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A Road Map for Dubbing idiolects in TV Series:
the Case of the Prison Break Serial in Iran
Gholamreza Medadian
English Department, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan branch, Hamedan, Iran
gh_medadian@yahoo.com
Abstract
Dubbing TV series which include many characters with different idiolects and
intra-linguistic variations is a very demanding task for every dubbing team. Although
dubbing directors are aware of the existence of various idiolects in their projects and
try to reflect the variations, this can be done in a more organized fashion which can
improve the quality of the dubbing. This paper set outs to propose a table of
specifications for every character‟s idiolect, to act as a road map to guide dubbing
teams and the translation trainees to render source idiolects efficiently into target
language idiolects. In the case study conducted on the dubbed version of
The Prison
Break
serial, distinctive verbal and paralinguistic idiosyncrasies in the characters‟
idiolects were found to be the mostly neglected features of speech in the dubbing
process. Based on this table, the paper also proposes a methodology for dubbing
quality assessment from idiolectal variations point of view drawing on the
comparative-descriptive methodology of Gideon Toury (1995).
Keywords:
Intra-linguistic Variations, Idiolects, Prime Time TV Series, Dubbing,
Dubbing Quality Assessment, Table of Specifications
Film uses language variation and accent
to draw characters quickly, building on
established
preconceived
notions
associated with specific regional loyalties,
ethnic, racial, or economic alliances.
(Lippi-Green, 1997, p. 80)
1. Introduction
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Films and TV serials reflect or sometimes anticipate current realities, and the presence of language variations on the screen is clearly a response to worldwide changes brought about by mass immigration and its linguistic consequences. Politicians have become interested in discussions of cultural diversity and ethnic pluralism as a means of reconsidering language rights and language policy, and cultural studies have introduced concepts such as mobility, hybridity and creolisation, all of which bring aspects of language plurality or multilingualism to the fore (Meylaerts, 2006, pp. 2-3). In addition, Growing linguistic multiplicity in today's world has made the TV producers try hard to bring people with different ethnicities and social backgrounds to live together in more cosmopolitan settings. Hollywood TV producers want to attract more and more audience and bring the American heroes like Dr. Jack in the Lost and officer Jack in 24 to the fore as the American James Bonds, saviors of mankind. Besides, to keep the cosmopolitan color, different intra-linguistic variations are embedded skillfully in these TV productions.
Some of the popular TV series include many intra and inter-linguistic variations. Intra-linguistic variation refers to the presence of two or more varieties of the same language along with each other in one community (e.g. the presence of Black American English and Chicano English in a movie). Intra-linguistic variations are different from inter-linguistic variations in that the latter refer to the presence of the two or more different languages along with each other in one community (e.g. presence of English, Italian and German languages in a movie). Dubbing Intra-linguistic variations requires special translation methods (for methods see: Heiss 2004; Corius, 2004; Baldo, 2009). Heiss (2004) suggests that in dubbing both inter-linguistic and intra-linguistic variations must be taken into consideration. She believes that intra-linguistic variations require different modes of dubbing than inter-linguistic variations.
In fact, the variations present in the human language in general and human speech in particular are its most significant properties. It is very difficult to find two persons who use their language in exactly the same manner. This is true even if they are identical twins. They show some differentiating features in their speech which distinguishes their speech from each other. As Armstrong (2004) notes, one element of difficulty in translation is represented by the regional and social variations. However, in every region there are many people who use language quite idiosyncratically. Sometimes the term idiolect or individual specific dialect
is used to describe every specific individual‟s speech (Falk, 1978). The notion of idiolect is
well-known in Linguistics. Bloch originally defines an idiolect as “the totality of the possible utterances of one speaker at one time in using a language to interact with one other
speaker” (1948). Dittar defines idiolect as the language of the individual which differs from
that of other individuals because of the acquired habits and the stylistic features of the personality (1996, p. 111). Therefore, in the dubbing process, one must not only pay attention to regional, societal and dialectal differences but also to distinctive idiolectal
differences. Following Falk, Bloch and Dittar‟s definition of idiolect, it can be concluded that there are as many idiolects in a community or a TV serial setting as there are characters in them and these idiolects must be reflected and dubbed adequately in the dubbed serials. Every single character's idiolect is quite central to his characterization and is worth having a place in its dubbed version, as one can see from the quotation in the beginning of the article from Lippi-Green.
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are not dubbed adequately, and sometimes they are dubbed partially because dubbing
directors don‟t recognize and distinguish between all the present idiolects and their specific
feature readily. Even if they recognize and distinguish between all the different idiolects, they are in pain to find convincing counterparts for them in the target language and culture to reflect them or they do not have any established and standard criteria to find proper target language counterparts. Dubbing directors may even consider the reflection of all the idiolects present in the original a waste of time and resources of the usually low-budget dubbing projects. In addition, geolects and idiolects in the target language may have an established tradition of their own and associations with clichéd characters as Pavesi rightly notes (2005).
As a result of the above mentioned problems, in the dubbed versions, one can see the characters speaking only one or two intra-linguistic variations, mostly just formal and informal ones, while in the original TV series there are a dozen of intra-linguistic variations and as many idiolects as there are characters. The original series are more heterogeneous than the dubbed versions from the existence of idiolects point of view. A very good example of this phenomenon is the dubbed version of The Prison Break into Persian by Javaneh Puya Home video Corporation in Iran under the supervision of Mahmood Ghanbary as dubbing director (Ghanbary is a very famous figure in dubbing in Iran. He has been working in dubbing industry for more than 50 years). In the dubbed version, Behrooz Alimohamady is the voice of three main characters of The Prison Break (Patoshik, James Whistler and Nick Savrin) and Parviz Rabiee dubs the other three main characters, namely Franklin,
Michael‟s father and detective Self (Ebrahimizadeh, 2009). One wonders to what extent these people can change the characteristics of their voices to reflect the characteristics of the original serial protagonists. Consequently, one can see a black American talking like a white American using the same informal style or a Mexican-looking gangster talking as a street-wise Asian American. Conversely, the nonverbal signs (body language, different neighborhoods, the race of the characters etc) are quite tell-tale in the serials. Different people with different races in different neighborhoods must have different idiolects, but it is not the case in the dubbed version and this is something the viewers notice at a glance. They expect to hear heterogeneous voices based on the nonverbal signs they see. This homogenous method of dubbing erases some of the important traces of social and linguistic differences. This lack of intra-linguistic differentiation in the dubbed versions makes the dubbed versions quite colorless and monotonous in the eyes of the audience.
Dubbing the aforementioned idiolectal variations and their respective cultural implications is quite time and resource consuming task for every dubbing team. On the one hand, there are different social groups living together with their respective dialects and idiolects. On the other hand, the long storyline of the TV series adds to the complexity of the task, as the number of the characters is significantly higher than the usual movies. Thus, there is a risk that the scriptwriter and the dubbing director lose track of the idiolectal variations and render the meaningfully different idiolects quite monotonously, as is the case with the above-mentioned TV series dubbed into Persian in Iran.
How can dubbing teams avoid such flattened out and homogenous dubbed versions? One possible answer is to find a way to consider and analyze the idiolects of the different characters efficiently in order to keep the dubbed versions consistent with the original and remain close to the intensions of the producers. Considering the fact that this TV series are usually dubbed with very low budgets, I suggest preparing a table of specifications, which
outlines characteristics of every character‟s idiolect, (their unique and idiosyncratic language
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be the first step toward devising a model for dubbing quality assessment from this point of view. The proposed table of specifications can stand as a road map for the dubbing team in
order to reflect each character‟s idiolect adequately in the target culture using whatever
means they at their disposal.
2. Intra-linguistic variations in the literature
Nowadays, the source language for most of the dubbed movies and serials is mostly English due to the great power of Hollywood in the film market. Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines Standard English as:
The English that with respect to spelling, grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary is uniform though not devoid of regional differences, that is well established by usage in the formal and informal speech and writing of the educated, and that is widely recognized as acceptable wherever English is spoken and understood (Merriam-Webster, 2005).
This definition includes some assumptions including:
a) The existence of standard spoken and written language and their assumed equality. Therefore, English has a Standard spoken version as much as a written version.
b) The existence of formal and informal standard language side by side each other. c) The existence of regional differences in Standard language.
Yet, Rosina Lippi–Green who explores the so-called notion of Standard American English in chapter 3 of her book, The Standard Language Myth, in detail, concludes that Standard
American English (spoken or written) is a “mythical beast”. She claims that it exists only as an “abstraction” not something real. It is an umbrella term for lots of dialects and idiolects
within the society. (1997, pp. 52-63).Thus, in American English language communities, there may be as many language variations as there are language users. Thus the using the term Standard is putting a restriction on the wide-ranging idiolectal variations existing within English speaking communities.
In order to analyze the language variations and different characters‟ idiolects one can turn
to the classification done by the linguists regarding the language variations and their respective features. However, there are many classifications available which seem quite
perplexing at the first glance. According to Arnold Zwicky “anyone who wants to talk about
the many varieties of a language is immediately faced with severe problems, the initial manifestations of which are largely terminological” (Zwicky, 1982, p. 213). This quotation displays a conceptual confusion with which a number of linguists have had to challenge when trying to name and define different subsets of language. This terminological flux can be easily seen by the co-existence of such notions like: variant, (social) variety, (social) dialect, special language, style, code, sublanguage, slang, cant, argot, jargon, etc. However, one has to start from somewhere. I consider the classifications and aspects considered by George Yule in his book, The Study of Language, as a point of departure. He describes the intra-linguistic variations under the following headlines, which are very illuminating to classify
the characters‟ idiolects in the table of specifications (2006, pp. 120-130):
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3) Style shifting in different situations; 4) Different types of register;
5) Colloquial speech or slang; 6) Vernacular languages.
Accent deals with “aspects of pronunciation“, whereas dialect is a term to define and
describe features of the grammar and vocabulary too. Accent shows where the speaker is
from originally. For example, the sentence what are you doing tonight “looks” the same
whether articulated by an American or British accent (though, it does not sounds the same). However, different dialects have different grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. For
example, “ye dinnae ken whit yer haverin about” is the product of one specific dialect of Scottish English” (Yule, 2006, p: 195) or one can hear a black American saying “ain't nobody gonna talk bout it”. One can easily notice the difference between the so-called Standard English in terms of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation used in these two sentences. Matsuda believes that the speech of the people who are at the center of power is considered normal, unaccented English; any speech different from normal and mainstream speech can be called an accent (1990-1991, p. 1361).
People use different styles in different social situations. In formal style, an individual usually speaks carefully and politely, whereas in informal style, one speaks carelessly and casually (Labov W. , 2001).for example, style shifting happens when a certain individual uses formal style with his boss and informal style with his friends and family members. It can be thought of as a kind of intra-lingual code switching. This is a very common case in the TV series, which are abundant with formal and informal situations for every individual character. Characters may often change style in different situations they come across to. Therefore, it is to be reflected in the dubbed versions consistently. The scriptwriter and the dubbing director should watch out for these style shifts in the almost always long running TV series.
The term register is a term coined by J. R. Firth, who defined it as a variety „serving a circumscribed field of experience or action‟, which „can be said to have its own grammar and dictionary‟ (Firth, 1957, pp. 87-98). Yule himself defines register as a conventional use of language appropriate for a specific context. It can be situational (e.g. in courtroom), occupational (e.g. Among computer technicians), and topical (e.g. talking about religion) the specific language for church, school, courtrooms etc (p. 204). One of the distinguishing features of a register is its jargon or its special vocabulary (e.g. affix, prefix, suffix, infix and inflection are among the terms used mostly among the linguists not other specialists).
Jargon refers to technical and field specific words and phrases used inside the established prestigious groups of people (e.g. lawyers, physicians or linguists), while colloquial speech or slang describes words and phrases utilized in the place of common everyday terms by other social groups with their own special interests (e.g. school children or prisoners). For example, c-note is used instead of a $100 note or kickass is used in the place of something fantastic. Use of taboo terms (prohibited words about religion, sex, etc) is a distinguishing characteristic of slang. Taboos are often swear words in a sentence like
don’tf**k around, you f**king a**hole! (P: 210-211). Use of vulgar words and expressions is another distinguishing feature of colloquial American English.
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Heath describe people who are educated, school-oriented, wishing to go upward through success in formal institutions and who look beyond their own family and community for behavioral models and value orientations as mainstreamers (1983, pp. 391-392). Yule believes that vernaculars have some marked differences from socially prestigious and mainstream language. The most distinguished example of the vernacular language in the US is African American Vernacular English (AAVE). Other examples of vernacular languages are Latino English, Chicano English (spoken in Hispanic American communities) and Asian American English. Vernacular languages have their own respective phonological features (p. 212). The most salient features of AAVE are negative concord, negative inversion, lack of inversion in embedded questions, double modals etc (see Labov et al. 1968; Wolfram 1974; Feagin 1979; Boortien 1979; Di Paolo 1989). It is clear that vernacular varieties are spoken by lower status groups in the society, while different dialects are spoken by people from different social status.
Peter Roach in his book, English Phonetics and Phonology, refers to paralinguistic or nonverbal features of human language, which vary across individuals. He states that
paralinguistic features include “facial expressions, gestures and body movements”. He also considers “laughs and sobs” as paralinguistic features (2000, p. 188). These features could
be very defining for every individual character‟s idiolect in the serials, especially if these features communicate meaning through auditory channel. Thus, they are worth having a
position in the table specification for characters‟ idiolect.
3. Methodology: preparing the table of specifications
A combination of linguistic features mentioned by Yule (2006), the nonverbal paralinguistic features introduced by Peter Roach (2000) (i.e. distinctive paralinguistic idiosyncrasies) and any distinctive verbal idiosyncrasies added by the author himself is used to prepare the table of specifications. They are those recurring verbal patterns specific to every character‟s speech (These may include individual specific phonological characteristics like tone, special quality of voice, over-lengthening the vowels or nasalized speech or use of short or long
sentences which may be a defining feature of a TV serial‟s character). Table 1 presents eight specifications for every individual character‟s idiolect:
Table 1: Characters' speech specifications
Fields 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Features
Style (formal /informal)
Style shifting
Register (situational, occupational,
or topical
Accent
Colloquial speech (slang)
Vernacular language
Verbal linguistic idiosyncrasies
Non-verbal paralinguistic idiosyncrasies
After defining the required fields for the table of specifications for every individual character's idiolect, based on the review of the literature, I propose a simple five-step
methodology. This methodology draws on Gideon Toury‟s descriptive-comparative methodology (1995) to put this table into operation to accomplish two main objectives:
a) to obtain a road map to dub idiolectal variations more efficiently and;
b) to compare the source idiolects and target idiolects in both original and dubbed
versions in order to assess the quality of the dubbing from idiolectal variation point of
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The proposed steps of the methodology are as follows:
First, all the episodes of the TV serial are watched very carefully in a short period of time and notes are taken regarding all the distinctive recursive features of every character's idiolect and speech, keeping the features of the table of specifications in mind. This step
draws on Toury‟s “regularity of behavior” notion. However, I turn the notion upside down to
refer to the source-text recurrent patterns, not the regularities of behavior in the translators‟ decisions. In other words, the recurrent features of every characters idiolect must be analyzed. The notes taken in this step are used to decide whether style shifting happens or not, because the scriptwriter forms a mental map of the story of the serial. They can help the scriptwriter find the non-verbal paralinguistic and verbal idiosyncrasies all over the episodes too.
Then, the notes are used to fill the table of specifications for every character. Some examples are provided to verify the decisions made as to the linguistic features attributed to each character. These examples would indicate that the selected features are in fact
recurrent in the given character‟s speech. For example, if the speaker shifts his style in some specific situations, it must be mentioned in its respective field (field 2) and then an example must be provided to verify this decision.
After filling out the required fields, the scriptwriter can summarize distinctive features of each character's idiolect within a few descriptive sentences to be used as a road map to dub
all the characters‟ speech in the dubbing process. For example, based on the information
obtained from the table, the scriptwriter may write down the following descriptions for some
hypothetical TV serial characters‟ idiolect (x and y):
x) Character x speaks informal Standard American English, except when he is talking
to his superiors in his office where he shifts to formal style using much chemistry
jargon with his distinguished New York accent. He has sinusitis, so most of his
speech is nasalized in nature;
y) Character y always speaks formally, he uses too much religious jargon with his
distinguished Mexican accent, and he often licks his own lips (a paralinguistic
feature).
The first and second steps must be repeated for the dubbed version too.
Finally, the specifications of the original and dubbed version must be compared to see the degree to which the dubbing team has been successful in reflecting the idiolectal variations
present in the original TV serial. This comparison may highlight the original serial characters‟
linguistic and paralinguistic features which are often neglected. If the comparison show a significant agreement between source and target idiolects (i.e. if the dubbed version mirrors the intra-linguistic variations in the original properly), the dubbing team receives a high score in dubbing quality assessment from idiolectal variations point of view. As Toury believes, the unit of comparative analysis could be “coupled pairs of target and source text segments,
replacing and replaced items, respectively” (1995, p. 89). Here, I consider each field of the
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character x in the dubbed version as coupled pairs of replacing and replaced items and the degree of their agreement would be determined.
As to the proposed steps for the methodology, the first step is quite reasonable in a dubbing country like Iran, where the TV series are dubbed after the original broadcast is almost over in the source countries (tough, it may not be the case in some other countries, as they may broadcast the TV serials on the real time basis). In this is the case, there is a great opportunity to watch and analyze all the available episodes of the serial in a short while (much less time than the original running time of the TV series like the Prison Break which was running for almost five years!). Watching all the episodes in a short while, one after another, gives the scriptwriter or the director a mind map as to the linguistic and social variations present in the serial. When the scriptwriter knows about all the existent variations, he will be more sensitive in the translation decisions he makes. As to the second step of the methodology, presence of a linguist as an aid to the scriptwriter can be of great help, because a linguist can help the scriptwriter differentiate very well between idiolectal variations based on his experience in the field. However, in some situations scriptwriter, linguist, and adaptor are all a same person because of the low-budget of the dubbing project, as is the case in the dubbed version of The Prison Break. Even in this situation the preparation of such a table by the Jack-of-all-trades person could be very useful. As to the third step of the methodology, since professional translators and dubbing directors have learned the process of dubbing mostly through practice in the real process of dubbing, they may be quite reluctant to adopt the proposed table of specifications and consider it the re-invention of the wheel. However, this table of specifications can also be quite useful for the professional situations, because many of the mistakes and shortcomings (e.g. flattened out and indistinctive idiolects) I noticed during my own assessment of The Prison Break could have been avoided, if such a table had been prepared beforehand. This table could be especially very handy for undergraduate and graduate student of translation or translation trainees who have no idea as to how to deal with such multiplicity of the intra-language variations and idiolects.
It is clear from the hypothetical descriptive sentences mentioned above that not all the fields in the table are necessarily filled out for each individual character. For some characters, all of them may be filled, for some just some of them. However, at least fields 1 and 4 must be determined for each character because everybody has to choose between formal and informal style for his speech because the claim that somebody does not have any
especial accent is a “myth” (Yule, 2006, p. 195). Thus, accent (field 4) is an always occupied
field in the proposed table of specifications. Fields 7 and 8 from the table may or may not be
filled based on every character‟s features. In the next section, this proposed methodology will be put into operation in a recently dubbed The Prison Break in Iran.
4. The proposed methodology in action
Now that the features for the table of specification are determined, it is time to put the table into operation using the proposed methodology in a very popular prime time TV serial, The Prison Break, which has been recently dubbed into Persian in Iran. For space limitations, only the first season of the serial is analyzed according to the proposed methodology.
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characters for every episode along with many recurring guest stars. It is set in different locations including Chicago, Dallas, Texas, and Florida, Los Angles and California. The first season is set mostly in Fox River State Penitentiary. It is a very rich serial regarding the multiplicity of its intra-linguistic variations gathered in one place. Its whole cast, multiplicity of the genres, multiplicity of the filming locations, the cosmopolitan and multicultural milieu, long running time and storyline will definitely bring about many problems for the dubbing team. However, having obtained a roadmap, it would be so much easier to reach the goal.
As was discussed in section 2, people do not speak in a vacuum, they all their have their special idiolect or what is called idiolect in the literature. The characters in The Prison Break are no exception to this. All the characters speak in a certain way, which characterizes their inner feeling and thoughts and may make people feel a certain way toward them during the long running episodes of the serial.
I start the analysis by providing a short synopsis of the serial. In the first season, Lincoln Burrows (Link the Sink), who is accused of murdering Terrence Steadman (the brother of the Vice President of the United States) is sentenced to death and is incarcerated in Fox River State Penitentiary where he awaits his execution. Lincoln's brother, brilliant structural engineer Michael Scofield, is convinced of Lincoln's innocence and formulates an escape plan. In order to gain access to Fox River, Michael commits an armed robbery, which results in his being sentenced to Fox River. In prison, Michael befriends the prison doctor Sara Tancredi when he pretends to suffer from Type 1 diabetes, in order to gain daily access to the prison's infirmary. The brothers' fight to ward off the execution is aided by their lifelong friend Veronica Donovan, who begins to investigate the conspiracy that put Lincoln in jail. However, they are hindered by covert agents, members of an organization known as The Company. The Company is responsible for framing Lincoln, and they did so because of Lincoln's father, Aldo Burrows (Anthony Denison), and his former connections to the company. The brothers, along with six other inmates, Fernando Sucre, Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell, Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin, David "Tweener" Apolskis, John Abruzzi, and Charles "Haywire" Patoshik, who come to be known as the Fox River Eight, escape in the season finale.
Having watched the first season of the serial in a relatively short while (almost a week), following observations were made about the recurring verbal and non-verbal features the main characters speech:
Michael Scofield, the structural engineer: Michael speaks informal American English all the time. His assuring, mysterious, and all-knowing idiolect is central to his character. His manner of talking adds more suspense to the movie and keeps the audiences on the edge their seats. In an interview, the director of the serial recalls that most of the actors who
tested for the role "would come in playing mysterious, but it was so cheesy and false.”
(Mitovich, 2008). A week before the start of production, Wentworth Miller auditioned for the role and impressed him with his performance; He was cast the following day (The Sydney Morning Herald. Australian Associated Press, 2006). Here are some examples of his speech
.
Michael: I am not here on vacation. Trust me.
Link: And people on the outside. People that can help you disappear.
Michael: I‟ve already got „em. They just don‟t know it yet. (Episode 1)
Michael: Wouldn‟t think you‟d find the daughter of Frontier Justice Frank working in a prison.
Sara: As a doctor, no less. I believe in being part of the solution, not the problem.
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(Episode 2)One can easily see the confident air in the first sentence by Michael (Trust me). The
suspense is also created by the last sentence (they don‟t know it yet). Second dialogue
shows his informal standard speech style clearly. There are many examples like these all over the serial.
Lincoln Burrows: He is a high school drop-out and a convicted felon. He speaks informal Standard American English like his brother. His doubtful and thoughtful idiolect reflects the fact that he has got nothing left to lose, nothing to worry about, and nobody to trust in anymore, but to think about his execution. He doubts everything, distrusts everybody, rejects every plan. This reflects his uncertainty and also the general uncertainty dominating the
serial‟s atmosphere. This is essential to his characterization. Lincoln„s uncertainty is quite
clear in the following dialogues. This is also reflected in his voice.
Michael: But how did they get it wrong, then? The courts, the appeals…
Link: I keep thinking, looking back on it, I was set up. And whoever it was that set me up wants me in the ground as quickly as possible. Look, whatever you‟ve got going on, fill me in,
cos I‟m in the dark here.
Link: Now's not the time to trust a black inmate. Michael: Our relationship transcends race.) Link: Nothing transcends race in here.
Link: This is madness. You can't even get outta your cell. Michael: Not true.
Link: What, you got a key?
Michael: yeah, something like that. (Episode 2, in the chapel of the Prison)
Veronica Donovan, the lawyer: Sometimes she speaks formally as lawyers do using
lawyers‟ jargon. At other times, she shifts to informal style when she is talking to ordinary
people. She uses law register whenever dealing with those people involved in the profession (lawyers, attorneys, judges).
Veronica: "Your Honor, we'd like to recess if we could. My client's a bit confused” (in the courtroom, Episode 1)
Veronica: I want the conviction overturned, and Lincoln Burrows immediately released from custody ( in Judge‟s office, episode 8)
Veronica: I'm representing Lincoln on his appeal. ( Police officer: What about it?)
Veronica: You were the first one to Lincoln's apartment the night of the murder. Police officer: Right.(هرآ بوخ)
Veronica: I'd really appreciate it if you could just tell me exactly what you saw.(Episode 7)
Fernando Sucre: He is a Puerto Rican-American, but other prisoners consider him Mexican. He speaks a Chicano American English Vernacular. He uses some Spanish words occasionally. Sometimes he utters full Spanish sentences like Te lo prometo, mi amor. He
has a recognizable Spanish accent. His funny sounding idiolect provides “comic relief to the show” (Prison Break Scoop Direct from the 2007 Paley Festival, 2007).
Fernando: I love you so much I ain't never knockin' over a liquor store again.
Fernando: I proposed to her. That doesn't take time. sí or no. One syllable, man. Me, mami. Believe me.
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Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell: He is a cunning, violent, and manipulative white psychopath, consistently underestimated by those around him. T-Bag has a very high opinion of himself and his own race. Some prisoners call him Hitler. He is a rapist, racist and gay. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants and lets nothing stand in his way. The way he talks cunningly is the distinctive feature of his evil sounding idiolect. He speaks colloquial language, but he mixes some prestigious and standard vocabulary to his speeches that don‟t look like his type. This is central to his character. His manner of talking suggests that he is stuck between socially high and low identities. He is trying to seem prestigious. During the following seasons of the serial he tries to be a better person a couple of times, but he never succeeds.
T-Bag: So, you're the new one I've been hearing all the rave reviews about. You're just as pretty as advertised. Scofield.
T-Bag: Rugheads got you scared, do they? I assume that's why you're over here. A few days on the inside, any God-fearing white man realizes the correctional system's got a lean toward the African-American persuasion.
T- Bag: You made it clear you ain't blood. You heard the man, little doggie.
One can see in the excerpts that he uses some highly standard vocabulary (God-fearing, correctional system, African-American persuasion) and at the same time he uses words like
doggie and ain‟t which are slang.
John Abruzzi, the mob boss: Due to his role as the leader of a Chicago mafia, Abruzzi is a prominent figure at Fox River State Penitentiary. Since he has been the mob boss, he acts like one of them. He speaks informally with his distinctive Italian accent (as his name suggests). His proud, short manner of speech reminds one of those people who have whatever they want in the world. He uses short sentences and talks a little as if he is going to receive a talk bill (like gas and water bills) at the end of the month for every single word he utters. He has a very high opinion of himself. His confident manner of talking indicates that prison has not contained and limited this mob boss and this is central to his characterization.
John: Who was this someone? Like origami? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
Kudos, fish! You got spine.
John: So what's the problem? Michael: You're looking at it. John: What, Haywire?
Michael: Yup. He's my new cell mate. John: That's a problem.
Michael: He doesn't sleep.
John: So, you better take care of your business or I will take care of you. Have a nice day.
Brad Bellick, the Captain: Bellick is introduced as the captain of Fox River's correctional officers. His despicable way of talking reflects this feature. He speaks colloquial English and does not avoid using vulgar words. He has a distinctive gruff voice quality.
Brad: You a religious man? Michael: Never thought about it.
Brad: Good, cos the Ten Commandments don't mean piss in here. We got two only. The first commandment is, you got nothin' comin'.
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Michael: Gotcha.Brad: You talkin‟ out the side of your neck?
Michael: Come again?
Brad: I said, are you bein' a smartass?
Sara Tancredi, the doctor: Sara is the prison doctor at Fox River. She takes a liking to Michael and eventually aids his escape. She ultimately joins them on the run. She speaks like a caring doctor all the time using medical jargon. She speaks informal Standard English. Her friendly manner of talk brings relief to the harsh violent setting of the serial from time to time.
Sara: I believe in being part of the solution, not the problem.
Sara: The only way you're getting that insulin is if I'm administering it.
Sara: I'm sure you know this, but average glucose for the non-diabetic is about 100mg/dl. If you see a number like that we know that you are being misdiagnosed.
Henry Pope, the warden: He speaks formal Standard American English. He talks seriously all the time like a real boss and sometimes gives fatherly advice to the inmates with his stentorian voice. His authoritative manner of talking is central to his character and indicates his authority in the prison atmosphere
.
Pope to Michael: I can't help wondering what someone with your credentials is doing in a Place like this.
Pope to Michael: You make it sound like a traffic infraction, like going the wrong way up a one-way street.
Pope: Look, Mr. Kellerman, do I come to your house and tell you where to put your furniture? Agent 1: We're just asking for professional courtesy.
Pope: A federal courtesy in a state penitentiary.
Agent 1: Most people would be happy to have a body taken off their hands.
Pope: These men are my responsibility. From the minute they walk in to the time they've paid their debt to society, I'm responsible. Unless he's done something I don't know about, he is gonna stay here at Fox River under my watch.
Pope: You're being transferred. Michael: What?
Pope: We're moving you over to Statesville. Michael: You can't do that.
Pope: Yes, I can. I'm the boss here. This is my house.
Black American inmates: there are many black American inmates in the serial. They speak African American Vernacular English (AAVE) with their own distinctive black American accent. They use double negatives, to be omissions, use constructions like ain‟t, use lots of vulgar and offensive words, use words like man and bro (brother) at the end of their sentences to add emphasis etc. Their rapid rap-like manner of talking is also quite distinctive. For example,
Black Inmate 1: Can't a brother get some air conditioning up here? It's hotter than a crack ho's mouth. (ho is a vernacular alteration for whore)
Black Inmate 2: To hell with the AC, man. Gimme the crack
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Having watched the serial in a short time and having taken the required notes, it‟s time toput the notes and the information collected from the serial into operation and fill out the table of the specifications for the chosen characters. The result is shown in table 2. The steps were repeated for the dubbed version of the serial. Table 3 shows the speech specifications for both versions in comparison.
5. Discussion on the table
of specification
Table 2 shows the abundance of variations in the chosen characters‟ idiolects in The
Prison Break. Some of the differences among the idiolects are quite remarkable, especially from the accent point of view. From the field 4 of the table, one can see the presence of American, Spanish, Italian and African accents and their respective idiolects. This indicates that dubbing team must pay a special attention to this abundance to be able to reflect these accents in the dubbed version. However, the findings of the table show that in the dubbed version there are much less accents than the original. In the dubbed version the actors usually speak Tehrani accent. This gives rise to a very homogenous set of idiolects in the dubbed version, whereas in the original one can easily notice the heterogeneity of the accents. This is where there many different regional accents available in the source country and culture which could be replaced with the accents of the original serial.
Table 2 also shows the presence of different vernacular languages like African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Chicano English with their respective features spoken by different characters. These vernaculars are a kind of unifying tool for the American minorities inside the prison walls. They are used as one of the ways to distinguish between insiders and outsiders in the social groups of the prison atmosphere. However, these Vernaculars are not reflected adequately in the dubbed version
.
Another idiolectal feature revealed by the table 2 is the distinctive verbal idiosyncrasies of different characters (e.g. use of foreign language words by Sucre, use of short sentences by Abruzzi or mixture of formal and informal style by T-bag etc). This feature has been often left
out in the dubbed version. For example, there is no trace of Sucre‟s Spanish words in the
dubbed version. He uses Spanish words like Papi or si in sentences like sí or no, one syllable man (درم هبلایس هی ،هن ای هرآ) or we have got a chance, papi (رسپ) or a full Spanish sentence like Te lo prometo, mi amor. Spanish and English words are both translated into Persian as one can see in the provided translation. The use of the Spanish words is quite telling about Sucre‟s origin, but they are not reflected in the dubbed version. These verbal
idiosyncrasies have not been reflected in the original because dubbing team wasn‟t aware of
their presence or significance, not because there are no ways to reflect them. The mentioned sentences could have been dubbed using a mixture of Persian-Turkish or Persian-Arabic which are quite common in everyday speech. Interestingly, these mixtures are used in Iranian setting to produce a same comic effect which is the same reason why they are used in the original serial. For example, the mentioned sentence could have been dubbed into یوخا هبلایس هی ،لا ای هرآ (notice the use of Arabic یوخا and لا which are quite common in Persian).
As a whole, table 2 indicates that the job of the dubbing team in this project has been very significant in almost half of the features (fields 1, 2, 3 and 5). These features have been reflected successfully in the dubbed version. It is interesting that these fields represent the most obvious features of the characters‟ speech. These features are the most visible features which could be discovered very readily by the dubbing directors. The second half of
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more analysis and conscious consideration on the side of the dubbing teams to be discovered. There is almost a 100% agreement between source and target features in these fields. However, in the
Table 2: Linguistic specifications of the characters in both versions
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second half the table (fields 4, 6, 7, and 8, but not field 5) there are many mismatches and disagreements between source and target features. These fields are the most idiosyncratic
features of every character‟s characterization. Regarding the high disagreement in the reflection of these features in the dubbed versions, the job of the dubbing team is not significant in the second half of the table. It means that special attention should be paid to these features if we expect a higher dubbing quality (about 50% higher).
The high degree of the agreement in the first half of the table (fields 1, 2, 3 and 5) may have been the result of the life long experience and practice of the dubbing professionals. In Iran, as far as the author knows, linguists have no place in the dubbing teams or the translator, scriptwriter and the linguist are all a same person in some situations, because of the lack of monetary resources. Considering the fact that dubbing trainees do not have such experience and understanding of the linguistic variations, preparing such a table of specifications would be of greater help for them in the process of becoming professionals.
One of the problematic features to be dubbed is foreign accents present in the serial (like Italian and Mexican). They are flattened out in the dubbed version of the serial. American, Mexican and Italian accents are all dubbed the same way into quite indistinctive informal Tehrani Persian accent. The dubbed version viewers see different faces indicating different origins and races, but no difference in the accents. The best matches in comparative table of specifications in both versions are Pope, Dr. Tancredi and Veronica. The worst matches are the black inmates, Sucre and Abruzzi. The latter characters are in fact among the non-streamers of English language in the United States: African Americans, Chicanos and Italian Americans respectively. In Iran there are many non-streamer Persian language speakers. In north of Iran people speak Gilaky Persian, in south of Iran they speak Bandary, in center of Iran they speak Isfahany and Yazdy Persian etc. These variations could be readily used to replace the Italian, Spanish and Black American variations and accents. However, this may take a while for Persian audiences who are quite are used to some well known dubbing voices to get used to the new dubbing voices.
It can be seen from table 2 that the more formal the idiolect of a certain character is, the easier the task of the dubbing team will be and vice versa. In some points they are preserved (e.g. the stentorian voice of the prison warden Henry Pope or the friendly speech of the prison doctor Sara Tancredi). Therefore, these features seem to need the highest degree of attention on the side of the dubbing teams, because they are mostly neglected in the dubbed version. Here, the presence of the proposed table of specification for the
characters‟ idiolect can be of great help to remind the dubbing director of these special
features. He can look for the actors with the required skill sets to be able to reflect these features.
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countries (such as Iran) dubbing represents an overt government policy in order to strengthen linguistic or political unity or to put it in Ulrych words to protect the purity of the home language (2000). Although this seems a quite defensive attitude and a form of resistance to hegemonic cultures and languages, it constitutes an appropriation which domesticates the original. Iranian dubbing policy is in general one of local standardization, explicitation and naturalization. The most common goal of a dubbed version is to be absolutely convincing to the audience, so that there is no sign of the presence or interference of the translator. However, is it what the audience themselves want? Is the presence of linguistic and idiolectal variations in the dubbed version against the anti-hegemonic policy of the dubbing countries? The answers to these questions require more research and are out of the scope of this article. Therefore, it is not only the United States which is domesticating the foreign texts to make them comply with the Angelo-American culture (as Venuti shows) or Brazil and Spain which follow domestication translation strategy as Pym (1996, pp. 165-177) cites in his paper, but also other countries are domesticating and localizing the foreign texts intentionally or not. If one is interested in the reflection of the foreign linguistic variation in the dubbed versions properly, the proposed table of specifications could be great help.
The question of how to deal with these variations and how to translate them properly is not the focus of this paper and the author is not interested in giving prescriptions for the translational problems. The answers to these questions are quite situation specific and require much considerations. However, the dubbing team and the translation trainees could turn to different theories of translation like functionalist theories (see Vermeer, 1989/2000; Nord, 1997) to find some answers to these questions. From the findings of the table 2 in can be concluded that the construction of table of specifications can be very useful in illuminating the way toward a better decision making as to dubbing of the idiolectal variations of the original TV series. Constructing such a table and following it as a road map would hopefully help dubbing teams avoid such flattened out versions available in the market now. If one follows such a table, one can expect a dubbed version with higher quality from dialectal point of view. However, there are many aspects to be considered if one wishes to assess the quality of a dubbed version as a whole.
6. Conclusions
This study set out to construct a table of specifications for characters speech in TV series. A prototype table of specifications was constructed including eight features of speech. Comparison was made between source and target features of speech and many mismatches were found between the two versions. This study highlighted some of the mainly neglected features of speech in the dubbing process and revealed the most problematic features for the dubbing teams. They are distinctive verbal and (non-verbal) paralinguistic
idiosyncrasies in the characters‟ speech. The findings also brought the need for the
presence of a linguist in the dubbing team to the fore. I fact, The table of specifications could be used as a road map in the dubbing process by the dubbing professional in general and translation trainees in particular. Comparing source and target specifications proved useful and illuminating for dubbing quality assessment from idiolectal variations point of view.
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examples for the translation trainees to follow in the road of becoming professionals in the future.
Based on the finding of the case study, the dominant dubbing strategy proved to be domestication or Iranization. It seems that following the lead of source countries like the United States and dubbing countries like Brazil and Spain. Iran has joined the club of ever increasing domesticating countries. It does not let the foreign shine through (intentionally or not).
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