Background of the Study

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

One of the problems that translators need to solve in translating a text is the gerund because there is no gerund system in the Indonesian language. According to W. Stannard Allen in Living English Structure, a gerund is defined as the part of a verb that ends in –ing which has the force of a noun as well as that of a verb. 1 The reason why the gerund system does not exist in the Indonesian language is that the concept of gerund is different from nominalization in the Indonesian language. According to Gorys Keraf in Tata Bahasa Rujukan Bahasa Indonesia, nominalization is derived from a verb or an adjective by adding affixes such as pe+V, pe-+V+ -an, ke-+V+ -an and V+ - an. 2 A Gerund is derived from a verb by adding the participle -ing. Besides that, nominalization only has a substantival meaning. The gerund, however, has a verbal meaning or a substantival meaning. According to Wiliting in The Gerund, the gerund has a force of a noun if the gerund has a substantival feature such as having an article in front of it and having a plural noun. When a gerund has a force of a noun, it has a substantival meaning. Substantive is a word that can function as a noun such as a gerund, an infinitive and a noun. 1 Allen, W. Stannard, Living English Structure, London: Longman, 1991, p. 177 2 Keraf, Gorys, Tata Bahasa Rujukan Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Grasindo, 1990, pp. 60 61 The gerund has a force of a verb if the gerund has a verbal feature such as having its own object, and having inflected in the perfect and the passive. When a gerund has a force of a verb, it has a verbal meaning. 3 When this is the case, gerund becomes a hybrid because it has a noun form but it has a verbal meaning. The translator may try to maintain the form of a gerund which is a noun by adding affixes such as pe- an, ke-an, pe- and -an. This is one of the procedures in translating the gerund into the Indonesian language. However, in practice, a translator has to use other procedures to achieve a dynamic equivalence where the meaning is the most important factor to transfer and not the noun form. The translator may use a class shift by adding affixes such as be-, me-, me- -kan, di- and ter- because he or she finds that using affixes such as pe- an, ke-an, pe- and -an is not possible or it will make the translation sounds unnatural. The example is that the sentence “I could not bear thinking about it.” is translated “Aku tidak tahan memikirkannya.” The translator can not replace the affix me- +V+-kan with the affix pe- an, ke-an, pe- and –an. The sentence will sound unnatural if the translator replaces it. This is because there is not a noun that has a verbal meaning in Indonesian. This system does not exist in Indonesian language. According to Peter Newmark in A Textbook of Translation, unnatural translation is marked by interference, primarily from the SL text, possibly from a third language known to the translator including his own, if it is not the target 3 Wiliting, The Gerund, Pekalongan: Harapan, 1983, pp. 32 33 language. He also states that one of the things that we must pay attention to is the gerund. 4 Accroding to Peter Newmark in A Textbook of Translation, translating a gerund often uses transpositions. 5 Transposition illustrates a frequent tension between grammar and stress. According to Helen Hoyt Schmidt in Advanced English Grammar, writers choose gerunds when no abstract noun phrases exist or to express movement and activity in some kind of process. Gerunds have stronger verbal force than noun clauses, infinitives, or abstract noun phrases. That means they put an emphasis on some kind of action. 6 This shows that the purpose of using the gerund is to emphasize some kind of action that the writer of the SL wants the reader to take special notice. A translator must try to make a good translation so that the TL reader gives the same response as the SL reader in reading the text containing a gerund in their own language. In translating gerund, translators may use a different procedure such as shift, modulation, or omission. Even so, translator must keep in mind to achieve a dynamic equivalence because experts agree that translators must make the translation natural by putting the meaning as a top priority. Nida and Taber agree that translators have to make the message as a priority in translating a text. 4 Peter Newmark, A Textbook of Translation, London : Prentice Hall, 1984, p. 27 5 Ibid, p. 88 6 Schmidt, Helen Hoyt, Advanced English Grammar, Iowa : Prentice Hall Regents, 1995, p. 322 Eugene A. Nida and Charles Taber in The Theory and Practice of Translation, make the definition of translation more accurate. According to them: Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style 7 . As mentioned above, the writer chooses gerund because there is no gerund in the Indonesian language system. The writer chooses E-Love novel as the source of data because the writer finds many gerunds in the book and because the book is a serial of Teenlit which is popular among teenagers nowadays. In E-love Caroline Plaisted has given us a 21 st century take on teenage love and heartache. Sam is a bright, middle-class 15 year old who chats away with her friends on the Internet, exchanging gossip and homework tips. The focus on the reliance on the Internet, e-mail and text messaging services over the telephone reflects the evolution of teenage communication, and Plaisted has written a story pertinent to these new forms of communicating. Parts of the text are set out as e-mail or chat-room conversations, and it is these which make the story progress the most. Sam meets 17 year old Dan in a chat room despite that shes been expressly forbidden from talking to anyone other than her girlfriends. Dan proves to be who he says he is, and Sam manages to conduct a successful relationship, first online, then by mobile phone and then eventually in person, when they go to tennis camp 7 Nida, E.A. and Charles R.Taber, The Theory and Practice of Translation, Leiden:E.J. Brill, 1974, p. 12 together. Plaisted successfully explores the highs and lows of teenage love envy from friends but admiration at her success; jealousy from Sam towards other girls Dan knows; hopes that despite the geographical distance they will stay together. Despite or maybe because of the emphasis on the many forms of communication available to teenagers today, Sam suffers, as every girl from Juliet onwards has, from miscommunication problems. Praise to Plaisted for making the ending realistic, for placing heartache beside first love, but perhaps some criticism for portraying the online search for love as easy, safe and successful.

B. Statement of the Problem