Subtitling Sense of Humor Generated by Zeemo AI-Powered Tool from Arabic into English

Authors

  • Ala Bassam Mousa Kattos

    Translation Department, Faculty of Arts, Yarmouk University, Irbid 21110, Jordan
  • Ahmad Mohammad Al-Harahsheh

    Translation Department, Faculty of Arts, Yarmouk University, Irbid 21110, Jordan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i11.11033
Received: 12 July 2025 | Revised: 25 August 2025 | Accepted: 10 September 2025 | Published Online: 22 October 2025

Abstract

This study assessed the subtitling of Egyptian humorous expressions into English provided by Zeemo's AI-powered subtitling tool. A total of 50 humorous expressions were selected from the Egyptian comedy film Taj and analyzed using a qualitative descriptive approach. The findings revealed that Zeemo's subtitling did not convey the sense of humor adequately in English, as the tool often left the humor unchanged, relied on literal translation, or used similar but ineffective expressions in the target language. The study concluded that while AI-powered subtitling tools such as Zeemo can facilitate the subtitling process, they remain limited in handling culture-bound humor. It was therefore recommended that human intervention be essential for editing and supervising automated subtitles to ensure accuracy, effectiveness, and audience comprehension. The study points to potential risks of audience misunderstanding or loss of humor when relying solely on automated subtitles, which can affect content reception and viewer satisfaction. The study adds to the limited body of work examining how AI tools handle humor in subtitling, specifically Egyptian Arabic humor, which is culturally rich and often challenging to translate. It provides empirical evidence of the shortcomings of AI subtitling in transmitting humor, offering insights for refining both translation theory and practice in the age of automation. It enriches translation studies by exploring the intersection between humor translation and AI subtitling, an area that remains relatively under-researched.

Keywords:

Egyptian Arabic; Sense of Humour; Subtitling; Taj Movie; Zeemo

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How to Cite

Mousa Kattos, A. B., & Al-Harahsheh, A. M. (2025). Subtitling Sense of Humor Generated by Zeemo AI-Powered Tool from Arabic into English. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(11), 757–772. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i11.11033

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 11 (November 2025): In progress

Article Type

Article

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Copyright © 2025 Ala Bassam Mousa Kattos, Ahmad Mohammad Al-Harahsheh

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.