Adjustment Equivalence in Translation
1 Filling Out Elliptical Expressions
According to Nida 1964: 227, although ellipsis is a common phenomenon occurring in all languages, the particular structures which allow for
omitting some words are not always the same from language to language. Therefore, while an elliptical expression is required in one language,
“an ellipsis may not be permitted in another
” Nida, 1964: 227. The example is presented as follows.
SE: She is more beautiful than I. TE: Dia lebih cantik daripada aku yang cantik.
[She is more beautiful than I am beautiful.]
The Subject „I’ in the SE is transferred into „aku yang cantik’ in the TE which means
„I am beautiful’. There is an addition „yang cantik’ „am beautiful’ in the TE which do not exist in the SE.
The use of the word „I’ indicates that it is an elliptical expression
in which the use of the word „I’ instead of „me’ indicates that the subject „I’ is actually beautiful but the subject „she’ is more beautiful.
2 Obligatory Specification
There are two reasons why it is required to add some specifications: a to avoid ambiguity in the target language formations and b
„to avoid misleading reference
’ Nida, 1964: 228. The first example is the addition in order to avoid ambiguity in the target
language. Here is an example as follows.
SE:
“they tell him of her” Mark I: 30; Nida, 1964: 228; emphasis added. TE: Orang-orang di sana menceritakan kepada Yesus tentang wanita
tersebut.
[“the people there told Jesus about the woman”] Nida, 1964: 228;
emphasis added. The second type is the addition in order to avoid misleading reference. The
example is presented as follows. SE: John is trying to run away.
TE: Aku, John, sedang mencoba melarikan diri. [I, John, am trying to run away.]
In the first example, to avoid ambiguity in the TE, the word „they’, „him’,
and „her’ in the SE are transferred into the TE as „orang-orang di sana’, „Yesus’, and
„wanita tersebut’ which in English mean „the people there’, „Jesus’, and „the woman’. It can be problematic if, for example, the word „him’ and „her’ are
translated as „nya’ and „nya’ since the word „nya’ in the TE may refer to „him or
her’. In the second example,
the speaker whose name is „John’ tells about himself in the SE
without showing that „John’ is actually himself. However, this elliptical expression could emerge a misleading reference if the reader or hearer
does not know the speaker’s name. Therefore, the word „aku’ in the TE, which means „I’, is added to show the target reader or hearer that „John’ is the speaker
itself.