Partial intralingual subtitling as a means of understanding varieties of the same language: A case study of Syrian vernacular and modern standard Arabic

This study examines the partial intralingual subtitles of the vernacular Syrian Arabic series " De'ah Dai'ah " into Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). It investigates how the audience reacted to the partial intralingual subtitling of the series and probes into how vernacular words are rendered in MSA. The current study utilizes a hybrid method, integrating both quantitative and qualitative approaches. In the quantitative part, the responses of 202 participants to an 18-item questionnaire were statistically analyzed, while in the qualitative part, the researchers watched all 57 episodes in the two seasons of the series and classified the subtitled words and expressions according to their themes, linguistic processes, and rendering strategies. The questionnaire analysis revealed that intralingual subtitling helped the audiences learn new words and dialects. The findings also showed that the technical issues related to the subtitles' length, position, font, size, and synchrony have positively impacted the attitudes of the audiences. The qualitative analysis showed that translation strategies like euphemism, hyponymy, calque, and explicitation were used to render Syrian vernaculars. In addition, some linguistic processes, such as clipping, loan, and affixation, were identified. Metathesis and sound change were frequently used, mainly to elicit humor. • The study quantitatively investigates how the Arab audience reacted to the partial intralingual subtitling of the series. • Findings showed subtitle length, position, font, size, and synchrony impacted audiences' attitudes. • Analysis showed translation strategies like euphemism, hyponymy, calque, and explicitation are used to render dialect words. • Some linguistic processes were spotted, such as clipping, loan, and affixation. • This study can be helpful for subtitlers, especially in intralingual subtitling, with a focus on Arabic.