Address Forms
3. Strategies In Translating Second Person Address Forms
The different culture between English and Indonesian in using second- person address forms sometimes makes a subtitler face a serious problem. In one side, a subtitler needs to conform to the rules of the TL understanding since the TL viewers will now read the subtitle, while in the other side, the subtitler tries to be faithful to the original text.
Moreover, a film instantly deals with cultural aspect of the SL since the viewers enjoy both the pictures and the sounds simultaneously. It means that the subtitler has a responsibility to transfer both meaning and custom of the SL. Meanwhile in Indonesia, the choice of words especially for address terms was tied up with the social status and power. There are different usages of address forms of Indonesian since hierarchies still exist in the socio- culture.
Related to this case, a subtitler needs to find the most appropriate technique without losing the cultural aspects of the SL. There are some strategies in translating second person forms in Indonesia:
a. Transference Transference or can be called emprunt, loan word or transcription is the process of transferring a SL word to a TL text as the procedure of translation (Newmark, 1988:81). Meanwhile, Catford states , “it is possible to carry out an operation in which TL text, or rather, parts of the
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meanings. We call this process, transference” (1974: 43)
The aims of using transference strategy are to present a local color atmosphere of the SL to the TL and give respect for the SL country‟s culture. As stated by Newmark, “in regional novels and essay, cultural word are often transferred to give local color, to attract the reader, to give sense of intimacy between the reader-sometimes the sounds or the evoked image appears attractive.” (1988: 82). Nevertheless, transference
is found not only in literally text but also audio visual field such as subtitling. Example : SL
: Signorina , I was afraid I‟ve lost you.
TL
: Signorina, aku takut kehilanganmu. From the example above, it can be seen that the address forms Signorina did not translate into nona. It still maintains by the translator in order to show the culture of the SL.
b. Substitution According to Larson, “a substitute word refers to something already introduced to the text.” (1984: 72). It means that a substitute
word refers to the same thing. Further, Larson also states that it is very important for a translator to know how substitute words are used in the TL in order to translate the words naturally. A translator will not purely
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should consider carefully the use of pronouns or pro-verbs in the TL Example :
ST : Just as soon as you provide us with the password TT
: Setelah Nyonya berikan kata sandinya From the example above, it can be seen that the subtitler is not
translating a pronoun with pronoun. Usually, the pronoun „you‟ is translated into ‘anda’ for formal situation or „kau‟ for familiar situation.
However, the translator substitutes the meaning of pronoun „you‟ with title „Nyonya‟ in order to show polite form which is basically refer to the
same meaning.
c. Deletion According to Newmark, “a term of little importance in the TL culture may be deleted in translation, provided it is marginal to the text
and some indication of function given where required.” (1988: 83). Nevertheless, this strategy may influence the formality of the utterances
and diminishes the strategy build by the speaker. Example : ST
: Don't worry, Mrs. Plummer, your kids'll be safe with me. TT
: Jangan khawatir. anak-anakmu akan aman bersamaku In the example above, the speaker addresses the interlocutor with address forms title plus last name to show formal situation and politeness. Unfortunately, the subtitler fails to reveal it in the translation
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forms not only changes the formality but also reduce the strategy of the speaker to establish sense of respect.
d. Similar Meaning Similar meaning refers to prepositional meaning. As stated by Cruse (in Baker, 1992: 13), “The prepositional meaning of a word or an
utterance arises from the relation between it and what it refers to or describes in a real or imaginary world, as conceived by the speakers of the particular language to which the word or utterance belong. It is type of meaning which provides the basis on which we can judge an utterance as true or false.”
Example : ST
: Good night, little fella. TT : Selamat tidur, kawan kecil. In the example above, Shane called Peter with little fella which is
translated into kawan kecil. Here the subtitler translates that form of endearments into its similar meaning in Indonesia