What Does subtitle Mean
The first meaning of subtitle mentioned by the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) in its dictionary refers to the secondary title that sometimes appears after the main title. The concept, however, has another much more frequent use.
Generally speaking of subtitles refers to the transcription or written translation of a spoken text , which is displayed in the lower sector of a screen . This resource is used regularly to facilitate the diffusion of films in the international arena.
Films produced in Hollywood , for example, are usually developed in English. This means that the actors speak in that language . So that viewers in countries where this language is not spoken can understand the dialogues and thus understand the stories, it is common to use subtitles. Thus, the sentences pronounced by the actors appear written and translated at the bottom of the images.
There are people who prefer to enjoy movies in dubbed versions : that is, with the original voices replaced by others who are in charge of translating the dialogues. However, many moviegoers opt for subtitles to appreciate the actual intonations and nuances.
Beyond translation , subtitles can have other functions and utilities. Individuals with a hearing disability need them to read what they cannot hear, to name one possibility. If the degree of disability is absolute, that is to say that it is a deafness, then the subtitles are essential.
It should be noted that in these cases the usefulness of the subtitles goes far beyond the transcription of the lines of dialogue, whether translated or in their original language: they also serve to indicate noises and sounds in the environment, such as the wind, the impact an object that falls to the ground, an explosion that takes place outside the scene, the sound of a bell or even a song that begins to play in the background, for which the lyrics are also usually included while the conversations are subtitled .
On the Internet, it is common for videos to include subtitles in case users do not have an audio system or prefer that the sound is not emitted from their device. In addition, with the emergence of new technologies, it is increasingly possible to request a real-time transcription of dialogues from programs. This is used, for example, on the YouTube platform, which offers on-the-spot computer-generated subtitles in multiple languages. Although the system is not perfect, as it works best if voices are heard clearly, it can be useful in a number of situations.
In the field of opera, on the other hand, subtitles are also used so that the audience can follow the story if they do not understand the language of the work. In this case, each theater can treat them differently. In the most select, a screen is offered behind each seat where the subtitles are reproduced individually, for each client. However, it is more common to project them on top of the stage, so that the entire audience can read them simultaneously.
If we are meticulous, this last implementation is opposed to the etymology of the term itself, since the prefix sub- refers to a lower position with respect to the image. As a result of this inconsistency, there are those who prefer to call them something else, such as "subtitles", a term that is part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, where it refers specifically to the text of a theatrical work that is projected on a screen located above the stage.