Analysis of The Non-Equivalence of Lexical Meaning Found in The Indonesian Translation of Amy Tan's 'The Kitchen God's Wife'.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... i

TABLE OF CONTENTS... ii

ABSTRACT ... iii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Background of the study... 1

Statement of the problem... 4

Purpose of the study... 4

Method of research ... 4

Organisation of the Thesis ... 4

CHAPTER TWO: THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK... 6

CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF THE NON-EQUIVALENCE OF LEXICAL MEANING FOUND IN THE INDONESIAN TRANSLATION OF AMY TAN’S THE KITCHEN GOD’S WIFE ... 13

CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION ... 52

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 56

APPENDIX: Table 1 data of the Non-Equivalence of Referential Meaning ... 58

Table 2 data of the Non-Equivalence of Contextual Meaning ... 59

Table 3 the translation of the definitions based on the Indonesian dictionary ... 60

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ABSTRACT

Skripsi ini berjudul Analysis of the Non-Equivalence of Lexical Meaning Found in the Indonesian Translation of Amy Tan’s The Kitchen God’s Wife. Dalam skripsi ini, saya menganalisis novel yang berjudul The Kitchen God’s Wife karya Amy Tan yang diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Indonesia oleh Joyce K. Isa dengan judul Istri Dewa Dapur.

Saya memilih topik ini karena saya melihat beberapa terjemahan yang menurut saya hasilnya kurang sesuai dengan bahasa aslinya. Saya ingin mempelajari, memperdalam, dan meningkatkan kemampuan saya dalam menerjemahkan. Tujuan dari analisis ini adalah untuk mengetahui apakah terjemahan dalam bahasa Indonesia sudah sesuai dengan karya aslinya.

Dalam skripsi ini saya mengunakan tiga teori translation, yaitu componential analysis, hierarchical structure analysis, dan contextual meaning, untuk menganalisis apakah makna kata/frasa/kalimat yang digunakan dalam novel terjemahan sudah sesuai dengan makna kata/frasa/kalimat dalam novel aslinya.

Setelah menganalisis sejumlah kata, frasa dan kalimat, saya menyimpulkan bahwa ada beberapa kata/frasa/kalimat dalam novel terjemahan ini yang belum sesuai dengan karya aslinya dan untuk mengatasi permasalahan ini

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penerjemah disarankan untuk berhati-hati dalam pemilihan kata/frasa/kalimat yang digunakan dalan karya terjemahan.

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APPENDIX

Table 1 Data of Non-Equivalence of Referential Meaning

No Words Componential Meaning

Hierarchical Relationship

English Indonesian

1. wallet saku 9

2. sink merasuk 9

3. to shake off merontokkan 9

4. claims mengatakan 9

5. despair kekecewaan 9

6. nudge menyodok 9

7. struck mengenai 9

8. hens ayam 9

9. trembling bergetar 9

10. look after menengok 9

11. man seseorang 9

12. germs penyakit 9

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14. crib tempat tidur 9

15. bowel perut 9

16. mouth bibir

17. bobby pin jepit 9

18. wheelbarrow gerobak 9

19. blades gunting 9

20. daughter anak 9

21. back tulang punggung 9

22. twig dahan 9

23. house gedung-gedung 9

Table 2 Data of Non-Equivalence of Contextual Meaning

No Words

English Indonesian 24. used to send suka bolak-balik mengirimi

25. If I had thought about this more carefully, I would have realized

Seandainya hal ini kupikirkan lebih teliti, aku akan sadar.

26. She should have done this or that to prevent it

Seharusnya ia berbuat ini atau itu untuk mencegahnya

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Table 3 the translation of definitions based on the Indonesian dictionary

No Word Indonesia English

1. saku kantong (pada baju, celana, rok, dsb)

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 982)

a pocket (on our garment, trousers, skirt, etc)

2. dompet tempat uang yang terbuat dari kulit, plastic, dsb

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 273)

a place for putting money which is made of leather, plastic, etc

3. merasuk memasuki tubuh manusia

(tentang roh jahat, dsb) (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 933)

to enter human body (especially for evil spirit, etc)

4. meresap masuk ke dalam pelan-pelan ke dalam lubang-lubang kecil atau lembut terutama tentang barang cair.

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 951)

to infiltrate slowly through small or smooth holes especially for liquid

5. merontokkan menggugurkan

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 962)

to cause to drop or fall

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6. menyingkirkan menjauhkan (sesuatu dari) menghindarkan,memindahkan supaya tidak menghalangi, membahayakan

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 1071)

to get rid of, to avoid, to move something away so that it will not hamper or endanger.

7. mengatakan menyebutkan, menuturkan (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 514)

to mention, to tell

8. mengklaim menyatakan suatu fakta atau kebenaran sesuatu

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 574)

to state a fact or the

truth about something

9. kekecewaan perasaan kecewa

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 522)

a feeling of disappointment

10. keputusaasaan habis (hilang) harapan, tidak mempunyai harapan lagi (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 914)

to loss hope, there is no hope anymore

11. menyodok mendorong

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 1081)

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12. menyikut menyinggung (mendesak) dengan sikut

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 1064)

to push with an elbow

13. mengenai kena pada sasarannya (tujuan dan sebagainya)

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 541)

to hit exactly to its target ( goal, etc)

14. menimpa menjatuhi atau mengenai

(terutama tentang sesuatu yang tidak menyenangkan, seperti penyakit, bencana, dsb) (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 1194)

to fall or to strike (especially about something which is

unpleasant / inconvenient such as an illness, disaster, etc)

15. ayam

unggas yang pada umumnya tidak dapat terbang, dapat dijinakkan dan dipelihara, berjengger, yang jantan berkokok dan bertaji, sedangkan yang bertina berkotek

(Kamus Besar Bahasa

a kind of poultry which can not fly and can be tamed and can be kept, with cock’s comb and has spur, the cock crows while the hen cackles

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Indonesia 80

16. betina perempuan (biasanya dipakai untuk binatang atau benda) contoh: ayam betina

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 144)

female (usually used for an animal or an object). Eg: female chicken

19. bergetar Bergerak berulang-ulang dengan cepat

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 362)

to move repeatedly and rapidly

20. gemetar bergetar anggota badan karena ketakutan (kedinginan, dsb) menggigil karena ketakutan (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 351)

the shaking or shivering of part of the body because of fright (coldness, etc) or tremble because of fear

21. menengok menjenguk, mengunjungi

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 1175)

to visit

22. mengurusi mengatur baik-baik, menjaga, dan merawat

(Kamus Besar Bahasa

to arrange well, to watch over, and to take care

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Indonesia 1253)

23. seseorang seorang yang tidak dikenal (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 802)

someone who is unknown

24. pria laki-laki dewasa

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 895)

an adult male

25. penyakit gangguan kesehatan yang disebabkan oleh bakteri, virus, atau kelainan sistem faal atau jaringan pada organ tubuh (pada makhluk hidup)

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 981)

health problems which are caused by germs, virus or an abnormality on the function body system and the tissues of human’s organ or on creature 26. bakteri makhluk hidup terkecil bersel

tunggal, terdapat dimana-mana, dapat berkembang biak dengan kecepatan luar biasa dengan jalan membelah diri, ada yang berbahaya dan ada yang tidak, dapat menyebabkan peragian, pembusukan, dan penyakit

the smallest one-cell organism found everywhere, which can reproduce at a rapid rate by splitting itself, some are harmful and some are not, it can

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(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 94)

cause a process of leavening,

putrefaction, and disease

27. betis bagian kaki antara lutut dan pergelangan kaki, di belakang tulang kering

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 144)

the part of the leg between the knee and ankle, behind the shin

28. tungkai kaki kaki (seluruh kakinya dari pangkal paha ke bawah) (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 1226)

legs (the whole part of legs starting from the loins to downwards)

29. tempat tidur tempat tidur biasanya terbuat dari besi

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 929)

a place for sleeping which is usually made of iron

30. boks tempat tidur bayi atau tempat menaruh anak-anak (sebelum dapat berjalan), berbentuk persegi empat, berpagar pada sisi-sisinya

(Kamus Besar Bahasa

a place to sleep for a baby or a place to keep a baby who is not able to walk yet, the shape is square and it has fences on

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Indonesia 160) each side 31. perut bagian tubuh dari rongga dada

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 864)

the part of the body which is located under thoracic cavity.

32. usus alat pencernaan di dalam perut (manusia atau hewan) yang bentuknya seperti pembuluh panjang berlingkar-lingkar dari ujung akhir lambung sampai dubur

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 1256)

digestive organ in the stomach (of humans or animals) in the form of long twisted corporal passages from the ends of our stomach until the anus

33. bibir tepi (pinggir) mulut (sebelah bawah dan atas)

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 147)

the (edge) of the mouth especially (the upper and lower parts)

34. mulut rongga di muka, tempat gigi dan lidah, untuk memasukkan makanan (pada manusia atau binatang)

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 762)

the hollow on the face where teeth and tongue are, and as a part of body which has function to bring in food (of

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human or animal ) 35. jepit alat untuk menjepit

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 470)

a tool which is used to pin

36. tusuk konde alat penguat sanggul agar dapat melekat dikepala dan juga sebagai penghias kepala (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 1230)

a tool to tighten or to hold knots of hair so it can stick on our head as well as an accessory on our head

37. gerobak alat yang berupa kotak besar beroda dua, tiga, empat, untuk mengangkut sesuatu

(barang, sayur, dsb) yang ditarik atau didorong manusia (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 359)

an equipment in the form of a big box which has two, three, or four wheels, used to carry things (goods, vegetables, etc) which is drawn or pulled by people 38. gerobak sorong gerobak yang beroda satu dan

ditolak dari belakang

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 1085)

a cart which has only one wheel and it is drawn from behind

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39. gunting perkakas untuk memotong, kain (rambut dsb)

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 376)

a tool which is used to cut cloth, (hair, etc).

40. mata gunting bagian yang tajam pada gunting (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 722)

the sharp part of the scissors

41. anak keturunan kedua

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 41)

second descendant

42. putri anak perempuan

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 941)

female child

43. tulang belakang tulang belakang

(Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 1218)

backbone

44. punggung bagian belakang tubuh (manusia atau hewan) dari leher sampai ketulang ekor (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 907)

the back part (of human being or animal body) starting from their neck to coccyx 45. dahan cabang batang pohon, bagian

batang pohon yang tumbuh

the branches, part of the tree which grow

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mencuat ke samping (beranting dan berdaun) (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 230)

to the sides (with leaves and twigs)

46. ranting bagian cabang yang kecil-kecil; cabang dari cabang (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 930)

the smaller parts of the branch; branch of the branch

47. gedung bangunan tembok dan

sebagainya yang berukuran besar, sebagai tempat kegiatan seperti perkantoran, pertemuan, perniagaan, pertunjukan, olah raga, dsb (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 342)

a great huge building which is used as a place for activities such as offices, meetings, commerce and trades,

performances, and sports.

48. rumah bangunan untuk tempat tinggal (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 966)

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study

The topic of my thesis is analysis of the non-equivalence of lexical meaning found in the Indonesian translation of Amy Tan’s The Kitchen God’s Wife. I choose this topic because I am interested in studying translation. It also helps me to enrich my vocabulary and deepen my understanding on translation as well as increasing my translation skill. Another reason is that I am personally concerned with translation and I see it essential that the source text is being translated into the target text equivalently.

I notice that there are quite a lot of translated novels which, in my opinion, have not been translated equivalently. This is inappropriate as it might produce a different perception and it might also cause the readers to have a different sense of meaning of the words/phrases/sentences. Moreover, there is a possibility that the readers might not get the ideas which are depicted in the original text because of the non-equivalent words/phrases/sentences.

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On the surface, the translated words/phrases/sentences may seem correct and equivalent; yet, in fact, when we analyse them further, we can find some non-equivalence of meaning in the translation. What makes the analysis of translation more interesting is that when we find the non-equivalent words, through further analysis we can actually find the equivalent words/phrases/sentences.

I agree with Leech that a translator should achieve the goal of gaining a systematic account of the nature of meaning when they translate the source text into the target text (Hatim and Munday 34). Besides, I think a work of translation should reflect the whole idea and content of the original text so that the text is coherent, comprehensible, and understandable to the readers. This is supported by Locke and Booth, who say, “it is generally agreed that meaning is important in translation ― particularly in total translation and it is also said that translation has often been defined with reference to meaning; a translation is said to “have the same meaning” as the original.” (Catford 35) I also agree with Dostert‘s definition of translation that defines it as “a branch of the applied science of language which is specifically concerned with the problem — or the fact — of the transference of meaning from one set of symbols into another set of patterned symbols.” (Catford 35).

Optimistically, I hope this research will be of benefit for translators in making better translation. Besides, I hope this thesis will help those that learn translation, who might become translators in the future, to increase their translation skill, gain knowledge of translation, and thus become good translators. Moreover, readers of translated books will be made more aware that translation is

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not a simple matter as there might be losses and gains in meaning in a translated version when compared with the original text.

My topic belongs to Translation, which is supported by Semantics. Translation deals with equivalent and non-equivalent transference of meaning between the words/phrases/sentences in the source text and the translation. An equivalence shows “the relationship of the similarity between source text and target text segment” (Hatim and Munday 339). However, in my thesis analysis I give a restriction to the perception of equivalence and non-equivalence. A translation is equivalent when the words/phrases/sentences in the target text are evidently equal to those in the source text after being analysed by using componential analysis, hierarchical structure analysis, as well as contextual meaning. Therefore, when the target text is proved not equivalent by one of the three measures, the target text is not equivalent.

Semantics is “the study of meaning in language.” (Hurford and Heasley 1) In analysing whether or not the words/phrases/sentences are equivalent, the data are approached by means of its referential meaning and contextual meaning. The theories of Translation and Semantics and the approaches are used in analysing to explain the non-equivalent words/phrases/sentences and to find the equivalent words/phrases/sentences.

The source of data of this research is a novel entitled The Kitchen God’s Wife and its Indonesian version. I choose this source of data because I find some inaccuracies in the Indonesian translation of the novel. Therefore, this phenomenon attracts me to conduct a research on the non-equivalence of lexical

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1.2 Statement of the Problem

In the thesis I would like to analyse two problems; they are:

1. Which words/phrases/sentences in the target texts show the

non-equivalence of meaning?

2. What are the equivalent words/phrases/sentences?

1.3 Purpose of the Study This thesis is written:

1. to show which words/phrases/sentences are non-equivalent to the source

text.

2. to find what the equivalent words/phrases/sentences are.

1.4 Method of Research

First, I read the English novel together with the Indonesian translation paragraph by paragraph, and second, I mark the words/phrases/sentences which I suspect are not translated equivalently. Finally, I classify the data whether the non-equivalence of meaning belongs to referential meaning or contextual meaning, and analyse it using the theories, and then write a research report until I come to the conclusion of the analysis.

1.5 Organisation of the Thesis

The first chapter is Introduction, which consists of Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Method of Research and Organisation of the Thesis. Chapter Two contains the Theoretical Framework of

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Translation and Semantics which is used to analyse the data. In Chapter Three, I present the analysis. Chapter Four is Conclusion, which concludes the analysis. The last part is the Bibliography and Appendix.

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

In this chapter, I would like to give some conclusions which are based on the result of the research in Chapter Three. I would like to present the concluding points starting from the componential analysis, hierarchical structure analysis, and contextual analysis. I would also give my personal opinions and comments concerning the result and some suggestions for translators.

First, in analysing the words and phrases in the translated novel which show non-equivalence of meaning by using componential analysis, I find twelve data, consisting of two phrases and ten words, which are proved not equivalent to the source text. It is proved when I contrast each component of the words and phrases in the target text with those in the source text, by observing the definition of each word and phrase from the Indonesian and the English dictionaries.

Having found the fact of the inequivalent words and phrases through the analysis, I think this non-equivalence of meaning is caused by the different standard of quality between the Indonesian dictionaries and the English dictionaries.

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In my opinion the English dictionaries have more detailed and clearer definitions than the Indonesian dictionaries. This may lead to the fact that the Indonesian dictionaries are not so reliable, as they may give a chance to have more inaccurate translation.

Moreover, through this analysis I also find that out of twelve data, eight words and two phrases are translated totally out of context, while the other two data are still related to the context of the story but their meanings are not equivalent to the source text. It is proved through the comparison of the components of the words and phrases in the componential analysis. As a result, when I read the sentences in the target text, it leads me to a different understanding compared with the source text. This fact is of course what a translator should avoid, for transference of the same message is the basic essence of translation.

Next, in the hierarchical structure analysis of the data, I find that there are eleven words, the meanings of which are proved not to be equivalent to the source text. The non-equivalence of meaning in this analysis consists of seven words which are translated from the specific term into the generic term and four words which are translated from generic term into the specific term.

However, I have found the closer equivalents for those non-equivalent words through this analysis, which is supported not only by the diagram of the levels of the words but also by the word definitions in both languages. Moreover, this analysis also leads me to the fact that actually in our language we have the term, both for the specific term and for the generic term, and we do not need to

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having found the fact that the meanings of the translated words are not equivalent, I think the non-equivalence found in the translated work is caused by human error. Then, in the contextual meaning analysis of the data, I find four sentences which are not translated equivalently into the source text. All the non-equivalent meanings in the translation are caused by the difference of structures in both languages. The major problem in this analysis is that the English language structure, has a tense system, which is very crucial in determining the time when an event happens, while the Indonesian language structure does not have such a system so that we have to add an adverb of time to make it clear when an event happens. Through this analysis, I see that this problem can be a factor which confuses the reader in following the story.

Having done the analysis, I think that componential analysis, hierarchical structure analysis and contextual meaning analysis are very useful in helping us to translate the source text into the target text. In my opinion there are some advantages which I can gain from this lexical meaning analysis. First, we can find the equivalent words or phrases through the componential analysis and hierarchical structure analysis. Second, through the contextual analysis we can find the appropriate sentences to use in the translation so that it will make the translation better. Moreover, I also think that these three ways of analysing can help the translator to reduce the non-equivalence of meaning as well as to prevent them from using inaccurate words/phrases/sentences in their translation work.

Finally in this conclusion part, I would also like to share some points which might be of some benefit for translator. In translating a source text, translators should be more careful in choosing the words which they are going to

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use in the target text to replace those in the source text, for I think it will influence the readers’ understanding when they read a translation work or make them lose the ideas of the content of the book. Besides, in my opinion the more accurate the translated words, phrases, and sentences are, the closer the translation is to the source text.

Second, if the translators are unsure of the word that they are going to use in the target text, componential analysis is profusely helpful in finding the equivalent words or phrases, while hierarchical structure analysis is useful in figuring out the generic term or the specific term that we may use in the target text. On top of that the use of contextual analysis helps us to find the right sentences to be used in the target text. A translator must also pay more attention to certain structures that are typical in the source language, but which the target language does not have, for I think a translator is always expected to create a work of translation which is coherent, comprehensible and easily understood so that it will help the readers to understand the information that the source text has.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources:

Tan, Amy. The Kitchen God’s Wife; alihbahasa, Joyce K. Isa. Istri Dewa dapur

― Jakarta: PT. Gramedia Pustaka Utama,1994

Tan, Amy. The Kitchen God’s Wife. Great Britain: HarperCollins Publisher, 1989 References:

Azar, B.S. Understanding and Using English Grammar. 1989. Second Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents

Catford, J.C. A Linguistic Theory of Translation. Fourth Impression. Great Britain: Hazell Watson and Viney LTD, 1974

Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary. Fifth Edition. Glasgow: HarperCollins Publisher, 2006

English Dictionary for Advanced Learners. Oxford: MacMillan Publishers Limited, 2002

Echols, J.M and Shadily. An Indonesian – English Dictionary. Third edition. Jakarta: PT. Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 1992

Hatim, B. and J. Munday. Translation an Advanced Resource Book. New York: Routledge, 2004

Hurford, J.R and Heasley. B Semantic a Coursebook. New York: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1983

Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia. Second Edition. Jakarta: Balai Pustaka, 2005 Longman Dictionary Contemporary English. England: Essex Pearson Education

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Lyons, John. Linguistic Semantics. New York: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1995

Nicholls, Ruth.Teaching English as a Second Language. Armidale: The University Of New England, 1987

The American Heritage Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources:

Tan, Amy. The Kitchen God’s Wife; alihbahasa, Joyce K. Isa. Istri Dewa dapur

― Jakarta: PT. Gramedia Pustaka Utama,1994

Tan, Amy. The Kitchen God’s Wife. Great Britain: HarperCollins Publisher, 1989

References: