Study on Subtitle Translation of the Battle at Lake Changjin under Translation Shifts Theory

: As an important medium of cultural communication, film plays an important role in promoting Chinese culture to go abroad. The Battle at Lake Changjin is a war film with the background of the second battle of resist U


Introduction to the Battle at Lake Changjin
China has always attached great importance to external communication.There are many ways for Chinese culture to spread to the outside world, and film is one of the important media.As an important carrier of cross-cultural communication and Chinese culture going abroad, Chinese film subtitle translation is not only a simple transformation between two languages, but also covers the tolerance and communication between the two cultures behind the film.
The Battle at Lake Changjin is based on the Battle of Changji Lake in the war of resist the Unite States (U.S.) aggression and aid Korea.It tells the story of the 7th company soldiers of the 9th Corps of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army under the leadership of Wu Qianli in the extremely cold and harsh environment, bravely killing the enemy, reversing the battlefield situation, and making an important contribution to the victory of the Battle of Changjin Lake.In June 1950, at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Korean Civil War broke out.And the United States government made the decision to intervene militarily in the Korean Civil War.In October of the same year, despite repeated warnings from the Chinese government, the U.S. military brazenly crossed the 38th parallel and brought the flames of war to the frontiers of China, posing a serious threat to China's security.On this occasion, at the request of the Korean Worker's Party and government, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army went to Korea to start the war of defending the country.In the Changjin Lake area, the 9th Corps divided and surrounded the 10th Army of the U.S. Army, successfully wiped out an entire regiment of the U.S. Army, recovered the vast eastern areas in north of the 38th parallel, and reversed the trend of the war.
On September 30, 2021, the Battle at Lake Changjin was released in mainland China.As of October 29, 2021, the box office of the Battle at Lake Changjin has reached 5,386 billion in mainland China, rising to the top of the global box office list in 2021.As one of the masterpieces of Chinese film to the world, the Battle at Lake Changjin can not only express the nationality, show the national image and uncover the historical facts, but also show the pursuit and identity of human peace society in a cross-cultural, cross-ethnic and cross-regional way.

Introduction to Translation Shifts Theory
John Cannison Catford is a famous English linguist and translation theorist, mainly engaged in the teaching and research of languages.Catford first proposed the translation shifts theory in his only monograph on translation theory, Linguistic Theory of Translation.
According to Catford, translation is the conversion of textual material in one language into equivalent textual material in another language.In short, translation focuses on establishing equivalence relationship between language shifts.In the book Linguistic Theory of Translation, Catford defines the term " shifts" as the correspondence of deviating form in the process of the source language into the target language.And he divides translation shifts into the two forms of level shifts and category shifts.The so-called level shifts refer to the source language unit at one linguistic level, with equivalent elements of the target language at different linguistic levels (Catford, 1965).That is to say, it can be expressed grammatically in the source language and lexically in the target language.With regard to category shifts, Catford believes that it is a deviation of translation from formal equivalence (Catford, 1965).He divides category shifts into four types: structural shifts, class shifts, unit shifts and intrasystem shifts.Taking the subtitle translation of the Battle at Lake Changjin as the research object, this paper analyzes the application of translation shifts theory in subtitle translation in terms of level shifts and category shifts.
The Battle at Lake Changjin is a film with the theme of war.It highly restores the scenes of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army risking their lives to defend the country in the Battle at Lake Changjin, shows the patriotic feelings and indomitable national spirit of the Chinese people, which has been widely praised by domestic and foreign audiences.In the export of domestic film and television works, the role of subtitle translation cannot be underestimated.The quality of subtitle translation directly affects the understanding of film content by foreign audiences and the dissemination efficiency of Chinese culture.Therefore, from the perspective of translation shifts theory, this paper analyzes the subtitle translation of the Battle at Lake Changjin, aiming to provide some references for the subtitle translation of domestic films.

Application of Translation Shifts
Theory in Subtitle Translation of the Battle at Lake Changjin

Level Shifts
Level shifts usually occur at different language levels and are often used for translation between grammatical and lexical levels.Chinese and English have different characteristics, and there are great differences between them.Chinese emphasizes parataxis and English emphasizes hypotaxis, so Chinese often uses vocabulary to express tenses and other categories, while English often uses grammar.For example, English uses grammatical features such as " d, ed" to express tenses, while Chinese usually uses words such as "过去，以前" to express tenses.Therefore, in the process of translation, it is necessary to use level shifts to obtain a more logical translation.
Example 1 ST: Mother, this is Fortune 7 Squadron Leader, heading 359-er.We've reached our IP. TT: Analysis: The expression of tense and time in English is very different from that in Chinese.English has a fixed grammatical form of expression, while Chinese reflects it through the form of vocabulary.In Example 1, the source text uses the grammatical structure of " have done" to express that the action of "抵达初始位置", which has been completed.The translator uses level shifts to translate it into the temporal adverb "已", which is more in line with the target audience's language expression.
Example 2 ST: We don't know sir, but the reports are pouring in.TT: 目前还不了解，但前线战报正纷沓而来。 Analysis: Chinese lacks grammatical forms to express tenses, so time adverbs and auxiliaries are usually utilized to express tenses.In English, there are sixteen tenses to express different actions at different times, which makes the language more accurate.In Example 2, " are pouring" in the source text " but the reports are pouring in" is the English construction of " be doing" as expressed in the progressive tense.In translation, the translator translates it as the adverb of time "正" to indicate what is happening, realizing the shift from the grammatical level to the lexical level.
Example 3 ST: 同志们，我今天在这里遇到了一个小鬼。 TT: Comrades, I met a boy here today.Analysis: In English, the plural of a nouns is often expressed by adding suffixes such as " s" and " es".However, in Chinese, the expression of plural has no obvious formal characteristics.In Example 3, this sentence is what the commander of the 9th Corps said to the soldiers before the battle in the film.The word "同志们" in the original is a plural concept, and the translator adds " s" after " comrade" to express the plural.By making this level shift, the translator makes the target audience clear at a glance and understands that the commander speaks to all the soldiers rather than a certain person.

Category Shifts
Since there are the great differences between English and Chinese in terms of language structure, it is necessary to establish the equivalence relationship between different levels through category shifts in translation.The following will analyze the application of category shifts in the subtitle translation of the Battle at Lake Changjin from four aspects: structural shifts, class shifts, unit shifts and intra-system shifts.

Structural Shifts
Structural shifts refer to the change of sentence structure at the same grammatical level when the source language is translated into the target language.Catford (1965) believes that structural shifts are one of the most common forms of shifts, which mainly involves the shifts of grammatical structures, such as morphology shifts, affirmative and negative shifts, adverbial position shifts, personal subject and object subject shifts.
Example 4 ST: Our tanks have crossed the 38th and our enemies have been overwhelmed.Seems to me that victory has been set in stone. TT: Analysis: Morphology indicates the relationship between the subject and the predicate.And there are two forms of morphology: active and passive.English customarily uses passive morphology, while Chinese commonly uses active morphology.So in translation, the two modes of morphology are usually shifted.In Example 4, " has been set" is written in the passive morphology, and its logical subject is " victory".The literal translation of this sentence is "胜利已经被刻在石 头上了".However, since the Chinese language is often used in the active morphology, the word "被" is rarely used in the Chinese, so the translator shifts it to the active morphology, so that the translation is more in line with the language expression habits of the target audience.
Example 5 ST: 有些枪必须开，有些枪不能开。 TT: Some shots must be fired.Some shots can be saved.Analysis: There are negative signs in both Chinese and English, but the positive and negative sentences need to be shifted according to the different context or language habits in translation.In Example 5, the source text is a sentence said by Wu Qianli in the film.At that time, the 9th Corps of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army surrounded the American garrison.The commander of the American army was shot and wounded, and fled back to the command camp.Wu Wanli chased into the camp and wanted to shoot him, but Wu Qianli stopped him and said to him this meaningful words " some shots must be fired.Some shots can be saved."In Example 5, "必须开" is translated as " must be fired", which retains the affirmative form.While "不能开" is translated into " can be saved", converting the negative into the affirmative, realizing the structural shifts, which can better reflect Wu Qianl''s respect for the American officers and convey the deeper meaning of the source text.
Example 6 ST: 有紧急情况，停止探家，天亮归队。 TT: Emergency!Your leave is canceled.Report for duty first thing in the morning.
Analysis: Chinese and English have different ways of narrating.Chinese usually first explains the time, place and characters of the event, and then states the specific thing that happened.On the other hand, English is accustomed to be open-minded, first indicating the subject and the predicate before adding to the event.In Example 6, the temporal adverbial "天亮" is placed before the predicate verb "归", and the translator places " in the morning" after " report for duty" in the translation, which makes it easier for the target audience to understand the source text by realizing the structural shifts.

Class Shifts
Class shifts are mainly reflected in the shifts of part-ofspeech between the source language and the target language.Chinese belongs to dynamic language, there may be more than one verb in a sentence.While English belongs to static language, only one verb can appear in a sentence.Therefore, in translation, it is often necessary to achieve the purpose of conforming to the expression of the target language through class shifts, such as the shifts of nouns and verbs, verbs and adverbs, adverbs and adjectives, and so on.
Example 7 ST: 我们出生入死，就是为了他们不再打仗。 TT: We are risking our lives to win them a peaceful life.Analysis: English tends to be static and uses nouns more, so nominalization is very common in English.In Example 7, "不再打仗" is a verb, which the translator shifts into a noun " a peaceful life", meaning "和平的生活".This approach not only makes the translation more concise, but also more accurately conveys the meaning of the source text .
Example 8 ST: 他不识逗，差不多就行了。 TT: He's too serious.Stop teasing him.Analysis: The source context of Example 8 is the words of the sharpshooter Pinghe, who advised Yu Congrong to stop his behavior when he was testing the temper of the new recruit Wu Wanli.The word "逗" in the source text is a verb that means "开玩笑".The phrase "他不识逗" in the source text means "他经不起开玩笑", which usually refers to someone who is sensitive and gets angry easily when joking.The translator skillfully handled it as " serious", which is meant to express Wu Wanli's seriousness after he got angry.The use of class shifts to shift the verb into an adjective can make the target audience more likely to understand the source text.
Example 9 ST: 时间就是生命。 TT: Time is valuable.Analysis: The difference between Chinese and English will make the translation hard and awkward, so it is necessary to break the expression form of words and sentences in the source text through class shifts, so that the translation can be smooth, fluent and natural.In Example 9 "生命" is a noun.As we all know, human life is only once, so in Chinese, "生命" also implies " precious and valuable".The translator shifts it into the adjective " valuable", which not only expresses the deeper meaning of "生命", but also makes the translation more understandable.

Unit Shifts
There are five basic grammatical units in the linguistic structure of English: sentences, clauses, phrases, words and morphemes, while grammatical units in Chinese include sentence clusters, sentences, phrases, words and morphemes.According to Catford (1965), unit shifts refer to the corresponding detachment of the translation equivalent of a unit on a certain level in the source language into a unit on a different level in the target language.In short, it is the shifts between different levels of linguistic units, such as the shifts between phrases and words, between words and sentences, etc.
Example 10 ST: The battle in Chenguan Village caused the 7th Company to have too many casualties.It's no big deal even if we won.
Analysis: The word "本事" in the source text of is a dialect word (not commonly used in Mandarin Chinese) with the meaning of "本领，能力", which the translator renders the word as " big deal".The word " big deal" is a more colloquial expression in English that literally means "至关重要的事", but actually also means "没什么大不了", which is similar to the meaning of "本事" in the source text and also has an ironic meaning.The word in the source text is shifted into phrases by using unit shifts, which not only avoids too blunt expression, but also accurately conveys the message of the source text.
Example 11 ST: 为了让我哥瞧得起我。 TT: So my brother will take me seriously.Analysis: In Example 11, "瞧得起" belongs to a word in Chinese, meaning "看得起，看重".The translator utilizes unit shifts to shift the word in the source text into the phrase " take seriously", which is consistent with the meaning of the source text.Such a shift makes the translated text more in line with the language expression of the target audience.At the same time, it is also more close to the meaning of the source text.
Example 12 ST: 他比兔子还精还贼，子弹一般撩不着他。 TT: He's more witty and canny than a rabbit.Bullets don't tend to get him.
Analysis: The word "撩" in the original phrase "撩不着" is usually interpreted as "撩拨，挑逗" in Chinese, but the phrase "撩不着" means "打不着" in the source text.The source sentence wants to express the meaning of "他的速度 快 ， 所 以 子 弹 一 般 打 不 中 他 ".The translator does not directly translate it into the word " hit", but into " tend to get", that is, the phrase structure " tend to do", which realizes the shift between Chinese words and English phrases, and makes the translation easier to be accepted by the target audience while being faithful to the source text.

Intra-system Shifts
Intra-system shifts refer to the fact that the source language and the target language correspond roughly in formal structure, but it is impossible to find corresponding terms to refer to the source text in the process of translation.Intrasystem shifts usually occur in the case of English-Chinese dialects, idioms, allegorical sayings, etc..In order to make the target audience understand the source text, the translator looks for expressions similar to the original meaning in the target language.
Example 13 ST: 刚刚建国， 百废待兴， 只为今天， 这一仗真不想打。 TT: The country is newly established.Thousands of things are waiting to be done.If it's for our current situation, I really don't want to fight this war.
Analysis: "百废待兴" in Example 13 is a Chinese idiom (a word with a fixed structure form in Chinese vocabulary), which means that many things that have been put aside before are still waiting to be done.The idiom has no equivalent expression in English, so the translator uses intra-system shifts to translate it as " Thousands of things are waiting to be done", which explains the source text and makes it easier for the target audience to understand the meaning of the source text.
Example 14 ST:唇亡齿寒。 TT: We are in the same boat.Analysis: Example 14 is the speech of Chairman Mao at the pre-war meeting in the film.The United States has brought the war to the border between China and North Korea, which has already crossed the 38th Parallel, and jeopardizing the safety of China's territory and people.China is facing the same difficult situation as North Korea, so Chairman Mao said the idiom "唇亡齿寒".The idiom of "唇亡齿寒" comes from a story during the Spring and Autumn Period: Guo and Yu were two small states that supported each other, but the Duke of Guo and the king of Yu were enchanted by the beautiful women, precious horses and jade jewels sent by the State of Jin.And eventually the two states were destroyed one after another.The idiom literally means when the lips are gone, the teeth will feel the cold, and is often used as a metaphor to describe that when the interests of two parties are closely related, they should cooperate in alliance and share the honor and disgrace.Since there is no corresponding expression in English, the translator shifts it into " We are in the same boat", meaning " 我 们 处 境 相 同 ", which conveys the deeper meaning of the source text and is easy to understand.
Example 15 ST: 什么掉队？这小王八羔子！ TT: Like hell he's falling behind!That little bastard!Analysis: The word "王八羔子" is an idiom that means someone who has bad behavior, and is often used as a metaphor for wives, husbands who are unfaithful in marriage, and bad boys.This line occurred in Wuwanli do not follow the command, unauthorized action, so leader Lei platoon found after scold him as a "小王八羔子".This refers to a disobedient problematic teenager, which has no equivalent in English, so the translator shifts it to " bastard", meaning "讨厌鬼", which has the meaning of cursing and is similar in emotional expression.

Conclusion
The export of war-themed movies such as the Battle at Lake Changjin can not only enable foreign audiences to correctly recognize history, but also allow them to feel Chinese culture and understand the spirit of the China.The subtitle translation, as a key auxiliary tool for the foreign dissemination of film and television works, has a direct impact on the quality of the film and the effect of cultural external communication.Based on Catford's translation shifts theory, this paper analyzes the subtitle translation of the Battle at Lake Changjin and finds that the subtitle translator reasonably uses the translation techniques of level shifts and category shifts, effectively solves the problems caused by the differences between Chinese and English cultures, and resolves the obstacles between Chinese and English.So that the audience can better understand the content of the film, and achieve the ideal translation effect.It can be seen that translation shifts theory has certain guiding significance for subtitle translation.The Battle of the Lake Changjin set a perfect example for annihilating a U.S. reinforced regiment.

Appendix Terminology Database
抗美援朝第二次战役中，第九兵团在东线主战 场长津湖，取得重大成果，与西线战场我军取 得的重大胜利，遥相呼应。彻底粉碎了麦克阿 瑟"圣诞节前结束战争"的狂妄计划，把以美国 为首的"联合国军"从鸭绿江边打回了三八线， 扭转了朝鲜战局。 During the second battle in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, the 9th Corps achieved major strategic results on the main battlefield at the eastern front during the Battle of the Lake Changjin.While acting in cooperation with our army at the western front, these brave soldiers completely shattered MacArthur's presumptuous plan to " end the war before Christmas" and sent the " United Nations Command" led by the U.S. from the Yalu River back to the other side of the 38th Parallel.在伟大的抗美援朝战争中，十九万七千多名英 雄儿女为了祖国、为了人民、为了和平献出了 宝贵生命，涌现出了杨根思、黄继光、邱少云 等三十多万名英雄功臣和近六千个功臣集体。 Over 197,000 heroic Chinese people sacrificed their lives during the war.More than 300,000 heroes including Yang Gensi, Huang Jiguang, Qiu Shaoyun, etc. as well as nearly 6,000 meritorious units emerged.

伟大的抗美援朝精神历久弥新！伟大的中国人 民志愿军烈士永垂不朽！
The great spirit from the war remains timeless!The mighty martyrs of the PVA will never be forgotten!
Throw out one punch now to avoid a hundred punches in the future.Our tanks have crossed the 38 th and our enemies have been overwhelmed.Seems to me that victory has been set in stone.If this carries on, the enemies will soon be right at our doorstep.The battle in Chenguan Village caused the 7th Company to have too many casualties.It's no big deal even if we won.We are risking our lives to win them a peaceful life.人在阵地在！ Fight to the death to defend our front!不相信有完不成的任务，不相信有克服不了的 困难，不相信有战胜不了的敌人。 I don't believe in missions impossible to complete.I don't believe in difficulties impossible to overcome.I don't believe in enemies impossible to defeat.Fighting against men with such strong will like this, we were not ordained to win.