More than words: a multimodal analytical framework for studying the subtitling of swearwords

Figures & data

Figure 1. The SFL-informed multimodal framework.

Table 1. The multimodal transcription.

Screenshot and timecode	Screenshots and the time the screenshot appears in the movie
Source dialogue	The transcribed film dialogue
Subtitles and back translation	Chinese subtitles and back translation
Representational meaning	Identification (e.g. costume, makeup), Activity (e.g. figure behaviour), Circumstance (e.g. setting)
Interactive meaning	Relationship between the characters on-screen: Figure behaviour, tone, volume, costume and makeup …
Compositional meaning	Salience (e.g. setting, colour, size) Framing (e.g. centre or margin)
Intermodal relation (e.g. complementary, contradictory, reinforced, or parallel) between selected elements in both the original and the corresponding subtitled films when constructing the communicative meanings of swearing.

Table 2. The selected films.

Film title	Release year	Country	Number of swearwords
Bad Boys	1995	USA	249
Enemy of the State	1998	USA	130
Miami Vice	2006	USA	39
Wanted	2008	USA	126
Kingsman: The Secret Service	2014	USA/UK	170
Criminal	2016	USA/UK	60

Figure 2. The percentage of translation techniques.

Table 3. The distribution of translation techniques.

Films	Omission	De-swearing	Semantic shift	Functional shift	Literal translation
Bad Boys (1995)	77	94	25	36	17
Enemy of the State (1998)	52	41	20	17	0
Miami Vice (2006)	9	21	5	3	1
Wanted (2008)	27	57	22	18	2
Kingsman (2014)	63	76	15	15	1
Criminal (2016)	7	33	15	4	1
Total number	235	322	102	93	22

Table 4. The intermodal relations between the elements in the spoken and mise-en-scène modes in the STs.

Elements in the spoken mode	Intermodal relations	Elements in the mise-en-scène mode	Percentage (number of instances of swearing)
pragmatic, tone and volume	Reinforced	Figure behaviour	65% (503)
	Parallel	Setting, makeup and costume	65% (503)
pragmatic, tone and volume	Reinforced	Makeup and costume, figure behaviour	25% (193)
	Parallel	Setting	25% (193)
pragmatic, tone and volume	Reinforced	Setting	10% (78)
	Parallel	Makeup and costume, figure behaviour	10% (78)

Table 5. The intermodal relations between the subtitle mode and the elements in the spoken and mise-en-scène modes in the TTs.

The subtitle mode	Intermodal relations	Elements in the spoken mode	Elements in the mise-en-scène mode	Percentage (number of instances of swearing)
Subtitle	Complementary	Tone, volume	Figure behaviour	46% (356)
	Parallel		Setting, makeup and costume	46% (356)
Subtitle	Complementary	Tone, volume	Figure behaviour, makeup and costume	18% (139)
	Parallel		Setting	18% (139)
Subtitle	Complementary	Tone, volume	Setting	8% (62)
	Parallel		Makeup and costume, figure behaviour	8% (62)
Subtitle	Reinforced	Tone, volume	Figure behaviour	28% (217)
	Parallel		Setting, makeup and costume	28% (217)

Table 6. The omission of the fuck in Bad Boys (1995).

Table 7. The de-swearing of taking the piss in Kingsman (2014).