English equivalent of jambu is the rose-apple as fruit,
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not the brand of cigarette. Moreover, the word cigarette packs is enough to express the word bungkus rokok
Jambu Bol and may convey the information of SL words.
This procedure is assumed as the domesticating translation strategy, because the result is focused on receptor language in which the translator does not
present the foreign word Jambu Bol.
C. The General Elaboration
The general elaboration is divided into two sections, namely: the procedure of translation and the strategy of translation. Here are the explanations:
1. The Procedure of Translation
Based on data analysis, there are seven procedures used by the translator to translate 17 selected cultural words in Laskar Pelangi, namely: pure borrowing,
naturalized borrowing, notes pemadanan bercatatan, cultural equivalent, functional equivalent, description equivalent, and reduction.
The context of cultural words is the main reason for the translator in deciding the procedure. Each context of cultural words has the problem itself
which must be solved by the translator through choosing the right procedure in order to get the best result for RL readers. As Newmark says, there are some
contextual factors in translating, such as purpose of text, motivation-cultural-
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John M. Echols and Hassan Shadily, Kamus Indonesia Inggris Jakarta: Gramedia, 2003, p. 233.
technical-linguistic level of readership, importance of referent in SL text, setting does recognized translation exist?, recency of wordreferent, and future of
referent.
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In translating cultural words, the most commonly procedure used by the translator are pure borrowing, notes, and descriptive equivalent. Pure borrowing is
employed for three times by its variety, namely: wholly italic, partial italic, and without italic.
Data SL RL
1 Dul Muluk
Dul Muluk Wholly Italic
2 Pamanda Guru
Pamanda Guru Partial Italic
8 Pangkalan Punai
Pangkalan Punai Without Italic
As the explanation in data analysis, “wholly italic” is applied for the cultural words written in italic form in original version. Dul Muluk is written in
“wholly italic” in original form. “Partial italic” is conducted for the case of cultural word that has double meaning or the ambiguous cultural word. In this
case, the word Pamanda is ambiguous. The first meaning refers to English word uncle
, while, the second meaning is the saying to elder people in Malay culture, especially in Belitong. “Without italic” is done for the cultural words that can be
easily understood by the readers. Pangkalan Punai is the recreation place that is probably known by the readers if they understand the context of it.
Here, the writer takes into opinion that it is needed to apply pure borrowing in translating cultural words in novel, since it aims to make the readers
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Peter Newmark 1988, op.cit. p. 103.
feel the situation of Indonesian culture. Of course, it will be advantageous for the readers. The English readers can get the new knowledge about the Indonesian
culture. The procedure of notes within the text is used for five times by its variety,
such as notes as compound noun, notes as a participial group, notes as noun phrase, notes as alternative, and notes as parentheses. This procedure is applied to
render the real cultural words. It means cultural words that are unique and really unknown in receptor language.
Data SL RL
4 Dasa Dharma Pramuka
Dasa Dharma Pramuka – the Boy Scout
Promise as compound noun 9
menata janur menata janur
- a Malay wedding decoration as a participial group
12 tabla
a tabla – traditional drum as noun phrase 13
cinta monyet cinta monyet – monkey love, or puppy love
as alternative 14
peneng sepeda
peneng sepeda – the stickers used back in
the day to show that the bicycle in tax had been paid as parentheses
Meanwhile, descriptive equivalent is conducted for three times by the different ways, namely: descriptive equivalent with a generic word, descriptive
equivalent with a loan word and descriptive equivalent by explaining the abbreviation. Descriptive equivalent is appropriate in translating cultural words
that are not found in English culture but considered important enough in the text.
Data SL RL
5 libur lebaran
Lebaran school break using loan word
11 kopiah
Traditional Muslim caps using generic- word
16 apel Korpri
Indonesia Government Employee Corps flag ceremony explaining the
abbreviation
The translator also applies functional equivalent for two times in the different case, namely: functional equivalent with a loan word and generic word.
Data SL RL
6 azan zuhur
zuhur call to prayer using loan word
7 mantri suntik
male hospital orderlies in charge of giving vaccinations using generic
word The first one data 6 translation is almost same with notes, that is, there is
a loan word zuhur and the explanation as the function. But, there is no hyphen mark at the middle between them. The second one is different with the first one,
since the generic word male hospital is a componential analysis of the word mantri
. It also can be said, the translator applies functional equivalent for Indonesian occupation and religion concept which are unknown for readers.
Descriptive equivalent and functional equivalent are employed to neutralize or generalize a SL cultural word by using a form or function. On the
other hand, they are applied when the translator finds SL word cannot be transferred as it is. Therefore, it needs obvious explanation to translate it.
Naturalized borrowing naturalization is employed for translating the proper name randu of the phrase pohon randu into random. Cultural equivalent
is conducted when communicative situation is difficult to understand in the culture of RL. When the situation of SL doesn’t exist in RL, other equivalent
situation has to be created. Cultural equivalent is used for translating the drink air jeruk sambal
, since there is a drink in RL culture that resembles to air jeruk sambal
. This procedure is the good solution in applying “dynamic equivalence”. Meanwhile, reduction is applied for translating the word bungkus rokok jambu bol
into cigarette packs. It is used to delete the brand of cigarette that is not needed in the translation. The translator seems to use this procedure if the word’s meaning is
not found in RL culture and the importance is minor. In addition, she also does the mixed procedure, namely cultural equivalent + descriptive equivalent. This mixed
procedure is specialized to translate the complex cultural word pontang panting memikulnya
into scramble back with them on your shoulder.
2. The Strategy of Translation
