to their source materials, as reported by for example O’Connell (2000: 7–8), Englund Dimitrova (1997: 62; 2004: 127-132), Nadiani (2004: 74), and Pavesi (2009:197, citing Goris 1993, Herbst 1996, Malinverno 1999, Rossi 1999). In her research on minority language dubbing for children, Eithne O'Connell (2000: 7–8) noted a consistent lexical simplification in the target text, which resulted in a translation that semantically and linguistically was less complex than the original, an effect O'Connell attributes to the translator underestimating the cognitive abilities of child viewers (however, other factors mentioned by O’Connell, such as lip synchrony and timing, discussed in section 3.1, may also affect the decisions of the dub translator). This tendency towards standardized language may mainly affect features such as dialect and possibly code-switching (for definition, see section 3.8), but the notion of humor and language play as “untranslatable” exists as well (Eoyang 2003: 27). Delabastita (1997: 10) suggests that the translatability of humor mainly depends on the genre and other formal properties of the source material and translation, while Schröter (2005) in turn concludes that these properties are less significant than the identity of the translator and the type of verbal humor (pun, alliteration, etc.) that is involved. Humor and its behavior in translation will be discussed more extensively in sections 3.4 to 3.7 of the Theory and terminology chapter. Of interest is thus whether the above described tendencies (standardized language, “untranslatable” humor) have affected the MLP: FiM dubs as well, and if and how this in turn might affect the perception of the character’s personalities in the dubbed 7 versions, where for example accents have not been reproduced in any manner. Dubbing director Lu Danjun (2009: 163) notes that imitating a particular accent in a dub may result in the dubbed version sounding awkward. Still, the omissions of accents raised questions of whether any other speech features, e.g. dialectal vocabulary, have been significantly reduced as well in the Nordic dub, and if this affects characterization in any manner. Since characterization of female characters in particular has been cited as a concern for Faust (2010), who considers herself a feminist, the examination of the Nordic dubs may by extension also be considered to have a feminist element to it. This research may interest primarily those involved in the field of audiovisual translation, but also parents of children watching the series. In Finland, a general practice is to dub media for children aged ten and younger (Jääskeläinen 2007: 126), and research by H. Heidtmann (1990: 422–427, cited in O’Connell 2003a: 223) has shown that the majority of children’s viewing consists of animation. Animation, alongside other children’s programmes (such as puppet shows) is according to O’Connell frequently revoiced and quite readily lends itself to this, for both commercial and technical reasons. Seen from a commercial perspective, the cost of revoicing high quality animation for rebroadcasting to a new child audience is relatively low compared to that of creating an entirely new product, which makes dubbing an attractive option. (O’Connell: (2003a: 223.) Furthermore, media intended for children is often meant to fulfill several different functions at once (such as entertainment, socializing, language developing and general education) (Williams & Chesterman 2002: 12; Puurtinen 1995: 17). The research could therefore also be of interest to producers of children's media, particularly those that have a specific purpose in mind for the content they create. Regarding the Finnish dub of the dialectal and colloquial features in this series, this thesis is not the first to focus on this subject. While writing this thesis I came across Mika Matilainen’s Master’s thesis Kuuluuko Texas? Murteellisten ja puhekielisten ilmauksien kääntäminen suomeen ja saksaan My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic – sarjassa (2013). In addition to the Finnish dub, Matilainen also examines the German dub, and uses the English, German, and Finnish voicings of episodes 4 and 8 from season 1 as sample when studying the translation of the character Applejack’s dialectal speech features. As previously mentioned, the present thesis will concentrate on the 8 Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian dubs, using all 26 episodes of season 1, and in addition to Applejack, the speech habits of the characters Rarity and Pinkie Pie will also be included in the analysis. The thesis proceeds as follows: section 1.1 below contains a presentation of the material, i.e. the MLP: FiM series; this is followed by a description of the methodology used in this thesis, in chapter 2; in chapter 3, the terminology and theoretical concepts used in this thesis will be explained; chapter 4 contains the actual analysis of the speech features, how they have been translated and how this affects characterization; and in chapter 5, my conclusions are presented. The list of works cited follows after this. 1.1 Material The material analyzed in this thesis was gathered from the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic cartoon in its original language (English) and its Swedish, Finnish, and Norwegian (Bokmål) dubs. It was collected from the twenty-six episodes included on the DVD set My Little Pony: The Complete Season One, released in 2014. The series is a reboot of the animated 1980s series based on toy company Hasbro’s My Little Pony toy line, and despite being primarily intended “for girls and their mothers” it has also gained news coverage for its unexpected popularity with adult male demographics (see for example Vara & Zimmerman 2011; Watercutter 2011; Truitt 2012; Gennis 2013). MLP: FiM episodes usually center on a cast which in addition to the previously mentioned Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie include the pony characters Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, and the dragon Spike, most of whom are reimagined versions of characters from the original cartoon. The episodes usually take place in and around the town Ponyville, span several different genres (fantasy, adventure, drama, suspense and action) and generally feature themes of friendship, tolerance, understanding, and how to deal with situations that arise in relation to these, e.g. conflicts of interest, prejudice, issues of loyalty and trust, and so forth. In this thesis, focus was on how the dubs handle character-specific speech features, as this relates to the series’ creative director and executive producer Lauren Faust’s vision 9 for the series. Faust, who developed the reboot for television, has commented in a blog post article on Msmagazine.com that when watching the original My Little Pony cartoons as a child in the 1980s, she was of the opinion that these “did not reflect the way I played with my toys. I assigned my ponies and my Strawberry Shortcake dolls distinctive personalities and sent them on epic adventures to save the world”. When watching the television series based on these toy lines, on the other hand, Faust states she “[…] couldn’t tell one girl character from another and they just had endless tea parties, giggled over nothing and defeated villains by either sharing with them or crying […]”. She further commented that, From what I’ve seen since I’ve grown up, little has changed. To look at the quality of most girls’ cartoons, it would seem that not one artist really cared about them […]the female characters have been so homogenized with old-fashioned “niceness” that they have no flaws and are unrelatable”. there is no legitimate conflict and nothing exciting ever happens. In short, animated shows for little girls come across as boring. Stupid. Lame. This perception, more than anything, is what I am trying to change with My Little Pony. (Faust 2010.) One aspect of creating distinctive characters in fiction may be assigning them distinctive speech features, idiolects (Hamaida 2007: 1; Díaz Cintas & Remael 2007: 184—185). The term refers to the personal speech habits of an individual speaker within a speech community, which are distinct from the speech characteristics (the dialect) of the group in general (Rajimwale 2006: 108). It consists of an individual speaker’s personal speech features, such as a personal style, and includes features like stuttering or lisping, monotone delivery, favorite exclamations, and so forth. (Díaz Cintas & Remael 2007: 191). As a complement to idiolectal speech traits, writers of fiction may use different language varieties, dialects, as an element of characterization, to differentiate between his or her characters, give them an identity, and add stylistic elements to their text (Kukkonen 2004: 18). More detailed definitions and discussions of idiolect and dialect, and their role in characterization, are included in section 3.4 in the Theory and terminology chapter. 10 In MLP: FiM, each of the seven main cast characters have their own idiolects, which can be seen for example in Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, the three characters whose speech were analyzed in this thesis. Their specific speech features are outlined in this section, and definitions and discussions of these features in translation are also provided in the Theory and terminology chapter (sections 3.4 to 3.8). Speech features were included on the basis that they were regularly used by a specific character, and contributed to some significant part of their portrayal. Regarding the portrayal of character traits in MLP: FiM, these are made rather overt, through character actions and reactions (which, with the source material being a children’s cartoon, frequently are exaggerated for humorous or dramatic purposes) as well as explicit statements. For example, a recurring feature in the more action/adventure/ fantasy geared season openings and finales is a collection of magical gems collectively known as “the elements of harmony” that each represents a particular personality trait - honesty, generosity, laughter, kindness, etc. – associated with a specific main cast character (for example, the gems representing “honesty”, “generosity” and “laughter” are assigned to Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, respectively). In addition to this, each character also has a small picture on their flank, known as a “cutie mark”, referencing a particular personality trait of that character (e.g. Pinkie Pie’s picture, a bundle of balloons, refers her talents as an entertainer, party planner and prankster; while Applejack’s picture of apples reflects her life as a farmer and her fondness for this lifestyle). Out of the character idiolects in the English voicing, Applejack’s speech habits may be the most distinct, as they (in the English voicing) frequently include dialectal and informal vocabulary (duds, hooey, lickety-split, hankerin’), an accent, nonstandard grammar (y’all, fixin’ to, a-wastin’) and other features that together mimic a Southern US dialect similar to that of the Missiouri and Oklahoma Ozark mountains. While these features are dialectal, Applejack is the only main cast character and one of the few recurring characters in MLP: FiM who speaks a dialect. Her family members speak a dialect as well, but appear on screen quite sporadically, while other minor/side characters usually speak standard US English. As such, the dialectal features in 11 Applejack’s speech distinguish and characterize her and her speech the way idiolectal speech traits (stuttering, favorite expressions, etc.) do for the other characters. Preston (1997, cited in Bernstein 2003: 107) refers to Southern US English as a stigmatized variation that definitely is not regarded as standard English. In contrast to the standard “prestige” form of a language, dialect is often considered to be substandard and of lower status, associated with peasants and the working class (Chambers & Trudgill 1980: 3). B.J. Epstein suggests that these days, people speaking standard versions of a language may be perceived as less authentic or even as less honest than people who speak dialect forms of a language, who in turn may be viewed as “truer to their roots and to themselves”. This may be related to nostalgia for supposedly simpler ways of life and happier times in history that people tend to associate with rural, less developed societies. (Epstein 2012: 198–199.) The idea of dialect-speakers as more honest, authentic, and adherent to traditions, roots, and a “rustic” rural lifestyle fits with the characterization of Applejack, who is shown and explicitly referred to as an extremely honest, dependable and loyal individual who adheres closely to tradition, loves her life on the farm, and is proud of her family and its history as farmers and founders of Ponyville. In the cartoon she is often seen herding cows, plowing and performing other farm activities. She frequently ridicules exaggerated neatness and “frilly” manners, and has a tendency to be inconsiderate in her words and actions. (My Little Pony Friendship is Magic wiki a.) In episode 23 of season 1, The Cutie Mark Chronicles, her dialect emphasizes her lack of “proper mannes” when she uses the dialectal y’all to address her (standard-speaking) cosmopolitan Aunt and Uncle Orange, something Aunt Orange is quick to remark on (“Y’all! Isn’t she just the living end?”). In addition to dialectal/informal vocabulary and accent, Applejack’s typical speech also includes other vernacular features, among others nonstandard grammar (“she’s awful strong”), relaxed forms (wanna, gonna, gotta, etc.) and omission of auxiliary verb have (e.g. I got, you got, they got rather than I have got, you have got, they have got). In this thesis, The Hodges Harbrace Handbook (2013), and Berenstein’s (2003: 117–118) and Wolfram’s (2003: 150) lists of grammatical features typical of Southern English were 12 used for reference when checking the English grammar. Robert Hendrickson’s The Facts on File Dictionary of American Regionalisms (2000) was used to identify specifically dialectal vocabulary, and Tom Dalzell’s The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American slang and unconventional English (2009) as a reference when identifying general American slang. In contrast to Applejack (who calls talking French “speaking in fancy”), the more cosmopolitan, courteous and glamorous character Rarity speaks with a more sophisticated vocabulary, a Transatlantic accent, and in line with being a highly ambitious (bordering on workaholic) fashion designer her otherwise English dialogue occasionally contains code-switching in the form of French words that relate to fashion and society (soirée, haute couture). Of these speech features, the analysis focused only on the French words. As Applejack’s quote about speaking in fancy might indicate, in addition to fashion terminology the use of French can also add connotations of glamour, luxury, refinement, style, and similar concepts. Code-switching is defined in section 3.8 in the Theory and terminology chapter. Regarding Pinkie Pie, her speech often contains alliteration, rhyming, punning, neologisms and other forms of language play, in line with her characterization as a hyperactive, sociable and eccentric entertainer. In the show she often engages in musical performances, party planning and eating (sweets in particular), and is the source of several comical and cartoonish gags. In line with this characterization, her language use is often playful, nonsensical and irregular, featuring different forms of puns and language play, made-up or unusual strange-sounding words/neologisms, rhyming (“But if I eat too much fudge I get a pudge and can’t budge”), regularized superlative formation (favorit-est, best-est) and alliteration. Different forms of language play, their use and translation are discussed in sections 3.4. through 3.7 in the Theory and terminology chapter. The above described speech features, and their translations into Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian, are the ones that were examined in the analysis section. For easier reference, they have been listed in Table 1 below. 13 Applejack Pinkie Pie Rarity Slang and dialectal vocabulary (duds, dogie, hankering, fancy, lickety- split) Nonstandard grammar (Intensifying adverbs, y’all, fixing to, relaxed forms, omission of auxiliary verbs, ain’t, double negatives, absence of –ly endings) Wordplay Rhyming (“Are you coco in the loco?”, “Stop shakin’ and get bakin’”, etc.) Alliteration (“pretty party ponies”) Neologisms (flufflicious, smidgimeter, Appletastic) Regularized superlative formation (favorit-est, best- est) French words (Moi, soiree, coiffure, magnifique, etc.) Table 1. List of the character-specific speech traits that will be examined for each character The original English soundtrack contained 326 instances of dialectal features and marked speech in the case of Applejack, 46 instances of language play for Pinkie Pie, and five examples of code-switching from English to French for Rarity. These numbers have been illustrated in the pie chart (Table 2) below. Figure 1. Number of idiolectal speech figures per character . Applejack 326 Pinkie Pie 46 Rarity 5 14 The translations of these speech features, omissions/losses of these, and instances of addition/compensation were analyzed, as presented in the analysis (chapter 4). In subtitling, compensation is a regularly used translation strategy, which means that a translator makes a particular piece of dialogue more “colourful” in order to compensate for the omission of for example marked speech elsewhere in a film (Díaz Cintas & Remael 2007: 186–187). While this thesis is concerned with dubbing rather than subtitling, it was of interest to find out whether compensation also had been used in the dubs studied in this thesis, and therefore instances of compensation were recorded and taken into account when analyzing the results. 15 2 METHODOLOGY This chapter contains information about the methodology used in this study, outlining the methods used when collecting and analyzing the material. After the present chapter, a presentation of the theory used in this thesis will follow in chapter 3, and then the analysis in chapter 4. Chapter 5 contains the conclusions of the analysis. 2.1 Method The research consisted of a qualitative case study of the Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish dubs of the US English-language cartoon My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (MLP: FiM), and a detailed analysis of how each dub has handled the character-specific speech traits of the three characters Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. This was of particular interest in the case of this cartoon, as the show’s developer Lauren Faust has stated that one of her goals as head of the show was to present female characters that, contrary to Faust’s previous experience with the franchise, each had distinctive personalities and appearances (Faust 2010; Tekaramity 2011; see also section 1.1.). Assigning each character a specific idiolect may have been part of this effort. As this is a case study, the results and observations which rose from my analysis of the material are to a great extent limited to this study, and its scope does not lend itself to any general conclusions about the AVT industry at large. Moreover, Chesterman and Williams (2014: 65) note that case studies often are said to be to some degree more subjective than quantitative studies are. Still, the results may be interesting to translators and others employed within the dubbing industry, for example when considering solutions and strategies to apply to linguistic features similar to the ones examined in this study. As the series has gained a sizable fan community, there may also be individuals outside the translation industry that would be interested in this research. The material was approached through a close comparative reading (listening and watching) of all 26 season 1 episodes in the English, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish 16 voicings. Speech features were collected from the original English voicing on the basis that they were used recurringly by a specific character (Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity) and contributed to some aspect of their characterization. The features were then divided into categories based on which type of stylistic feature - alliteration, puns, dialectal words, code-switching, etc. - they represented. These are listed in Table 1 at the end of section 1.1. The original English soundtrack contained 326 instances of dialectal features and other marked speech in the case of Applejack’s speech, 46 instances of language play for Pinkie Pie, and five examples of code-switching from English to French for Rarity (these numbers have been visualized in Figure 1 at the end of section 1.1). One of the main theoretical concepts that were used in this thesis was István Fodor’s (1976) three requirements for good synchronization, presented in section 3.2. In short, these requirements involve phonetic or lip synchrony (the dubbed dialogue should match the lip movements and performance of the original images), character synchrony (the dubbed voice should match the character in terms of pitch, timbre, etc.), and – which is perhaps most relevant to this thesis – content synchrony (faithful and artistic rendering of the original dialogue in the target language). Regarding content synchrony, Fodor deals with questions of close translation in dubbed films “only if they arise in consequence of the requirements of synchrony.” As an example of a study where content synchrony includes incongruence between source and target utterances, Fodor refers to Hesse-Quack (1969), who investigated German translations of French and English-language films. (Fodor 1976: 77.) In the current thesis, the concept was used to examine any difference between source and target language voicings in terms of translation of idiolectal/characteristic speech features, regardless of whether or not they were the result of synchrony requirements. The original speech features were compared to their translations to determine if they had been retained or deleted in the dubs, and qualitative aspects of the translations were examined as well. Any losses of speech features were noted, and their possible effect on the characterization discussed. For example, occurrences of replacement of nonstandard/dialectal features or French words with (standard) target-language ones, 17 and language play that had been deleted or unsuccessfully transferred, were analyzed for potential loss of characterization. In addition to these, instances of compensation, where for example slang, dialect, French, word- or language play had been added (in lines where no character-specific speech traits exist in the original voicing) to make up for deletions elsewhere, were also analyzed. For instance, in example 1 below the regionalism critter had in the Finnish dub been translated as elikoiden (singular nominative elikko), which Kielitoimiston sanakirja (kielitoimistonsanakirja.fi) describes as a word particularly associated with dialectal speech. This translation was then considered to have maintained the colloquial style on both a quantitative level (by using marked language rather than more general vernacular, e.g. eläin, animal) and a qualitative level (by using a word particularly associated with dialectal Finnish). By contrast, the Swedish and Norwegian dubs in this example have used general vernacular (boskap, dyr) for this particular word. The Norwegian dub, however, seems to compensate for this by translating direction as forklarelse, rather than the standard (Bokmål) variant forklaring (“forklarelse” tends to be associated with revelations and visions of the religious kind). Thus the Norwegian dub still conveys the style deviation from standard language, which is not done in the Swedish dub. (1) English Swedish Norwegian Finnish I do not need any direction on corrallin' critters. Jag behöver inga råd om inhängda boskap. Jeg trænger ikke forklarelse for hvordan man skal drive dyr. Ja minähän en tarvitse neuvoja elikoiden pyydystämiseen. As another example from Pinkie Pie’s speech features, deletion of her word- and language play (as in the example below) might result in loss of characterization if it occurs repeatedly and is not compensated for in any way. The wordplay in example 2 was considered a case of deletion, though this deletion seemed to have been done for http://kielitoimistonsanakirja.fi/ 18 understandable reasons, as the original line is based around a self-reference to Pinkie Pie’s name and a source-language idiom, easy as pie, that does not exist in the same form in any of the target languages. Adding humor at some point other than the very same one as in the original may also be more challenging than compensating for e.g. deleted dialectal or French words, since humor tends to be more constrained by the pace and mood of a text. (2) English Swedish Norwegian Finnish I cut lines in the lakes with my skates. That way, when the rest of the weather team comes here to break the ice, it'll be easy as pie. Jag gör figurer på sjön med skridskorna, så när resten av väderlaget kommer hit för att bryta upp isen, blir det lätt som en plätt. Jeg skjaerer linjer i isen me skøyterna, og nær resten av værlaget kommer for å knecke isen er det lett som en plett. Teen luistimilla jäähän linjoja. Kun muut säätiimistasi tulevat rikkomaan jäät, loppu onkin tosi helppoa. When collecting the material from Applejack’s speech in the original voicing, nonstandard English grammar constructions were identified using Cynthia Bernstein’s (2003: 117–118) and Walt Wolfram’s (2003: 150) lists of grammatical features typical of Southern speech, and checked against the Hodges Harbrace Handbook (2013). In addition to the features listed by Wolfram and Benstein, relaxed forms (e.g. gonna, gotta, wanna, shoulda in place of going to, got to, want to,, should have) and omission of auxiliary verbs be, do, have, will (e.g. I got, you got, they got instead of I have got, you have got, they have got) were also included in the analysis, since these were used frequently by Applejack. However, the analysis was not limited to these features, and the results for other types of nonstandard grammar and their translations will also be accounted for. Dialectal words and slang were referenced against Robert Hendrickson’s The Facts on File Dictionary of American Regionalisms (2000) and The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American slang and unconventional English (2008). 19 Regarding the dubs, grammar in the Finnish voicing was referenced against the online version of Iso suomen kielioppi (2004) that was launched in 2008 and is inofficially known as VISK (V[erkko]ISK). Translations of slang and dialect were checked with the previously mentioned online version of Kielitoimiston sanakirja (kielitoimistonsanakirja.fi), This dictionary is provided by the Institute for the Languages of Finland, and in addition to definitions, the level of style of each word (e.g. colloquial, slang, dialect, etc.) is also described in it. Slang, dialect and grammar in the Swedish dub were judged against my own knowledge of the language as a native speaker, but also checked with the 13th edition of Svenska Akademiens Ordlista (SAOL, 2013) and Svensk grammatik by Annika Hydén and Camilla Rundqvist (2005). Vocabulary items in the Norwegian dub were checked using Norsk slangordbok by Tone Tryti (2008) and the online version of Norsk Ordbok 2014 by Universitetet i Oslo (2014), while grammatical structures were examined with Håndbok i grammatikk og språkbruk by Eva Høgberg (2012). In the case of Rarity, French words in the English dub were identified and checked with the online version of Collins French Dictionary, which was also used as reference for the dub translations. As for Pinkie Pie, in addition to the neologisms examined in section 4.1.2 of the analysis, she uses many more words that especially to a child audience may sound like strange and made-up words (terrifically, fantabulous, humonguous, ginormous), but actually exist as established words in the English language. Thus, all potential neologisms were checked in Merriam-Webster’s and Collins’ online dictionaries (merriam-webster.com and collinsdictionary.com, respectively), and only those words that could not be found in these dictionaries were chosen for analysis. Likewise were nonstandard superlative formations (“wonderful- est”, bestest”) checked with the previously mentioned online dictionaries. Naturally, other forms of language play – puns, rhyming, alliteration - were identified purely “by sight”, through the situational context and the reactions of other characters (e.g. laughter). Because of this there may be shortcomings regarding the material for these types of language play, since their inclusion was based on my ability to identify them. http://kielitoimistonsanakirja.fi/ http://merriam-webster.com/ http://collinsdictionary.com/ 20 3 THEORY AND TERMINOLOGY This chapter will present terminology and theoretical concepts relevant to this study, beginning with dubbing and its practical aspects, particularly synchronization, and continuing with an overview and discussion of the theoretical framework that will be used in this thesis in section 3.2. After this follows definitions of the different types of speech features that will be examined in the dubs. 3.1 Dubbing Dubbing is an oral form of AVT and uses the acoustic channel in translation for the screen, replacing the source language dialogue with target language dialogue that aims to follow the original as closely as possible in terms of phrasing, timing and lip movement (Luyken et al 1991: 31, cited in Baker & Hochel 2003: 74). It thus involves lip synchronization (described in section 3.2), and is always pre-recorded (Cintas & Remael 2007: 12). Dubbing may be typically thought of as being done in film, from one language into another, although there are exceptions. For example, MLP: FiM has been given two different dubs in both Spanish and Portuguese, separately intended for European and South American audiences. Regarding the actual process of producing audiovisual translations, O’Connell comments that while it is common for an individual subtitler to produce a complete set of subtitles, dubbing is a more complex, post-production process that requires a team of individuals with a number of key skills. For this reason, O’Connell uses the word dubber to “…refer not to the dubbing translator alone, but to the whole team of people who collectively contribute to the production of the final dubbed version”. (O’Connell 2003a: 223-224.) This will also be the case when “dubber” is used in this thesis. The dubbing process consists of multiple steps, and several conditions may affect the translator’s role in it. Usually, a dubbing translator drafts a first translation, which a script editor then revises, possibly with feedback from technicians and (voice) actors. 21 The initial translation may be rough and quite literal, based primarily on the source language script, and the translator may not necessarily have watched the original production. These translations are usually meant as a first, literal guide to the source material plot and dialogue, and are frequently reworked to a significant extent by the dubbing editor. On the other hand, if the translator specializes in dub translation, they may make a more polished first translation, where lip sync and other issues have already been dealt with. The translator and editor may be the same person, but it is equally probable that the editor has no knowledge of the source language at all. (O’Connell 2003a: 223–224.) In the Nordic AVT industry, it is common to first make a Swedish first translation, and from this make second translations into Norwegian, Danish and Finnish (Rönnberg 2003: Cited in Jääskeläinen 2007: 119; see also Tiihonen 2007). In translation, and perhaps AVT in particular, achieving a complete transfer of all ideas and shades of meaning from one language into another without a degree of loss or gain is often difficult. O’Connell comments that even if screen translators could overcome all the usual obstacles created by differences between the cultures and languages they are translating between, time and space constraints would still remain in a way only rarely encountered in for example literary translation. These constraints may create unconditional restrictions regarding the options and solutions that a screen translator may use, which may be particularly true of subtitling. (O'Connell: 2003b: 223.) Therefore, restrictions imposed by time and space ought to be taken into account as well when evaluating and analyzing an audiovisual translation. Regarding other factors that possibly can affect the perceived quality of script and dialogue translation, Fodor (1976: 79) and Alkadi mention for example length of expression in different languages. When synchronizing the translation to the lip movements of the original images, an adaptor may fail to recognize necessary changes the translator has made, which in turn may result in further loss in the adaptation of the translation. (Alkadi 2010: 51-52.) Additionally, financial aspects may also have a negative effect on the target text quality, as lip-sync dubbing in general is considerably more costly and labor-intensive than any other mode of AV-translation – in Europe, average costs per hour for dubbing may be up to fifteen times the average cost per hour for subtitling (Luyken et al 1991, cited in Baker & Hochel 2003: 75). Alkadi (2010: 52) 22 comments that of the expenses associated with dubbing, the majority is accumulated when hiring actors, while “Unfortunately, the translator gets the least money despite the hard task s/he carries out”. Díaz Cintas (1999: 67) considers this a problem worthy of attention, as the quality of a translation in Cintas’ view is an artistic factor worth the necessary financial investments, especially as these tend to be small compared to film budgets overall. Furthermore, the translator's control over the final product does not necessarily extend beyond the initial translation draft. O’Connell explains that while a translator prepares a first, rough translation for the dub, the majority of a dubbing process is performed by a post-production house with the help of increasingly sophisticated sound recording technology. Regarding issues of for example lip synchronization, within the professional dubbing industry, it is generally considered the responsibility of the dialogue writers and in the final stage the dubbing director (Chaume Varela 2004: 36). L. Martin (1994, cited in Chaume Varela 2004: 37) outlines the role of the dubbing director, which includes paying attention to the dub script so that if a particular word or phoneme hinders proper pronunciation by the voice actor, this word is replaced with a synonym that still preserves the original meaning of the utterance. During the dubbing process, scripts are thus subject to change by individuals other than the translator. Different forms of AVT may also affect linguistic variation and characterization differently. Dubbing may have an advantage over subtitling, as it usually involves less textual reduction (Goris 1993: 171). Still, it may affect characterization as well, though in different ways. For example, a disadvantage of dubbing is that since an actor’s original voice cannot be heard, part of an acting performance is lost (Koolstra et al 2002: 336). Furthermore, sociolects and dialects used for characterization in the original may also be replaced by or moved closer to standard language in dubs (O’Connell 2000: 7–8; Nadiani 2004: 74; Díaz Cintas 2009: 16). The genre and purpose of an audiovisual translation may also affect how its linguistic features are transferred into the target text, and which synchrony is given precedence. For example, Alkadi remarks that when translating comedy, care should be taken to ensure a verbal joke is synchronized with a potentially humorous element on the screen. 23 By contrast, dialogue in a subtitled action movie may be secondary, as the subtitles primarily need to be short in order to allow viewers to concentrate on what happens on the screen. (Alkadi 2010: 18–19.) As MLP: FiM is dubbed, it would seem that reproducing humor and dialect in the translation would be possible also during more fast-paced action sequences. Despite its comparatively high costs, dubbing is the norm in countries such as Germany, Italy and Spain, where subtitling is seldom used (Baker & Hochel 2003: 75). Europe appears to be a watershed regarding preferences for either form, or both, and among others Sweden, Denmark, and Finland belong to a group of countries where subtitling may be considered the norm (Koolstra et al 2002: 326). In contrast to Scandinavia, where dubbing is mainly used in children’s programming, dubbing in Germany, Spain and Italy is also used for media intended for adults (Gottlieb 2004: 83). Regarding dubbing of audiovisual media intended for children, O’Connell points out that as producers of media intended for children generally are adults, their understanding of their target group may be limited. In O’Connell’s view, “It is important to realise that insufficient familiarity with the precise needs and preferences of young readers and viewers is even more likely to be manifest in the case of translated material.” Although a small number of translators with at least some degree of specialized in texts for children exist within most nations and cultures, few have studied the subject formally. Consequently, they may be unfamiliar with the full range of linguistic, didactic, and entertainment issues that factor into the process and affect content as well as language. O’Connell considers detailed knowledge of script writing and the conventions of writing believable, natural-sounding dialogue to be particularly important for dub translators, as these conventions on the whole are culture-specific and very specialized. (O’Connell 2003a: 227–228.) 3.2 Synchronization In film, lip synchronization denotes the matching of dubbed dialogue with the lip movements, utterance length, and meaning of the original images in a film (Fodor 1976: 24 9). Frederic Chaume Varela refers to synchronization as a central element in AVT, particularly in dubbing. Chaume Varela explains that from a professional perspective, good lip synchronization is mainly a way to ensure the dubbed dialogue is perceived as utterances made in the target language by the very actors seen in the original, by matching sounds with lip movements and especially the length of utterances. How well this has been achieved is also the main criteria by which a translation is judged. The professional perspective on dubbing is thus according to Chaume Varela functional but contains no theory, as it is chiefly interested in meeting the demands specified by the client and the synchronization conventions of the target culture: “These conventions simply consist of ensuring that the dubbed product sounds as if it were original, and that nothing distorts that perception.” (Chaume Varela 2004: 35–36.) Chaume Varela (2004: 38) also refers to functionalist, more theoretical views on synchronization in dubbing, such as the three types of synchrony first introduced by István Fodor. In addition to the aforementioned lip synchrony, Fodor (1976: 9) names two other types of synchrony that must be fulfilled in order for dubbing to be successful: synchrony of content (original dialogue must be rendered faithfully and in an artistic manner), and synchrony of character (the style of delivery used in the dubbed version and the style of acting used in the original text should be congruent). Of the three above types of synchronization, lip and sound synchrony (and lack of it) may be the most immediately noticeable, and from functionalist and professional viewpoints alike it holds a central role in shaping dubbed dialogue. Koolstra et al note that a high level of lip synchronization strengthens the illusion of a speaker really speaking the dubbed language, but achieving this may in turn require omitting information or using an unnatural sentence structure in order to match dubbed sounds with lip movements on the screen. Less strict synchronization weakens the illusion, but allows for more natural sentences and less loss of information. (Koolstra et al. 2003: 348.) O’Connell (2003a: 223) considers the requirement for dubbed dialogue to match the length of an original utterance a major time constraint within AVT. The necessity to maintain lip-synchronization in dubbing also puts pressure on the dub translator in the 25 sense that it makes it difficult to omit insignificant or incomprehensible elements (Goris 1993: 170). One reason to strive for perfect lip synchronization may be that according to Barbe (1996: 260, cited in Alkadi 2010: 52), when viewers observe sounds that fail to match, or are out of sync, this takes part of the viewer’s attention away from the action taking place in the programme. From a functionalist viewpoint, imperfect lip synchronization in target cultures that have low tolerance for this may in Alkadi’s (2010: 53) view “deepen the gap between the audience and audiovisuals, a gap that may have already been created by character synchrony”. On the other hand, the demand for lip synchronization may also work as a constraint on the fidelity and content synchrony of the dubbed dialogue in regards to the original dialogue. Alkadi (2010: 52, citing Rowe (1960: 116), Myers (1973: 58) and Vöge (1977: 120) argue that viewers frequently are more concerned with lip-lip synchronization than with the translation, and that more tolerance towards imperfect synchronization would allow for translations of better quality and higher fidelity to the original. Delabastita (1989: 203, cited in Alkadi 2010: 52) suggests that the problem of dubbing, and perhaps film translation overall, is often over-emphasis on lip synchrony. However, Chaume Varela (2004: 46) notes that the requirements for synchrony in cartoon dubbing often are less strict than in dubbing of live-action film, due to the physical simplification of cartoon characters, and the intended audience, i.e. children, who tend to be less exacting than adults in their expectations on synchrony. However, the lip-sync constraint is not necessarily as strict as it may seem. It only becomes an issue in close-up shots where the speaker’s lip movements are clearly visible – even then, close matching is necessary only for labiodental and semi-labial sounds, where the mouth has to close (Chaume Varela 2008: 136). Furthermore, O’Connell notes that digital sound recording equipment nowadays enables technicians to to some degree stretch or shorten a dub actor’s voice, allowing for nearly perfect initial synchrony and timing without noticeable distortion of voice quality. In animation, issues with lip- and kinetic synchronization, which are common when dubbing media featuring human actors, are further reduced due to the comparative simplicity of the physical representation of animated characters, whose mouths and lip movements often are animated with less detail and realism. (O’Connell 2003a: 224.) This is likely to 26 apply to the MLP: FiM cartoon as well, since mouths and mouth movements in the show generally are drawn with a relatively low level of detail and realism. As previously mentioned, the functionalist criterion of content synchrony, i.e. faithful and artistic translation of the original dialogue, is perhaps particularly relevant in this thesis, as it involves the rendition of source text speech features in the dubs. Fodor notes in his chapter on this subject that he deals with questions of close translation of film dialogue “only if they arise in consequence of the requirements of synchrony.” As an example of studies where content synchrony in terms of discrepancies between source and target language utterances in dubbed films has been investigated, Fodor refers to Hesse-Quack (1969), who compared French and English-language films with their German translations. (Fodor 1976: 77.) In this study, the concept will be used to study any difference between the source and target texts regarding the translation of idiolectal/characteristic speech features, irrespective of whether or not they are the result of synchrony constraints. Alkadi (2010: 50) comments that content synchrony relates to good target language translation, which is important as the target text to a great extent determines how the original fares in the target culture. Overall, the presence or absence of content synchrony in a dub may be less noticeable than that of lip synchrony - since dubbing in contrast to subtitling replaces the original soundtrack by a new one, it is almost impossible for a viewer to (simultaneously) check the translation on the basis of the original (Koolstra et al 2002: 330). However, Fawcett (1996:76, cited in Baker & Hochel 2003: 76) argues that when watching a dubbed film the viewer is repeatedly reminded, through images, expressions and lip movements that not match, that they are actually watching a foreign culture and language at work. This suggests that dubbed media is always perceived as translation. In other words, culture-specific material such as slang or dialect poses obstacles that cannot always be overcome through functional approaches (for example replacing American slang with Spanish slang), as the clash between the textual and visual material will be too noticeable (Baker & Hochel 2003: 76). In the case of MLP: FiM, however, this may not be of great concern since, as previously noted, the lip movements 27 of the characters are rather simplified, and the difference between these and what is said in the dubbed soundtrack may thus be less noticeable. The third category of (functional) synchrony presented by Fodor, character synchrony, refers in dubbing to the harmony between characters performing on the screen and the dubbed voices in terms of for example temper, body movement, language and reaction. Fodor considers this problem to be of a psychological nature, caused by contradictions between what we see and what we hear. He emphasizes that certain elements between the source and target sound tracks need to correspond, in terms of for example individual timbre, intensity, pitch, speech tempo, peculiarities, temperament and deportment of the dub actor. If the degree of correspondence is right, this results in character synchrony, while if insufficient, it is perceived as disynchrony in character (for example if an old actor dubs a young character, or an evil character is assigned a voice more suitable for romance. (Fodor 1976: 72.) Since this thesis will focus on content synchrony in terms of translation of dialogue, rather than the voice acting in the dubs, character synchrony will not be further discussed here. 3.3 Differences between English, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish Much of especially Applejack’s idiolectal features (e.g. auxiliary verb deletion, subject- verb regularization, double negatives, etc.) rely on deviations from Standard English grammar. Therefore, it seems necessary to elaborate on the grammatical differences between the source language, English, and the target languages Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish, as these may influence if and how particular features of the source text idiolects are translated. This will not be a complete list of every single difference between the languages, but will only briefly cover those that are relevant to the linguistic features that appear in the source and target texts used as material for this essay. About the Nordic languages, it may be said that at a macro level, the grammatical structures of Swedish and Norwegian are very similar, as these are sister languages belonging to the North Germanic branch of the Germanic language family (Miller 2012: 28 5) . As English also belongs to the Germanic language family, these three languages are quite closely connected and share many grammatical features (Frankfurt International School a). Finnish, in turn, belongs to the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic language family, together with for example Hungarian and Estonian, and as such its grammatical structure has notable differences from that of English (and Norwegian and Swedish) (Frankfurt International School b). Regarding verb inflection, in the English simple present tense the verb following a subject looks the same for first (I) and second (you) person singular, and first (we), second (you), and third (they) person plural, as seen in table 2 below (I/you/they dance). Only the third person singular (he/she/it) form is different (he/she/it dances), and only in the present tense; in for example the simple past tense, the verb form looks the same regardless of whether it is I, you, she or he that has done something (I danced, we danced, he danced). As is also shown in table 2, the verb form in Norwegian and Swedish all look the same regardless of which person is performing the action, and this recurs in all verb tenses. English Swedish Norwegian Finnish I dance You dance He/she/it dances We dance You dance They dance Jag dansar Du dansar Han/hon/det/den dansar Vi dansar Ni dansar De dansar Jeg danser Du danser Han/hun/den/det danser Vi danser Dere danser De danser Minä tanssin Sinä tanssit Hän/se tanssii Me tanssimme Te tanssitte He tanssivat Table 2. Overview of verb conjugation in English, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish Verb conjugation in Finnish is different from English, Swedish and Norwegian and similar to that of for example Spanish in that the form of the verb changes depending on 29 the subject, for all of the subjects (unlike in English, where the verb form changes only for he, she and it), as seen in table 2. As an agglutinative language, Finnish also shows changes in verb tense through successive addition of suffixes, whereas English, Swedish and Norwegian in turn make use of auxiliary verbs to mark these (e.g. minä tanssisin – I would dance – jag skulle dansa). (Frankfurt International School b) These differences may be relevant when looking at for example how Applejack’s omission of auxiliary verbs or use of relaxed forms of these, or her use of irregular subject-verb formation in the English voicing, have been transferred in the Finnish dub as compared to the Norwegian and Swedish dubs. 3.4 Dialect, slang and idiolect Díaz Cintas and Remael (2007: 191) write that marked speech, including dialect and slang, may be given a broad definition as “speech that is characterized by non-standard language features or features that are not ‘neutral’ even though they belong to the standard language, and may therefore have more or less specific connotations”. The term dialect usually refers to language varieties associated with a particular geographical area, and is generally characterized by nonstandard grammar, special lexical features, a specific register and distinctive accent (Díaz Cintas & Remael 2007: 191). Slang in turn resembles dialect in some aspects. Jonathan Lighter defines it as “an informal, nonstandard, nontechnical vocabulary composed chiefly of novel-sounding synonyms (and near synonyms) for standard words and phrases”. It tends to be associated with youthful, unrefined groups and individuals, and usually intends to convey impertinence and irreverence for the values promoted by the prevailing culture. According to Lighter, it is also the active effort to be undignified that distinguishes slang from language that is merely informal. (Lighter 2001: 220.) In contrast to dialect and slang. idiolect refers to the speech habits of an individual speaker in a speech community, which are distinct from the speech characteristics of the group as a whole (Rajimwale 2006: 108). It consists of a given individual’s particular speech features, like a personal style, but also includes features such as lisping or 30 stuttering, favorite exclamations, monotone delivery, etc. (Díaz Cintas & Remael 2007: 191). Díaz Cintas and Remael comment that as linguistic variation originates in the communities that produce it, it is in film frequently used as a typology that carries connotative meanings in addition to denotative ones, and as a means of revealing character personality and background. Features which may be used for this purpose include among others idiosyncrasies, socio-cultural and geographic markers in a character’s speech that affect grammar, syntax, pronunciation, lexicon, intonation, register, style, and so forth. In addition to personal background, situational context also affects a person’s speech, something which is utilized in film by manipulating linguistic style and register for narrative purposes. (Díaz Cintas& Remael 2007: 184–187). Díaz Cintas and Remael (2007: 184) further comment that dialects, a generic term covering both dialect, sociolect and idiolect, poses a challenge in translation due to the way they are embedded in a region or social group. Kukkonen (2004: 18) notes that in literary translation, linguistic variation constitutes a challenge for translators when attempting to recreate the speech and through this also the identity of different characters in another language and culture. Regarding dialect in AVT, Díaz Cintas and Remael remark that ideally, production companies/commissioners of translations will supply a dialogue list with explanations for all instances of marked language, and other linguistic and cultural particularities. Still, it ultimately remains the translator’s choice how to translate a particular term or expression, in which case online slang dictionaries and screenplay sites may prove helpful. (Díaz Cintas& Remael 2007: 184—187.) Díaz Cintas notes that investigations into the degree that spoken language affects translated film scripts are rare, but those which exist “do in fact suggest that dubbed language varieties are likely to be placed closer to a ‘neutral’ uniform written standard, thus failing to portray sociolinguistic variation” (Díaz Cintas 2009: 16). Giovanni Nadiani writes that "In dubbing, many of the difficulties connected with the specificity of dialects or of local spoken languages are often simply glossed over". The final product becomes one with noticeably simplified language, reproduced for a mass 31 audience, which often makes the language of a translation sound "as if it is "cleared" of the specific traits characterizing a film's cultural context". (Nadiani 2004: 74.) Likewise, Birgitta Englund Dimitrova (citing among others Berezowski 1997, Brodovich 1997, Englund Dimitrova 2002, Leppihalme 2000a, Leppihalme 2000b) states that a number of previous studies of dialect translation in literature report a tendency for translations to be more normative than original works in terms of language use. If a translation contains linguistic markers indicating a specific variety or register, they tend to be fewer than in the original text. (Englund Dimitrova 2004: 127-132.) Similar tendencies have been observed in dubbed media for children (O’Connell 2000: 7–8). Englund Dimitrova and Nadiani offer a few potential explanations for this. Nadiani (2004: 74) considers the cause of this “polishing” effect to be both the limited amount of time allowed for dubbing, a result of "obvious economic reasons", and a growing tendency among major purchasers to view this translation practice as "essentially functional to the imagined average spectator of the film in the target language". Englund Dimitrova on her part suggests that one factor may be the translator's understanding of the dialect features in the original text. Because of their extensive knowledge of both the source and target cultures and languages, they may feel true connotative equivalence cannot be achieved by for example replacing a source language dialect with a target one. (Englund Dimitrova 2004: 127-132.) The notion of dialects as “unreplaceable” is a view presented by for example Díaz Cintas & Remael (2007: 191). Díaz Cintas and Remael consider it unlikely for a source language dialect to have an identical equivalent in another language, and further point out that even when/if source language dialects are replaced with target-language ones, their connotations will never be exactly the same ones as those of the source culture dialect. Furthermore, translating one dialect with another may cause comprehension problems on behalf of the target readership, since even native speakers of a particular target language not necessarily will be familiar with all of its variations. (Díaz Cintas & Remael 2007: 191.) Still, regarding comprehension problems for child viewers of MLP: FiM, seeing as children in the source culture are expected to understand Applejack’s lines despite frequent use 32 of dialectal words and expressions, it does not seem too far-fetched that the use of dialectal words in the dubs would not cause too severe comprehension problems on behalf of target culture children, either, provided it is done with some consideration. In Díaz Cintas’ and Remael’s view, when translating a dialect, one should consider its role in a given audiovisual production, such as whether a particular linguistic variation is used by all speakers in the whole production or by only a few, and what the reason behind the use of different language variations is. In case all characters in a film or series speak the same variant of a language, omitting a handful of linguistic markers in the subtitles may not result in a significant loss. By contrast, if only one or a few characters speak a particular way, it should be conveyed in the target language dialogue exchanges, since in these cases the connotative meaning supports the denotative one. (Díaz Cintas & Remael 2007: 186–187.) In MLP: FiM it would seem that as much as possible of Applejack’s dialect and colloquial style should be retained, as she is one of few recurring characters who regularly uses it, and because of its connotations to her living on a farm in the countryside. 3.5 Wordplay Wordplay may be used for (and is perhaps primarily associated with) humorous effects, but can also fill various other functions that are equally or more important than comedy, such as characterization (Epstein 2012: 168; Delabastita 1993: 139, 144–145). This is the case in MLP: FiM, where word- and language play are used by the character Pinkie Pie as part of her humorous and eccentric personality. A pun, or wordplay, may be broadly defined as the use of words that either are phonologically identical or very similar, but different in meaning, or a word with two different meanings being used in situation where both meanings of the word(s) are equally relevant (Abrams & Harpham 2014: 325; Delabastita 1997: 5). Traditionally, wordplay has been defined as a deliberate communicative strategy, or the result of one, that is used to achieve a specific semantic and/or pragmatic effect (Delabastita 1997: 2). Palmer (1994: 104) explains that the literal meaning of an utterance is usually regarded 33 as the “natural” one, and thus humor (or at least a mental challenge) emerges from the addition of a second, less common and/or more incongruous layer of meaning on top of the first. Puns may also consist of alterations of “fixed” linguistic features such as idioms and clichés, or metonomy (where a part is used to refer to the whole, for example the word crown may be used as a reference to royalty) (Epstein 2012: 168). This is another form of wordplay that occasionally appears in Pinkie Pie’s lines, both as an intentional use of punning and as the result of a misinterpretation. In addition to “purely verbal” wordplay, Epstein (2012: 168) mentions graphicplay, i.e. interaction between words and images used to achieve a humorous effect. In the wordplay material collected from MLP: FiM, this is the most common form of puns. Sanderson argues that in audiovisual productions, the presence of a visual channel in addition to the auditory one further complicates wordplay translation, since the most effective resource for humor generally is a visual rendition of the unexpected semantic layer, producing a “humorous illocutionary effect” (Sanderson 2009: 125). According to Díaz Cintas and Remael, verbal humor may consist simply of interaction between words and image, or wordplay, but may also be integral to the storyline and/or appear in the form of experimentation with intertextuality and genre conventions, and so forth. Because of this variation, some instances and forms of humor will be considerably easier to translate than others. To determine the importance of different forms of humor it is crucial to identify what role humor plays in a text. (Díaz Cintas & Remael 2007: 215). However, an exhaustive definition accounting for all possible forms and uses of punning may be very difficult to construct. Delabastita points out that classifications like wordplay/soundplay and alliteration are neither infallible nor uncomplicated. Interactions between semantic, grammatical, and/or metrical features may turn what appears to be an obvious instance of alliteration into a semantically effective pun. How deliberate, textually relevant, and/or easily noticed a pun is determines how well it lends itself to classification. Forms, meanings and/or sounds of words may also be altered with time, so that what for example in Elizabethan English was clearly perceived as a pun in a Shakespeare play over time became “invisible” to the audience and readership of today. (Delabastita 1997: 5–6.) 34 Based on formal similarities, wordplay may be further divided into several categories which, as categorized by Thorsten Schröter (2005: 164, 168) and Epstein (2012: 168) may be defined as wordplay based on polysemy (play on a word which, for example through a metaphor, acquires multiple meanings); homonymy (words with identical pronunciation and spelling but different meanings), homophony (words with identical pronunciation but different spellings and meanings), and paronymy (words with different meanings and similar but not identical pronunciation and spellings). Schröter notes that in translation, polysemy and homonymy tend to behave similarly, as direct transfers are unlikely to be possible in the case of either category, save for instances of coincidence. While both categories rely on words having identical written and spoken forms but different meanings, homophony plays with words that are identical only in sound, not in spelling and meaning. (Schröter 2005: 17, 168.) Since only the surface characteristics of wordplay and its translation will be analyzed in this thesis, eventual instances of polysemy and homonymy will not be dealt with separately, as their difference lies only in the transparency of the etymological origins. Delabastita (1997: 10) points out that since at least the beginning of the eighteenth century there has existed a notion of puns as untranslatable, i.e. the tendency of wordplay to (to varying degrees, depending on circumstances) resist certain forms of translation. Eugene Chen Eyoang comments that translation is able to communicate information between cultures, but not the subtle nuances of language and meaning that are inherent in any culture: “For the sake of convenience, let me refer to the first as “definitive sense” and the second as “indefinite nuance.” Jokes are a way of playing with definitive sense to create indefinite nuance.” (Eoyang 2003: 27.) However, Delabastita views the term untranslatability as misguiding. Depending on the semiotic set-up of the context or discourse a play on words and/or the translation takes place in, the constraints of translating wordplay may manifest differently. It is likely to affect the translation process depending on if the situation concerns spoken or written wordplay, read or performed drama, non-fictional or fictional prose, or in dubbed versus subtitled film and TV programmes. (Delabastita 1997: 10.) On the other hand, Schröter concluded in his dissertation of translated humor in family films that the impact of the general properties of a film, the target language, or the mode of translation (dubbing or 35 subtitling) on the translation of humor could not be proven to be very sizeable. Factors that did have an impact were the type of the wordplay, and the identity of the translator. (Schröter 2005: 340–341.) Díaz Cintas and Remael comment that not only genre influences the choice of whether to translate a joke or replace it by another - translation is not always possible, while adaptation possibly clashes between the image or logic of a fictional setting, and furthermore is affected by external conditions. For example, subtitlers may be more careful of intervening extensively into the original text when translating classic movies, as compared to when subtitling soap operas and sitcoms. Additionally, the target context, or specific instructions given to audiovisual translators, may affect the final product. (Díaz Cintas & Remael: 215.) Díaz Cintas and Remael write that in some soaps, sitcoms, and similar television programmes, detecting humor is facilitated by so called “canned laughter”, a laugh track played to indicate humorous instances. However, in film and many other types of television programming, this is not used, and its helpfulness in clarifying the events on screen is limited. Still, when laughter is used in a television programme, as well as when a character or interviewee laughs at a joke, they require a humorous translation to occur simultaneously. If the translator fails to accomplish this, the image and translation contradict each other, which in turn may make viewers wonder if they have missed something. Yet it ought to be pointed out at least in subtitling, lack of synchrony is not necessarily due to a poorly done translation, but may be caused by inaccurate spotting (the placement and timing of subtitles appearing on the screen) or a difference in word order between the source and target language. (Díaz Cintas & Remael 2007: 216.) Failed attempts at recreating humor in the target text may disrupt the logic and comprehensibility of a translation (Díaz Cintas & Remael 2007: 225). Zabalbescoa (1997: 332, cited in Díaz Cintas& Remael 2007: 215) points out that there often seems to be a need to find balance between, on the one hand, making jokes as funny as possible in a translation in order to achieve a comedic effect, and, on the other hand, using solutions that the viewer will not find irritating or off-putting because they disrupt the plot, structure, and general coherence of a text simply to make room for clever one- 36 liners. Cintas and Remael (2007: 215) comment that sometimes, the comedic effect of a humorous instance will be of greater importance than an exact rendition of the message, while at other times the opposite will be true, i.e. it is more important to convey the message than the humor in a translation. In Díaz Cintas’ and Remael’s view, the most important aspect is that the translation inspires approximately the same emotions as the source text aims to do. Sometimes humor may also be easier to transfer in AVT than in for example literary translation. Both sound and image constrain the subtitles in a programme, but information conveyed both visually and aurally may at times be helpful in the translation process. While the universality of images is not unlimited, comedy in film usually relies on the semiotics of the images shown on screen, for example by combining these, or through facial expressions and gestures used by the speaker(s). (Díaz Cintas & Remael 2007: 216.) 3.6 Neologisms Epstein states that the literal meaning of neologism is new word, and as the rules governing word formation differ from one language to another, this means that in the case neologisms are used in a text, the translator needs to be aware of how the new word was constructed. She or he must then decide whether it would be preferable to either deconstruct the components of the neologism and attempt recreation of the neologism in the target language, or to employ a different approach. Neologisms may generally be considered to be new, “invented” words, but the term can also cover words that already exist but are given a new meaning. There are a number of reasons for authors to create neologisms, as there are various ways of creating them. (Epstein 2012: 29.) Algeo (1999: 14; cited in Epstein; 29) remarks that in general language use, the creation of new words is the result of pragmatic as well as esthetic reasons. Pragmatically, new things and phenomena that language users want to discuss will also require the creation of new words. Regarding aesthetical reasons, Epstein writes that neologisms may be used because they fit the appearance or sound of a text. According to Epstein, in children’s literature (and, one might add, perhaps also other media 37 intended for children, such as cartoons), practical reasons for the creation of neologisms do not always seem relevant, as an author writing with a young target audience in mind generally could be able to choose other, existing words to use if this is needed. Reasons for inventing new words in children’s literature would rather seem to be for example to entertain the reader, make subtle comments or allusions, to discuss taboo subjects or use taboo language (i.e. swearing), to teach (which is not uncommon in the case of children’s literature), or to reveal something about the characters (which is perhaps most relevant in this thesis). A writer of children’s literature may for example use neologisms in order to discuss or say something that is not possible to express in existing words (or if doing so could be considered to be unacceptable), or is s/he wishes to reveal something about the text or characters in a story, he or she may consider neologisms a useful tool for accomplishing this. (Epstein 2012: 29–30.) As an example of neologisms used for the purpose of character revelation, Epstein cites the giant in Roald Dahl’s (1982: 26; Cited in Epstein 2012: 30) The BFG using the word “scrumpdiddlyumpticious” rather than delicious. In Epstein’s view, this confirms the giant’s lack of formal education (he does not use language in a conventional manner) but also his capacity for expressing and making himself understood, even when using invented, non-existing words. In Epstein’s view the following question to ask is, how does someone come up with a word such as scrumpdiddlyticious? (Epstein 2012: 30.) In this study, the focus will not be on the specific details (regarding for example the etymological and semantic aspects) of how the nonsense words that appear in the research material have been transferred in the Swedish dub. The primary question will rather be, whether the dub translator has made an attempt to recreate the use of neologisms at all, or has replaced these with conventional wording. 3.7 Rhyming Rhyming consists of putting two or more words with corresponding sounds together, often in verse and for humorous and/or artistic effect. Pinkie Pie’s speech in the English voicing regularly features rhyme, sometimes for comedic purposes, but (outside of her 38 song numbers) this effect is often achieved by the rhymes being nonsensical, nonsequiturs, or delivered a certain way, as opposed to being witty in themselves. Regarding rhyme translation, James Dickins, Sándor Hervey and Ian Higgins write that “There can be no hard and fast rule regarding rhyme in translation.” However, in some types of source text, particularly comical or sarcastic ones, “the precise nuances of meaning are less important than the phonic mockery”. When translating these, “it is often easier, and even desirable, to stock the TT with rhymes and echoes that are different from those of the ST, but just as obtrusive, and to similar effect.” (Dickins, Hervey & Higgins 2013: 84.) Clifford E. Landers comments that some words - in English words such as Wednesday, month, silver, purple and orange - are said to have no rhyme. Landers argues against this by providing a few examples of his own, and adds that “[…] assuming humor rather than deathless literature is the goal, anything can be rhymed”. Landers further argues that if a verse is intended for humor, it must rhyme. (Landers 2001: 101-102, italics in original.) Considering that much of Pinkie’s rhyming consists of mere nonsense words (itty-bitty, okey-dokey-lokey), uses fairly simple rhymes, and aims for humor, artistic merit should not act as a constraint in the dubs. 3.8 Alliteration In addition to punning, rhyming and neologism, Pinkie Pie’s repertoire of language play also occasionally includes alliteration, which Dickins, Hervey and Higgins define as a stylistic literary device where the first consonant in a word is repeated at the beginning of words in a series of two or more words. It can also appear as repetition of the same sounds or the same type of sound, at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables in a phrase. (Dickins et al 2013: 81.) Like the rhyming, the alliteration used in MLP: FiM is fairly simple in structure, and usually based around word-initial sounds. As such, it does not seem that it should be a major obstacle to translators. Dickins et al also note that the less purely factual a text is, the more likely is the appearance of (intentional) alliteration. A translator should let the purpose of the text, the target audience, and most importantly the function the use of alliteration fulfills in 39 its own context guide their work when encountering instances of alitteration. (Dickins et al 2013: 81–82.) MLP: FiM is more or less anything but factual. While its lessons on friendship and tolerance still add an educational aspect to the series, it seems to be primarily intended as entertainment, where the alliteration functions as character quirk as well as a means of adding more humor to the text. 3.9 Code-switching Code-switching describes a situation where a speaker (or text) switches between two dialects or languages according to situation (situational code-switching) or topic (metaphorical code-switching) (Wardhaugh 2011: 101). In MLP: FiM, instances of code-switching occur when the character Rarity uses French words and expressions in otherwise English-language speech, typically when talking of fashion and society life. Azevedo points out that texts which contain two languages demand of the reader (or in this case, viewer and listener) an interpretative effort on two levels. In addition to having to decipher one more language than usual, the reader must also decode the sociocultural and political connotations that the use of a second language in relation to the first carry. (Azevedo 1993: 223, cited in Callahan 2004: 111.) In the case of MLP: FiM, this may mean that viewers must try to understand the meaning of the French words or at least what they are referring to, and furthermore that viewers may benefit from knowing something of the image of France and especially Paris as a fashion capital, and the connotations of French (e.g. refinement, education, culture, etc.). At the very least, the presence of another language may add a romantic or exotic element to the character and/or text (Graham 1985: 30, cited in Callahan 2004:111). 3.10 Summary of Theory and terminology This chapter has reviewed and discussed the theoretical concepts and the terminology used in this thesis, starting with the definition of dubbing and lip synchronization 40 (3.1, 3.2) and the theoretical and practical aspects of giving audiovisual media a new soundtrack in another language. It may be noted that the dubbing theory referred in this chapter is fairly practical, focusing on how elements such as timing, the lip movements visible on screen, and the dubbing process affect the final translation. In addition to this, section 3.3 briefly discusses differences between the source language (English) and the target languages (Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian) of the dubbed My Little Pony episodes, and the possible influence they may have on the transference of certain source language features. Different linguistic features that appear in the source (and target) material, and the potential challenges that may arise when translating them, were also discussed in sections 3.4 through 3.9. These features included dialect, language play (alliteration, rhyming, woordplay, neologisms) and code-switching (borrowing words from one language while communicating mainly in another). These make up the character- specific linguistic features, or idiolects (defined in 3.4), whose translation will be analyzed in the following chapter, Analysis. 41 4 ANALYSIS The analysis section will begin with Pinkie Pie’s wordplay and how her playful language use has been handled in the dubs. Section 4.2 focuses on Applejack’s dialectal and colloquial speech features, and section 4.3 on Rarity’s code-switching. Definitions and discussions of each speech feature were presented in Theory and terminology in chapter 3, and their contribution to the characterization explained in detail in the Material section 1.1 in the Introduction chapter. A summary of the observations from the analysis is provided in the Conclusions, chapter 5 of this thesis. The number of the episode the examples are taken from is noted in the format S01XX, e.g. S0123 (Season 01, episode 23). 4.1. Pinkie Pie As described in the Material section, Pinkie Pie is portrayed as an eccentric and hyperactive entertainer, and in line with this her language is often playful, nonsensical and irregular. Her most notable speech habits include punning, alliteration, regularized superlative formation (best-est), rhyming, and the use of neologisms. The translation of these features in the Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish dubs will be examined in the following sections. Figure 2 below illustrates how large a share of the full material on Pinkie Pie’s idiolect (49 instances in total) each individual type of language play constitutes (a similar chart for Applejack’s dialect will be provided in section 4.2). 42 Figure 2. Pinkie Pie’s speech features 4.1.1 Wordplay Overall, the eight puns used by Pinkie Pie appear relatively simple in structure, vocabulary and content. According to Koolstra et al (2002: 331), when a joke in the original text is untranslatable, it is an advantage of dubbing that it is possible for the translator to make up a whole new substitute joke to replace the original. However, when translating the wordplay it seems the Swedish dub translator has tended to opt for more literal translations, rather than recreation and a freer transfer of jokes. This can be seen for example in the puns featured in example 3, where Pinkie Pie is admiring her friend Twilight’s new pet owl and comments, (3) English (S0124) Swedish Norwegian Finnish Oh, what a fantastical, flufflicious feathery little friend! I'm... HOOked! Åh, vilken fantastisk, fluffig liten fjädervän! Jag är…HO- fångad! Å, før en fantastisk flakselastisk fjærede liten venn! Så FLAKS! ”Oi, miten söpö-pöpö pikku höyhenkaveri! Juu-HUU!” . Wordplay (8) Neologisms (9) Allitteration (11) Rhyming (18) Regularized superlative formation (3) 43 In the English original, “hoo” in “hooked” is exaggerated to mimic an owl’s call. This is the noise an owl would make “in Swedish” as well, and it is retained in the dub. However, hooked is translated as fångad, a somewhat literal translation that in itself does not contain any hoo-sound (nor do alternatives such as for example fängsla, förtrolla or förtjusa), which results in loss of the wordplay. The structure of this line may have been difficult to change in the dub, as “hoo” is marked in the visuals by an exaggerated head and mouth movement and facial expression that pantomimes an owl hooting. While lip synchronization constraints tend to be less strict in animation, due to simplified physical representation (O’Connell 2003a: 224), the mouth and face movements in this particular instance may be specific enough for demands for lip synchronization to apply. What is said by the character is expected to match what is seen on the screen, although this may result in loss of characterization and content. Still, a freer translation is not necessarily impossible, as shown in the two other dubs. In the Finnish dub of the same episode, the translator has included the “huu” (Finnish version of “hoo”) shout as part of juuhuu, in English “yo-hoo”, an interjection that in this context humorously expresses approval. This translation transfers the use of wordplay in a form similar to the original, as it combines “huu” with a previously existing word that partially has the same form. In theory, as juuhuu/ yo-hoo can be used in Swedish as well (“Joohoo, är nägon här?”), this translation may have worked in the Swedish dub as well, had the dubber(s) opted for a freer translation. In the Norwegian dub in turn, the translator has exchanged the hoo – hooked wordplay for a pun based around flaksa – to flap one’s/it’s wings - and flaks, an expression meaning luck; for example ha flaks i lotteri means to have luck/good fortune in a lottery. This expression has been borrowed into Norwegian from Swedish, where it has the same meaning, and could possibly have worked in the Swedish dub as well. This translation does not follow the structure of the original joke, which is based around two separate words that have been “combined”, but instead uses one word with two different meanings to create a new version of the wordplay. Another example of punning appears earlier in the same episode, when the dragon Spike has fallen asleep in a near-empty punch bowl after watching a meteor shower late at 44 night. In the English original, Pinkie makes a comment that contains a wordplay based around Spike’s name and the act of “spiking” beverages by adding alcohol, which in the Swedish and Finnish dubs has been translated as seen in example 4: (4) English (S0124) Swedish Norwegian Finnish And now the punch has been...spiked! Och nu har bålen fått…Spike! Og nu er punsjen helt…sluttet! Boolin mausteena on nyt…Spike! In the Swedish dub, the line has been translated quite literally, which results in the wordplay disappearing in the dub. Although Swedish contains several established English loan words such as tejp (tape), hajp (hype), fejs (face) and fejk (fake), spike (as in “to spike a drink”) is not one of them. This action is instead usually referred to as att spetsa en drink, which is a direct translation of the English expression, but using this translation instead would be unlikely to convey the use of wordplay any more adequately than the current one (not to mention, a reference to alcohol that is not “hidden” in a pun, as in the original voicing, may be considered too explicit and unsuitable to include in a children’s cartoon). Still, it is possible to compensate for loss of wordplay by creating entirely new jokes in a translation, for example through the use of false etymology (Sanderson 2009:123–124), which might have still been an option in this case. For perhaps the same reasons as the Swedish dub, the Finnish and Norwegian dubs of this line do not transfer the wordplay, either, though Spike acting as spice for the punch may still be more recognizable as humorous to viewers of the Finnish dub. A third instance of wordplay, or perhaps rather idiom play or graphic play, occurs when Pinkie Pie acts as sports commentator during a race which she overviews from a hot-air balloon. Before the start of the race she is approached by Spike, and greets him with the line in example 5: 45 (5) English (S0103) Swedish Norwegian Finnish Hey Spike, what’s up? Oh wait, I’m up! Hej Spike, vad händer? Åh, vänta, jag händer! Hei Spike, snap høyt? Nei, vent, det er meg, jeg er høyt! Hei Spike, mitä kuuluu? Ai niin, minä kuuluu! “I’m up” refers to Pinkie Pie’s position as a commentator, hovering in a hot-air balloon some distance above ground. The Norwegian translation (and, it might be noted, the Danish translation as well) of this line has been translated using wordplay that refers to her position some distance above ground, while the Finnish dub in turn uses wordplay that refers to her role as commentator. Although with some alteration in the case of the Finnish dub, these translations still retain the use of wordplay in reference to the situational context. However, in the Swedish dub, this line has been translated as one might usually translate “What’s up?” in Swedish, i.e. “Vad händer?” (“What happens?”). This makes no reference to neither flying nor commentary or any other form of discernible wordplay, and the use of punning is lost. Nor does the Swedish version of this line make much sense in general, even within its original context. On the other hand, seeing as other characters throughout the show (including Spike in the same episode) frequently are confused by Pinkie’s apparent non sequiturs and seemingly illogical responses, it might simply be seen by viewers as another instance of this behavior. A fourth use of punning, shown in example 6 below, appears in the episode “Applebuck season” in which Pinkie Pie enlists an already overworked and unfocused Applejack to help bake cupcakes for the bakery Pinkie Pie works at. This eventually results in food poisoning and hospital visits for everyone who eats the cupcakes. When a nurse explains the situation to one of Pinkie’s visiting friends by informing her that “It was a mishap with some of the baked goods”, Pinkie comments, 46 (6) English (S0104) Swedish Norwegian Finnish No, not baked goods - baked bads. Nej, inte bakverk – bakvärk. Nej, ikke bakverk – bakherk Ei, ei vain sitä…täystuho! The wordplay in the English version revolves around the meaning of “goods” as merchandise, and “good” as a quality. In the Swedish dub, the dubber has translated the line using the similarities in pronunciation between (bak)verk, pastry, and värk, ache or pain. In the Norwegian dub, the dubber has translated this line by rhyming (bak)verk with herk, a word that can either mean trash or something painful. These solutions retain the use of wordplay, which has not been done in the Finnish dub, where the nurse’s comment is “Jokin kommellus leipomossa” (“Some mishap in the bakery”) and Pinkie responds that it is not just a mishap, but “täystuho”, complete disaster. Finally, three examples of wordplay in the form of names appear in the episode “Party of one” where all of Pinkie’s friends have excused themselves from attending the after- birthday party Pinkie is hosting for her pet alligator. Convinced that her friends no longer like her, she loses all touch with reality and throws a party anyway, using among others a heap of rocks named Rocky and a piece of lint named Sir Lintsalot as stand-in guests. The names are quite obvious references to the objects themselves, with Lintsalot also being a reference to the knight Sir Lancelot in the Arthurian legend. The English voicing also features one more wordplay in the form of a flour bag named Madame le Flour, where the wordplay is based on the similarity in pronunciation between flour, flower, and French Madame le Fleur. In the dubs, Lintsalot and Rocky have been translated as shown in example 7 and 8: (7) English (S0125) Swedish Norwegian Finnish Why, thank you, Rocky. Tack så mycket, Rocky. Tusen takk, Rocky. Voi kiitos, Kivinen. 47 (8) English (S0125) Swedish Norwegian Finnish Another slice of cake, Sir Lintsalot? Another slice of cake, Sir Lintsalot? Ett kakestycke til, Sir Bamselot? Saako olla kakkua, Sir Vanutus? The retention of the English-language names in the Swedish and (partially in) the Norwegian dubs may mean the wordplay goes unnoticed at least by viewers that do not have a very extensive knowledge of English, such as small children. It seems that out of the instances of wordplay presented here, these would be relatively easy to translate into Swedish and Norwegian. Regarding Rocky, the Scandinavian first name Sten – meaning “rock”, “cliff” - is a relatively common male given name in Sweden and Norway, and like Rocky, it is also short, which presumably would make it easier to maintain lip synchrony. As for Sir Lintsalot, in the Swedish translation this name has been retained, while the Norwegian dub features a fairly literal translation, Sir Bamselot. Neither solution seems to work as a play on words that would be recognizable to the target audience, though both Lintsalot and Bamselot may still work as neologisms/nonsense words, another linguistic feature Pinkie Pie uses recurringly. Still, except for the name there is no other auditory or visual allusion to Lancelot that might be rendered incomprehensible by a translation that does not refer specifically to him. Changing the name entirely might thus have been possible – for example, combining Swedish/Norwegian words for lint with common surnames (e.g. Luddberg, Adammson, Støvig, Dammserud or Dammberg) might be a simple way to transfer the pun in a manner understandable to a non-English speaking audience, including children who are not familiar with the Arthur legend. In the Finnish dub, Rocky has been translated fairly literally as Kivinen, which is also a Finnish surname. This retains the wordplay and makes the joke clear also to viewers who do not understand English. Sir Lintsalot has been translated as Sir Vanutus