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AN ANALYSIS OF PUN TRANSLATION
IN THE ANIMATION MOVIE
“Madagascar II Escape to Africa”
THESIS
Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for Sarjana Degree at English Department of Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts
Sebelas Maret University
By:
NIKEN WINARTI C 1306508
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LETTERS AND FINE ARTS SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY
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PRONOUNCEMENT
Name : Niken Winarti
NIM : C1306508
Stated whole-heartedly that this thesis entitled An Analysis of Pun Translation in
the Animation Movie “Madagascar II Escape to Africa” is originally made by the
researcher. It is neither a plagiarism, nor made by others. The things related to other people’s works are written in quotation and included within bibliography.
If it is then proved that the researcher cheats, the researcher is ready to take the responsibility.
Surakarta, April 2011
The researcher
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MOTTO
Smile…and the world will smile back at you. (Anonym).
Do good…feel good…and loo
k good. (Anonym).
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DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to:
Lord the Almighty, Allah SWT
Bunda, and my beloved family
Beibies
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, I would like to bestow my greatest thank to Allah SWT for the
blessing, guidance, and love that have been given to me throughout my entire life,
especially lately, that I am able to finish writing this thesis as partial fulfillment of
graduating requirement of Sarjana degree. However, I deeply realize that I will
not be able to accomplish this thesis without support and assistance from people
surrounding me. Therefore, I would like express my gratitude to these following
people:
1. The Dean of the Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts, Drs. Sudarno, M.A for
approving this thesis.
2. The Head of S1 Non Regular English Department, and my Academic
Consultant, Drs. Budi Waskito, M.Pd for giving an admission to this thesis
to be examined.
3. My Thesis Consultant, Ida Kusuma Dewi, S.S, M.A for giving not only
assistance and guidance in compiling the thesis, but also precious life
lessons.
4. All the lecturers who have shared their knowledge through each course.
5. All raters, Mr. Heri, Mr. Dion, and Ms. Umi for the comments, inputs, and
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6. My second home and family at Focus Independent School Solo for all the
happiness and support, especially Ms. Ririn for giving me a way to make
one of my dreams comes true.
7. All 2006 Non Regular English Department, especially Diong, Ayu, Tiwi,
Susi, Inul, and Rika for the support and assistance.
8. My new family in Tipes, brothers and sisters in law, Dhea, Diva, and
Fanny, for the warm welcome and love.
9. My beloved Bunda, Babhe, brothers, sisters in law, and my lovely niece
and nephew for the remarkable support and love. Words can’t express my
gratitude.
10.My beloved beibi, for accompanying, supporting, helping, and loving me.
You mean the world to me. L.U.
11.My baby, you’re not here yet, but you already bring tons of happiness and
strength.
14.Last but not least, to myself for being who I am today through all ups and
down, tears and joy.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
THE APPROVAL OF THE CONSULTANT ... ii
THE APPROVAL OF THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS ... iii
PRONOUNCEMENT ... iv
MOTTO ... v
DEDICATION ... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... vii
TABLE OF CONTENT ... ix
ABSTRACT ... xi
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Research Background ... 1
B. Problem Statements ... 3
C. Research Limitation ... 4
D. Research Objective ... 4
E. Research Benefit ... 4
F. Thesis Organization ... 5
CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW A. Definition of Translation ... 7
B. Problems in Translation ... 8
C. Film Translation ... 12
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F. Assessing Translation Quality ... 24
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2. Pun Rendered as Zero Pun ... 62
C. ACCURACY LEVEL OF THE TRANSLATION ... 64
1. Less Accurate Translation ... 65
2. Inaccurate Translation ... 75
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion ... 83
B. Suggestion ... 84 BIBLIOGRAPHY
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ABSTRACT
Niken Winarti. C 1306508. An Analysis of Pun Translation in the Animation Movie “Madagascar II Escape to Africa”. Undergraduate Thesis: English Department, Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts. Sebelas Maret University. Surakarta. 2011.
This research is a descriptive qualitative research aimed to describe the types of pun, the translation technique, and the impact of the application of the techniques on the accuracy level of the pun translation in the animation movie “Madagascar II Escape to Africa”
This research analyzed 40 puns taken from animation movie “Madagascar
II Escape to Africa” and its translation in form of subtitle texts, and the comments and suggestions from the raters.
The result of the analysis showed that there were three types of pun found throughout the movie dialogue. They are paronymy, polysemy , and homonymy. Paronymy puns dominate the dialogue with 32 data or 80% of all 40 data. The next dominating pun is homonymy puns which amount 5 data or 12,5% of all 40 data. The least dominant pun is polysemy puns which amount only 3 data or 7,5% of all 40 data.
The analysis on translation techniques showed that there were two techniques used namely pun rendered as non pun and pun rendered as zero pun. Among the puns that were rendered as non pun, 30 puns or 75% are paronymy puns, 3 puns or 7,5% are polysemy puns, and 4 puns or 10% are homonymy puns. Among the puns that were rendered as zero pun, 2 puns or 5% are paronymy puns and 1 pun or 2,5% is homonymy pun.
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Research Background
It is undeniable that comedy as one of movie genres has shown its
significance in entertainment world. People are getting more and more excited to
watch comedy movies so that some comedies films become best seller movies. Thus,
developing countries including Indonesia are vastly interested to import comedy.
Regarding to this fact, translation demand has increased due to the translation purpose
of facilitating people who come from different countries and speak different
languages to understand the message intended in the source language. Comedy films,
however, might be challenging for translators since they contain humour which is
closely related to the source language culture.
Wordplay is one of humor sources which can be found in movies. Wordplay
as a part of humor which can be found in movie dialogues is not easy to translate
since it is closely related to the source language (SL) culture and the SL system of
grammar. A joke which is considered to be very funny for SL speakers can be
meaningless for the target language speakers.
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The animation movie entitled Madagascar II Escape to Africa is an example
of a comedy movie which exploits wordplay to create a humorous atmosphere within.
The movie which is directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath was released on
November 7, 2008. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by
Paramount Pictures. It stars the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer,
Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, and Andy Richter. It
is also supported with the voices of Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin, Sherri Shepherd,
Elisa Gabrielli, and will.i.am.
The film starts as a prequel, showing a small part of Alex's early life, which
includes his capture by the hunters. It soon moves to shortly after the point where the
original left off that the animals decide to return to New York. They board an airplane
in Madagascar, but crash-land in Africa, where each of the main characters meets
other animals of the same species. Eventually, Alex is reunited with his parents.
Problems arise, and their resolution takes part on the rest of the film.
Several wordplays are found in the movie dialogues, for instance:
Marty is enjoying his new experience with his new friends, the zebra herd and as
Marty feels that he has chemistry with the herd, he says “It's one for all...”
Afterwards, the zebra herd reply “ And all for all, y'all!” The dialogue can be
recognized as similar to a well known proverb taken from Three Musketeers movie,
being “one for all, and all for one”. The sentence “It's one for all...” is translated into
“Satu untuk semua….”, and the sentence “ And all for all, y'all!” is translated into
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Based on the example above, it is obvious that translating humor in a movie is a
complicated task to accomplish. Furthermore, translating wordplay in a movie
dialogue into subtitle is even more challenging as the translator is expected to
produce translation which must consider time limits and space constrains. At the
same time, the translator is required to present the same sense and effect of the source
language expression into the expression in target language having different culture
and sense of humor.
The above phenomena leads the researcher to analyze types of pun which occur
in the movie, the technique of translation applied in translating the puns, and the
accuracy level of the pun translation.
B. Problem Statements
In current research, the following problems are proposed:
1. What kinds of puns are found in the animation movie Madagascar II
Escape to Africa?
2. What techniques of translation are applied in translating the puns found in
the animation movie Madagascar II Escape to Africa?
3. What are the impacts of the translation technique on the accuracy level of
translation of the dialogue containing puns of the animation movie
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C. Research Limitation
This research focuses its discussion and analysis upon subtitling pun in a
movie dialogue. It also highlights the types of pun found in the animation movie
“Madagascar II Escape to Africa”. This thesis also analyzes the technique of
translation. Furthermore, the research examines the accuracy level of pun translation.
D. Research Objectives
There are three objectives achieved in this research, they are:
1. To describe the types of pun found in the animation movie Madagascar II
Escape to Africa
2. To describe translation techniques applied in translating the puns in the
animation movie Madagascar II Escape to Africa
3. To explain the impact of the translation techniques on the accuracy of the pun
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E. Research Benefits
This thesis is compiled to give benefits to these following parties, being:
1. Students.
The result of the study can be used as additional information about puns and how
to translate them.
2. Other researchers.
The content of this thesis is expected to provide information on pun translation in
the form of subtitle and be able to stimulate other researchers to conduct further
research of the similar subject.
F. Thesis Organization
In order to be able to present data and discussion effectively and
informatively, this thesis is divided into five chapters. The five chapters are organized
as follow:
CHAPTER I, Introduction.
This chapter consists of research background, problem limitation, problem
statements, research objectives, research benefits, and thesis organization.
CHAPTER II, Literature Review.
The second chapter of this paper provides reference-based definitions, explanations,
and theories related to the research such as translation, subtitling, wordplay, and so
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CHAPTER III, Research Methodology.
The third chapter of the paper discusses the type of research done by the researcher.
Furthermore, this chapter presents the data along with its source of data, method of
data collection, techniques of data analysis, and research procedure.
CHAPTER IV, Research Findings and Discussion.
This chapter discusses the analysis of the data including the types of pun, the
translation techniques, and the accuracy level of the pun translations.
CHAPTER V, Conclusion.
The last chapter of this thesis presents the conclusion. As an addition, it provides
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CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Definitions of Translation
Many experts have delivered various ideas upon the definition of
translation. “Translation, generally understood involves the rendering of a source
language (SL) text into the target language (TL) so as to ensure that (1) the
surface meaning of the two will be approximately similar and (2) the structures of
the SL will be preserved as closely as possible but not so closely that the TL
structures will be seriously distorted.” (Bassnett, 1991:2). In his book Pengantar
Teori Terjemahan, Maurits D.S. Simatupang (2000: 2) states that translating is
transferring the meaning existing in the SL to the TL, and makes it as natural as
possible along with the rules of the TL. He highlights an issue that a translation
product should read as an original text instead of a translation. To achieve it, a
translation product should apply natural TL forms, optimally communicate the
intended meaning of the ST, and retain the ST dynamism.
The book Thinking Spanish Translation mentions that translation as a
process includes two types of activity; they are to understand a ST, and to
formulate a TT. These two activities occur simultaneously (1995:7). In other
words, “translation encompasses the process of extracting information (by way of
comprehension and interpretation) from a given text, and then re-expressing the
details of that information in another text using a different form of words”
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(1995:8). Furthermore, according to Nida (1991:33), “the activity of translating
consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalence of
a source language message, firstly in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of
style.”
From those definitions, it can be concluded that translation is a process to
transfer messages in SL into TL, which should consider the content of the
messages, the language structures, and the style as well.
Throughout the process of translating a SL text, a translator is highly
required to understand the content of the text to subsequently be able to produce
their equivalence in the TL, as natural and close as possible.
B. Problems in Translation
Several problems may occur during the process of translation. In a more
specific examination, the most common problem is non-equivalence take place in
the word level or so called non-equivalence at word level. It means that the target
language has no direct equivalence for a word which occurs in the source text.
The type and difficulty of non equivalence depend on the nature of the non
equivalence. There are eleven non-equivalences proposed by Baker (1992:18),
namely culture-specific concepts, the source-language concept is not lexicalized
in the target language, the source-language word is semantically complex, the
source and target languages make distinctions in meaning, the target language
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differences in physical or interpersonal perspective, differences in expressive
meaning, differences in form, differences in frequency and purpose of using
specific forms, the use of loan words in the source text.
Culture-specific concepts mean that the source language word may express
a concept which is totally unknown in the target culture. The concept maybe
abstract or concrete; it may relate to a religious belief, a social custom, or even a
type of food. Such concepts are often referred to as “culture-specific”. An
„ordinary,not extra’, as in standard range of products) expresses a concept which
is very accessible and readily understood by most people, yet Arabic has no
equivalent for it.
Another difficulty in translating from SL to TL is that the source-language
word is semantically complex. A single word which consists of a single
morpheme can sometimes express a more complex set of meaning than a whole
sentence. Languages automatically develop very concise forms for referring to
complex concepts if the concepts become important enough to be talked about
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the ground under coffee trees of rubbish and pilling it in the middle of the row in
order to aid the recovery beans dropped during harvesting (ITI News, 1988:57).
The source and target languages make distinctions in meaning as the target
language may make more or fewer distinctions in meaning than the source
language. What one language regards as an important distinction in meaning,
another language may not perceive as relevant. For example, Indonesian makes a
distinction between going out in the rain without the knowledge that it is raining
(kehujanan) and going out in the rain with the knowledge that it is raining (
hujan-hujanan). English does not make this distinction, that it brings the difficulties for
the translator to translate such context.
The target language lacks of a superordinate as the target language may
have specific words (hyponyms) but no general word (superordinate) to head the
semantic field. For example, Russian has no ready equivalent for facilities,
meaning „any equipment, building, services, etc, that are provided for a particular
activity or purpose’. It does, however, have several specific words and
expressions which can be thought as a type of facilities, for example sredstva
peredvizheniya („means of transport’), naem („loan’), etc.
The target language lacks of a specific term (hyponym) as generally,
languages tend to have general words (superordinates) but lack specific ones
(hyponyms), since each language makes only those distinctions in meaning which
seem relevant to its particular environment. For example the word house, English
has variety of hyponyms which has no equivalents in many languages, such as
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A difference in physical or interpersonal perspective is another difficulty
that the translator may face in transferring the message from the SL to the TL.
Physical perspective may be of more importance in one language that it is in
another. Physical perspective has to do with where things or people are in relation
to one another, or to a place, as expressed in pairs of words such as come/go,
take/bring, arrival/depart, and so on. Perspective may also include the
relationship between participants in the discourse (tenor).
Differences in expressive meaning mean that there may be a
target-language word which has the same propositional meaning as the source target-language
word, but it may have different expressive meaning. The difference may be
considerable or it may be subtle but important enough to pose a translation
problem in a given context. It is usually easier to add expressive meaning than to
subtract it.
Differences in form are caused by, often, no equivalent in the target
language for a particular form in the source text. Certain suffixes and prefixes
which convey propositional meaning and other types of meaning in English often
have no direct equivalents in other languages. It is relatively easy to paraphrase
propositional meaning, but other types of meaning cannot always be spelt out in a
translation.
Differences in frequency and purpose of using specific forms mean that
even when a particular form does have a ready equivalent in the target language,
there may be difference in the frequency with which it is used or the purpose for
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The use of loan words in the source text possesses a special problem in
translation. Loan words such as au fait, chic, and alfresco in English are often
used for their prestige value, because they can add an air of sophistication to the
text or its subject matter. This is often lost in translation because it is not always
possible to find a loan word with the same meaning in the target language. Once a
word or expression is borrowed into a language, we cannot predict or control its
development or the additional meanings it might or might not take on.
C. Film Translation
It is stated in Routledge encyclopedia of Translation Studies (2000: 245)
that translating a movie, or so-called film translation, is slightly different from
translating a text. The differences lay in the source materials and the product
itself. The materials in film translation can be in the form of movie dialogues or
movie text. Moreover, the outcomes are in form of dialogue and subtitle text. The
process of film translation to produce spoken product is known as dubbing, while
the written product of film translation is known as subtitle text.
Spanakaki in www.wikipedia.com states that there are two types of film
translation. They are interlingual and intralingual film translation. In interlingual
the ST is foreign language, whereas in intralingual film translation the ST is
native language. Generally, intralingual film translation occurs in subtitle text in
which the text is intended to assist people with hearing disabilities to enjoy the
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there are two types of film translation which are interlingual film translation or so
called diagonal translation and intralingual film translation which is known as
vertical translation.
1. Subtitles
Generally, subtitle is known as the written product of a film translation. It
can be found in form of written text in the bottom of the screen that appears at the
same time the audience hear the dialogue (www.wikipedia.com). According to
Shuttleworth and Cowie's Dictionary of Translation Studies (1997: 161),
subtitling is defined as the process of providing synchronized captions for film
and television dialogue. www.wikipedia.com also cited that subtitles are textual
versions of the dialog in films and television programs, usually displayed at the
bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog
in a foreign language or a written rendering of the dialog in the same language—
with or without added information intended to help viewers who are deaf and
hard-of-hearing to follow the dialog.
In accordance to the definition of subtitle as a process, Gottlieb in Baker
(2001: 244) mentions that, “Subtitles sometimes referred to as captions are
transcription of a film or TV dialogue presented simultaneously on the screen.
They usually consist of one or two lines of an average maximum length of 35
characters. Furthermore, as a rule, subtitles are placed at the bottom of the picture
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Subtitle as one of film translation types can be used to translate dialog
from a foreign language to the native language of the audience. It is the quickest
and the cheapest method of translating content, and by employing this technique,
the audiences still have the possibility to hear the original dialog and voices of the
actors. In the book THINKING SPANISH TRANSLATION, it is stated that a
subtitle is not an oral target text, but an excellent example of crossover between an
oral ST and written TT.
As an addition, in www.translationjournal.net, Spanakaki mentions that
translation of subtitling is sometimes very different from the translation of written
text. Usually, when a film or a TV program is subtitled, the translator watches the
picture and listens to the audio sentence by sentence. The translator may or may
not have access to a written transcript of the dialog. Especially in commercial
subtitles, the translator often interprets what is meant, rather than translating how
it is said, i.e. meaning being more important than form.
Moreover, Gottlieb mentions that linguistically there are two kinds of
subtitles, being intralingual subtitling and interlingual subtitles. Intralingual
subtitling is defined as a vertical subtitling in which the speech is taken down to
writing by changing its style but not its language. In the other hand, intralingual
subtitling is considered as a diagonal type where the speech of one language is
transferred to writing of another language. Therefore, intralingual subtitling
changes both mode and language of the source language message (2001:245).
As an addition, Gottlieb (in Baker, 2001: 245) states that in subtitling, the
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channel, including dialogue, background voices, and sometimes lyrics; b)
non-verbal auditory channel, including music, natural sounds, and sound effect; c)
verbal visual channel, including superimposed titles and written signs on the
screen, d) non verbal visual channel, being picture composition and flow.
In sum, subtitle text always focusing on the speech act as intentions and
effects are more important than isolated lexical elements. Moreover, as a basic
rule, most television broadcasters demand a two-line subtitle that consist of more
or less 60-70 characters to stay on the screen for about 5-6 seconds, and
presentation rates of more than 12 characters per second (cps) are not acceptable
(Baker, 2001:247).
2. Dubbing
It has been stated that one of the types in film translation that produces
spoken product is known as dubbing. By applying this film translation technique
into foreign movies, the voice of the actor speaking in SL is replaced with the
voice of the voice actor in TL. In www.wikipedia.com, it is stated that dubbing is
the process of recording or replacing voices for a motion picture. The term most
commonly refers to voices recorded that do not belong to the original actors and
speak in a different language from the one in which the actor is speaking.
"Dubbing" also describes the process of an actor re-recording lines they spoke
during filming that must be replaced to improve audio quality or reflect dialog
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Foreign-language films and videos are often dubbed into the local
language of their target markets to increase their popularity with the local
audience by making them more accessible. In Indonesia, most South American
movies or known as telenovelas are translated into Indonesian in order to
popularize the movies. This goal can be achieved by employing dubbing
technique as this technique facilitates the audience to easily understand the story
of the movies.
D. Humour
In general, humour is defined as a funny thing which arouses laughter,
which can be found both in verbal and written expression. The term humour, as it
is mentioned in www.wikipedia.com, derives from the humoural medicine of the
ancient Greeks, which stated that a mix of fluids known as humours controlled
human health and emotion. As an addition, in www.wikipedia.com, Alastair
Clarke explains that humour is an evolutionary and cognitive explanation of how
and why any individual finds anything funny. Effectively it explains that “humour
occurs when the brain recognizes a pattern that surprises it, and that recognition of
this sort is rewarded with the experience of the humorous response, an element of
which is broadcast as laughter."
Moreover, as it is mentioned in Cambridge Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary, humour is defined as the ability to find thing funny, the way in which
people see that some things are funny or the quality of being funny (2008:705).
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mentioned that humour is a fluid of the body, esp one of the four that were
formerly believed to determine temperament; the ability to appreciate or express
what is funny (2002: 182).
As an addition, Attardo (in Katia Spanakaki in
www.translationjournal.net) mentions that, in the field of literary criticism for
instance, there is a need for a fine-grained categorization, whereas linguists have
often accepted broader definitions, arguing that whatever evokes laughter or is felt
to be funny is humour, e.g. that humour can be deduced from its effect.
As an addition, Katia Spanakaki also states that there are three general
categories of humour/jokes: a) universal humour/jokes, b) culture-specific
humour/jokes, and c) language-specific humour/jokes.
1. Wordplay or Punning
Widely known, wordplay as one type of humour is quite common in oral
cultures as a method of reinforcing meaning. It is stated in www.wikipedia.com
that wordplay is a literary and narrative technique in which the nature of the
words used themselves becomes part of the subject of the work. Puns, phonetic
mix-ups such as spoonerisms, obscure words and meanings, clever rhetorical
excursions, oddly formed sentences, and telling character names are common
examples of wordplay.
Wordplay or punning, is defined by Delabastita as follow: "Wordplay is
the general name for the various textual phenomena in which structural features of
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significant confrontation of two (or more) linguistic structures with more or less
similar forms and more or less different meanings" (Delabastita, 1996: 128,
original emphasis). Further, "the pun contrasts linguistic structures with different
meanings on the basis of their formal similarity". Furthermore, a pun may be
either vertical or horizontal. “The formal similarity of two linguistic structures
may clash by being co-present in the same portion of text (in this case it is vertical
wordplay), or by being in a relation of contiguity by occurring one after another in
the text (the horizontal wordplay)”, ( Delabastita, 1996:128).
According to wikipedia.com, pun is classified into a type of punning
which is based on the techniques that involve the phonetic values of words.
Moreover, according to the type and degree of similarity, puns can be further
divided into four types namely: homonymy, homophony, homograph, and
paronymy (Delabastita, 1996:128). Other types of pun are proposed by Schr ter,
they are polisemy and paronymy which are specifically deal with linguistic
structures (1996:210).
Below are the definition and examples of homonymy, homophony,
homograph, paronimy, and polisemy.
a. Homonymy according to Delabatista is words that have identical sounds and
spelling (1996:128). As an addition, it is mentioned in wikipedia.com that
homonym means words with same sounds and same spellings but with
different meanings. Examples of homonyms are stalk (which as a noun can
mean part of a plant, and, as a verb, to follow/harass a person), bear (animal)
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example of homonymy in the movie is “I'll need a CAT scan just to get
started!” The dialogue exploits the identical sounds and spelling of the word
“CAT” which refer to computer-assisted tomography scan (Webster’s
Dictionary and Thesaurus, 2002: 61) or generally known as a health check up
scan and “cat” as a small animal with fur, four legs, a tail, and claws, usually
kept as a pet or for catching mice, or any member of the group of similar
animals such as the lion (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2008:
212)
Word Example of first meaning Example of second meaning
Dove
The dove cooed at the
passers-by.
(A white or grey bird, often
used as a symbol of peace.)
Patricia dove into the pool
with barely a splash.
(Past simple form of the word
dive)
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(To turn or cause something to
turn.)
sounds but different spellings (1996: 128). Moreover, in Wikipedia.com it is
mentioned that homophone is words with same sounds but with different
meanings such as rose (flower) and rose (past tense of "rise"), or differently,
such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two and too.
d. Paronymy is the relationship between linguistic structures that are
formally similar, but not identical on either phonetic or the orthographical
level. De Fries also highlighted the difference of words on the surface
level as the characteristic of paronymy. Most similarities involve only one
or two letters. The similarity of paronymy is weaker than homonymy.
However, the relation is strong enough for the reader or listener to spot out
(De Fries in Schroter, 2005: 207). Moreover, Schroter also mentions that
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similar, but not identical on either phonetic or the orthographical level
(2005:197). The example of paronymy in the movie is the dialogue
“Someone's been knotty. This won't hurt a bit.” The pun “knotty” is the
play on the word “naughty”. When the dialogue was said, at the same
time, the scene showed Melman’s teasing expression. It highlights the play
between the word “knotty” that refers to the elephant’s tangled trunk, and
“naughty” which represents bad behavior. The sound of “knotty” and
“naughty” are not identical. However, it can be recognized that Melman
also intended to say “naughty” as the scene showed his teasing expression.
e. Polisemy is a clash of orthographically and phonetically identical
structures with divergent meanings and etymologically connected.
Schr ter stated that puns can be categorized as polysemy when they have
semantic link between the core items which readily established without the
assistance of additional information (2005:181). In addition, Bussman
stated that polysemy is an expression which has two or more definitions
with some common features that are usually derived from a single basic
meaning (1996:210). The example of polisemy in the movie is the
dialogue “You're a little tangled,aren't you?”. The word “tangled” has two
meanings being messy condition that refers to the thread, and puzzled or
clueless condition of the man. The scene supports the play on both words
as when the dialogue is uttered, the scene shows the man’s puzzled face,
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E. Pun Translation
When it comes to translating humor in subtitling, the translator needs to
use the limited space and time in an optimal way, in order to virtually retain the
meaning effect in the subtitle translation. Though, the constraints themselves
clearly cannot predict whether the meaning effect tends to be preserved or lost in
subtitles.
The translation methods of puns available for the translator's disposal are
presented as follow (Delabastita, 1993:192-226; Delabastita, 1996:134):
Pun to pun or so called pun rendered as pun. By applying this method, the
ST pun is translated by a TL pun. This method is possible to be conducted if in
both languages can be found pun that have identical meaning.
Pun to non pun or by rendering pun as pun. In this method a
punning phrase may retains all the initial senses (selective pun), or a
non-punning phrase renders only one of the pertinent senses (selective non-pun), or
diffuse paraphrase or a combination of the above. The application of this
technique in the movie translation is for example:
ST: Don't look, doll. This might get hairy.
TT: Jangan menatap, manis.Ini menakutkan.
In the sentence, the pun “hairy” is derived from the word “scarry”.
Generally known, in the native culture, something hairy is scarry for children.
Moreover, the word “hairy” and “scarry” has similar sound. Therefore, the word
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translation, it can be seen that the translator employed pun rendered as non pun
technique to transfer the referential meaning into the receptor’s language.
Pun translated into related rhetorical device. In this method, pun is
rendered with another rhetorical device, or punoid (repetition, alliteration, rhyme,
referential vagueness, irony, paradox etc), which aim to recapture the effect of the
ST pun.
Pun to zero, or so called pun rendered as zero pun, means that pun in SL is
rendered with zero pun in TL. In other words, in this method, the pun is simply
omitted. When this method is applied, it indicates that SL pun do not have an
equivalence in TL. The example of the application of this technique in the movie
translation is
ST: What the heck is going on?
TT: Apa yang terjadi?
In the sentence which is said by Marty, the pun “the heck” can be simply
recognized as “the hell” by adults. However, this pun succeeds in concealing the
harsh atmosphere for the young viewers. The translation of the sentence “What
the heck is going on?” is “Apa yang terjadi?”, in which it can be seen that there is
no translation of “the heck” in the subtitle text. In other words, the pun “the heck”
is simply omitted in the translation. Therefore, the technique which is applied in
translating the sentence containing swearing word pun is pun rendered as zero
pun.
Pun in ST = Pun in TT. Here, the ST pun is copied as TT pun, without
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Non pun à Pun is introducing a new pun. At this point, a compensatory
pun is inserted, where there was none in the ST, possibly making up for ST puns
lost elsewhere (strategy 4 where no other solution was found), or for any other
reason.
Zero to pun. In other words, it is a method of giving addition of a new pun.
By applying this method, totally new textual material is added, containing
wordplay as a compensatory device.
Editorial Techniques are done by providing explanatory footnotes or
endnotes, comments in translator's forewords, 'anthological' presentation of
different, complementary solutions, and so forth.
Responding to the methods delivered by Delabastita, in www.translation
journal.net, Spanakaki states that although techniques 2 and 4, as well as
techniques 6 and 7, are found overlapping with each other at some point, they can
be combined in variety of ways. For instance, in the case of technique 2, where
the pun is suppressed, it can be followed by a footnote explaining what was left
out and why (technique 8, Editorial Techniques), as same combination can apply
with technique 6. In subtitling, the case of footnotes is out of a question, the
combination of these techniques and especially technique 8 (editorial techniques)
are inadequate and completely irrelevant for the purpose of this study.
F. Assessing Translation Quality
Subsequent to the activity of translating certain work, assessing the quality
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translator translates the work. A good translation product should meet several
requirements which encompass several aspects such as readability, accuracy, and
acceptability. These three aspects determine the quality of a translation product.
Subsequently, every translator should attempt to formulate a translation from SL
text into TL text that is readable, accurate, and acceptable to the readers.
Readability means that the translation product is understandable by its reader. It
relates to the choice of vocabulary, the length of the sentence, and so forth.
Accuracy indicates the degree of conformity. It deals with how accurate is a
translator transfers the message in SL into TL. In this case, the translator is
required to translate the content of the text correctly. Acceptability deals with how
the reader accepts the translation product in terms of cultural aspects, literary
systems, and how the reader finds that the translation product is appropriate.
Related to this, generally there are several aspects of translation quality
assessment. In his first significant book of translation, Tytler states that “a good
translation is one in which the merit of original work is so completely transfused
into another language as to be as distinctly apprehended and as strongly felt by a
native of the country to which that language belongs as it is by those who speak
the original work”. Furthermore, a translator must respect good writing
scrupulously by accounting for its language, structures and content, whether the
piece is scientific or poetic, philosophical or fictional (Newmark, 1981: 43).
Accordingly, Larson states that there are three main reasons for testing a
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There are several ways to assess a translation product. An expert or
experienced translator will put a big favor in assessing a translation product.
However the readers’ reaction towards the translation product can also measure
the quality of the translation product.
In film translation, especially in form of subtitle text, a translator should
highly consider the accuracy, acceptability, and the readability of the film
translation product. The readability and acceptability of a subtitle text examined
not only by the viewers understanding upon the subtitle text, but also by the
length of the sentence of the subtitle text considering that the text appears on
screen for limited time.
G. The animation movie Madagascar II Escape to Africa
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (or simply just Madagascar 2) is the 2008
animated sequel to the 2005 film Madagascar, about the continuing adventures of
Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, and Gloria the Hippo. It is
directed by Eric Darnell and written by Etan Cohen. It stars the voices of Ben
Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen,
Cedric the Entertainer, and Andy Richter. The movie is also providing voices are
Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin, Sherri Shepherd, Elisa Gabrielli, and will.i.am. It was
produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures, and
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The film has received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Rotten
Tomatoes has reported that 65% of critics based on 137 reviews with the
consensus stating that "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is an improvement on the
original, with more fleshed-out characters, crisper animation and more consistent
humor." Another review aggretagor, Metacritic classified the film into the
"generally favorable reviews" category with 61/100 approval rating based on 24
reviews, also a bit higher a score than the original.
Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune has stated in his review that the
film "goes easy on the pop culture jokes, I should clarify: one of the smarter
things in the script is how Alex, who digs his Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins
dance moves, becomes the film's primary pop-cult gag." Roger Ebert of the
Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 stars and wrote "This is a brighter, more
engaging film than the original Madagascar. Steven D. Greydanus complained
the film's plot was similar to The Lion King, Joe Vs. The Volcano, and Happy
Feet. Carrie Rickey of the Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film 2 stars and wrote
"Take the flat tire that was Madagascar. Retread it with The Lion King storyline.
Pump it up with air. Now you have Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa." John
Anderson gave the film 3 1/2 approval rating and stated "Madagascar 2: Escape
to Africa, the sequel to the enormously successful DreamWorks adventure and a
film that hews close to the whole Lion King/species-as-destiny/self-fulfillment
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The film starts as a prequel, showing a small part of Alex's early life,
including his capture by hunters. It soon moves to shortly after the point where the
original left off, with the animals deciding to return to New York. They board an
airplane in Madagascar, but crash-land in Africa, where each of the central
characters meets others of the same species; Alex is reunited with his parents.
Problems arise, and their resolution occupies much of the remainder of the film.
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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Research Method
In discussing the accuracy of wordplay translation in the animation movie
Madagascar II Escape to Africa, the researcher applies descriptive qualitative
method which deals with the observation and interpretation of the researcher
toward the subject of the research. Sutrisno Hadi states that a descriptive research
is a research in which the researcher needs only to collect and analyze the data to
subsequently be able to draw a conclusion upon the data without making a
generalization (1983: 3). Qualitative research, according to Moleong (1990: 4) is a
type of research that does not include any calculation or enumeration. In addition,
Sutopo implies that the data in qualitative research is not in the form of numbers
but in the form of words or sentences (2002:35).
In this research, the researcher does not need to find and prove the
hypothesis. The research encompasses the process where the researcher collects,
observes, and presents the data in the form of sentences. Next, the researcher
analyzes the data and interprets the analysis result. As the research conducts those
steps, it can be said that the research employs a descriptive qualitative method.
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B. Data and Sources of Data
This thesis is compiled and analyzed based on two kinds of data. The first
data were taken from animation movie Madagascar II Escape to Africa. The
movie which is directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath was released on
November 7, 2008. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed
by Paramount Pictures. The researcher decided to choose the animation movie
Madagascar II Escape to Africa because of these following reasons:
1. The movie was awarded as the Favorite Animated Film by Nickelodeon Kids
Choice Awards (www.imdb/title/tt0429952/awards)
2. The movie contains numerous wordplays. Subsequently, the subtitle text of
the serial into Indonesian shows various wordplay translation, which functions
as the data of the research.
The second data were taken from the raters in the form of questionnaire
result and the comments given upon the translation. The raters were expected to
determine the accuracy level of the subtitle text of dialogues containing wordplay
in the animation movie Madagascar II Escape to Africa.
The other sources of data were written sources such as books and also
information taken from relevant and reliable online journals or other
internet-based information.
In his book Metodologi Penelitian Kualitatif, Sutopo states that in
choosing resource person, researcher is required to acknowledge the stand point
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relevant to the need (2002: 51). Referring to Sutopo’s statement, the researcher
sets several standards for the raters. The qualifications are as follow:
1. The raters are fluent both in source and target languages
2. The raters have background knowledge and experience in translation
3. The raters are willing to take a part in this research
The raters’ responsibilities are to examine the data and to give score to the
translation indicating the accuracy level of the puns translation presented in the
questionnaire. Moreover, they can give comment, information, suggestion, or to
make revisions if it is felt to be necessary.
C. Sample and Sampling Technique
As it has been stated in the previous part, the subject of this research is pun
translation in the animation movie Madagascar II Escape to Africa. Therefore, the
samples of this research are the dialogues containing puns, along with the
translations. To be able to present relevant samples, the researcher employed total
sampling. The sampling technique was chosen as it will help the researcher in
holistically analyzing the pun translation as the subject of the research discussion.
Furthermore, this sampling technique accommodates the researcher in presenting
the complete examples of three types of pun from the movie along with their
translation in Indonesian subtitle text.
D. Research Procedure
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1. Preparation.
Preparation includes deciding the object of the research, collecting references,
composing research proposal, and having the research proposal presented in a
seminar class.
2. Data Collection.
Data collection includes collecting data from the dialogue in the film and the
subtitles, arranging and then distributing questionnaire about the translation
accuracy to three competent raters.
3. Data Analysis.
Data analysis consists of classifying the data into types of pun and identifying
the technique applied to translate them. Afterwards, the researcher asked a
competent person to validate the wordplay types and the translation technique.
Furthermore, the researcher checked and analyzed the questionnaire result
4. Research Report.
Research report includes compiling final report to present the analysis upon
wordplay types, the translation technique, the accuracy level of the wordplay
translation and drawing a conclusion from the analysis.
E. Data Collection Technique
To be able to find the puns and to know the types of pun, and determine
the techniques which are applied in translating the puns, the researcher had a
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To support the researcher in presenting proper analysis towards the topic,
the researcher collected the data by giving questionnaire to three raters. The
questionnaire is designed to reveal the level of accuracy of the puns translation
found in the movie dialogue. Subsequently, the raters are required to score the
level of accuracy of the data based on the scale. The questions in the questionnaire
are in form of closed ended questions. However, in the questionnaire, the raters
are allowed to give their comments, information, or suggestion upon the puns
translation. The scale standards to score the accuracy of the data are as follows:
Score Category Description
1 Accurate The meaning of pun in the source text is
conveyed into target text in accordance
to the context, the effect of pun in the
target text is equal to the source text
2 Less Accurate The meaning of pun in the source text is
conveyed into target text. However the
effect of the pun in the target text is not
equal to the source text
3 Inaccurate There is a distortion of meaning of pun
in the target text
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To be able to analyze the data optimally, the researcher needs to organize
the data by encoding the data. Wiersma mentions that coding is a process of
organizing data and obtaining data reduction (2000: 203). In encoding the data,
the researcher consider several aspects, they are:
1. The exact time when the dialogue take place
2. The type classification of the data
3. The number of the data based on the type classification
Here is an example of data coding which will be presented in this thesis :
SL: He shall wear this Hat of Shame...
TL: Dia harus memakai Topi Kekalahan…
(41.55/Pn/016)
The clarification of the codes above is as follow:
1. 41.55 refers to the exact time when the dialogue take place
2. Pn refers to the type of pun
3. 016 refers to the ordinal number of the specified datum of each wordplay type
G. Technique of Data Analysis
After getting all the data needed, both from the movie dialogue and
questionnaire result, the researcher took these following steps in analyzing the
data:
1. The researcher marked out the dialogue in the movie which contains
wordplay and compared it to the translation. Afterwards, the data were
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translating the data. The techniques used in the analysis were those proposed
by Delabatista: pun rendered as pun, pun rendered as non pun, pun translated
into related rhetorical device, pun rendered as zero pun, pun in ST = Pun in
TT, non pun à Pun , zero to pun, editorial techniques.
2. The researcher examined the result of the questionnaire and made the
percentage of the quality of translation of each data category, namely the
accuracy of the translation.
3. The researcher delivered the research result and answered the problem
statement by presenting a discussion of the pun types, the translation
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CHAPTER IV
DATA ANALYSIS
This chapter will particularly discuss the result of the research analysis
which is divided into three sub-chapters. The first sub-chapter highlights the types
of pun which are found in the dialogue of the animation movie Madagascar II
Escape to Africa. The second sub-chapter focuses on the translation technique
employed by the translator in translating the puns from the dialogue in the SL into
the subtitle text in TL. The last sub-chapter will specifically discuss the level of
accuracy of the pun translation.
A. Types of Pun
There are three types of pun found in the movie of Madagascar II Escape
to Africa, they are paronymy, homonymy, and polysemy. The table below shows
the distribution of each type.
Table 4.1. Types of Pun in Madagascar II Escape to Africa.
Types of Pun Amount Percentage
Paronymy 32 data 80 %
Homonymy 5 data 12,5 %
Polysemy 3 data 7,5 %
Total 40 data 100%
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a. Paronymy
In chapter II, it is stated that according to Schroter, paronymy is the
relationship between linguistic structures that are formally similar, but not
identical on either phonetic or the orthographical level (2005:197). De Fries also
highlights the difference of words on the surface level as the characteristic of
paronymy. Most similarities involve only one or two letters. The similarity of
paronymy is weaker than homonymy. The relation, however, is strong enough for
the reader or listener to spot out (De Fries in Schroter, 2005: 207).
In the movie, the greatest amount of pun type is paronymy. It can be seen
on the table 4.1 that 80% or 32 numbers of 40 data are paronymy. There are 32
data that show how paronymy is exploited to arouse audiences’ laughter.
Following are three extracts of paronymy that illustrate the similarity of linguistic
structures in phonetic or orthographical level. The puns are underlined.
Datum number 09.15/Pn/001
Mort : King Julien, wait for me! I'm all packed! I have a whole itinerary
planned!
King Julien : Oh, no! It's Mort! He's so annoying Don't let him on. Stop that
thing! He's carrying scissors and hand cream!
King Julien, together with all New York zoo inhabitants intended to get on
the plane that left for New York. Suddenly, one of Madagascar citizen, Mort,
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join the flight as Mort was considered as an irritating fellow. King Julien tried to
stop Mort to join the flight by shouted out loud “He's carrying scissors and hand
cream!”
The visual of the movie showed that King Julien shouted out the sentence
with terrified expression as if Mort was carrying gun and bomb or another
dangerous weapon, while Mort was actually only carrying a suitcase. Though the
words “scissors and hand cream” and “gun and bomb” are not closely similar in
phonetic or orthographical level, the tone and face expression when King Julien
uttered the sentence highlighted the panic of King Julien when Mort intended to
join the flight as if he had carried dangerous weapon. Therefore the expressions
“scissors and hand cream” is considered as paronymy.
Datum number 12.08/Pn/002.
Gloria : Yeah, dating.
Melman : Other... other guys?
Gloria : What do you mean other guys?
Melman : Darn it!
Melman was trapped in a conversation which forced him to reveal his
feeling toward Gloria. To avoid this, Melman tried to distract his friends’ attention
by asking about the beverage service that seems to take so long to arrive. To
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The movie “Madagascar II” is categorized as an animation family movie
in which the movie accommodates entertainment for all family members. The
movie, however, has several swearing words in the dialogue such as “Shit!”,
“Damn it”, and so forth. Therefore, to make the dialogue more child friendly,
those swearing words are changed into less explicit expression such as “sit” for
“shit”, “darn it” for “damn it”, and so forth. In the dialogue, the swearing word
“damn” is said twice, and both swearing are changed into “darn”. The words
“darn” and “damn” are similar in phonetic level. The difference lies only on /α:n/
as the end sound of “darn”, and /æm/ as the end sound of “damn”. Consequently,
the word “darn” is considered as paronymy.
Datum number 12.42/Pn/003.
King Julien : In-flight slave.
Private : Can I help you, Mr. Mankiewicz?
King Julien : Bring my nuts on a silver platter.
Melman : We were checking on our drink order.
King Julien was enjoying a movie in his first class cabin when Melman
came in to ask about the drink order. A few second afterward, Private showed up
to ask what service he could gave to them. King Julien permitted Private to get in
to the cabin by saying “In-flight slave” and addressed Private as “flight slave”
instead of “steward” to highlight his superior position compared to other
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Generally, every airway has its flight attendants; steward for male
attendant, and stewardess for female attendant. In his plane, King Julien did not
address the attendant “steward” or “stewardess” but he called them a “flight
slave” . It can be inferred from the dialogue that King Julien is a character who
considers that class segregation still exists. As a king, he surely sits on the highest
class or society rank. Therefore, he considers himself as the noblest person in the
society, and at the same time, he looks down on other people who have lower
social class. His way of thinking explains how he changes the way he names a
flight attendant into a flight slave. The word attendant and slave share similar
meaning, which is someone who helps other people in doing specific thing.
However, the word slave highlights more on class segregation, to show that the
person holds a low social class. Therefore, the compound noun “flight slave” is
considered as a paronymy.
Datum number 43.40/Pn/020.
Elephant: Don't ask.
Melman: Someone's been knotty. This won't hurt a bit.
Melman, the new witch doctor, was seen in the scene to help to cure the
animals around him. One of them was the elephant who was in trouble for his
trunk gets tangled. With an upset expression, the elephant tried to prevent Melman
from giving any comment upon his condition. Seeing the elephant, however,
Melman gave comment “Someone’s been knotty”. Melman showed teasing
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The scene when Melman said the word “knotty” shows Melman’s teasing
expression. In relation to the visual aspect, the word “knottty”, which is uttered by
Melman when he saw the condition of the elephant’s trunk, actually refers to two
different meanings. The first is the actual meaning of the word heard, “knotty”, in
which referring to Webster’s Dictionary& Thesaurus means something is in a
messy or tangled condition (p.208). The second meaning refers to “naughty”
which has similar pronunciation to the word “knotty”. The way the word “knotty”
and “naughty” pronounced is merely similar. The word “knotty” is pronounced
/noti/, and “naughty” is pronounced /n t’i/. Therefore, the word “knotty” is
considered as paronymy.
The tendency reveals that throughout the dialogue paronymy is used not
only to give humorous effect but also to conceal harsh swearing words to develop
the atmosphere of child friendly movie. There are 9 of 32 data or 39% of all
paronymy data which confirm that the data show the similarity of the linguistic
structures in phonetic or orthographical level of swearing words. The data are
datum number 12.08/Pn/002; 14.34/Pn/005; 16.07/Pn/006; 17.34/Pn/007;
36.04/Pn/012; 37.04/Pn/013; 47.31/Pn/021; 01.05.58/Pn/022; and
01.10.58/Pn/023.
Not only does paronymy exploit similarity of linguistic structures in
phonetic or orthographical levels, but it deals with other aspects especially
cultural issues. Cultural related issues which can lead to the exploitation of
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terms or issue, saying in the source language; and specific group or event in the
native country.
The example of paronymy puns which is derived from cultural specific
terms is datum number 41.55/Pn/019.
Makunga: As your new leader, I hereby banish Alakay! He shall wear this Hat of
Shame...
...and leave the watering hole for a thousand years, or life!
In the watering hole area, the animals had a tradition that when an animal
lost in the fight of the rite passage ceremony, he or she would not be accepted in
the community and had to leave the area. Makunga uttered the expression to
banish Alakay from the animal reservation as Alakay was lost in the battle against
Teetsi.
The pun “Hat of Shame” is drawn from “Hall of Fame”, a very famous
spot in Hollywood where great actors and actresses with great achievement can
put their name on it. The pun “Hat of Shame” and its original phrase “Hall of
Fame” have similar sound but they have different meanings. “Hall of Fame”
symbolizes a success or an achievement, while the pun “Hat of Shame” represents
the penalty for someone’s lost or failure. Therefore, the pun is considered as
paronymy.
The example of paronymy puns which refer to sayings in the source