CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 Theory of Translation
Some experts had given many brief definitions of translation, as follows:
Catford (1965, in Nababan, 2003:19) defines translation, as “Penerjemahan sebagai proses penggantian suatu teks bahasa sumber dengan teks bahasa sasaran.”He also defines it, as “Penerjemahan sebagai penggantian materi teks bahasa sumber dengan materi teks bahasa sasaran.”
Catford (1965, in Nababan, 2003:19) defines translation, as ”Translation is
replacement process of certain source text language with the target text language.”
He also defines it, as “Translation is the replacement of the source text language
material with the target text language material.
Brislin (1976, in Nababan, 2003:19) said that “Penerjemahan adalah istilah umum yang mengacu pada pengalihan pikiran atau gagasan dari suatu bahasa sumber ke dalam bahasa sasaran.”
Brislin (1976, in Nababan, 2003:19) said that “Translation is a term that
refers to transferring ideas and thought from source language into target language.”
Kridalaksana (1985, in Nababan, 2003:19) defines translation, as
Kridalaksana (1985, in Nababan, 2003:19) defines translation, as “Translation
as the transferring of ideas from source language into target language by first uttering
the meaning and then the language style.”
In Oxford Advanced Learner´s Dictionary (2000), translation defines as the
process of changing something that is written or spoken into another language.
Larson (1984:3) said that “Translation is basically a change of form. When
we speak of the form of the language, we are referring to the actual words, phrases,
clauses, sentences, paragraphs, etc., which are spoken or written. These forms are
referred to as the surface structure of a language. It is the structural part of language
which is actually seen in print or heard in speech. In translation the form of source
language is replaced by the form of the receptor (target) language.”
Simatupang (1999: 2) states “Menerjemahkan adalah mengalihkan makna yang terdapat dalam bahasa sumber ke dalam bahasa sasaran dan mewujudkannya kembali di dalam bahasa sasaran dengan bentuk-bentuk yang sewajar mungkin menurut aturan-aturan yang berlaku dalam bahasa sasaran.”
Simatupang (1999:2) states “Translating is to transfer meanings in source
language into target language and utter it as natural as possible in target language
2.1.1. The Concept of Translation
The term translation itself has several meanings: it can refer to the general
subjectfield, the product (the text that has been translated) or the process (the act of
producingthe translation, otherwise known as translating).The process of translation
betweentwo different written languages involves the translator changing an original
written text (thesource text or ST) in the original verbal language (the source
language or SL) into awritten text (the target text or TT) in a different verbal
language (the target language orTL).
According to JiříLevý (Venutti: 2000, 148), translation is a process of
communication: the objective of translating is to impart the knowledge of the
original to the foreign reader. He also states, “From the point of view of the working
situation of the translator at any moment of his work (that is from the pragmatic point
of view), translating is a DECISION PROCESS: a series of a certain number of
consecutive situations – moves, as in a game – situations imposing on the translator
the necessity of choosing among certain (and very often exactly definable) number of
alternatives.”
2.2. Process of Translation
Process is a several activities that is purposely done. Translation process can
be defined as a several activities which is done by a translator when he transfers the
meaning of ideas or informations from source language into target language.
Translation process can also be defined as a certain system in tranlation activity.
mistake in one stage can bring another mistake in the next stages. And if that happen,
the translation product will contain of tranlation error.
There are 3 stages in translation process , they are (1) analyze the source
language text, (2) Transeferring ideas or information, (3) restructuring
(Suryawininata in Nababan, 2000:25). As it described in this diagram below:
Diagram 1. Translation Process (Suryawininata in Nababan, 2000:25)
1. Analyzing Source Text
Every single translation activity always started with analyzing the source text
(ST). Analyzing ST is done by reading the ST in order to gain and comprehend the
ideas from the text.The ideas comprehension incoherence with the linguistics and
extra-linguistics elements which exist in the text.Linguistics elements refer to the
elements which deal with language and the extra-linguistics elements refer to the
In analyzing the linguistics elements, the text was analyzed at all level such
as in the level of sentence, clause, phrase and word. By doing the translator can fully
comprehend the ideas from the ST.
2. Transferring Ideas
After the translator can comprehend the ideas and the structure of the ST,
then he can gain the meaning from the ST. The next thing to do is to transfer the
meaning from the ST into TT. In this step the translator has to find the equivalent of
the ST in TT. This process happens in the translator mind (Nababan called it as
proses batin).
3. Restructuring
The last step is restructuring. After finding the equivalent of ST, the translator
reconstruct it in the form of target language (TL) becoming TT. In this step, we must
decide what style that suits best to the text and the readers.
2.3. Types of Translation
Generally, translation is divided into two types: literal translation and
non-literal translation or free translation. Larson (1984:15) states that translation is
classified into two main types, namely form-based and meaning based translation.
Form-based translation attempts to follow the form of the Source Language and is
known as literal translation, while meaning-based translation makes every effort to
communicate the meaning of the SL text in the natural forms of the receptor
the natural form of receptor language. A truly idiomatic translation does not sound
like a translation. It sounds like it was written originally in the receptor language.
Nida and Taber (1969) classify translation into literal translation and dynamic
translation. Dynamic translation in Nida and Taber is similar with meaning-based
translation from Larson. Dynamic translationpurpose is to produce a dynamic
equivalence in the TL.Dynamic equivalence refersto the target text having the same
effect on the target text reader as the source text has on the sourcetext reader.
According to Larson (1984:17), translation also has gradation which can be
described in the diagram below:
Diagram 2: Translation Gradation by Larson
The translation is often a mixture of literal and idiomatic forms of language.
Translation then falls on a continuum from very literal to literal, to modified literal,
to near idiomatic, to idiomatic, and may fall, even more on the unduly free.
Unduly free translation is considered unacceptable translations for most
purposes. Translation is called unduly free according to the following characteristics:
a. If they add extraneous information not in the source text
c. If they distort the facts of the historical and cultural setting of the Source
Language text.
Larson (1984:17) says that sometimes unduly free translation is made for the
purposes of humor for bring about a special response from the receptor language
speaker. However, they are unacceptable as normal translation. For example:
Table 1: Example of Unduly Free Translation
English text Unduly free
gives extraneous
information that
doesn´t exist in the
source text.
According to Newmark (1995:45), there are eight types of translation, those
are:
1. Word For Word translation
The SL word order is preserved and the words translated by their most
common meanings. Cultural words are translated literally. The main use of this
method is either to understand the mechanics of the source language or to
construe a difficult text as pre-translation process. For example:
Batak language Word for word translation into
Indonesia
Dang di rohakumangan Tidak di hatikumakan
Here, the accurate translation is “Akutidakberseleramakan”. By using this method we can know the mechanics of batak language, as the SL, in telling “has
no appetite”.
2. Literal translation
The SL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest TL equivalents
but the lexical items are again translated out of context. As pre-translation
process, it indicates problems to be solved. For example:
English Indonesia
Here, the appropriate translation should be “Akumencintaimu”. By using literal translation, we can indicate the problem that in Indonesia we usually use article
“me-” in front of a lexical verb to indicate doing something.
3. Faithful Translation
It attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the original within the
constraints of the TL grammatical structures. It transfers cultural words and
preserves the degree of grammatical and lexical deviation from SL norms. It
attempts to be completely faithful to the intentions and the text-realisation of the
SL writer. For example:
English
John is too well aware that he is
naughty
Indonesian
John
menyadariterlalubaikbahwaianaka l
4. Semantic translation
It differs from faithful translation only in as far as it must take more account of
the aesthetic value of the SL text, compromising on meaning where appropriate
so that no assonance, word play or repetition jars in the finished version. It does
not rely on cultural equivalence and makes very small concessions to the
readership. While `faithful´ translation is dogmatic, semantic translation is more
flexible. For example:
English
Dia (laki-laki) adalah orang yang suka sekali membaca.
Book-worm translated flexibelly appropriate with culture context and functional
restriction that accepted in target language. But translated above appropriate
less and have to translated become “Dia seorang kutu buku”.
5. Communicative translation
It attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the original in such a way
that both language and content are readily acceptable and comprehensible to the
readership. For example:
English
I would admit that I am wrong
I will admit that I am wrong
Indonesian
Sayamaumengakuibahwasayasala h
Sayaakanmengakuibahwasayasala h
For native English speaker two sentences above will have difference effect, the
differences is the employing words “would and” will, the first sentence indicate
that someone desire to do something and the word “will” in second sentences
indicate that activities will be done by subject of the sentence. Remember in this
case tenses is not influence the meaning of the sentence.
6. Idiomatic translation
It reproduces the message of the original but tends to distort nuances of meaning
English
What are you doing?
Indonesian
Lagi ngapain?
Idiomatic translation produces a translation that sound natural. Therefore,
sometimes it even sounds like it is not even a translation.
7. Free translation
It reproduces the matter without the manner, or the content without the form of
the original. Usually it is a paraphrase much longer than the original. For
example:
English
How they live on what he makes?
Indonesian
Bagaimanamerekadapathidupdenganpenghasilannya?
8. Adaptation
This is the freest form of translation mainly used for plays and poetry: themes/
characters/ plots preserved, SL culture converted to TL culture & text is
rewritten. For example:
Indonesian
Yang aku cari hanyalah cinta Hanya cinta yang tak terganti Yang aku mau hanyalah cinta Hanyalah cinta yang ku beri
English
All I´m looking for is only love
There is only love that I need
What I´m looking for is only love
Yang selalu ku tunggu hanyalah cinta
Hanya cinta yang tak terganti
Yang aku nanti hanyalah cinta Hanyalah cinta yang abadi
Nothing is worth fighting only
love
There is only love that makes me
bleed
Nothing is worth living only love
There is only love that makes me
breath
Here, we can see the translation of Anggun C. Sasmi song “hanyacinta” into “Only Love”, the English version. But the translation does not exactly transfer
the same idea but still have equivalent aim.
2.4. Procedures of Translation
According to Vinay and Dalbernet (in Venuti, 2000:84), at first different
methods or procedures seem to be countless, but they can be condensed to just seven,
each one corresponding to a higher degree of complexity. In practice, they may be
used either on their own or combined with one or more of the others.
2.4.1. Direct and Oblique Translation
Generally speaking, translator can choose from two methods of translating,
namely direct, or literal translation and oblique translation. In some translation task it
may be possible to transpose the source language message element by element into
the target language. But translator may also notice gaps, or “lacunae”, in the target
language (TL) which must be filled by corresponding elements, so that the overall
It may, however, also happen that, because of structural or metalinguistic
differences, certain stylistic effect cannot be transposed into TL without upsetting the
syntactic order, or even the lexis. In this case it is understood that more complex
methods have to be used: these procedures are called oblique translation methods. In
the listing follows, the first three procedures are direct and the others are oblique.
Procedure 1: Borrowing
To overcome a lacuna, borrowing is the simplest of all translation methods.
For instance, in order to introduce the flavour of the source language (SL) culture
into a translation, foreign terms may be used, e.g. such Russian words as “roubles”,
“datchas”, and “apparatchik”, “dollars” and “party” from American English,
Mexican Spanish food names “tequila” and “tortillas”, and so on.
Some well-established, mainly older borrowings are widely used that they are
no longer considered as such and have become a part of the respective TL lexicon.
For example, in English such words as “menu”, “carburetor”, “hangar”, “chic” and
expression like “déjà vu”, “enfant terrible” and “rendez-yous” are no longer
considered to be borrowings.
The decision to borrow a SL word or expression for introducing an element
of local colour is a matter of style and consequently of the message.
Procedure 2: Calque
A calque is a special kind of borrowing whereby a language borrows an
expression form of another, but then translates literally each of its elements. The
i. a lexical calque, as in the first example, below, i.e. a calque which respects
the syntactic structure of the TL, whilst introducing a new mode of
expressions; or
ii. a structural calque, as in the second example, below, which introduces a new
construction into the language, e.g.:
English Indonesian calque
Governor general GubernurJendral
Science-fiction Science-fiction
As with borrowings, there are many fixed calques which, after a period of
time, become an integral part of the language. These too like borrowings, may have
undergone a semantic change, turning them into faux amis.
Procedure 3: Literal translation
Literal, or word for word, translation is the direct transfer of a SL text into a
grammatically and idiomatically appropriate TL text in which translators´ task is
limited to observing the adherence to the linguistic servitudes of the TL.
I go to school every day.
Nak kemane? Wo ai ni.
Sayapergikesekolahsetiaphari. Mau kemana?
In principle, a literal translation is a unique solution which is reversible and
complete in itself. It is most common when translating between two languages of the
same family (e.g. between French and Italian), and even more so when they also
share the same culture.
If, after trying the first three procedures, translators regard a literal translation
unacceptable, they must turn to the methods of oblique translation. By unacceptable
we mean that the message, when translated literally
i. gives another meaning, or
ii. has no meaning, or
iii. is structurally impossible, or
iv. does not have a corresponding expression within the metalinguistic
experience of the TL, or
v. has a corresponding expression, but not within the same register.
Procedure 4: Transposition
The method called transposition involves replacing one word class with
another without changing the meaning of the message. Transposition can be divided
into two types: (1) obligatory transposition, and (2) optional transposition.
The following example has to be translated literally (procedure 3), but must
also be transposed (procedure 4):
Dès son lever… As soon as he gets/got up…
As soon as he gets up Dès son lever…
In this example, the English allows no choice between the forms, the base
form being the only one possible. Inversely, however, when translating back into
French, we have the choice between applying a calque or a transposition, because
French permits either construction.
Procedure 5: Modulation
Modulation is a variation of the form of the message, obtained by a change in
the point of view. This change can be justified when, although a literal, or even
transposed, translation results in a grammatically correct utterance, it is considered
unsuitable, unidiomatic or awkward in the TL.
English
It´s not even expensive…
It´s not difficult actually…
Indonesia
Itumurahkok…
Sebenarnyaitugampang…
Procedure 6: Equivalence
We have repeatedly stressed that one and the same situation can be rendered
by two texts using completely different stylistic and structural methods. In such cases
we are dealing with method which produces equivalent texts. The classical example
of equivalence is given by the reaction of amateur who accidentally hits his finger
“Aduh!”, but if he were English this would be interpreted as “Ouch!”. Another striking case of equivalences are the many onomatopoeia of animal sounds, e.g.:
kukuruyuk cock-a-doodle-do
meong miaow
guk woof
These simple examples illustrate a particular feature of equivalences: more
often than not they are of a syntagmatic nature, and affect the whole of the message.
As a result, most equivalences are fixed, and belong to a phraseological repertoire of
idioms, clichés, proverbs, nominal or adjectival phrases, etc.
Procedure 7: Adaptation
Adaptation is used in those cases where the type of situation being referred to
by the SL message is unknown in the TL culture. In such cases translators have to
create a new situation that can be considered as being equivalent. Adaptation can,
therefore, be described as a special kind of equivalence, a situational equivalence.
For example:
Indonesia
TiapRamadhanakuselalumudik.
English
In England they do not know the culture of “mudik” in Ramadhan. Ramadhan is a month when the moslems in Indonesia are fasting and they usually go back to their
home town to see their family and relatives, that tradition is called “mudik”.
2.5.
Subtitling
According to Baker and Saldanha, subtitling is counted as the audiovisual
translation. They divide translation into four types; literary translation, audiovisual
translation, scientific translation and technical translation.
http://books.google.co.id/books/about/Routledge_Encyclopedia_of_Translation_St.ht mlid=eXsDckV5GuMC&redir_esc=y/ (Accessed on January 10th 2014)
Literary translation is the translation of the literary works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ literary_translation/ (Accessed on January 10th 2014). Scientific translation is the translation of the terms in the field of scients and
technology of all kinds (Ghazzala, 1995:75). Technical translation is a type of
specialized translation involving the
http:// en. wikipedia.org/wiki/
Technical_translation/(Accessed on January 10th 2014). Audiovisual is the translation of any material in audio, visual or audiovisual format. The four major
aspects that are included in this section are subtitling, dubbing, software localization
and multimedia, and audio description (Luyken, 1991:153–165).
Subtitle as branch of audiovisual translation is textual versions of the dialog or
commentary in films, television programs, video games, 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
the dialog, or people who cannot understand the spoken dialogue or who have accent
recognition problems. http://en. Wikipedia. Org/wiki/subtitle/ (Accessed on January, 19th 2014; 04:39 PM).
2.5.1. Types of Subtitling
Henrik Gottlieb (Mona Baker, 2001:247) distinguishes subtitling into two
types; intralingual subtitling and interlingual subtitling.
Intralingual subtitling is vertical, in the sense that involves taking speech down
in writing, changing mode but not language. This includes
• Subtitling of domestic programmes for Deaf and hard of hearing
• Subtitling of foreign-language programmes for language learners.
Interlingual subtitling is diagonal, in the sense that the subtitler crosses over
from speech in one language to writing in another, thus changing mode and language.
2.5.2. Subtitle Rules
William (2009:7-10), Senior Content Producer BBC listed rules in making
standard subtitle for movie screen:
1. Subtitles must be on screen for long enough to be read by a deaf or hard-of- hearing
viewer who will also be trying to take in other visual information at the same time.
1. A short and familiar word or phrase - 1.12 to 2 seconds.
e.g.: Hello .
2. Up to half a line - 2 to 2.12 seconds.
e.g.: Where do you live?
or: See you tomorrow.
3. One line - 2.12 to 3 seconds.
e.g.: How long will it take us to go home?
or: He´s got a real headache.
4. One line and a little bit - 3.12 seconds.
e.g.: How long will it take Johanna to go
home?
5. Up to one and a half lines - 4 to 4.12 seconds.
e.g.: It is important to tell her about
the decision we made.
6. Two lines - 5 to 6 seconds.
e.g.: I think it would be a very good idea
to keep dangerous dogs on a leash.
7. Two lines and a little bit - 6.12 seconds.
e.g.: How long will it take the whole cast
to come home by taxi to Duals, North
8. Two and a half lines - 7 seconds.
e.g.: The best thing about going abroad is
that you don´t have to put up with
the British weather .
9. Three lines - 7.12 to 8 seconds.
e.g.: What will the City do about the Tory
Government´s humiliating defeat
in the House of Commons last night?
2. In both live and pre-recorded subtitling, timings are intended to be flexible. The
standard timings shown in the Appendix are intended to provide general guidelines.
3. It is crucial that subtitles are displayed for a sufficient length of time for viewers to
read them. The subtitle presentation rate for pre-recorded programmes should not
normally exceed 140 words per minute. In exceptional circumstances, for example
in the case of add-ons, the higher rate of 180 words per minute is permitted.
4. To ensure both legibility and readability, the maximum for subtitle text should be
roughly 32 or 34 characters per line.
5. Lines should be broken at logical points. The ideal line-break will be at a piece of
punctuation like a full stop, comma or dash. If the break has to be elsewhere in the
sentence, avoid splitting the following parts of speech
6. Good line-breaks are extremely important because they make the process of reading
and understanding far easier. However, it is not always possible to produce good
mutually exclusive, then well edited text and timing are more important than
line-breaks.
7. If the text will fit on one line, do not rearrange it on to two lines. One line takes less
time to read than two short lines and it causes less disruption to the picture.
Similarly, do not rearrange two lines of text on to three lines, unless there is a very
bad line-break between lines 1 and 2.
2.6.
Idiom
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning is difficult or sometimes impossible to
guess by looking at the meaning of the individual words it contains (Oxford
Advanced Learner´s Dictionary, 2000: B12). Another Linguist such Seidl and
McMordie define, idiom as a number of words which, when taken together have
different meaning from the original meaning of each word (1988: 13). According to
Wren and Martin (1990:312), “Idioms may be defined as expression peculiar to a
language”. They also states, “Many verbs, when followed by various prepositions, or
adverbs, acquire and idiomatic sense”. Some examples:
a. He backed up
“back up” here means supported. his friend´s claim.
b. He broke down
“broke down” here means failed.
in the middle of his speech.
c. Call in a doctor a doctor immediately.
“call in” means summon or send for.
Since idiom has different meaning from the original meaning of each word
feelings. Wren and Martin in their book, High School English Grammar &
Composition, states “The student who studies the following selection of English
idioms will notice that metaphor enters largely into idiomatic phraseology”. Then we
can say some idioms are imaginative expressions such as proverbs and sayings. For
example:
a. I found the job difficult at first. But we were all in the same boat; we were all
learning.
Here, be in the same boat means ´to be in the same difficult or unfortunate
situation´.
b. Hang in there!
´Hang in there´ here, does not mean to command someone to hang on
something, it is used to encourage somebody in a difficult situation.
c. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
This is a proverb that means ´if too many people are involved in something, it
