字幕

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 字幕 is read as じまく and is a noun for text displayed on a screen to represent speech or other information in video.
• Basic usage: Specify the language with 日本語の字幕 and describe display speed with a pattern such as 字幕が速い.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Difference from 吹き替え
  • 字幕 presents speech as text, whereas 吹き替え replaces the soundtrack with dubbed voices in another language.
• Subtitles and captions
  • Subtitles usually foreground dialogue or translation; captions can also represent non-speech audio information.