24
which is “saying something which is not true to deceive someone”. However, the word “white” has lost its lexical meaning, which is “a color like that of snow”.
The third category is literal idiom. Fernando 1996 states that it allows little variation. Thus, it can be considered to be transparent. Zarei and Nahid
2012 also state that the transparent idioms are those idioms which are easy to comprehend and translate. In addition, their meaning can be derived from the
meaning of their constituent parts, e.g. of course, for once, all right.
d. Strategies of Idioms Translation
Translating idioms might become a problem for a translator. It is because the difficulty in interpreting the meaning of it in the source language. The
misunderstanding of the translator interpretation might emerge the ambiguous meaning of it. That might be the major problem for the translator to face. As
Baker 1992 believes that the ability to recognize and interpret an idiom correctly and difficulties in rendering various aspects of meaning into the target language
become the main problems that idiomatic and fixed expressions pose. Furthermore, he also mentions some other problems which a translator may face.
First, some idioms may have no equivalence in the TL. Second, some idioms may have a similar counterpart in the TL, but its context use may be different. Third,
sometimes an idiom in the SL refers to both literal and idiomatic sense. Fourth, in a written discourse, the contexts in which idioms can be used and their frequency
of use may be different in the SL and TL. As stated before, idiom cannot be translated directly from its constituent
elements. It makes the translators have difficulty in translating the idiom.
25
However, Baker 1992 had defined four strategies in translating idioms as shown in Figure 2.2:
The first strategy uses the idiom in target language which conveys the same meaning as the idiom in source language and consists of equivalent lexical
item. Thus, the translation should be translated as equivalent as possible to the source idiom. The idiom half-hearted is one of the examples which is able to use
this strategy. This idiom means to do something lack efforts and enthusiasm. In Bahasa Indonesia, this idiom can be translated into setengah hati. It has the
similar meaning as half-harted and it also has the similar form as half-harted. The second strategy is to translate the source idiom by using idiom which
has the same meaning but uses different form or lexical items. It is used if the translator cannot find the similar meaning and form in the target language. It is
often possible for translator to use the idiom with the similar meaning but dissimilar form. For example is the English idiom even maestros make mistake,
which means nobody is perfect. This idiom is equivalent to Indonesian idiom sepandai-pandainya tupai melompat pasti akan jatuh juga. Those idioms share
Idiom Translation Strategies
Similar meaning and
form Similar
meaning, but dissimilar form
Paraphrase Omission
Figure 2.2 Baker’s Idiom Translation Strategies 1992, pp. 72-77
26
the similarities in words maestro and tupai. Both of them are used to describe the something which seems to be perfect in its field. Maestro is person who is skillful
in playing or conducting music, while tupai is an animal which is skillful in jumping from one tree to another.
The next strategy is to use paraphrase to translate the idioms. This strategy is used if the translator cannot find the idioms in the target language which
conveys the same meaning. In this situation, paraphrasing or writing the meaning of idiom is the way to translate the source idiom. For example, Indonesian
expression tikus kantor which means a corruptor. Translators should not translate it into office rat because it will have different meaning. Therefore, the word
corruptor is better to translate the source idiom. The last strategy is omission. It is the last strategy that a translator can do
in translating the idiom. For some reasons, a translator may omit the idiom in the target text. It is because it has no similar or close meaning in the target text, its
meaning is difficult to be paraphrased, or for stylistic reasons.
C. Theoretical Framework
