Turkish Timed Text Style Guide

*This document covers the language specific requirements for Turkish. Please make sure to also review
the General Requirements Section for comprehensive guidelines surrounding Timed Text deliveries to
Company.   
1. Acronyms
 Acronyms should be written without periods between letters: BBC, CIA, USA, UK
2. Character Limitation

 42 characters per line

3. Character Names
 Do not translate proper names (e.g., Peter, Suzanne), unless Company provides approved translations.
 Nicknames should only be translated if they convey a specific meaning.
 Use language-specific translations for historical/mythical characters (e.g. Santa Claus)
4. Continuity
 Do not use ellipses when a sentence is split between two continuous subtitles. 

Subtitle 1    En sonunda

Subtitle 2    benimle anlaşacağını biliyordum. 

Subtitle 1    Buraya kadar gelip

Subtitle 2    eli boş dönmeni hiç istemezdim.

 Use an ellipsis to indicate a pause or an abrupt interruption. In the case of a pause, if the sentence
continues in the next subtitle, use an ellipsis at the beginning of the second subtitle:

Subtitle 1      Bir düşüneyim…

Subtitle 2      ...belki başka bir çözümü vardır.

Subtitle 1      İnanıyorum ki…

Subtitle 2      ...güzel günler göreceğiz.

Subtitle 1       Daha önce de dediğim…

Subtitle 2      Neden bunu konuşmaya devam ediyoruz?

 Use ellipses without a space to indicate that a subtitle is starting mid-sentence.

5. Documentary
 Speaker’s title: only translate the title. Do not include the speaker’s name, company name or character
name as these are redundant.
 Only translate a speaker’s title once, the first time the speaker appears in the documentary.
 When ongoing dialogue is interrupted by a speaker’s title, use ellipses at the end of the sentence in the
subtitle that precedes it and at the beginning of the sentence in the subtitle that follows it.

         Subtitle 1          Bu filmde…

         Subtitle 2 (FN)   YÖNETMEN

         Subtitle 3          ...toplam altı ay çalıştım.

 Dialogue in TV/Movie clips should only be subtitled if plot-pertinent and if the rights have been
granted.
 News tickers/banners from archive clips do not require subtitles unless plot-pertinent.
 Avoid going back and forth between italicized and non-italicized subtitles when the speaker is on and
off screen in a documentary. If the speaker is on-camera for at least part of the scene, do not
italicize. Leave italics for off-screen narrators.
6. Dual Speakers
 Use a hyphen without a space if two characters speak in one subtitle with a maximum of one character
speaking per line.
7. Font Information
 Font style: Arial as a generic placeholder for proportionalSansSerif
 Font size: relative to video resolution and ability to fit 42 characters across the screen
 Font color: White 
8. Forced Narratives

 Forced narrative titles should only be included if plot-pertinent.

 When on-screen text and dialogue overlap, precedence should be given to the most plot-pertinent
message. Avoid over truncating or severely reducing reading speed in order to include both dialogue and on-
screen text
 The duration of the FN subtitle should as much as possible mimic the duration of the on-screen text,
except for cases where reading speed and/or surrounding dialogue takes precedence.
 Forced narratives that are redundant (e.g., identical to onscreen text or covered in the dialogue) must be
deleted.
 Forced narratives should be in ALL CAPS, except for long passages of on screen text (e.g. prologue or
epilogue), which should use sentence case to improve readability.
 Never combine a forced narrative with dialogue in the same subtitle.
 If at all possible, try to avoid interrupting a line of dialogue with a forced narrative.
 If interrupting the dialogue with a forced narrative cannot be avoided, use an ellipsis at the end of the
sentence that precedes it and at the beginning of the one that follows it.
9. Foreign Dialogue

 Foreign dialogue should only be translated if the viewer was meant to understand it (i.e., if it was
subtitled in the original version).
 When using foreign words, always verify spelling, accents and punctuation, if applicable.
 Foreign words should be italicized, unless they have become part of regular usage (e.g., in English, the
following no longer need to be italicized: bon appétit, rendezvous, doppelgänger, zeitgeist, persona non
grata) and unless they are proper names (e.g., a company name).
10. Italics
 Italicize the following:
o Album, book, film and program titles (use quotes for song titles)
o Foreign words (unless they are part of regular usage)
o Dialogue that is heard through electronic media, such as a phone, television, or computer
o Only use italics when the speaker is not in the scene(s), not merely off screen or off camera
o Song lyrics (if rights have been granted)
o Voice-overs
  Do not use italics to indicate emphasis on specific words
11. Line Treatment
 Maximum two lines.
12. Numbers
 From 1 to 10, numbers should be written out: bir, iki, üç, etc.
 Above 10, numbers should be written numerically: 11, 12, 13, etc. 
 Note that the above rules may be broken due to space limitations or reading speed concerns, as well as
for consistency when listing multiple quantities, for example.
 Measurements should be converted to the metric system, unless the original unit of measurement is plot
relevant.
13. Quotes
 Quotes should be used only at the start and at the end of a sentence, not at the start of every subtitle.
 Use double straight quotation marks (" ") without spaces for regular quotations.
 Use single straight quotation marks (' ') for quotes within quotes.
 Punctuation should be included within the quotation marks if the quote is an independent clause and
outside if it’s not.
14. Reading Speed
 Adult programs: 17 characters per second
 Children’s programs: 13 characters per second
15. Repetitions
 Do not translate words or phrases repeated more than once by the same speaker.
 If the repeated word or phrase is said twice in a row, time subtitle to the audio, but translate only once. 
16. Songs
 Only subtitle plot-pertinent songs if the rights have been granted.
 Opening and ending theme songs should only be subtitled if clearly plot-pertinent (e.g. for children’s
content when the lyrics tell a story) or if instructed by Company. Normally, adult programs should not have
the opening songs subtitled, except for SDH.
 Italicize lyrics.
 Use an uppercase letter at the beginning of each line.
 Use ellipses when a song continues in the background but is no longer subtitled to give precedence to
dialogue.
 Punctuation: only question marks and exclamation marks should be used at the end of a line – no
commas or periods. Commas can be used within the lyric line, if necessary.
 Album titles should be in italics.
 Song titles should be in quotes.
17. Titles
 Main titles: do not subtitle the on-screen main title card.
 Episode titles: do not subtitle episode titles if they do not appear on screen/are not voiced-over. If on-
screen (either as part of the principal photography or burned into video) or voiced-over, please reference the
KNP tool for approved translations.
 Titles of published works, existing movies and TV shows: use official or well-known translations. If
none are available, leave titles in the original language.
18. Special Instructions
 All plot-pertinent dialogue should be subtitled, and takes precedence over background dialogue.
 Dialogue must never be censored. Expletives should be rendered as faithfully as possible.
  Deliberate misspellings and mispronunciations should not be reproduced in the translation unless plot-
pertinent.
 Accentuation should be used consistently within the file. 
 Accents are mandatory when they impart a different meaning. Example: hâlâ vs. hala.

19. Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH) Guidelines
 Include as much of the original content as possible.
 Do not simplify or water down the original dialogue.
 Reading speed can be increased to:
 Adult programs: 20 characters per second
 Children’s programs: 17 characters per second
 Truncating the original dialogue should be limited to instances where reading speed and synchronicity
to the audio are an issue.
 For TV/Movie clips, all audible lines should be transcribed, if possible. If the audio interferes with
dialogue, please give precedence to most plot-pertinent content.
 All same-language audible songs that do not interfere with dialogue should be titled, if the rights have
been granted.
 Use song title identifiers when applicable - song titles should be in quotes:
["Forever Your Girl" playing]
 Song lyrics should be enclosed with a music note (♪) at the beginning and the end of each subtitle.
 Use brackets [ ] to enclose speaker IDs or sound effects.
 Identifiers/sound effects should be all lowercase, except for proper nouns.
 Only use speaker IDs or sound effects when they cannot be visually identified.
 When a speaker ID is required for a character who has yet to be identified by name, use [man] or
[woman], or [male voice] or [female voice], so as not to provide information that is not yet present in the
narrative.
 Use a generic ID to indicate and describe ambient music (e.g., rock music playing over a stereo).
 Sound effects should be plot-pertinent.
 Sound effects that interrupt dialogue should be treated as follows:

         Subtitle 1: However, lately, I've been...

                         [coughs, sniffs]

         Subtitle 2:  ...seeing a lot more of this.

 Never italicize speaker IDs or sound effects, even when the spoken information is italicized, such as in
a voice-over:
         [narrator]
         Once upon a time, there was…
 In instances of foreign dialogue being spoken:
 If foreign dialogue is translated, use [in language], for example [in Spanish]
 If foreign dialogue is not meant to be understood, use [speaking language], for example
[speaking Spanish]
  Always research the language being spoken – [speaking foreign language] should never be
used 
20. Reference
For all language-related issues not covered in this document, please refer to:
 http://www.tdk.gov.tr/

21. Dashes

Hesitation and interruption

Indicate hesitation only if important

If a speaker hesitates, do not edit out the "ums" and "ers" if they are important for characterisation or plot.
However, if the hesitation is merely incidental and the "ums" actually slow up the reading process, then edit
them out. (This is most likely to be the case in factual content, and too many "ums" can make the speaker appear
ridiculous.)

Within a single subtitle

When the hesitation or interruption is to be shown within a single subtitle, follow these rules:

Pause within a sentence

To indicate a pause within a sentence, insert three dots at the point of pausing, then continue the sentence
immediately after the dots, without leaving a space.

Everything that matters...is a mystery

You may need to show a pause between two sentences within one subtitle. For example, where a phone call is
taking place and we can only witness one side of it, there may not be time to split the sentences into separate
subtitles to show that someone we can't see or hear is responding. In this case, you should put two dots
immediately before the second sentence.

How are you? ..Oh, I'm glad to hear that.

A very effective technique is to use cumulative subtitles, where the first part appears before the second, and both
remain on screen until the next subtitle. Use this method only when the content justifies it; standard prepared
subtitles should be displayed in blocks.

Unfinished sentence

If the speaker simply trails off without completing a sentence, put three dots at the end of his/her speech. If s/he
then starts a new sentence, no continuation dots are necessary.

Hello, Mr... Oh, sorry! I've forgotten your name

Interruption

If a speaker is interrupted by another speaker or event, put three dots at the end of the incomplete speech.

Across subtitles

When the hesitation or interruption occurs in the middle of a sentence that is split across two subtitles, do the
following:

Indicate time lapse with dots

Where there is no time-lapse between the two subtitles, put three dots at the end of the first subtitle but no dots in
the second one.

I think...

I would like to leave now.

Where there is a time-lapse between the two subtitles, put three dots at the end of the first subtitle and two dots at
the beginning of the second, so that it is clear that it is a continuation.

I'd like...

..a piece of chocolate cake

Remember that dots are only used to indicate a pause or an unfinished sentence. You do not need to use dots
every time you split a sentence across two or more subtitles.

In general, the numeral form should be used. However, you can spell out numbers when this is editorially
justified as detailed below.

Additional info about Numbers:

In general, the numeral form should be used. However, you can spell out numbers when this is editorially
justified as detailed below.

The numbers 1-10 are often better spelled out:

I'll see you in three days

I'll see you in 3 days

But use the numeral with units:

It takes 1kJ of energy to lift someone.

It takes one kJ of energy to lift someone.

Emphatic numbers are always spelled out:

She gave me hundreds of reasons

She gave me 100s of reasons

Spell out any number that begins a sentence:

Three days from now.

3 days from now.

If there is more than one number in a sentence or list, it may be more appropriate to display them as numerals
instead of words:

On her 21st birthday party, 54 guests turned up

Consistency is important, so avoid

the score was three - 1

Numerals over 4 digits must include appropriately placed commas:

There are 1,500 cats here.

For sports, competitions, games or quizzes, always use numerals to display points, scores or timings.