Semantic Strategy Translation Strategies
III. Descriptive Equivalent
This strategy is applied when the cultural equivalent is not able to give the equivalent meaning and the SL word is much related to certain culture of the SL.
This strategy is trying to describe the meaning and function of the SL word. One example is the word
„samurai‟ in Japanese. It is not translated into aristocrat in English, but translated into a Japanese aristocrat from the eleventh to nineteenth
century Suryawinata and Hariyanto, 2003:73; translated. IV.
Synonym Synonym is a translation strategy that is used when a TL word has the
similar or nearly the same meaning in an SL word. One example is in the word “cute” in “What a cute baby you’ve got” which is translated into lucu in
Indonesia. Hence, the sentence becomes “Alangkah lucunya bayi Anda”
Suryawinata and Hariyanto, 2003:73-74; translated. V.
Formal Translation This strategy can be applied by using the formal translation that has been
standardized in translating SL words. The standardized official translation of Bahasa Indonesia is compiled in
“Pedoman Nama dan kata Asing” which is issued by Pusat Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Depdikbud R.I. For
example, „read-only memory‟ is translated into „memori simpan tetap‟ in that
book Suryawinata and Hariyanto, 2003:74; translated.
VI. Narrowing and Broadening
Narrowing is translation strategy that the word component of the SL is reduced or narrowed in the TL. For example, the word
„automobile‟ in English is translated into
„mobil‟ in Indonesia. The word component „auto‟ is omitted. Meanwhile, broadening is the opposite of narrowing, because broadening
is a translation strategy that the word component of the SL is broadened in the TL. For example, the word
„whale‟ in English is translated into „ikan paus‟ in Indonesian. The word
„ikan‟ =fish is added because if „whale‟ is translated into „paus‟ it may refers to different meaning. In Indonesia, „paus‟ refers to „the Pope‟
Suryawinata and Hariyanto, 2003:74; translated. VII.
Addition This strategy is different from the addition strategy in the structural
strategies. Addition as semantic strategy will give extra information in order to create the clarity of meaning. This addition can be set as footnote or in the last
part of the text. For example: SL
: The skin, which is hard and scaly, is grayish in color, thus helping to camouflage it from the predators when underwater.
TL : Kulitnya, yang keras dan bersisik, berwarna abu-abu. Dengan
demikian, kulit ini membantunya berkamuflase, menyesuaikan diri dengan keadaan lingkungan untuk menyelamatkan diri dari
predator, hewan pemangsa, jika berada di dalam air.
In the translation above, the additional information is given to explain the meaning of the word camouflage and predators Suryawinata and Hariyanto,
2003:74-75; translated. VIII.
Omission or Deletion Omission or deletion is a translation strategy that there is words or parts
of SL text which is omitted or deleted in the TL text. In other word, omission or deletion means words or parts in the SL text is not translated in the TL text.
This strategy is done when the meaning carried by the word is not significant toward the text development Suryawinata and Hariyanto, 2003:75; translated.
For example: SL
: “Sama dengan raden ayu ibunya,” katanya lirih. TL
: “Just like her mother,” she whispered. IX.
Modulation Modulation is a strategy to translate phrases, clauses, or sentences. With
this strategy, a translator regards and sees the message in the SL sentence with different viewpoint. This strategy is applied when literal translation creates an
unsuitable equivalence translation. One example is „I broke my leg‟ in English is
translated into „kakiku patah‟ =my leg is broken in Indonesian. In this
translation, the focus is on the leg object not I subject, Suryawinata and Hariyanto, 2003:75-76; translated.