Get Subtitles

why do they have subtitles on chinese tv shows?

on chinese tv shows, I have noticed that they write what they are saying on the bottom of the screen in chinese characters, why do they need to do that, what is the point of making chinese subtitles to a chinese tv show

Public Comments

1. The same reason why anyone would have subtitles: so the deaf viewers can know what is being said! A secondary reason would be if the sound is sketchy.
2. Subtitles are used for reading the words. Not everyone knows at least 10,000 Chinese characters. That's why some Chinese students still take Chinese courses and re-learn their own language. There are also variations to the Chinese language, such as Cantonese and other dialects. Some don't understand the language spoken by the actors, there must be at least subtitles to help people understand. Another reason for this is: In some Asian television programming, captioning is considered a part of the genre, and has evolved beyond simply capturing what is being said. The captions are used artistically; it is common to see the words appear one by one as they are spoken, in a multitude of fonts, colors, and sizes that capture the spirit of what is being said. Languages like Japanese also have a rich vocabulary of onomatopoeia which are used in captioning. More reasons why: In some East Asian countries, such as China and Japan, subtitling is common in some genres of television. In these languages, written text is less ambiguous than spoken text, so subtitling may offer a distinct advantage to aid comprehension. Furthermore, the various spoken dialects of Chinese are mutually incomprehensible, but all understand the one standard form of written Chinese. Subtitling means someone who only understands one dialect could watch a show filmed in another. Subtitling is also common in taped interviews during news broadcasts, as accents in East Asian languages can be difficult to understand.
3. Because there is mandarin, cantonese, shanghaiese and more different dilects and types of the Chinese language. For eg, if u were watching a show where the people spoke mandarin chinese on it then there would be words at the bottom because some Chinese people might find the dilects and the speaking too fast or difficult to understand.(cause some don't speak mandarin). It's a fact that even some Chinese people learn mandarin chinese. And it's also for anyone who is deaf :-)
4. There are many dialects in the Chinese language, some as different as another country's language but everyone reads the same characters. So even if I don't speak that dialect I can see read and understand what's going on.
5. Because only 60% of PRC Chinese actually speak Mandarin to some degree, many probably not good enough to follow the TV. 40% of Chinese don't speak Mandarin at all, that's usually countryside folks. Keep in mind that "proper" Mandarin is very much a small minority language and many Chinese speak a variation/dialect of Mandarin, or a different language. I presume that less then 10% speak Mandarin as their first language. Mandarin is in many areas something that starts only in school.
6. Cantonese or Mandarin depending on what the show is speaking.