Objectives of the Research Significance of the Research
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3 Intersemiotic translation or transmutation is an interpretation or replacing of
verbal signs by mean of other signs of nonverbal signs system and vice versa. Meanwhile, according to Catford 1965: 21-25, translation falls into three
different categories. Those differences are in the terms of extent, levels, and ranks. 1
Extent a
Full translation. It is a translation in which every part of the source language text is replaced by the target language text material.
b Partial translation. It is a translation in which some parts of the source
language text are left untranslated. They are simply transferred to and incorporated in the target text.
2 Levels
a Total translation. In this kind of translation, the source language‟s grammar
and lexis are replaced by equivalent grammar and lexis of the target language. b
Restricted translation. It is the replacement of a source language textual material by an equivalent target language textual material at only one level. It
means that translation is performed only at the phonological or at the graphological level, or only one of the two levels of grammar and lexis.
3 Ranks
a Rank-bound translation. In this kind of translation, an attempt is made to
select the equivalence target language at the same rank. b
Free translation. It is always an unbounded translation. Sometimes, it happens between larger units than the sentence.
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c Literal translation. It lies between the two extremes, the rank-bound, and the
free translation. It may start, as it were, from word-for-word translation, but make changes in conformity with the target language grammar.
As a text has both form and meaning, Larson 1984: 15 classifies translation into two main kinds i.e. form-based translation and meaning-based
translation. 1
Form-based translation is usually referred to as literal translation since the translators are attempting to follow the form of the source language.
2 Meaning-based translation is known as an idiomatic translation since the
meaning of the source text is expressed in the natural forms of the target language.
In translating practice, however, it is hard to translate consistently idiomatic or literal, thus there are often mixtures of literal and idiomatic form of
language. Therefore, translation falls on a continuum from very literal, to idiomatic and unduly free as illustrated in Figure 1 below.
Very literal
Literal Modified
literal Inconsistent
mixture Near
idiomatic Idiomatic
Unduly free
Figure 1. Translation as a continuum by Larson 1984: 17
Furthermore, Larson 1984: 17 states that the goal of translating should be to produce a receptor language text which is idiomatic. Idiomatic here means that
the translation has the same meaning as the source language but it is expressed to
Translator’s Goal
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the receptor language in the natural form. In other words, the meaning is maintained while the form of the target language is natural.