Research Articles (African Languages)
http://hdl.handle.net/2263/5632
2024-03-29T15:34:57ZSubtitling, semiotics and spirited away
http://hdl.handle.net/2263/95230
Subtitling, semiotics and spirited away
Sanders, Lisa
When translating a film according to typical subtitling models, the focus is usually solely on the dialogue of the film. Furthermore, the resulting translations are often impoverished to a large extent due to the constraints of the medium. The combined effects of this result in a significant loss of equivalence between the subtitles and the original linguistic and extralinguistic information. A potential method of preventing this loss is the application of a semiotic model for translation during the subtitling process. To this end, an existing model for the semiotranslation of film was enhanced and applied to the subtitling of the wildly popular Japanese animated film Spirited Away (2001). The resulting subtitles were evaluated for equivalence with the source text (ST) against the existing subtitle track that was distributed on a DVD release of the film. It was found that much more information, both from dialogue and on-screen extralinguistic content, could be conveyed by the semiotic subtitles than those created following more traditional subtitling norms.; LAY SUMMARY : When subtitles are created for films, the translators usually focus only on the dialogue that is spoken. Subtitles also often tend to have missing information, and are not written word-by-word. This is due to the rules for subtitles regarding their length and how long they are allowed to remain on-screen. Because of the information that is left out, the translations can sometimes be inaccurate. Subtitles also often ignore other aspects of a film, such as symbolic details in the visuals as well as in the choice of certain words over others. In order to try to prevent the loss of these details, this article explores a way of translating films through examining and analysing the signs and symbols that are represented in the film, especially in the dialogue. This method was applied to the popular Japanese animated film Spirited Away (2001), and subtitles created according to it were compared with the subtitles that are available on a DVD of the film. The comparison shows that it is possible to explain more of the missing information by translating with a focus on the symbols used in the film instead of trying to rely only on a straightforward translation of the dialogue.
2022-03-01T00:00:00ZThe future of metalexicography : reaching for the mesosphere
http://hdl.handle.net/2263/94380
The future of metalexicography : reaching for the mesosphere
De Schryver, Gilles-Maurice
In this research article, a quantified look is taken at the metalexicographic endeavours of the past half century, starting in 1971. It is argued that the year 2021 represents a tipping point, and for that reason, when illustrations are needed in the article, those are preferably taken from the work of Sue Atkins, who passed away in 2021. It analyses the formation of the various continental lexicography associations, as well as their conferences and linked proceedings, and ends with the current and future role of the global lexicographic alliance. In addition, a comparative bibliometric study is undertaken of the four main journals of our field. It is shown that the number of metalexicographic studies and the impact these have continued to grow, to the point where dedicated tools and databases are currently needed for the efficient examination and use of the now many thousands of conference papers, journal articles, and other publications. A brief section also deals with modern dictionary user research, which is, according to current thinking, subsumed under metalexicography. With and from this vast amount of data, the future direction of metalexicography is extrapolated. The undertaken research is thus very much data-driven, and refrains from thought experiments to arrive at that future.; In dit onderzoeksartikel wordt een gekwantificeerde blik geworpen op de metalexicografische inspanningen van de afgelopen halve eeuw, beginnend in 1971. Er wordt beweerd dat het
jaar 2021 een kantelpunt vertegenwoordigt, en om die reden maken de meeste illustraties in het
artikel gebruik van het werk van Sue Atkins, die in 2021 overleed. Dit artikel analyseert de ontwikkeling van de verschillende continentale lexicografieverenigingen, evenals hun conferenties en
gekoppelde conferentieverslagen, en eindigt met de huidige en toekomstige rol van de wereldwijde
lexicografische alliantie. Daarnaast wordt een vergelijkende bibliometrische studie uitgevoerd van
de vier belangrijkste tijdschriften uit ons vakgebied. Er wordt aangetoond dat de hoeveelheid
metalexicografische studies en de impact die deze hebben blijven groeien, tot het punt waarop vandaag speciale tools en databases nodig zijn voor het efficiënt doorzoeken en gebruiken van de nu
vele duizenden conferentiepapers, tijdschriftartikelen en andere publicaties. Een korte rubriek gaat
ook over modern 'onderzoek naar het gebruik van woordenboeken', dat volgens de huidige opvattingen onder metalexicografie valt. Met en uit deze enorme hoeveelheid gegevens wordt de toekomstige richting van de metalexicografie geëxtrapoleerd. Het uitgevoerde onderzoek is dus sterk
data-gedreven en onthoudt zich van gedachte-experimenten om tot die toekomst te komen.
2023-06-01T00:00:00ZGenerative AI and lexicography : the current state of the art using ChatGPT
http://hdl.handle.net/2263/93462
Generative AI and lexicography : the current state of the art using ChatGPT
De Schryver, Gilles-Maurice
In this article, all ten papers and talks that have been devoted to the use of ChatGPT in lexicography so far are critically analysed, their results tabulated and cross-compared, from which the leading trends are determined. Extrapolating from the trendlines, a single short but robust new prompt is fine-tuned with which articles from different word classes are generated fully-automatically for a dictionary which compares favourably to the best practice in dictionary compilation. The conclusion is that a new age, that of the successful application of generative AI in lexicography, has dawned.
2023-12-01T00:00:00ZOptical character recognition and text cleaning in the indigenous South African languages
http://hdl.handle.net/2263/92986
Optical character recognition and text cleaning in the indigenous South African languages
Prinsloo, Danie J. (Daniel Jacobus), 1953-; Taljard, Elsabe (Elizabeth); Goosen, Michelle
This article represents follow-up work on unpublished presentations by the authors of text and corpus cleaning strategies for the African languages. In this article we provide a comparative description of cleaning of web-sourced and text-sourced material to be used for the compilation of corpora with specific attention to cleaning of text-based material, since this is particularly relevant for the indigenous South African languages. For the purposes of this study, we use the term “web-sourced material” to refer to digital data sourced from the internet, whereas “text-based material” refers to hard copy textual material. We identify the different types of errors found in such texts, looking specifically at typical scanning errors in these languages, followed by an evaluation of three commercially available Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tools. We argue that the cleanness of texts is a matter of granularity, depending on the envisaged application of the corpus comprised by the texts. Text corpora which are to be utilized for e.g. lexicographic purposes can tolerate a higher level of ‘noise’ than those used for the compilation of e.g. spelling and grammar checkers. We conclude with some suggestions for text cleaning for the indigenous languages of South Africa.
2022-01-01T00:00:00Z