17 previous one. There is something missing after the preposition ‘on’, there is no
adverb such as found on the former sentence. The second sentence indicates an idiomatic meaning which has no relation to the first sentence, eventhough both
sentences are using the verb and the preposition ‘put on’.
3 Proverbs
Ghazala 1995 states that proverbs are special, fixed, unchanged phrases which have special, fixed, and unchanged meanings, just like idioms p. 138.
According to Ghazala 1995, a proverb cannot be understood as a collection of the individual meanings of its words. Ghazala 1995 adds that proverbs are
metaphor and stand for something else. Proverbs in English cannot be translated or understood directly because it
has a certain relation with culture. Students might become more confused when they are trying to find an Indonesian phrase which has a closest proverb relation
with the English phrase.
c. Stylistic Problems
The next set of problems of translation is dealing with stylistic problems. According to Ghazala 1995, style is viewed as a part of meaning and affects it in
different ways and to different degrees p. 222. The statement means that if there is a change in the style, the meaning will be changed either. Ghazala 1995
mentions that meaning was claimed to stand on its own, it is unaffected by such certain style p. 222. Nevertheless, style has been given a special attention and it
is indeed part of meaning.
18 If translators attend to style and consider the importance of using style in
their work, they will fully attend to the meaning. Meanwhile, if translators ignore the presence of style, they will ignore some parts of the meaning. There are two
sentences to show that the significance of style is worth discussing. Her mother died yesterday and her mother was killed yesterday. Those two sentences have
the meaning that her mother is dead. In Indonesian, it can be translated as ibunya meninggal kemarin. However, translators cannot just translate the above
sentences into one and the same Indonesian version of translation because the
cause of the death is crucial to both the dead person and to the family. Her mother died yesterday is normal and neutral death, meanwhile her mother was
killed yesterday is abnormal, unnatural, and disgraceful crime.
From the examples above, it can be inferred that style has its own role in any aspect of language and meaning. Ghazala 1995 defines style as “different
choices made by writers from the language stock in regard to layout of shape, grammar, vocabulary or words and phonology or sounds, namely, from all
aspects, levels and components of language p. 223.
1 Formality vs. Informality
Ghazala 1995 suggests a scale of five ‘styles’ of English language, which is general but proved to be widely acceptable by most people. There are frozen
fornal, formal, informal, colloquial, and vulgar slang. Examples:
a. Frozen formal : ‘Be seated’ Duduk
b. Formal : ‘Have a seat’
Silakan duduk
19 c. Informal
: ‘Sit down, please’ Mari, silakan duduk
d. Colloquial : ‘Feel at home
Anggap lah rumah sendiri e. Vulgar slang : ‘Sit bloody down’
Ayo cepet duduk However, it is difficult to distinguish formal and informal styles of
language. Ghazala 1995 explains that “despite the difficulty and personal nature of the distinction between the five styles of English language, we can understand
and apply them in general terms p. 226. The examples provided above has their
own different effect and meaning. The example a is so official and seems to be
impolite, it can be said by a harch person or a man of a high position, such as a
boss, a manager, a king, and many more. Whereas example b is official but polite,
it can be used in the similas context as the example number 1, but appropriately to
friends or personal acquaitances. The example example c is much more polite,
and considered rather unofficial. Meanwhile example number 4 is quite friendly, intimate, and kind, of which it reflects colloquial tone. The last example is so
strong and rude, usually it is said as a humorous context to close friends.
2 Style of Fronting
Another important stylistic device is the style of fronting. According to Ghazala 1995, it is a widely used style at both the sentence and text levels which
has the purpose to move a word, a phrase or a clause from its original place in the middle or at the end of the sentence to the beginning or the front position of the
sentence p. 231. Examples:
a. In my room he slept Di kamarku dia tidur
20 b. If you apologize, I will forgive you
Bila kamu meminta maaf, aku akan memaafkan kamu
Ghazala 1995 notes that making such frontings are not made by a chance, it is made for good reasons p. 231. The fronting is made by putting the
subordinate clause before the main clause. This changing position of the clause means nothing but giving important function of emphasis than the other part of
the sentence. Therefore, the fronting style means that it plays a vital role in
understanding meaning. In my room he slept instead of he slept in my room, the
first sentence tries to emphasize that ‘in my room’ is to be more noticed rather
than ‘he slept’. The next is, If you apologize, I will forgive you means that the
person concerned demands apology in order to give forgiveness to the other person.
3 Passive and Active Styles
Ghazala 1995 explains that passive and active are two contrastive forms and styles, they have different functions p. 246. The researcher does not say that
Indonesian language tends to be active or passive, or so does English. Ghazala 1995 points out that both styles have to be reflected in Indonesian for their
important functions to the message. Example:
a. The American solidiers killed five Afghans children yesterday. b. Five Afghans children were killed yesterday.
Those two sentences above have the same meaning. However, if those sentences are carefully considered, they look different. The first sentence is active
21 and it clearly shows that the killers or the doers of the action is revealed.
Meanwhile the second sentence is passive and it hides the killers or the doers. From the examples above, it can be shown how the distinction between the active
and the passive style influences the meaning of the sentence. The active sentence one focuses on the murderer or the killer, this might be due to political reasons or
its relation with public media. Meanwhile, the second passive sentence does not focus on the doer of the action, it is more on the results of what the doer has done.
Hiding the identity of the doer can probably mean that the doer is not quite important and is just possible to ignore.
5. Translation Methods
