25 procedures in translating culture-specific term to avoid mistranslation or
information loss. In translating culture-specific term, a translator must recognize those
cultural words initially. Newmark 1988: 95 states that “most cultural words are easy to detect” because they are particular-language-associated and cannot be
literally translated, however, “many cultural customs are described in ordinary language where literal translation would distort the meaning and a translation may
include an appropriate descriptive-functional equivalent.” Furthermore, he categorizes cultural words into five categories, namely, 1 ecology, 2 material
culture, 3 social culture, 4 organizations, ideas, customs, and also 5 gestures and habits 1988: 95-102.
a. Ecology
Newmark 1988: 96-97 states that geographical features can be normally distinguished from other cultural terms in that they are usually value-
free, politically and commercially. Newmark’s examples of this category are the local words for plains in many countries i.e., ‘prairies’, ‘steppes’, ‘tundras’,
‘pampas’, ‘savannahs’, ‘llampos’, ‘campos’, ‘paramos’, ‘bush’, ‘veld’ with strong elements of their local colours. Their familiarity is a function of the
importance and geographical or political proximity of their countries. These words is normally transferred, with the addition of a brief culture-free third term
or explanation where necessary in the text. Mostly the examples of this category are flora, fauna, winds, plains, hills. In On Foreign Shores, the example of
ecological culture-specific terms can be found in Darmanto Yatman’s Melintasi
26 Atlantik, as found in the word gayam, a local edible fruit found mostly in Java;
and daun ketapang, leaves from almond trees which grow near the seashore in most area in Indonesia, as found in Subagio Sastrowardoyo’s Dan Kematian
Makin Akrab.
b. Material culture
Newmark 1988: 97-98 makes four sub-categories of material culture category, namely, food, clothes, houses, and transports. Food is considered the
most sensitive and important expression of national culture; food terms cause the widest
variety of
translation procedures,
e.g., ‘zabaglione’,
‘sake’, ‘kaiserschmarren.’ Traditionally, national costumes when distinctive are not
translated, 2.g., sari, kimono, yukata, sarong. Clothes as cultural terms can be explained in TL if the generic noun of classifier is added to indicate the part of
body that is covered. Furthermore, in many language communities, there are typical houses which remain untranslated, e.g., ‘palazzo’, ‘hotel’, ‘bungalow’,
‘hacienda’, or ‘joglo.’ In addition, names of various carriages and transportation are often used to provide local colours for prestige. However, an accurate
description is needed to precede or follow the transferred word. The examples of ‘transport’ sub-category are rickshaw, Mouton, Chalice, etc. In Linus Suryadi
AG’s Central Park and Darmanto Yatman’s Melintasi Atlantik, culture-specific terms which are categorized into material culture are found, i.e., kopiah, a
ceremonial hat worn by Indonesian Muslim men, which belongs to terms for clothes sub-category, and getek, a traditional raft made from bamboos, which
belongs to terms for transportations sub-category.
