Cover not available

Article published In: Target
Vol. 37:4 (2025) ► pp.568–589

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Strategies for subtitling the s-word in Hollywood films into Arabic

A corpus-based study

ORCiD logo with link | University of Bisha
Published online: 21 August 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.23178.sah
Abstract
This study investigates the translation strategies and prevailing approaches applied by Arab translators in translating the s-word. To achieve this aim, a corpus of ninety Hollywood films released between 2000 and 2018 was utilized. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted on a self-designed parallel and aligned corpus of the English dialogue and Arabic subtitles. The findings indicate that the cultural substitution strategy is most commonly used in subtitling s-words, followed by the reformulation strategy. The functions of s-words appear to influence the choice of subtitling strategies. The use of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) for the subtitling of these films also restricts the linguistic options available to subtitlers. Additionally, the affordances of audiovisual translation play a role in subtitler choices since the meaning of a word can be conveyed through gestures, images, or sounds on screen.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Categories of taboo words
    • 2.2Subtitling strategies
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Sample
    • 3.2Procedures
    • 3.3Quantitative and qualitative analyses
  • 4.Results and discussion
    • 4.1Cultural substitution
    • 4.2Omission
    • 4.3Reformulation
    • 4.4Direct translation
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (49)
References
Abu-Rayyash, Hussein, Ahmad S. Haider, and Amer Al-Adwan. 2023. “Strategies of Translating Swear Words into Arabic: A Case Study of a Parallel Corpus of Netflix English-Arabic Movie Subtitles.” Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 10 (1): 1–13. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Al-Adwan, Amer Samed Abu Orabi. 2009. Euphemisation as a Politeness Strategy in Arabic Screen Translation, with a Special Reference to ‘Friends’. PhD thesis. University of Manchester.
Albarakati, Mohammed. 2024. “Arabic Audio-Visual Translation Censorship: A Corpus Study of Subtitles of Three Films.” International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation 7 (1): 51–61. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Alkadi, Tammam. 2010. Issues in the Subtitling and Dubbing of English-language Films into Arabic: Problems and Solutions. PhD thesis. Durham University.
Allan, Keith, and Kate Burridge. 2006. Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Andersson, Lars-Gunnar, and Peter Trudgill. 1990. Bad Language. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ávila-Cabrera, José Javier. 2023. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Analysis of Dubbed and Subtitled Insults into European Spanish.” Journal of Pragmatics 217 (11): 188–198. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bednarek, Monika. 2019. “Multifunctionality of Swear/Taboo Words in Television Series.” In Emotion in Discourse, edited by Lachlan Mackenzie and Laura Alba-Juez, 29–54. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beers Fägersten, Kristy. 2012. Who’s Swearing Now? The Social Aspects of Conversational Swearing. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beers Fägersten, Kristy, and Karyn Stapleton. 2017. “Advances in Swearing Research: New Languages and New Contexts.” In Advances in Swearing Research: New Languages and New Contexts, edited by Kristy Beers Fägersten, 1–15. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blackledge, Adrian, and Angela Creese. 2017. “Translanguaging and the Body.” International Journal of Multilingualism 14 (3): 250–268. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dewaele, Jean-Marc. 2020. “The Emotional Rollercoaster Ride of Foreign Language Learners and Teachers: Sources and Interactions of Classroom Emotions.” In Language Education and Emotions: Research into Emotions and Language Learners, Language Teachers and Educational Processes, edited by Mathea Simons and Tom Smits, 207–222. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Díaz-Cintas, Jorge, and Aline Remael. 2007. Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DuFrene, Debbie D., and Carol M. Lehman. 2002. “Persuasive Appeal for Clean Language.” Business Communication Quarterly 65 (1): 48–55. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fernández Fernández, María Jesús. 2009. “The Translation of Swearing in the Dubbing of the Film South Park into Spanish.” In New Trends in Audiovisual Translation, edited by Jorge Díaz Cintas, 188–201. Bristol. Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
García Manchón, Paula. 2013. A Corpus-Based Analysis of Swearword Translation in DVD Subtitles and Internet Fansubs. MA thesis. Universidad Complutense.
Haider, Ahmad S., Bassam Saideen, and Riyad F. Hussein. 2023. “Subtitling Taboo Expressions from a Conservative to a More Liberal Culture: The Case of the Arab TV Series Jinn.” Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication 16 (4): 363–385. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Han, Chong, and Kenny Wang. 2014. “Subtitling Swearwords in Reality TV Series from English into Chinese: A Corpus-Based Study of The Family.” Translation & Interpreting 6 (2): 1–17.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hughes, Geoffrey. 1991. Swearing: A Social History of Foul Language, Oaths and Profanity in English. New York: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jay, Timothy, and Kristin Janschewitz. 2008. “The Pragmatics of Swearing.”‏ Journal of Politeness Research, 4 (2): 267–288. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Khaghaninejad, Mohammad Saber, Alireza Ahmadi, and Tanaz Shegeft. 2020. “An Investigation into the Effect of Foreign Language Learning on the Use of Taboo Words in the Learners’ First Language Discourse.” Teaching English Language 14 (1): 91–117.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Khalaf, Abed Shahooth, and Sabariah Rashid. 2016. “Attenuating Obscenity of Swearwords in the Amateur Subtitling of English Movies into Arabic.” Arab World English Journal 7 (1): 295–309. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kilgarriff, Adam. 2014. Sketch Engine. [URL]
Lie, Sondre. 2013. Translate This, Motherfucker: A Contrastive Study on the Subtitling of Taboo Words. MA thesis. University of Oslo.
Ljung, Magnus. 2011. Swearing: A Cross-Cultural Linguistic Study. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ludwig, Christian, and Theresa Summer. 2023. “Approaching Taboos and Controversial Issues in Foreign Language Education.” In Taboos and Controversial Issues in Foreign Language Education, edited by Christian Ludwig and Theresa Summer, 3–20. New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mateo, José, and Francisco Yus. 2000. “Insults: A Relevance-Theoretic Taxonomical Approach to Their Translation.” International Journal of Translation 12 (1): 97–130.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McEnery, Anthony, and Zhonghua Xiao. 2004. “Swearing in Modern British English: The Case of F**k in the BNC.” Language and Literature 13 (3): 235–268. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McEnery, Anthony. 2006. Swearing in English: Bad Language, Purity, and Power from 1586 to the Present. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Midjord, Margit Siri. 2013. Swearing in Subtitles. PhD thesis. School of Business and Social Sciences, Denmark.
Montagu, Ashley. 1967. The Anatomy of Swearing. New York: Collier-Macmillan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nguyen, Thi Mai Khanh. 2015. Well Fuck! A Comparative Case Study in DVD Subtitling: The Linguistic Transfer of Taboo Language in Reservoir Dogs from English into Dutch. MA thesis. Utrecht University.
Pavesi, Maria, and Maicol Formentelli. 2023. “The Pragmatic Dimensions of Swearing in Films: Searching for Coherence in Dubbing Strategies.” Journal of Pragmatics 217 (11): 126–139. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pinker, Steven. 2007. The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature. London: Penguin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pujol, Dídac. 2006. “Translation and Dubbing of Fuck in to Catalan: The Case of From Dusk till Dawn.” Journal of Specialised Translation (6): 121–133. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Radford, Andrew, Martin Atkinson, David Britain, Harald Clahsen, and Andrew Spencer. 2009. Linguistics: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sahari, Yousef. 2023. “A Corpus-Based Study of Euphemising Body Parts in Arabic Subtitles.” Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 10 (1): 1–11. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Soler Pardo, Betlem. 2011. Swearing and Translation: A Study of the Insults in the Films of Quentin Tarantino. PhD thesis. Valencia: Universidad de Valencia.
Steiner, Franz. 2013. Taboo. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Valdeón, Roberto A. 2024. “The Vulgarization Hypothesis and the Translation of Swearwords by Male and Female Translators in AVT in Spain.” Journal of Pragmatics 219 (1): 1–11. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Veltman, Robert. 1998. “Lars Porsena and My Bonk Manager: A Systemic-functional Study in the Semogenesis of the Language of Swearing.” In Linguistic Choice across Genres: Variation in Spoken and Written English, edited by Antonia Sánchez-Macarro and Ronald Carter, 301–316. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wajnryb, Ruth. 2005. Expletive Deleted: A Good Look at Bad Language. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Widlitzki, Bianca, and Magnus Huber. 2016. “Taboo Language and Swearing in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century English: A Diachronic Study Based on the Old Bailey Corpus.” In Corpus Linguistics on the Move, edited by María José López-Couso, Belén Méndez-Naya, Paloma Núñez-Pertejo, and Ignacio M. Palacios-Martínez, 313–336. Leiden: Brill. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yuan, Long. 2016. Subtitling of Sexual Taboo from English to Chinese. PhD thesis. Imperial College London.
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue