Evaluation of Translatability of Pun in Audio-Visual Content: The Case of Shark Tale

4.1.1 Pun 1: Snap Your Fin

Snap your fin is a pun involving two homonymous words, which form the two signs of the pun: fin ₁ (of a fish) and fin ₂ (the abbreviated form of finger) (Table 2).

Following Aleksandrova’s (2019) typology of how a translator could react to a particular pun, the two translations of snap your fin above point to the translators’ denial of pun translation by providing non-pun translations. More specifically, the English pun (or at least one of its signs) may be given little or no time and mental effort by the translators to be transferred into Arabic (i.e., the translators ignore them to save their time). The other scenario is that it is given some time and effort, yet the signs of the pun are not transferable to Arabic (i.e., the linguistic/phonetic relation between fin ₁ “finger” and fin ₂ “part of fish body” is non-existent in Arabic). Moreover, finding an alternative pun or one of its signs in Arabic (i.e., Free Translation or Quasi-Translation) is also difficult.

Following Aleksandrova’s Taxonomy, it is a case of Literal Translation, which gets rid of puns and preserves the literal meaning of the source content. In other words, it is carried out by replacing the English pun with a contextually plausible non-pun translation, albeit humorous. Note that the translation of the pun in the dubbed version is not away from Free Translation, although يد jadd “hand” and زعنفة zuʕnufah “fin” are not phonetically related. In other words, the dubbing alludes that there is a sort of figurative sense at the sentential level.

It is worth highlighting that the translators, maybe, did not reject or ignore translating the pun. It is possible that they accepted it and thought of a way to translate it by Quasi-Translation or Free Translation; however, they could not find adequate signs in Arabic. This implies that rejecting pun translation can be sometimes inevitable, not elective, by the translator.

4.1.2 Pun 2: Bring My Clams

As shown in the conversational turn in Table 3, the word clams can also be regarded as a homonymous pun. It is the first sign of a homonymous pair if the English lexicon has two words that are phonetically and orthographically identical, namely clams ₁ “sea creatures” and clams ₂ “dollars.” In other words, homonymy is yielded if the intuition of English native speakers indicates that clams ₁ and clams ₂ are two lexemes (two different lexical entries). Note clams ₂ “dollars” exists in English slang. On the other hand, this pun is a case of polysemy (more accurately, a bisemous word) if the intuition of English native speakers indicates that English has only one word (one lexeme) with two possible meanings, sea creatures vs dollars, and the intended meaning is determined concerning contextual factors.

As shown in Table 3, the word clams is used by the character Sykes, Oscar’s boss, to refer to the money Oscar owes to him. Therefore, it does not refer to sea creatures in the context. Nevertheless, this word is literally translated to Arabic in the subtitled version, entailing that the intended semantic and pragmatic meanings of this token are not transferred to Arabic. This means that, besides the loss of the English pun and the sense of humor, the Literal Translation using the Arabic name of the sea creature بطلينوس bat ^ʕ linoos “clam,” as shown in Table 3, cannot give rise to the meaning of money (i.e., it is entirely unfaithful to the denotation and connotation of the word).

Concerning the translation strategy of this pun, the translator ignores/denies the English pun, as she/he literally translates the homonymous or bisemous clams to Arabic (Literal Translation). Particularly, the word hosting the pun is transferred as it is, without considering the transferability of the pair of signs that promote a sense of humor among spectators. Thus, this translation, which is an example of Literal Translation, is an example of total denotative, connotative, and figurative loss.

On the other hand, the translation strategy opted for the dubbed version, in Aleksandrova’s terms; it is also Literal Translation, which is in the form of non-pun translation.

Here, the Arabic قروش quruuʃ is suggested, as can serve the function of replacing the English source pun. It forms with its identical counterpart a case of homonymy, namely quruuʃ ₁ “sharks” and quruuʃ ₂ “piasters.” In this case, the translation strategy of pun is Free Translation which involves replacing the pair of English homonyms with a pair from Arabic. This asserts that the translation of a pun is just a game, as proposed in Aleksandrova. It can be rejected (right away or after the initial diagnosis of its signs) or accepted. If it is accepted, that will get the translator involved. It will stimulate thinking and help in finding a pair of signs of an alternative pun in the target language.

(1) احضر قروشي غدا الى الحلبة

Back Translation: “Bring my sharks tomorrow to the track.”

It is worth noting that the previous discussion points to a cultural gap between English and Arabic in terms of transferring the humorous load of slang words, such as words referring to money. Thus, the role of the translator is to search for an instance of a pun in the target language that can serve a similar function to the pun in the source language. Note that such a gap does not exist in languages sharing the same pun (the same signs). For example, this gap is not reported in Brotons (2017), where clams are translated into the Spanish dubbed version of Shark Tale, as it delivers the denotation and the humorous content to the Spanish audience. This is because the Spanish equivalent of clams is also used as slang for money. On this basis, Literal Translation, in Aleksandrova’s terms, is the best candidate to properly transfer all the components of the source token to the other language. Paying more cognitive effort to create Quasi-Translation or Free Translation in Spanish and spending much time on this attempt is not necessary, and the resulting translations are expected to be of low quality when compared to Literal Translation.

4.1.3 Pun 3: I Am a Wiener

I’m a wiener is a case of paronymy (paronymic pun). To illustrate this pun, wiener, which means sausage, is phonetically related to winner. These two words, which are the two signs of the pun, have identical rhymes. This phonetically related pair is created on the lips of the characters Bernie and Ernie, two jellyfish. It is a witty pun to parody what the female character Lola says to Oscar, who loves her when she realizes he is poor. Wiener, instead of winner, used to be in opposition with nobody in the dialog in Table 4.

Regarding the transfer of the witty pun, all the previous translations are Literal Translation. This means that a translator, if she/he accepts the game of pun translation, should think of alternating one of the signs (Quasi-Translation) or both signs (Free Translation) of the source pun from the target language, Arabic, but let us assume that the Arabic word naqaaniq “sausages” is used in the translation (i.e., Literal Translation). Watching wieners on the screen while performing this dialog would make it easy for the Arab audience to understand why this Arabic word is used. However, it would be challenging, if not impossible, to understand the witty pun of the English pair wiener vs winner. On this basis, being informative should be prioritized over being humorous. Therefore, عظيم الفائدة ʕadiim ʔal-faaʕidah should be selected when transferring or replacing the pun is difficult or even impossible. Thus, the translator’s denial or negligence of the English pun is explainable: the denotation is more critical than the pragmatics of the pun to keep the Arabic audience engaged. Prioritizing the pun may lead to a problem in semantic transfer and confusion. This entails that the level of difficulty of the pun is not the only reason a translator may abandon the pun. The cause of the abandonment could be the sake of preserving the direct meaning and avoiding awkward translations. Another reason for the denial is that the pun is visual. Therefore, it is so difficult to replace the original pun with another one in Arabic, as the image of the wieners, or sausages, will block the use of new pun signs in Arabic. In other words, manipulating the signs to come up with Quasi-Translation or Free Translation is visually constrained.

As noted in the discussion previously, the translator should put more effort into finding a pun in the target language to compensate for the original pun. For example, let us assume that the intended meaning of wiener in the English movie is “coward.” Once the game of pun translation is accepted, a pun in Arabic surfaces, which is the homonymous case of dʒubn ₁ “cowardice” and dʒubn ₂ “cheese.” Thus, we suggest that I am a wiener can be translated as انا نقانق معروفة بالجبن ʔana naqaaniq maʕruufah bidʒdʒubn “I am a sausage known for cowardice (not cheese).” Note that the strategy for translating the pun here, in Aleksandrova’s terms, is Free Translation. The English pun is replaced with an Arabic one without preserving any of the two signs of the English pun (wiener vs winner). Again, this translation emphasizes that pun translation is just like a game: each instance of a pun has its peculiarities that may help or hinder a translator from rendering it fully into another language. Moreover, the translator decides to reject the game (of pun translation) or accept it. The rejection hinders any cognitive processes, whereas the acceptance boosts cognition and makes the translator take it personally.

4.1.4 Pun 4: Plankton Encrusted

Plankton-encrusted teeth is a complex pun. It embeds a paronymous pair and a homonymous pair. Plankton is a paronym (the phonetically related substitute) of plaque in the scene where Oscar is cleaning a whale’s mouth, which is full of plankton and seaweed. In this sense, the plankton on the whale’s teeth, which is a referent chosen from sea life, is humorously treated as if it is tooth plaque. Further, the word encrusted establishes the homonymous relation between plaque ₁ “dental plaque” and plaque ₂ “painting.”

In the Arabic subtitled version, the pun is literally translated, and the word encrusted is literally transferred, as the back translation and the glossing tier are shown in Table 5.

In the Arabic dubbed version, the entire token plankton-encrusted is literally translated, as shown in Table 6. A point worth discussing is that مرصعة muras ^ʕ s ^ʕ aʕah, the Arabic equivalent of encrusted in the dubbed version, is semantically more suitable than maksuwwah in the subtitled version. مرصعة muras ^ʕ s ^ʕ aʕah, just like encrusted, gives the impression that what is set is precious, unlike the neutral expression مكسوة maksuwwah, which is synonymous with the English word clothed. Then, the word encrusted should be translated as مرصعة muras ^ʕ s ^ʕ aʕah, as the pun in the English movie involves the homonymy of plaque “dental plaque” and plaque “painting.” In other words, plaque-encrusted is more likely to create a humorous contrast between a mouth that is full of dental plaque and a painting encrusted with something precious.

The previous discussion implies that the translators refrain from transferring the complex pun or finding/creating another pun in Arabic (i.e., it is the Literal Translation of pun by focusing on the denotation of the source content). Alternatively, they may compensate for the missing pun by adding a sea element.

Here, in Arabic, the bisemous (or homonymous) مرجان mardʒaan which may refer to coral, a sea element, or small stones of pearl is suggested. If this word is added to the Literal Translation in the dubbing version, it is more likely perceived as a case pun by Arab viewers. Following Aleksandrova’s (2019) Taxonomy of translating puns as a game, this translation of pun is a case of Free Translation. Specifically, the English homonymous pair plankton and plaque are replaced with the Arabic bisemous مرجان mardʒaan “coral” or “small stones of pearl” (or homonymous مرجان mardʒaan ₁ “coral” مرجان mardʒaan ₂ “small stones of pearl”). A point worth discussing is that the pun of plankton-encrusted is fortified with visual cues (the scene of the whale’s mouth). Specifically, the scene shows that the mouth is full of plankton, not coral. Hence, replacing the signs of the paronymic source pun plankton vs plaque with the Arabic homonymous signs مرجان mardʒaan ₁ “coral” vs مرجان mardʒaan ₂ “small stones of pearl” can be constrained or blocked by these visual cues, as the audience may figure out this difference between the scene and the translation. This implies that visual cues, as expected, tend to hinder or block Free Translation, as one of the pun signs is visible in the scene. Note that Quasi-Translation is still an available option; yet, it is challenging due to the visual constraint.

4.1.5 Pun 5: Shell Phone

Shell phone is a paronymic pun that belongs to sea life. It is the phonetic substitute for cell phone. In the subtitled version, according to Alexandrova’s terms, the subtitling of this pun is an example of Literal Translation. It seems that the translator does not accept the game of pun translation, but the Literal Translation coincidently transfers the signs of puns to Arabic. Note that the signs are preserved, yet they are not transliterated into Arabic letters. Instead, they are replaced with the Arabic equivalents, and this implies that the referents (the signified, in Saussure’s terms) are maintained yet the English paronymic words (the signifiers) are replaced. The second possibility is that the translator is aware of the paronymic pun in the source token and finds that Literal Translation is more adequate than Quasi-Translation or Free Translation to naturally transfer the original pun. Note that the existence of some cultural resemblances (i.e., both languages use the same pun or at least one of its signs) makes Literal Translation optimal (Table 7).

In the dubbed version, the strategy used is omission. For example, consider the back translation in Table 8. This strategy entirely neglects the humorous load (including the case of paronymy), leaving no sense of humor for the Arab audience. Thus, the Literal Translation in the subtitled version incurs less damage to the semantic and pragmatic content of the original item.

Regarding omission in the dubbed version, it should be taken as No Translation, which clearly indicates that the translator deliberately ignores the pun, its signs, and all of its traces in the source text. In other words, the phrase shell phone is totally and intentionally omitted. On this basis, it seems that the best pathway that should be taken to translate this pun is to avoid paying cognitive efforts and time to come up with Quasi-Translation (preserving one of the source signs and replacing the other) or Free Translation (replacing both signs). In other words, ignoring the pun, even if it is intentional, is sometimes, and by coincidence the right decision. Such a coincidence maximizes the feasibility of translating puns in an efficient way and casts doubts on the falsifiable generalization of the non-translatability of puns.

4.1.6 Pun 6: Don Lame-o

The pun in the name Don Lame-o is complex. The real name Don Lame-o means stupid in slang English (Brotons, 2017). Therefore, it is a paronym of the actual name of the mob boss, the shark Don Lino. There is another type of pun in this name, homonymy. Don is the abbreviation of Donald, the first name of the mob boss. It can also carry another interpretation, the Spanish title prefix Don, as Don Lino is a boss.

In the subtitled version, Don Lame-o is literally translated. This transfer would entail that the humorous load is not transferred to Arabic, as the majority of the Arab audience cannot capture the cultural reference Don Lame-o, which means stupid in English slang. Regarding the homonymy of Don ₁ “the abbreviation of Donald” and Don ₂ “a Spanish title,” it is possible that some Arab viewers can grasp this pun if they know that Don is the abbreviation of Donald in the name Don Lino (Table 9).

Concerning the dubbed version, the translator opts for Literal Translation, as shown in Table 12. However, the intended meaning of Don Lame-o is not to indicate that Don Lino is weak but stupid. This entails that this strategy is not efficiently used by the translator, as the meaning of the dubbed version is different from the denotation of the original version. Besides, the paronymy of Don Lino vs Don Lame-o and the homonymy of Don is lost.

On this basis, all the previous translations are examples of Literal Translation that ignores translating the signs of the pun, in Aleksandrova’s terms.

Quasi-Translation of a pun (i.e., preserving one of the signs in the original pun in the translation and replacing the other from the target language) is practically possible and pragmatically efficient, such as using the word ليمون lajmuun “lemons,” instead of lame-o in الدون ليمون al-doon lajmuun. ليمون lajmuun, in this translation, is expected to be treated by Arab viewers as a kind of paronymy (Don lino vs الدون ليمون ʔad-doon lajmuun) to mock Don Lino, i.e., it can (but not necessarily) be interpreted by Arab viewers as a sign of cowardness. Note that this case of paronymy is hybrid. Specifically, the Arabic word lajmuun is the derivative of the non-Arabic word Lino. That indicates that a pun’s Quasi-Translation is a real possibility and a useful tactic, but it requires the translator to accept the game of pun translation first. This translation indicates that the probability of rendering the pragmatic (humorous) and figurative load by Quasi-Translation would be greater if the target language shares more cultural grounds with the source language. In Brotons (2017), for example, it is reported in the Spanish dubbed version of the original movie Shark Tale that the translator successfully transfers the humorous and figurative loads (the pun) of Don Lame-o to the Spanish audience. This transference is attained by Quasi-Translation, following Aleksandrova’s, as follows: the Spanish paronym Don Limpio, a commercial brand of a famous cleaning product in Spain replaces Don lame-o. This substitution indicates that one of the signs of the English pun, which is Lino, is maintained and the second, Lame-o, is replaced with Limpio. Hence, the translator finds a humorous Spanish paronym of the English Don Lino to disparage the character.

4.1.7 Pun 7: Kelpy Kremes

Kelpy Kremes is another pun in the movie, which should be treated as both an oral and visual pun at the same time, as it is used in a dialog, as shown in Table 10, and is visible in the scene (on-screen). Note that this is the first case of visual puns in this section.

Kelpy Kremes is the paronym derived from Krispy Kreme, an American doughnut company and coffeehouse chain. It is a combination of (1) kelpy, the substitute for Krispy, which refers to a spirit in the form of a horse that likes to drown its riders, and (2) Kremes, the plural of the second word in the brand Krispy Kreme (Brotons, 2017).

In both translations, the part of the source text containing the pun, according to Aleksandrova, is literally translated (i.e., Literal Translation), which neither preserves the signs of the pun nor the sense of humor. On this basis, the game of pun translation is rejected by the translators in the subtitled and dubbed versions. It seems that it is rejected because it is a visual pun, which either is regarded as a constraint that blocks Free Translation (replacing the signs of the source pun) or is left for the audience to be comprehended.

Free Translation can be an optimal candidate. Specifically, the original pun can be replaced as follows: a sea element can be used in the Arabic translation, such as tuunats, the blended derivative of tuuna “tuna” and donats “donates.” This Arabic paronymy, which replaces the paronymy of the original pun, along with the loan of Krispy Kreme (i.e., transliterating Krispy Kreme in Arabic) resulting in كرسبي كريم توناتس Krispy Kreme tuunats, conveys the direct meaning, compensates the original pun, and maintains a sense of humor in the target language, Arabic. At first glance, Quasi-Translation should be more appropriate than Free Translation to translate kelpy kremes, as this pun is visual. However, it is difficult to find a name of a sea creature or referent in Arabic to replace the word Krispy and be phonetically related to it. Thus, Free Translation is adequate even if it may cause some confusion, as kelpy kremes are visible to the target audience in the scene. Hence, visual puns could be problematic; yet, Free Translation can be employed in this case.

4.1.8 Pun 8: Names of Some American Celebrities

The screenwriter parodies the names of some American celebrities by blending their names with those of some sea creatures. This parody produces the following phonetically related paronymic pairs: Tina Turner vs Tuna Turner, Russel Crowe vs Mussel Crowe, Jessica Simpson vs Jessica Shrimpson, and Rod Stewart vs Cod Stewart. Tuna Turner is literally translated in the subtitled version, as Tuna is a loan word in Arabic. Likewise, the last names Crowe and Stewart and the first name Jessica are all directly transferred to Arabic, whereas Mussel, Shrimpson, and Cod are translated into Arabic. On this basis, the target names have been subtitled in the same way; it is either the first name or the last name transferred as it is in the Arabic translation, and the other member is literally translated.

Tuna is a loan word in Arabic, and the meaning of the word shrimp is well-known among Arabs. Therefore, the Literal Translation of Tuna Turner and Jessica Shrimpson could convey the humorous load (paronymy) of these phonetically related pairs, especially for Arabs familiar with the names of those American celebrities. On the other hand, the Arab audience is unfamiliar with the meanings of Mussel and Cod. Thus, they are literally translated (Table 11).

On the contrary, all these names are omitted in the dubbed version for no apparent reason. This omission means that the translator of the dubbed version ignores the signs of puns and deletes their traces; therefore, this decision should be considered No Translation, in Aleksandrova’s terms. Here, it should be highlighted that the translator in the subtitled version opts for Literal Translation of the pun. The advantage of Literal Translation in this case is denotative faithfulness. Concerning Free Translation and Quasi-Translation, they are difficult to employ, as the translator should be (or maybe) reluctant to create pairs of paronymy (or any other type of pun) that mock Arab celebrities (i.e., it could be illegal). Nonetheless, the puns in these English names are lost, as they are literally translated, and these names are not expected to be known by most of the Arabic audience. In other words, these puns are extremely local from a cultural perspective and are paired with paronyms from the sea life, and therefore, they are difficult to be rendered by Quasi-Translation or Free Translation. Again, it should be emphasized that replacing the original pairs of paronyms with ones from Arabic (i.e., Free Translation) can be constrained in the Arabic World, as translators are reluctant to refer to Arab celebrities and pair their names with names of referents from the sea life. The previous discussion implies that translators may block any cognitive efforts and give no time for a pun, as she/he knows right from the beginning that the final product (the translation or replacement of the pun) could be criticized or illegal in the target culture/region. However, this blockage does not mean that the pun is untranslatable or cannot be substituted.

4.1.9 Pun 9: Katie Current

The pun in the name Katie Current is an example of paronymy. The last name of Katie Couric, a famous American news reporter, is replaced with Current, the family name of the fish reporter. The sense of humor in this example of paronymy is that the family name Current, which is phonetically related to the family name Couric, is selected to show that the fish reporter consistently follows the events in a funny way. In the subtitled and dubbed versions, the employed strategy is Literal Translation (Table 12).

In both subtitling and dubbing, translating the signs of the pun is ignored by the translators, and therefore it is Literal Translation, as the translation is solely faithful to the denotation of the token. Now, could another translation method be adopted to transfer the denotative meaning and the cultural reference (the signs of the pun) to the target audience? This can be achieved by Free Translation. It is by adding the name of a well-known Arab news reporter in the translation and pairing it with a phonetically related word that gives the meaning of current, or a meaning close to it, yet this needs much cognitive effort. Again, this Free Translation can be considered inappropriate (or be banned) in the Arabic World, so accepting the game of pun translation is not preferable in this context. This also implies that the pun is not necessarily untranslatable or cannot be substituted. Its translation or substitution is imaginable in the target language.

4.1.10 Pun 10: Superstar

Superstar is an example of homophony in the movie. Oscar, the fish, is showing off by calling himself a superstar. The signs of the pun (homonymy) are star ₁, which means a famous person (a celebrity), and star ₂, which refers to starfish, a sea creature.

In the subtitled version in Table 13, superstar is translated by Literal Translation. This translation is not faithful to the denotative meaning of the token, as سمكة نجم Samakat ndʒmh does not denote that Oscar is bragging. Likewise, this translation ruins the pun and misses the humorous load. The translation is neither funny nor figurative. In other words, the pragmatic connection between star ₁ and star ₂ is lost, and therefore, the Arab audience is not expected to guess that Oscar uses this pun to show off. This indicates that the translator ignores the pun and tries to preserve the denotation, although the translator did not deliver the right denotation.

The translator in the dubbed version also ignores translating the signs of puns, and therefore, it is an instance of Literal Translation that ignores the source pun and faithfully transfers the denotation.

4.1.11 Pun 11: Southside Sharks

Southside Sharks is a humorous and linguistic example that can be treated as a paronymic pun, as it is similar in a way to the second sign of the pun, which is Southern Sharks. The first sign differs, but the second one is identical in both phrases. This difference, I assume, results in generating a paronymic pair. For the sake of visualizing the scene, while the characters Oscar and Lenny were sneaking into a room, Lenny was imitating the Southern Sharks, which is an American baseball team. Further, another sound effect was added, the screaming of the fans. The translator in the subtitled version uses the Literal Translation strategy. She/he literally translates Southside Sharks. Additionally, the addition of فريق fariiq “team” can be adequate to refer to the second sign of the pun (the real baseball team). In this way, such translation will secure the signs of the pun, yet it is more likely not funny among Arab audiences. The translator ignores the signs of this pun (and the sense of humor in this pun). In this sense, the subtitling indicates that the pun is lost by Literal Translation (Table 14).

Regarding the dubbing of this token, this phrase is also translated via Literal Translation, yet it reduces the linguistic weight of this phrase: Sharks literally translated and Southside is omitted.

This entails that subtitling and dubbing of the pun Southside Sharks are examples of Literal Translation of the pun, which means that the translators ignore paying effort to preserve the signs of the pun, replace one of its signs, or even replace its signs with ones from the target language, Arabic. This avoidance is understandable, as it involves a culturally very specific sign (Southern Sharks), which is not that known in the Arabic world. This implies the translation of a linguistic/figurative token (i.e., pun) becomes more complicated if it involves a cultural reference that is not known among target audiences.