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CHAPTER II
AN OVERVIEW OF TRANSLATION
2.1 The Definition of Translation
As it is stated in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2000:1438)
Translation is the process of changing something that is written or spoken into
another language. Wiratno (2003) says that translation is a process of transferring
message from SL into TL. SL or Source Language is an origin language which is
translated, while TL or Target Language is a final language which is used to express
the result of translation. He states the previous statement in his book:
“Penerjemahan ialah proses pengalihan pesan dari bahasa sumber ke dalam bahasa
sasaran. Bahasa sumber adalah bahasa asal yang diterjemahkan, sedangkan bahasa
sasaran adalah bahasa target yang digunakan untuk mengungkapkan hasil
terjemahan.”
But the definition of translation is not that simple. There are so many
definitions about translation from many experts. They define the definitions about
translation in many ways.
According to Catford (1965:20), “Translation is the replacement of textual
material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language
(TL)” and Nida (1969:12) states that translation consists of reproducing in the
receptor language the natural equivalent of the source language message, first in
terms of meaning and second in terms of style. The definition of translation from the
expert is not limited only on Catford’s and Nida’s point of view. There are several
definitions stated by some experts.
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However, translation deals with the meaning. Translation with correct
structure is useless without the meaning. Larson (1984:3) states that translation means
transferring the meaning of the source language into receptor language. And
Newmark states a further view towards the transferring meaning in a translation. As
he says (1988:5), Translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language
in the way that the author intended the text.
Moreover, translation also deals with culture aspects. Kridalaksana, an expert
in translation theory states on his book (1983:128), “Terjemahan adalah pengalihan
amanat antarbudaya dan/atau antarbahasa dalam tataran gramatikal dan leksikal
dengan maksud, efek atau ujud yang sedapat mungkin tetap dipertahankan.” In brief,
his view about translation is a transferring message among cultures and languages.
2.2 Function of Translation
According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2000:546), Function is
a special activity or purpose of a person or thing. Basically, the special purpose or
function of translation is as a medium of communications. As Duff (1989:5) says,
“As a process of communication, translation functions as the medium ‘across the
linguistic and cultural barriers’ in conveying the message written in the foreign
languages.” In other words, the function of translation is a medium or a means to
carry the message from the SL to TL. And it is very helpful for people which come
from around the world in communication to each other.
As Nida (1981:2) states, “Translation means communication because it has
three essential elements to form a process of communication. The three essential
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elements are source, message, and receptor, and these elements must be found in all
communication activities”. In brief that, translation is a means in communication, that
has source, message, and receptor which must be found in all communication
activities.
2.3 Process of Translation
Nida and Taber (1969) in Munday (2001:40) divide the process of translating
into three stages system: 1) analysis of message in the SL; 2) transfer, and; 3)
reconstruction of the transferred message in the TL. This process is described in the
following figure.
A (Source Language) B (Receptor Language)
(Analysis) (Restructuring)
X (Transfer) Y
Figure 1
Diagram of the Translation Process
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From the diagram, we can see that the source language is analyzing the
grammatical relationship and the meaning of words and its combination. Then it
transferred the meaning from SL into TL. The Reconstruction phase is the phase
where the translator rewrites or re-expresses the materials in such a way that the
translation product is readable and acceptable in terms of rules and styles in the TL.
Furthermore, Nababan (2003:25), he writes that “Proses penerjemahan terdiri
atas tiga tahap, yaitu 1) analisis teks bahasa sumber (Bsu), 2) pengalihan pesan, 3)
restrukturisasi.” The process of translation have three steps, those are 1) the analysis
of the source language (SL), 2) transferring the message, 3) restructuring.
2.4 Types of Translation
Brislin (1976: 3-4) states that: according to the purpose, translation can be
divided into four types:
(a) pragmatic,
Pragmatic translation is the translation of a message with an interest in accuracy of
the information meant to be communicated in the target language form. Belonging to
such translation is the translation of technical information, such as repairing
instructions.
(b) aesthetic-poetic,
The second type is aesthetic-poetic translation that does not only focus on the
information, but also the emotion, feeling, beauty involved in the original writing.
(c) ethnographic,
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The third is ethnographic translation that explicates the cultural context of the source
and second language versions.
(d) linguistic translation
The last type is linguistic translation, the one that is concerned with equivalent
meanings of the constituent morphemes of the second language and with grammatical
form. Seen from this classification, the translation of literary work should be the
aesthetic-poetic one.
Otherwise, Jakobson (1969) in Venuti (2000:114) states that the kind of
translation is divided into three differently labeled:
1. Intralingual translation or rewording is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of
other signs of the same language.
For instance: Charles dickens’ Animal Farm is rewording into children language
version but still in English.
2. Interlingual translation or translation proper is an interpretation of verbal signs by
means of some other language.
For instance: a text in Indonesian language is translated into English.
A novel by Andrea Hirata, Laskar Pelangi has been translated into English become
“The Rainbow Troops”.
3. Intersemiotic translation or transmutation is an interpretation of verbal signs by
means of signs of nonverbal sign systems.
For instance: if we see one symbol on the road, which picture is a spoon and a fork, it
means that we will find a restaurant not too far from the road.
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2.5 Shifts
Catford (1965) in Venuti (2000:141) states that shifts are departures from
formal correspondence in the process of going from SL (source language) to the TL
(target language). He also states that shifts divided into two major types, those are;
level shift and category shift.
2.5.1 Level Shifts
As Catford (1965) in Venuti (2000:141) states “Level shifts. By a shift of
level we mean that a SL item at one Linguistic level has a TL translation equivalent at
a different level”. It means that a grammatical unit in English, such as noun, affixes,
etc, has a lexical unit in Bahasa Indonesia (Machali 1998:14). The followings are the
examples of level shifts:
1. (a) Mary pun tidak mau membeli ketiga benda tersebut.
(b) Even Mary does not want to buy those three things.
2. (a) Boni has sold his motorcycle, because he needs some money.
(b) Boni sudah menjual sepeda motornya, karena dia butuh uang.
In example (1), we can see that a unit (morpheme) in Bahasa Indonesia
grammar ‘pun’ is translated into ‘even’ a lexis in English. And also in example (2), it
can be seen that in English if ‘have’ comes together with past participle of ‘sell’. The
form ‘have + past participle’ in English is translated into ‘sudah’, a lexis in Bahasa
Indonesia.
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2.5.2 Category Shifts
The second types of shift, is category shift, it is referred to unbounded and
rank-bound translation. Unbounded translation means that translation equivalences
may occur between sentences, clauses, groups, words and morphemes. While the
term rank-bound translation only to refer to those special cases where equivalence is
limited to ranks below the sentence.
2.5.2.1 Structure-Shifts
Structure shift is about the changing of grammatical between the structure of
the SL and the TL, because of the structure of the SL and TL is not correspondent.
For Example:
The form of the noun phrase of SL is Modifier-Head, while the form of the
noun phrase of TL is Head-Modifier.
new car → mobil baru
Adj N N Adj
2.5.2.2 Class-Shifts
Class Shifts is about when the translation equivalent of a SL item is a
component of a different class in TL. For instance:
a. a medical student
Adj. N
b. mahasiswa kedokteran
N N
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2.5.2.3 Unit-Shifts
Unit shifts is about to changes of rank. In which the translation equivalent of a
unit at one rank in the SL is a unit at a different rank in the TL.
For example:
Shift from phrase to word The Lord → Tuhan
P W
2.5.2.3.1 Word-Shifts
Word shifts is a part of unit-shifts, it is about the changes from word in the SL
or Source Language into another ranks in TL or Target Language.
For Example:
Shift from word (Adj.) to phrase
What about a complete stranger? → Bagaimana dengan orang asing?
Adj. P
2.5.2.4 Intra-System-Shifts
Intra system shifts is the last shifts, intra system shifts is about the shifts
which occur along with the names of the types of shift affecting the other
fundamental categories of grammar-unit, structure and class.
For example:
a. a pair of trousers
N (plural)
b. sebuah celana
N (singular)
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2.6 Five Units of Ranks in English
Morley (2000:23-24) identifies five grammatical units representing ranks in
English: sentence, clause, group (or phrase), word, and morpheme.
1) Sentence
Sentence is a set of words expressing a statement, a question, or an order, usually
containing a subject and a verb. (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
(2000:1212))
E.g. ‘Ferdian went to the Hospital last Thursday’
2) Clause
Clause is a group of words that includes a subject and a verb, and forms a
sentence or part of a sentence. (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
(2000:228))
E.g. ‘We cannot start while it is raining’ the clause is while it is raining
3) Group (Phrase)
Group (phrase) is a group of words without a finite verb, especially one that
forms part of a sentence. (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2000:988))
E.g. ‘There came a giant to my door’ the phrase is my door
4) Word
Word is a single unit of language which means something can be spoken or
written. (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2000:1551))
E.g. ‘eat’
5) Morpheme
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Morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning that a word can be divided into. Oxford
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2000:862)
E.g. the suffix ‘dom’ in the word ‘freedom’ indicates that the word is a noun in
English.
2.7 Word Classes
Kaplan (1989:108) divides word classes into two groups: major and minor.
The major classes include nouns, verbs, adjective and adverbs. The minor classes
include pronoun, preposition, conjunction and interjection. Therefore the discussion
of word-shifts will be focused on the major classes of word since the possibility to
identify word-shifts is larger than the minor classes of word.
2.7.1 Major Classes of Word
The major classes of word include noun, verb, adjective and adverb.
Followings are the description of the major classes of words by Wren and Martin
(1975:4):
a. Noun
A word used as the name of a person, place, or thing.
Example: king, sun, rose.
b. Verb
A word used to say something about some person, place, or thing.
Example: wrote, jump, drive.
c. Adjective
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A word used to add something to the meaning of a noun.
Example: brave, beautiful, lazy.
d. Adverb
A word used to add something to the meaning of verb, an adjective, or another
adverb.
Example: tomorrow, quickly, this afternoon.
2.7.2 Minor Classes of Word
The minor classes of word are pronoun, preposition, conjunction and
interjection.
a. Pronoun
A word used instead of a noun.
Example: he, she, it.
b. Preposition
A word used with a noun or a pronoun to show how the person or thing denoted
by the noun or pronoun stands in relation to something else.
Example: in, of, under.
c. Conjunction
A word used to join words or sentences.
Example: and, but, although.
d. Interjection
A word which expression some sudden feeling.
Example: Hurrah!, Alas!, Ohh!.
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