TRANSLATION

CHAPTER I

TRANSLATION

Nowadays, translation is very important because it helps people to understand other language. Translation itself is a human activity which enables human beings to exchange ideas and though regardless of the different tongue used.

There are many definitions of ‘translation’. In Catford’s theory Translation is the replacement of textual material in one language or source language by equivalence textual material in another language or target language. Refers to Newmark theory Translation is rendering the meaning of a text in to another language in the way that the author intended the text. Meanwhile Larson stated, “Translation is studying the lexicon, grammatical structure, communication situation and cultural context of the source language text, analyzing in order to determine its meaning, that reconstructing the same meaning using lexicon and grammatical structure which are appropriate in the receptor language and its culture context”.

In the final analysis, translation is a science, an art, and a skill. It is a science in the sense that it necessitates complete knowledge of the structure and make-up of the two languages concerned. It is an art since it requires artistic talent to reconstruct the original text in the form of a product that is presentable to the reader who is not supposed to be familiar with the original. It also a skill because it entails the ability to smooth over any difficulty in the translation, and the ability to provide the translation of something that has no equal in the target language.

There are some natures of translation, with eight methods of translation; Word for Word Translation, Literal Translation, Faithful Translation, Semantic Translation, Adaptive Translation, Free Translation, Idiomatic Translation, and Communicative Translation.

CHAPTER II

NATURES OF TRANSLATION

            As the definition about Translation, there are many theorists about the Natures of Translation as well. Generally, it’s divided into two; Literal Translation & Free Translation (further it’s divided into; Non Literal Translation & Free Translation).  Larson (1984) divided Natures of Translation into; Meaning Based Translation & Form Based Translation. But further he made a gives a degradation of translation as below;

Translation

                                                                                                                                               

 Very        Literal         Modified           Mixture              Near            Idiomatic      Free Literal                             Literal                                    Idiomatic

Nida & Taber (1969) divided Natures of Translation into; Literal Translation & Dynamic Translation. Meanwhile, Newmark divided it into; Semantic Translation & Communicative Translation. Semantic Translation could be called as literal Translation since it emphasizes the loyalty to the original text, more semantic & syntactic oriented and therefore also author centered. Actually it almost similar among Dynamic, Idiomatic & Communicative Translation, but they have some differences which will be discussed later.

            From those theorists above, then we categorized the Nature of Translation into; Literal Translation, Free Translation & Dynamic Translation.

A.    LITERAL TRANSLATION

Literal translation is a ‘form-based translation’ which attempt to follow the form of the source language with formal equivalence but misses some of the meaning because it often does not account that word or phrase has a different meaning in the different context.

Literal translation may be very useful for purpose related to the study of source language. They are often help the speaker of the receptor language who are interested in the meaning of the source language text. Literal translation sounds like nonsense and has little communicative value.

Examples:

English	Bahasa Indonesia
I like swimming	Saya suka berenang
I will go to bed early	Saya akan pergi ke tempat tidur dengan cepat
What is your name?	Apa nama kamu?
I want to eat	Saya ingin makan
Have you eaten?	Sudah kamu makan?
Next month in this time I will be climbing Mount Everest	Bulan depan pada waktu ini saya akan sedang mendaki Gunung Everest
She dance beautifully	Dia menari dengan cantik
She really pay attention on this seminar	Dia benar-benar membayar perhatian pada seminar ini
To give a hand	Untuk Memberikan tangan
To kick the bucket	Untuk menendang Keranjang
I got a serious headache last night	Saya mendapat sebuah sakit kepala semalam
She always looks after her daughter	Dia selalu melihat setelah anak perempuannya
The doctor is delivering a baby in room 1313 right now	Dokter sedang mengirimkan bayi di ruang 1313 sekarang

Sometimes, when we translate the text literally, it does not sound good in the receptor language and sometimes it misses the meaning. That is why Literal Translation is not the most accurate translation.

B.     FREE TRANSLATION

Free Translation reproduces the matter without the manner, or the context without the form of the original language. Usually it is paraphrases much longer than original and often out of the original text. It depends on the translator, not the writer of original text. So, it called Intralingua Translation and often pretensions and not a translation at all.

Examples:

English	Bahasa Indonesia
I want to go to the market	Saya ingin pergi belanja ke pasar
He went to bed after did her homework	Dia tidur setelah kelelahan mengerjakan pekerjaan rumahnya
He works part time beside studies in an University	Disamping kuliah, dia juga bekerja paruh waktu untuk mengisi waktu luangnya
It was glad when Stephanus, Fortunatus & Achaicus arrived, because they supplied what was lacking from you. For they refreshed my spirit and yours also. Such men deserve recognition (Larson:17)	It sure is good to see Steve, Lucky and “Big Bam”. They sorta make us up for your not being here. They’re a big boost to both me and you all. Let’s give them a big hand. (Larson:17)
Gua gembira sekali deh si Steve, Untung ame Akaikus datang sebagai pengganti kangen gua sama lu. Mereka sudah ngasih semangat ame gua dan kalian semua. Mereka pantes dapet tepuk tangan yang meriah.

            This Nature of Translation is not good enough for the purpose of Translation since it contain many things which out of context and changes historical facts & cultural of original text. Usually it’s used for humor purpose and to get special effect & some responds from the reader.

 

C.     DYNAMIC / IDIOMATIC / COMMUNICATIVE TRANSLATION

It’s a ‘Meaning-based Translation’, makes every effort to communicate the meaning of the source language text in the natural forms of the receptor language. It uses the natural forms of the receptor language, both in the grammatical constructions and in the choice of lexical items. A truly dynamic/idiomatic/communicative translation does not sound like a translation it sounds like it was written originally in the receptor language. However, translation is often a mixture of a literal transfer of the grammatical unit along with some idiomatic translation of the meaning of the text. “It is not easy to consistently translate idiomatically. A translator may express some parts of his translation in every natural forms and the in other parts fall back into a literal form” (Larson, 1984:17).

Example:

English	Bahasa Indonesia
I don’t have my eye on you	Saya tidak ingat padamu (Id)
It's a piece of cake	Ini hal yang sangat gampang (Id)
Make up your mind!	Tetapkan pilihanmu! (Dyn)
I’ve already buried my eye	Saya baru saja akan pergi (Id)
I’ll do it with my head	Saya akan mengerjakannya sendiri (Id)
You’re what you read	Apa yang kamu baca itu akan menunjukan siapa kamu sebenarnya. (Comm)
She’s very success in her career, everything she does is a well done.	Dia adalah seorang yang bertangan dingin, smua yang dilakukannya selalu berhasil. (Id)
The river runs	Air mengalir (Dyn)
Be my guest	Silakan (Dyn)
Safety first	Utamakanlah keselamatan (Dyn)
Fire is a good servant, but a bad master	Kecil jadi teman, besar jadi musuh (Id)

Dynamic Translation, Idiomatic Translation & Communicative Translation may be classified into one type, but specifically, if we learn more about them we’ll find out that there are some differences among those Natures of Translation.

Dynamic Translation, Idiomatic Translation & Communicative Translation;

Dynamic Translation	Idiomatic Translation	Communicative Translation
Changes both grammatical construction & choice of lexical item of the receptor language to deliver the message	Gives priority to the effectiveness of the message to be communicated	Reproduce the message of the original text
Focuses on naturalness	Focuses on factors such as readability and naturalness	Preferring colloquialisms & idioms where do not exist in the original text
Dynamic equivalence	Both content and the language are readily acceptable and compressible
Outcome ; Lively, ‘natural’ translation	Outcome ; Lively, ‘natural’ translation	Outcome ; Lively, ‘natural’ translation
Ex : The Rivers runs	Ex : Fire is a good servant, but a bad master	Ex : You’re what you read

CHAPTER III

METHODS OF TRANSLATION

After we learnt about the Natures of Translation, let’s find out what are the Methods of Translation. There are 8 methods of Translation;

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.

Outcome : Literal Translation

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.

Outcome : Literal Translation

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.

Outcome : Literal Translation

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 7meaning 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 & apos; translation is dogmatic, semantic translation is more flexible.

Outcome : Literal Translation

     

5.                           Adaptive Translation

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. (From A Textbook of Translation by P. Newmark)

Outcome : Free Translation

     

6.                           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.

Outcome : Free Translation

     

7.                           Idiomatic Translation

It reproduces the message of the original but tends to distort nuances of meaning by preferring colloquialisms and idioms.

Outcome : Dynamic/ Idiomatic / Communicative Translation

     

8.                           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.

Outcome : Dynamic/ Idiomatic / Communicative Translation

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUTION

Translation is a complicated process. However, a translator who concerned with transferring the meaning will find that the receptor language has a way in which the desired meaning can be expressed; even it may be very different from the source language form.

            To provide a good translation, the things we should do are: take time to study carefully the source language text, write the semantic analysis, and then look for the equivalent way in which the same message is expressed naturally in the receptor language. Because a good translation is when the receptor language read the text, they don’t recognize the text as a translation at all, but simply as a text written in the receptor language for their information and enjoyment.

           

            Regarding the natures of translation, there is no the best way among those types above because as Larson said that we may use idiomatic in some of parts of translation and use literal in some of parts translation. It means that we have to combine those methods to provide a good translation.

                                                                                                                 

REFERENCESS

- DS Simatupang, Maurits (1999/2000). Pengantar Teori Terjemahan. Jakarta : Universitas Indonesia