Based on the origin of language, this onomatopoeic expression could be included into Yo-He-Ho Theory. Chrystal 1987 said that when people get a
command-sound they will do strong body movement and automatically produce rythymical yells. In this expression, it does not mean that somebody is
commanded to do something so that they produce some yells, but in this case, the character has intention to call a horse, and by that making a sound of “fweet” in
order to make the horse come to him.
Picture OB44- OB46 page 4 “The Billionaire of Dismal Downs”
Further data are expressions splat, splook, and splut. They are considered as onomatopoeia due to the same placement of the two words splut and splook
with onomatopoeic expression splat. The meaning of splat based on Longman Dictionary
is a noise like something wet hitting a surface and being flattened. This meaning is true if it is matched up with the picture. Something wet that hits a
surface is tomato. In that picture, the words splook and splut are written together with splat. These words can be called as synonyms, because they have the same
meaning, even when the other words splut and splook could not be found in the dictionaries.
The phonetic transcription or expressions “splut” and “splook” are also predicted due to the reason that those words were not found in the dictionaries.
The same reason for the word “splook” that has double vowel of „o‟, the phonetic transcription of its word would be splu:k. As what happen to the words “glut”
which is pronounced as gl Ʌ t and “clut” which is pronounced as klɅ t, the word
“splut” was decided to be pronounced as splɅ t. Those expressions can be included into Direct Onomatopoeia since the sound similar to the word that
denotes. Those are some onomatopoeia expression found in the The Life and
Times of Scrooge Mcduck. There were also some expressions that were not
categorized as onomatopoeia. They were „rustle‟, „punch‟, and „ranch‟. Even when they had the characteristic of onomatopoeia, as what Chrystal said, when if
in their final syllable is –tl or -tʃ , they can be categorized as onomatopoeia, but
they were not. This is due to the definition in the dictionary. The word „rustle‟ means to steal a horse or cattle that are left loose in open country‟. Next is
„punch‟, it means to move cattle from one place to another‟, while „ranch‟ is a very large farm where sheep, cattle, horses are bred.
Even though they have characteristic of onomatopoeia, for example categorized to have Yo He Ho theory saying the words resulted from human
physical effort, but they were not, because they were not made for or to be a sound that is imitated. That is why a definition is one of the important parts in
understanding whether some words are onomatopoeiea or not. Therefore, following is the result of onomatopoeia types that has been analysed.
Code Data Onomatopoeia
Type Direct
Associative Exemplary
OB01 Oof
v OB02
Crack v
OB03 Crash
v OB04
Clink v
OB05 Psst
v OB06
Arooo v
OB08 Creak
v OB10
Click v
OB11 Crash
v OB16
Hssss v
OB17 Boom
v OB18
Bang v
OB20 Wak
v OB27
Click v
OB28 Zap
v OB30
Clang v
OB36 Pop
v OB37
Pffft v
OB38 Knock
v OB39
Fweet v
OB40 Twang
v OB41
Bam v
OB44 Splat
v OB45
Splook v
OB46 Splut
v OB47
Pip v
IB01 Crack
v IB02
Yipes v
IB03 Puff
v IB04
Yee Haw v
IB05 Grrr
v IB08
Bah v
IB09 Meow
v IB10
Buzz v
IB11 Tsk
v IB12
Brrr v
IB13 Oh
v IB14
Boo v
IB15 Hisss
v IB16
Tweet v
OB07 Slap
v OB09
Swish v
OB12 Splash
v OB13
Chug v
OB14 Splat
v OB15
Slurp v
OB19 Whack
v OB21
Klonk v
OB22 Floop
v OB23
Blurp v
OB24 Snort
v OB29
Zow v
OB31 Rumble
v OB42
Thud v
OB43 Smack
v IB07
Sniff v
OB25 Vuhroom
v OB26
Whoosh v
OB32 Crack a boom
v OB33
Tippitty-tippitty- tip
v OB34
Waaueegah v
OB35 Sizzle
v IB06
Raargh v
Total 40
16 7
Table of types of onomatopoeia
The table above shows the result of the types from each onomatopoeia found, both of inside and outside the balloons. There are 40 data of Direct onomatopoeia,
there are 16 data Associative onomatopoeia, and the rest belongs to Exemplary onomatopoeia.
2. The strategies applied to translate the onomatopoeic expressions
In this part, the discussion is to answer the second problem, which says, “What are the strategies used by the translator in translating the onomatopoeic
expressions?” Before it comes to the strategies that were used in translating the expressions, it is good to be reminded that onomatopoeia is usually a word or
phrase. Due to that reason, translation strategy that would be appropriate was
word-for-word. If it could be taken further, the strategy of translation should be analyzed well. However, another theory arose. Jean Paul Vinay and Jean
Darbelnet said, oblique translation is another term for free translation where the translator exercises hisher freedom to attain equivalence. And it is said that in one
of this procedure, technique to translate onomatopoeia is equivalence. This technique of translation was used in this study. Hence, if word for word was the
strategy used, equivalence is the technique in translating onomatopoeia expressions.
As the writer went to word for word strategy, dictionaries were prepared to find each expression of onomatopoeia in order to find out the meaning.
Considering to the onomatopoeic expressions that can be found and cannot be found in the dictionaries, the writer made a categorization as what Taylor has said
that if the definition on each word or expression could be found in the dictionaries, it would be a lexical word; otherwise it would be a non lexical word.
For the data found inside the balloon, there were 4 words of onomatopoeic expression that belong to non lexical word, and 12 lexical words. There were 32
data of onomatopoeic expression found outside the balloon that belong to lexical word, and 15 data of onomatopoeic expression found outside the balloon that
belong to non lexical word. The following is the list of the onomatopoeic expressions whose
definition in both of English and Indonesian could be found in the dictionary.
No English
Onomat opoiea
Phonetic transcripti
on English
Meaning Translated
Text Indonesian
Meaning
OB17 Boom
bu:m A booming
sound or cry. Boom
A gun containing
explosive material.
OB18 Bang
bæŋ A sudden
loud noise. Dor
A sound similar to a
gun firing.
OB39 Fweet
fwi:t -
Suit Whistling
sound. OB43
Smack smæk
A loud kiss. Cuup
Kiss
Table 4 Definition of onomatopoeic expression outside the balloon
Paying attention to the meaning for each definition of the onomatopoeic expressions above, it can be found that they have the same characteristics that
build the content of the meaning. For number OB17, the same characteristic is that they are homographs, „boom‟ for English, and also the same spelling for its
Indonesian translation. Both of the definitions are showing the characteristic of boom as a noun.
For OB43, there are also same characteristics that they both have. The important point in this onomatopoeic expression is that it is a sound of kissing.
Indonesian people understand tha t the word „cup‟ is similar to the word „kecup‟
which means to make lips touch on surface of something. The word „smack‟ itself
is the same with the meaning of its Indonesian definition. The explanation above is different from the word „bang‟ in OC18. Even
when they do not have the same characteristic, but there are some keys that can be understood well. First, they both describe meaning of sound. Second, in
Indonesian it tells about explosion, and as we know, an explosion makes the loud noise, and this is similar with the definition of its English onomatopoeic
expression. The onomatopoeic expres
sion found is „fweet‟ which is found outside the balloon. The character in the picture is calling the horse by whistling. In
Indonesia, sound if whistling is „suit‟. Even when the onomatopoeic expression „fweet‟ is not found in the dictionary, the translator took a look at the picture and
understood that it is imitation of whistling sound, in this case is to call a horse. The table presents some data found inside the balloon that are lexical
words.
No English
Onomatop oeia
Phonetic transcription
English Meaning Translate
d text
IB01 Crack
kræk A loud sharp sound
Patah IB07
Sniff sn
ɪ f An act or sound of
sniffing. Endus
IB16 Tweet
twi:t To make the short weak
high noise of a small bird Cit
Table 6 definition of onomatopoeic exprressions found inside the balloon
There are same characteristics in meaning for IB01. In English, the expression of „crack‟ is defined as to break without dividing into separate parts:
split. On the Indonesian, it is translated into „patah‟ which defines as break, usually happens to hard and rigid things without separate one another. The
difference is that its English is functioned as a verb, but in Indonesian, it is functioned as an adjective.
For IB07, the difference in meaning is absent, both of them is a verb. They have the same characteristic in meaning that it is related to smell. Endus in
Indonesian means to smell odor. Those are some of data in analysis of the meaning or definition related to the dictionaries.
The word „tweet‟ in IB16 definitely has the same characteristics with its translation in Indonesian. They are the same that they denote sound. They are
same because the sound they denote is sound of bird, especially small bird. This was also supported by the picture. Remember, the onomatopoeic expression
would always be connected to the picture. Strategy word for word was applied in those all data above which are
lexical words. It was proved that the onomatopoeic expressions were translated by checking the entry in the dictionaries.
Besides, there are several words of onomatopoeia found inside the balloon whose its Indonesian cannot be found in the dictionaries. Here is the list
of some data which its definition in Indonesian cannot be found.
No English
Onomato poeia
Phonetic transcript
ion English Definition
Indonesian Onomatopoei
a
IB02 Yipes jaips
An exclamation of surprise or shock
Huaaa IB03 Puff
p Ʌ f
An act of puffing. Huff
IB12 Brr br
To complain about the cold Brrr
IB13 Oh əʊ
Expressing surprise, fear, joy, etc.
Ooh
Table 5 Definitions of onomatopoeic expressions inside the balloons