Subtitling Fictional Languages. Translating Elvish into Finnish in The Lord of the Rings

Tämä tutkimus käsittelee fiktiivisen kielen tekstittämistä. Aineistona käytettiin Peter Jacksonin (2002) elokuvassa Taru sormusten herrasta: Sormuksen ritarit esiintyviä haltiakielisiä ilmauksia. Elokuva pohjautuu J.R.R. Tolkienin vuonna 1954 julkaistuun samannimiseen kirjaan. Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin miten haltiakieliset ilmaisut on esitetty suomenkielisissä tekstityksissä. Lisäksi tutkittiin, minkä takia kääntäjä on päätynyt tietynlaisiin käännösratkaisuihin. Haltiakielisten ilmaisujen esittämistä suomenkielisissä tekstityksissä tutkittiin paikallisten ja globaalien käännösstrategioiden avulla. Paikallisten strategioiden tutkimista varten Henrik Gottliebin (1992) tekstitysstrategioita mukautettiin tutkimuksen tarpeita vastaavaksi. Globaalien käännösstrategioiden tarkastelun pohjana olivat Lawrence Venutin (1995) käsitteet kotouttaminen ja vieraannuttaminen. Syitä tiettyjen käännösstrategioiden valitsemiseen etsittiin enimmäkseen Hartmut Stöcklin (2004) näkemyksiin pohjautuvan multimodaalisen analyysin avulla. Elokuvassa esiintyvät haltiakieliset ilmaisut voitiin jakaa viiteen eri kategoriaan. Tutkimuksessa selvisi, että haltiakielisten ilmaisujen kääntämisessä oli käytetty pääasiallisesti kolmea erilaista paikallista käännösstrategiaa. Samaan kategoriaan kuuluvat ilmaisut oli usein käännetty saman strategian avulla. Vieraannuttavia käännösstrategioita oli kuitenkin käytetty kotouttavia enemmän. Osasyynä tähän on luultavasti se, että fiktiivisiä kieliä itsessään voidaan tarkoituksella käyttää etäännyttämään katsojia fantasiamaailmasta. Multimodaalinen analyysi paljasti lisäksi, että kuva, kieli, ääni ja musiikki muodostavat yhdessä merkityksiä elokuvassa. Näiden neljän moodin keskinäinen vuorovaikutus voi myös vaikuttaa kääntäjän tekemiin valintoihin. Haltiakielisiä ilmaisuja ei välttämättä tarvitse aina tekstittää suomeksi, jos niiden keskeinen merkitys pystytään kertomaan kuvan, äänen ja musiikin avulla.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

“We are here, and we exist as English-speaking students” : A case study of international students’ experiences of inclusive language practices at the University of Helsinki

As a consequence of globalization, higher education institutions are becoming increasingly multilingual. Linguistic superdiversity is apparent within our communities, and education should view multilingualism as a valuable resource (Källkvist & Hult, 2020). Prior research has suggested that language barriers may pose issues for the inclusiveness of international students within higher education institutions (e.g., Xiao, 2021). One issue that the University of Helsinki is currently combating is finding language policies that successfully attain linguistic inclusion of all students within the university community. This is because the university has a role in both safeguarding the national languages of Finland (Finnish and Swedish) whilst also ensuring that the quality of education remains the same for non-Finnish/Swedish-speaking students. This study examines the issue from the perspective of 6 non-Finnish/Swedish-speaking students, who were interviewed about how they have experienced linguistic inclusion at the University of Helsinki. Linguistic inclusion, in this study, refers to language-related processes aiming for inclusiveness. To limit the scope of the research, students had to be first year master’s students, ensuring that they had on-going courses to share experiences from, but also prior university experience to compare to. The students reported that although their overall experience at the University of Helsinki has been inclusive, they have some suggestions based on their experiences to improving inclusiveness through language practices for international university students. Especially in matters relating to their education, the students reported that they would like information to be provided in English as a lingua franca. In more social contexts, such as attending events, the students do accept and even appreciate more translingual practices, as this allows students to become more included within the Finnish/Swedish-speaking communities. The University Student Union (HYY) is currently in the process of planning a new language strategy for 2023, for which the findings of this paper can provide some recommendations. The main feedback for HYY that the study provides is that all necessary information and training would be provided in all three languages and at least also in English, so international students working in organizations under HYY still have the same access to information as their Finnish/Swedish-speaking equivalents. The study still leaves some questions for future research to respond to, such as: what the main difficulties are in maintaining trilingual communication, how to balance between the responsibility of the institution and the student, and examining non-linguistic factors contributing to students’ experiences of inclusiveness

The generality of management recommendations across populations of an invasive perennial herb

Demographic models are widely used to produce management recommendations for different species. For invasive plants, current management recommendations to control local population growth are often based on data from a limited number of populations per species, and the assumption of stable population structure (asymptotic dynamics). However, spatial variation in population dynamics and deviation from a stable structure may affect these recommendations, calling into question their generality across populations of an invasive species. Here, I focused on intraspecific variation in population dynamics and investigated management recommendations generated by demographic models across 37 populations of a short-lived, invasive perennial herb (Lupinus polyphyllus). Models that relied on the proportional perturbations of vital rates (asymptotic elasticities) indicated an essential role for plant survival in long-term population dynamics. The rank order of elasticities for different vital rates (survival, growth, retrogression, fecundity) varied little among the 37 study populations regardless of population status (increasing or declining asymptotically). Summed elasticities for fecundity increased, while summed elasticities for survival decreased with increasing long-term population growth rate. Transient dynamics differed from asymptotic dynamics, but were qualitatively similar among populations, that is, depending on the initial size structure, populations tended to either increase or decline in density more rapidly than predicted by asymptotic growth rate. These findings indicate that although populations are likely to exhibit transient dynamics, management recommendations based on asymptotic elasticities for vital rates might be to some extent generalised across established populations of a given short-lived invasive plant species

Annual mowing has the potential to reduce the invasion of herbaceous Lupinus polyphyllus

In order to manage invasive plant species efficiently, it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of different strategies of population control, including the underlying mechanisms of action and the consequences for target populations. Here, I explored the effectiveness of biomass removal as a method of control for the invasive perennial herbLupinus polyphyllus. More specifically, using seed material from 11 populations, I assessed among-population variation (if any) in plant compensatory growth as a response to annual biomass removal under standardised growing conditions over two consecutive years, and quantified the demographic effects of a single biomass-removal event. In all study populations, annual biomass removal reduced plant size, flowering probability, and shoot and root biomass. Biomass removal also reduced plant survival and the number of flowering shoots, but these effects were pronounced at certain time points only. A population-level demographic analysis revealed that a single biomass-removal event considerably decreased the long-term population growth rate (lambda); this decline in lambda was due to a reduction in plant fecundity followed by survival and growth. These findings suggest that annual mowing has the potential to curb invasions ofL. polyphyllusbecause plants are not able to fully compensate for drastic biomass loss

Demographic mechanisms of disturbance and plant diversity promoting the establishment of invasive Lupinus polyphyllus

AimsCommunity characteristics, such as disturbances and interspecific competition that affect the availability of microsites and resources, contribute to the success or failure of the establishment of exotic plant species. In particular, these two community characteristics may have adverse effects on plant emergence and survival, which are particularly important for population establishment and therefore it may be necessary to consider both these vital rates simultaneously when assessing demographic mechanisms. Here, we investigated the impacts of disturbance and interspecific competition on the establishment of a perennial invasive herb, Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl.MethodsOver the course of 2 years, we conducted an experiment in 10 populations of this species in Finland in which we manipulated the levels of soil disturbance. We recorded community characteristics (i.e. the number of vascular plant species, vegetation height, and the proportions of bare ground, litter and moss), and observed the emergence and survival of L. polyphyllus individuals in study plots.Important FindingsA mild disturbance (breaking the soil surface mechanically) slightly increased seedling emergence but did not affect plant survival. Instead, an intense disturbance (vegetation and litter removal) had no effect on seedling emergence, although it significantly increased the proportion of bare ground and, consequently, seedling survival. Survival was not affected by the height of the surrounding vegetation, but both seedling emergence and plant survival increased with an increasing number of plant species in the study plots. These findings demonstrate that single disturbance events may considerably promote the establishment of invasive herbs, although the overall effect and demographic mechanisms behind the increased establishment are likely to vary depending on disturbance type. Moreover, our results suggest that species diversity per se may not be a crucial mechanism for locally preventing the establishment of exotic plants

To breed or not to breed: drivers of intermittent breeding in a seabird under increasing predation risk and male bias

Intermittent breeding may be adaptive for long-lived species subjected to large accessory reproductive costs, but it may also reflect reduced adaptation to the environment, reducing population growth. Nevertheless, environmental influences on breeding propensity, particularly that of predation risk, remain poorly understood and difficult to study, because non-breeders are typically not identified. Female eiders Somateria mollissima from the Baltic Sea provide an excellent testbed, because nesting females have been exposed to intensifying predation and growing male bias that may increase female harassment. We based our study on long-term data (14 years) on females captured and marked at the nest, and females individually identified at sea irrespective of capture status. We hypothesized that breeding propensity decreases with increasing predation risk and male bias, and increases with breeder age. Consistent with our hypotheses, females nesting on islands with higher nest predation risk were more likely to skip breeding, and breeding probability increased with age. In contrast, the steep temporal decline in breeding propensity could not be reliably attributed to annual adult sex ratio or to the abundance of white-tailed sea eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla), the main predator on females, at the nearby Hanko Bird Observatory. Breeding probability showed significant consistent individual variation. Our results demonstrate that spatiotemporal variation in predation risk affects the decision to breed and high incidence of non-breeding was associated with low fledging success. The increased frequency of intermittent breeding in this declining population should be explicitly considered in demographic models, and emphasis placed on understanding the preconditions for successful reproduction.Peer reviewe

The invasive herb Lupinus polyphyllus attracts bumblebees but reduces total arthropod abundance

Invasive plant species generally reduce the abundance and diversity of local plant species, which may translate into alterations at higher tropic levels, such as arthropods. Due to the diverse functional roles of arthropods in the ecosystems, it is critical to understand how arthropod communities are affected by plant invasions. Here, we investigated the impact of the invasive ornamental herb Lupinus polyphyllus (Lindl.) on arthropod communities during its main flowering period in southwestern Finland over two years. The total number of arthropods was about 46% smaller at the invaded sites than at the uninvaded sites in both study years, and this difference was mainly due to a lower abundance of beetles, Diptera, Lepidoptera, and ants. However, the number of bumblebees (particularly Bombus lucorum) was about twice as high at invaded sites compared with uninvaded sites, even though bumblebee richness did not differ between sites. There was no statistically significant difference between invaded and uninvaded sites in the abundances of the other arthropod groups considered (Hymenoptera (excluding bumblebees and ants), Hemiptera, and Arachnida). In addition, L. polyphyllus affected the relative abundance of four arthropod groups, with the order Lepidoptera being less common at invaded sites than at uninvaded sites, while the opposite was true for bumblebees, Hemiptera, and Arachnida. Overall, these results demonstrate that the negative impact of L. polyphyllus on biodiversity goes beyond its own trophic level, suggesting that this species has the potential to alter the abundance of different arthropod groups and, consequently, the structure of arthropod communities at a large scale

Introduced plants of Lupinus polyphyllus are larger but flower less frequently than conspecifics from the native range: Results of the first year

Introduced species, which establish in novel environments, provide an opportunity to explore trait evolution and how it may contribute to the distribution and spread of species. Here, we explore trait changes of the perennial herb Lupinus polyphyllus based on 11 native populations in the western USA and 17 introduced populations in Finland. More specifically, we investigated whether introduced populations outperformed native populations in traits measured in situ (seed mass) and under common garden conditions during their first year (plant size, flowering probability, and number of flowering shoots). We also explored whether climate of origin (temperature) influenced plant traits and quantified the degree to which trait variability was explained collectively by country and temperature as compared to other population-level differences. Three out of four plant traits differed between the native and introduced populations; only seed mass was similar between countries, with most of its variation attributed to other sources of intraspecific variation not accounted for by country and temperature. Under common garden conditions, plants originating from introduced populations were larger than those originating from native populations. However, plants from the introduced range flowered less frequently and had fewer flowering shoots than their native-range counterparts. Temperature of a population's origin influenced plant size in the common garden, with plant size increasing with increasing mean annual temperature in both native and introduced populations. Our results of the first year reveal genetic basis for phenotypic differences in some fitness-related traits between the native and introduced populations of L. polyphyllus. However, not all of these trait differences necessarily contribute to the invasion success of the species and thus may not be adaptive, which raises a question how persistent the trait differences observed in the first year are later in individuals' life for perennial herbs

The invasive herb Lupinus polyphyllus can reduce plant species richness independently of local invasion age

The ecological impacts of invasive species may change or accumulate with time since local invasion, potentially inducing further changes in communities and the abiotic environment. Yet, time since invasion is rarely considered when investigating the ecological impacts of invasive non-native species. To examine the effect of time since invasion on the ecological impacts of Lupinus polyphyllus, a perennial nitrogen-fixing herb, we surveyed vascular plant communities in the presence and absence of L. polyphyllus in young, intermediate, and old semi-natural grassland sites (ca. 5, 10, 15 years representing both time since lupine invasion and plant community age). We analyzed vascular plant community composition, vascular plant species richness, and the cover of various ecological plant groups and L. polyphyllus. In contrast to our hypotheses, we found no change in the mean cover of L. polyphyllus (about 35%) with time since local invasion, and an ordination did not suggest marked changes in plant community composition. L. polyphyllus was associated with lower species richness in invaded plant communities but this effect did not change with time since invasion. Invaded plant communities were also associated with lower occurrence of generalist, oligotrophic (low-nutrient-adapted) and copiotrophic (nutrient-demanding) species but no temporal dynamics were detected. We conclude that even the intermediate cover of L. polyphyllus can reduce plant species richness, but the ecological impact caused by this invader might not dramatically change or accumulate with time since invasion.Peer reviewe