Translation of Balinese Cultural Terms In "Bali: Adat" Book.
TRANSLATION OF BALINESE CULTURAL TERMS
IN “BALI: ADAT” BOOK
By
I GDE PUTU AGUSTIA SANJAYA
1118351059
NON REGULAR PROGRAM ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LETTERS AND CULTURE
UDAYANA UNIVERSITY
DENPASAR
2016
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my praise and gratitude to my big inspirer, Ida Sang
Hyang Widhi Wasa, for His blessings in my life, therefore I can do this final paper, entitled
„Translation of Balinese Cultural Terms in Bali: Adat book.
In this opportunity, I would like to forward my sincere thank to Prof. Dr. Ketut Artawa,
M.A, as my first supervisor, for his guidance, suggestion and patience so that I can complete my
report. I am also grateful to Drs. I Made Winaya, M.Par., as my second supervisor. My sincere
gratitude is also dedicated to Prof. Dr. Ni Luh Sutjiati Beratha, M.A. as the Dean of Faculty of
Letters and Culture, and to Dr. N. L. Kt Mas Indrawati, M.A. as the Head of the English
Department.
Finally, my gratefulness for my beloved parents that inspire and push me to be better in
doing what I should do and to my lovely friends in English Department. I forward my
thankfulness to many more names that I could not mention here, but it could not make me forget
them and as well as their contribution. I wish this final paper may give some benefits to the
readers and motivate me to improve myself.
Denpasar, January 2016
I Gde Putu Agustia Sanjaya
ABSTRACT
The title of this paper is TRANSLATION OF BALINESE CULTURAL TERMS IN
“BALI; ADAT” BOOK. This paper is focused on the cultural terms and their translation into
Indonesian. The data in this writing were taken from Graham sheil‟s bilingual entitled “Bali;
Adat” and the Indonesian translation by Indrawati Firdaus.
The aims of this writting are to find Balinese Cultural Terms and their equivalence(s) that
occur in the text and find problems occuring in translating Balinese cultural Terms in the text. In
analyzing the classification and problem occur. It employed the theories proposed by Larson in
his book entitled Meaning-Based Translation (1998), The Basic principles of Translation by
Eugene Nida (1975) and Classification of Cultural terms by Peter Newmark (1989) and
supported by theories that are considered relevant to the topic of discussion in this paper.
Based on the analysis and discussion, it was found that the kinds of Balinese Cultural
Terms that occur in the text are mostly related with the Peter Newmark‟s Cultural categories.
Only three kinds of Balinese Cultural Terms categories of Peter Newmark‟s Cultural Catagories
are occurring in the text that is Material culture, social culture, and social organozation and
religious related terms.
Translating Cultural Terms, in this case Balinese Cultural Terms, would rise some
problem related to loss, gain, and skewing information in the process. There are some problems
related to loss, gain and skewing information occuring in the text. As consequence, some
translation cannot transfer the exact mesage from the SL text into the RL text and some of the
translation transfer more information that can help the RL readers to understand the SL meaning
of Balinse Cultural Terms that occur.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Pages
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………...
i
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………... iii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study……………………………………………………………………………………. 1
1.2 Pro le s of the Study………………………………………………………………………………………. 5
1.3 Ai s of Study………………………………………………………………………………………………….…. 5
1.4 Scope of Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
1.5 Research Method……………………………………………………………………………………..……… 6
1.5.1
Data Sour e……………………………………………………………………….………….. 6
1.5.2
Method and Technique of Collecting Data……………………..…………….
6
1.5.3
Method and Technique of Analyzi g Data……………………..…………….
7
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE, CONCEPTS, AND THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK
2.1 Review of Literature……………………………………………………..
8
2.2 Concepts…………………………………………………………………
12
2.2.1 Cultural Terms……………………………………………………
12
2.2.2 Definition of Translation................................................................
18
2.2.3 Translation equivalence........ …………………………………….
19
2.2.4 Basic Principles of Equivalence…………………………………..
20
2.3 Theoretical Framework…….......………………………………………
22
2.3.1 Culture Categories (Peter Newmark, 1989)………………………
23
2.3.2 The Principles of Translation (Nida, 1975)...……………………..
24
2.3.3 The Process of Translating (Larson, 1998)......................................
26
2.3.4 Componential Analysis of Meaning (Nida, 1975: 32).....................
27
CHAPTER III TRANSLATION OF BALINESE CULTURAL TERMS IN “BALI: ADAT”
BOOK
3.1 Introduction....................................................……………………….....
31
3.2 Classification of Balinese Cultural Terms and their equivalence(s)........
31
3.3 The Balinese Cultural Terms in “Bali: Adat”.............................................
36
CHAPTER IV CONCLUSION....................................................................
57
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
English essentially is a foreign language and most of the people in the world study English as
their second language or foreign language. In Indonesia, English is studied from elementary
school up to University beside Indonesian language. As foreign language there are many
difficulties found in studying English. Therefore, many books are translated into Indonesian.
The work of translation plays important role, because people are often faced with some
texts, which need to be translated into our language. The text could be found in articles, books,
mass media, or literary works. In learning language, especially learning foreign language,
translation is needed to understand the meaning of sentences. For example, when we want to
translate the English text into Indonesian we must know the rules and the process of translation.
The process of translating aims at transferringas accurately as possible meaning and
messages in one language into another. The fundamental problems found in such a process are
related to lexical, textual, grammatical structure, situational communication and socio-cultural
meaning of the source language text. In conveying the lexical meanings in cultural context, a
translator often find that there is no exact equivalence between the word of the source language
(SL) and the words of receptor language (RL).
“The most difficult problems faced by translator is how to find lexical equivalences for
objects and events which are not known in the receptor culture and, therefore, there is no word or
phrase in the receptor language which is easily available for the translation (Larson, 1998 : 179).
In relation with the principles of translation, viewed from Larson‟s statement in his book
entitled Meaning – Based Translation. The purpose of this text is to show that translation
consists of transferring the meaning of the source language into the receptor language. This is
done by going from the form of the first language to the form of a second language by way of
semantic structure. The form from which the translation is made called the source language(SL)
and the form into which it is no changed called the receptor language (RL).
Referring to the Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary (1974; 289), Equivalent means
equal in value, amount, meaning. To be equivalent, translation process must convey the same
meaning of any text or lexical item of the SL into the RL.
Another idea on translation is the one stated in a dictionary definition that translation is a
process of changing the source language forms into those of the target language. Form here
included words, phrase, clauses, and sentence. However, in practice, we often cannot as easily
change the forms themselves.
In the case of the principles of translation, Nida states “The basic principles of translation
mean that no translation in a RL can be the exact equivalence of the model in the SL. As a
consequence, translation involves (1) loss of information, (2) addition, and /or (3) skewing of
information “(Nida, 1975; 27) it inevitably occurs in translation, that the absolute exact
equivalence is really impossible. In rendering, a translator makes some adjustment in order to
achieve the excellent translation, which has the closest natural equivalence to the message of the
SL. The adjustment may lead to the occurrence of loss and gain information or even distortion
/skewing of information.
For this reason, translating cultural lexical terms is relatively difficult, and therefore to
get a good translation, a translator has to consider not only the two languages but also the two
cultures besides being supported by sufficient translation theories. There should also be
adjustments based on transferring of meaning from the source language (SL) into the receptor
language (RL).
From the statement above, we realize that translation is not an easy thing to do. Besides
transferring the form of the language, translation also, consist of transferring meaning from the
source language to the target language. Since translation involves culture, therefore, besides
mastering the language, translator should also know about the culture of both languages in order
to transferring the cultural term of the source language.
Peter Newmark in his book a Textbook of Translation states, “The more specific a
language becomes for natural phenomena, the more it becomes embedded in cultural features,
and therefore creates translation problem”. He also states, “most cultural words are easy to
detect, since they are associated with a particular language and cannot be literally translated, but
many cultural customs are described in ordinary language, where literal translation would distort
the meaning and a translation may include an appropriate descriptive-functional equivalent.
Cultural objects may be referred to by a relatively culture –free generic term or classifier plus the
various additions in different cultures and these additions may appear in the course of the SL
text”. (Newmark, 1989; 95)
As we know, our island, Bali, is famous for its very rich culture. Since long time ago Bali
has attracted the world with the beautiful island, unique cultures and social customs. Many
tourists have come to see and enjoy the richness of the island. Many of them record their travel
memories and experience in media such photo album or video tape. However, they who have
enjoyed Bali and have explored the island and the people also write many books about Bali in
English.
This study chose one of foreign-written books about Bali. The book that this study
choosesis Graham Sheil‟sentitled“Bali: Adat” which was written in Melbourne, 1991. This play
centers on the Puputanof the Raja of Badung and his court in their fighting against the Dutch
colonialismBali: Adatis a fictionalized account based on historical records. Although events have
been condensed, the Raja (king) of Badung and his great-aunts (Biyang) are historical figures.
The changes in the Dutch administration provoked by the Puputanwere real. The book is in
English and additionally with the Indonesian translation by IndrawatiFirdaus. The book is chosen
because it is loaded with Balinese cultural words, which are useful of the completion of this
study. For this study, only the cultural term classified as objects (noun) level of word and phrases
are taken.
1.2 Problem of the Study
Based on the above background the research problems can be formulated as follows:
1. What kinds of Balinese Cultural Terms are applied in theBali:Adatbook?
2. What kinds of problem that occur in relation to loss, gain and skewed information in
translating Balinese Cultural Terms?
1.3 Aims of the Study
This study was conducted in a way to broaden the knowledge in translation study.
Specifically it was done for the following purposes:
1. To find and classify Balinese Cultural Terms applied in the text.
2. To analyze problem occurring related to loss, gain, and skewed information in translating
Balinese Cultural Terms in the text.
1.4 Scope of Discussion
This study focuses on translation study, of which data were taken from “Bali: Adat”
book. More specifically, it is directed as to classify Balinese Cultural Terms Found in the text to
analyze problem in finding the translation equivalences of Balinese Cultural Terms related to
loss, gain and skewed information in the text. The analysis wasbased on Newmark‟s theory
limited in the types of Balinese cultural term which applied. As for the translation analysis,it is
based onNida‟s theory of Dynamic Equivalence, Componential analysis.
1.5 Research Methods
1.5.1 Data Source
Related to this study, I chose one of foreign-written books about Bali. The book that I
chose is Graham Sheil‟s play entitled “Bali:Adat”. The play “Bali: Adat” was written in
Melbourne, 1991. This play “Bali: Adat” is a fiction about the Puputan of the Raja of
Badung and his court in their fighting against the Dutch colonialism. The book was in
English and additionally with the Indonesian translation by IndrawatiFirdaus. The book is
chosen because it is loaded with Balinese cultural words. For this study, only the cultural
terms classified as objects (noun) level of words and phrases were taken.
1.5.2 Method and Technique of Collecting Data
This study used library research method. The data used to support the analysis of this
study were taken from the data source “Bali: Adat” Graham Sheil‟s. The data was collected
through reading all the pages of book and this process was accompanied by note taking. Then
the page number wasquoted down at the end of the data. The next step was classifying the
data and continued to data analysis to find the translation equivalence of the entire Balinese
Cultural Term in Indonesian language.
1.5.3 Method and Technique of Analysis Data
After classifying the data based on Cultural Categories (Newmark) and Nida in
“componential Analysis of meaning”(1975: 32) , it is followed by analyzing the data. The
collected data was descriptively analyzed based on the scope and the theoretical framework
and based on the theory of translation. The source and the translation were described first,
and then followed by more focused descriptive analysis by referring to problem occurred.
After data analysis, the last procedure is drawing conclusion of the research.
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW, CONCEPTS AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Literature Review
Literature review consists of some journals and papers, which were collected and reviewed
to make this study different from other similar studies. The reviewed journals and papers
enriched this study with some different point of view to the problems. In this part the study
explains the different of this study from reviewed journals and papers.
This is a review from article entitled Collocation, Semantic Preference and Translation:
Semantic Preference as a Reference Source for Translation by Allan Lauder. The article
presented a description of semantic profiles produced with a corpus linguistics-based method:
computating, data reduction, semantic analysis and interpretation. The focus of this article was
semantic preference used by translator for creating semantic profiles of words. Semantic
preference in this article based on collocation. There are many theory mixed in this article
especially in corpus-based analyses of language. Compared to my study this article provided
many kind of theory and they were also from many researcher. Many of the data that was used
were analyzed by translation software in computer. It also adding the reference of this study will
used to classified the data and analyzing it.
This is a review from article entitle cross culture: Between Lexical and Translation
Equivalents in the Case of English- Japanese DictionariesbyYoshiaki Otanifrom Tokyo Keizai
University. The paper focused discusses the limited relevancy of the lexical equivalents in
English- Japanese dictionaries. And also about formal and informal wordInformal poses two
problems. One is that it is a negative word. Though it is not entirely identical with unformalthe
word is still pregnant with potential meanings. Healsodiscussesabout the use ofJapanese
languageinorder totranslateintothe English languagecan beunderstood bymanypeople. in the
discussion oftheirclothesotherculturesand other countries. Conceptually, distinction between
formal and informal styles must exist in any culture but Japanese terms did not correspond
suitably with the English ones because of difference in dressing style at that time. He once the
coinage of new terms.Since then Japanese dressing style has become very extensively
Westernized and most of the time we dress that way both at home and outside the home, but we
have not completely identified ourselves with the Western dress code. Therefore the abovementioned newly-coined terms are still vague in Japanese.
This is a review from article entitle culture Based Translation and its Strategiesby Nazir
Ahmad Reshi (April 2012). The paper focused discusses the limited relevancy of the translation
process delivering text or message from one language intoanother. The process of translation is
mainly a processof communication between different languages. The theory of translation has
developed from the purely linguistic approach of 1960`s through the textual focus of the late
1970`s to the culturally based orientation of today. Translation is viewed by exponents of this
approach as a way of establishing contacts between cultures. Translation, thus, becomes a cross
cultural event and the translator has to formulate his translation strategies to translate source
culture into target culture. It begins from the very choice of the text to be translated by the
translator who has to keep acceptability and readability of the translated text in mind.
Translations from and to culturally closer linguistic system may be preferred at this stage. To
deal with these cultural problems translator is supposed to insert cultural filter in the initial stage
of understanding and analyzing codification of the source text in the first stance. Here the
cultural filter helps him in obtain various elements of source culture which cannot go as they are
in the target culture because of cultural differences. To translate one language into another
language translator must be aware of the culture of both languages SL (source language) and TL
(target language) without which it would be quite difficult job. Translation is a kind of cultural
bridge between languages. Culture includes language, worldviewand social and linguistic norms.
Linguistic equivalence and cultural communication are complementary to each other as language
is culture generative and culture bound. The reader of a target language text looks for a total
effect. No target language text is valued either for linguistic equivalence alone or for cultural
transmission only. They are the two sides of the same coin. Culture becomes the goal and
linguistic items become the medium to convey the cultural ethos. There are many theory mixed
in this article especially in corpus-based analyses of language. Many of the data that was used
were analyzed by culture language in translation. It also adding the reference of this study will
used classified the data and analyzing.
A paper that important to this study was taken from thesis of under graduate student
entitledThe Translation Of Ecological Terms With Reference To Senior High School Textbook
Entitled Biologi Bilingual by Ayu Oktiana (2013). The method in the collecting data in the paper
was qualitative method and the data was descriptively analyzed based on the theories applied,
which were related to the topic. There were some ecological terms found in this textbook and
they have been classified into two types of ecology they are the types of plant and types of
animal. Then, they would be analyzed
using two theories, the first one was Theory of
Translation (1998) proposed by Newmark and the second theory was the Componential Analysis
(1988) proposed by Newmark.
Wibisana (2012) in his paper entitled Idiomatic Expressions in the Lost Symbol and
Their Translations in the Lost Symbol describes types of idioms and the concepts of equivalent
in translating them. The research method is a library research method and qualitative method. He
applies theory from Larson in his book Meaning-Based Translation (1998). In his analysis,
idiomatic expressions are categorized in seven types; there are metonymy, synecdoche, idioms,
euphemism, hyperbole, metaphor and simile. In term of translation equivalent he described it by
the lexical equivalents proposed by Larson. Compared to this study there were similarities in the
research method and concept of equivalent, but it is different in the theory types of idiomatic
expression it uses theory from Siedl and Mcmordie (1988). In addition this study uses the maxim
of communication types to analyze the dialogue which contained idiomatic expression.
Another important reference is written by Nugraha (2005), this paper is entitled
Translation Equivalence of English Idioms into Indonesian With Reference to John Grisham‟s
the Rain Maker and Its translation. The aims of this paper are to analyze the types of English
idioms found in novel Rain Make and to analyze the types of semantic adjustments in the
translation of English idioms into Indonesian and to investigate the process of transferring the
meaning of English idioms into Indonesian. The focused idioms of this paper were idioms refer
to word, phrase, or clauses. The types of idioms are analyzed using the theory proposed by
Palmer (1976) there are three types of idioms, phrasal verb, prepositional phrase and partial
idioms. Theory from Larson was used to analyze the semantic adjustment, it is stated that there
are two types of adjustment; non figurative expression equivalent and by figurative expressions
equivalent. To analyze the process of translation this paper used the lexical equivalents theory
proposed by Larson. Differ from this paper the current study used Siedl and Mcmordie‟s theory
to analyze the types of idioms and theory proposed by Larson (1998). H.P. Grice‟s theory
maxims of communication are used to analyze dialogues that contained idiomatic expressions in
the subtitles.
2.2 Concepts
2.2.1 Cultural Terms
Peter Newmark in his book a textbook of translation states, “The more specific a
language becomes for natural phenomena, the more it becomes embedded in cultural features,
and therefore creates translation problems.” He also states, “Most cultural words are easy to
detect, since they are associated with a particular language and cannot be literally translated, but
many cultural customs are described in ordinary language, where literal translation would distort
the meaning and a translation may include an appropriate descriptive-functional equivalent.
Cultural objects may be referred to by a relatively culture-freegeneric termsor classifier plus the
various additions in different cultures and these additions may appear in the course of the SL
text.” (Newmark, 1989; 95).
Adapting Nida, Peter Newmark in his book a textbook of translation categorized Culture
into five categories, there are:
1. Ecology: ( Animals, plants, mountains, plains etc)
2. Material
culture
(artifacts):Including
Food,
Clothes,
Houses,
Transport
and
communications.
3. Social Culture: (work and leisure)
4. Social Organizations and Religious:(Customs, activities, proceduresconcepts)Political
and Administrative, social, Legal, Religious, Artistic
5. Gestures and habits: (often described in „non-cultural‟ language)
Most Cultural terms are easy to detect, since they are associated with particular language and
cannot be literally translated, but may cultural customs are described in ordinary language, while
literal translation would distort the meaning and a translation may include an appropriate
descriptive-functional equivalent. Cultural objects may be referred to by a relatively culture-free
generic term or classifier plus the various additions in different cultures and you have to account
for these additions that may appear in the course of the SL text.The description about each
categories itself will be described below;
1. Ecology
In this Classification, Peter Newmark considered the Geographical and some Flora and
Fauna features could be added here.
“Geographical features can be normally distinguished from other cultural term in that
they are usually value-free, politically and commercially. Nevertheless, their diffusion
depends on the importance of their degree of specificity. Their familiarity is a function of
the importance and geographical or political proximity of their countries. All these words
would normally be transferred, with the additional of a brief culture-free third term where
necessary in the text. This applies too to the „technical‟ tabuleiros(Brazilian low plateau)
if one assumes that the SL writers would not mention them if he does not attach
importance to them.”
“Nida has pointed out that certain ecological features-the season, rain, hills of various
sizes (cultural words: „down‟, „moor, kop, „dune‟) –where they are irregular or unknown
may not be understood denotatively or figuratively, in translation. However, here,
television will soon be a clarifying force.”
2. Material Culture
The material culture includes: clothes, houses.
“Clothes as cultural term may sufficiently explain it in for the TL general readers if the
generic noun or classifier is added. If the particular is of no interest, the generic word can
simply replace it. However, it has to be borne in mind that the function of the generic
clothes terms is approximately constant, indicating the part of the body that is covered ,
but the description varies depending on climate and material used”
“Many language communities have a typical house which for general purposes remains
translated: palazzo (large house), hotel (large house), and bungalow.
3. Social Culture
In this Classification, Peter Newmark considered the work and leisure could be added
here, as markets, classes, or leisure activities such as games etc.
“In considering social culture one has you distinguish between denotative and
connotative problems of translation”.
“There is rarely a translation problem, since the words can be transferred, have
approximate one to one translation or can be functionally defined, „hardware‟, „cake‟, or
„chocolate‟. Whilst many trades are swallowed up in super-, hypermarkets, shopping
centers, and precincts crafts may revive,”
“As a translation problem, this contrast with the connotative difficulties of words like:
„the working class”. Note that archaisms such as the last expressions can be still used
ironically, or humorously.
4. Social Organization and Religious
In this classification, peter Newmark considered all of the Political, Social, Legal,
Religious, and Artistic organization could be added here.
“The political and social life of country is reflected in its institutional terms. Where the
title of a head of state or the name of a parliament is „transparent‟ that is, made up of
„international‟ or easily translated morphemes they are through translated”
“When a public body has a „transparent‟ name, the translation depends on the „setting‟: in
official documents, and in serious publications such as textbooks, the title is transferred
and where appropriate, literally translated. Informally, it could be translated by a cultural
equivalent, e.g., „the French Electricity Board‟.”
5. Gestures and Habits
“There is a distinction between description and function which can be made where
necessary in ambiguous cases. This cases such as if people smile a little when someone
dies, do a slow hand-clap to express warm appreciation, spit as a blessing, nod to dissent
or shake their head to assent, kiss their finger tips to greet or to praise, give a thumb up to
signal OK, all of which occur in some cultures and not in others”.
The concept of cultural terms are words or expression that have particular meaning used
by the society or certain culture to express their thought, idea or principle which are
differently experienced in culturally different communities. For example, the Balinese
cultural term cili. The concept of the term is unknown in the English culture.
As this study is related to the cultural terms that is specific on Balinese culture, so it is
worthwhile to define shortly about Balinese culture. In fact, the scope of Balinese culture
is very wide and it requires much time and a great insight to explain about it. Here, a
short definition given due to those limitations and the scope of this study. Balinese
culture means the existence of things (material-non material object including invisible
things), the making, the expressions, the places, the way of life including social
interaction, human action (verbal-non verbal), something inherited from one generation
to the text, religion (mostly Hindu) with its belief and many other scopes found in
Balinese community which are admitted by the members of the community as a culture.
All those part confront Hindu Balinese people with their daily life and activities. It is
inevitable to say that virtually all Balinese cultural events originate in religion. The fact
that everything involved in the events is also considered as part of Balinese Culture. (Alit,
2003; 121).
2.2.2 Definition of Translation
This chapter discuss some points that have close relation to topic discussed and those
point are the understanding about translation and their equvalent.
Translation is a process, and always performed in agiven direction, that is form a source
language (SL) into a target language (TL). There are some definitions of translation: those are
quoted from some books.
Nida says that translation consists of producing in target language the closest natural
equivalent of the source language message, firstly in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of
style (Nida, 1972: 12). Nida also saya that in translating process, meaning must be preserved as
the main point. The translator must attempts to reproduce the meaning of the message as
understood by the writter. The result of translation must be as close equivalent as possible to the
source language.
The same argument is stated by Larson (1984) in his book entitled “ Meaning Based
Translation”. He said that: “Translation consists of studdying the lexicon, grammatical structure,
communication situation, and cultural context of source language sentence, analyzing it in order
to determine its meaning and then recontructing this same meaning using the lexicon and
grammatical language structure which are appropriate in the receptor language and its cultural
context (Larson, 1983:3). He also says that translation consists of transffering the meaning of the
source language into the target language.
Another idea of translation is stated in a dictionary definition that translation is a process
of changing the source language form into those of the target language, here it includes: words,
phrase, clauses, sentences, etc. But in practice, we can not as easily change the form. More
importantly, we have to able to maintain the source language idea in the target language (The
Merriam-Webster, in Larson Book, 1984: 3).
According to J.C. Catford in his book “A Linguistic Theory of Translation”, Translation
is an operation performed in one language: a proccess of substituting a sentence is one language
for a sentence in another (Catford, 1965). Translation maybe defined as “the replacement of
textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL)”
(Catford, 1965:20). The use of the term „textual material‟ underlines te fact that in normal
conditions it is not the entirely of a SL text which is translated, that is, replaced by TL
equivalents.
2.2.3 Translation Equivalence
Equivalence is something that has the same function or the reference; something that has
the same function or relevant situational features by both source language text (SLT) and target
language text (TLT). While „equivalent‟ means sameness of meaning, referring to the Oxford
Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary (1974:289), equivalent, translation process must convey the
same of any text or lexical item of the SL into the RL.
“Translation equivalence occurs when and an SL and a TL text or item are relatable to (at
least some of) the same features of substance (Cat ford, 1965:50). This statement has main point
that in order to have the SL equivalence in the RL, a translator must take care of the same
meaning of any text or lexical items. It can be said that it is not the word that is being translated,
but the total meaning within the word itself. In addition, we have to relate it to some situational
or contexts where the equivalence should be established.
According to Larson (1984;95), a translator is constantly looking for lexical equivalences
between the SL and the RL. The difficulties in finding lexical equivalences may occur when the
RL is spoken by people of a culture that is often very different from the culture of those speak
the SL. There are three matters that must be looked at in choosing adequate lexical equivalences
(Larson, 1984:169) :
a. Lexical equivalences when concepts in the SL are known/ shared in the RL;
b. Lexical equivalences when concepts in the SL are unknown3n in the RL;
c. Choosing lexical equivalences by considering them lexical items in the SL text that are
key terms.
2.2.4 Basic Principles of Equivalence
According to Nida (2000:129), in translating one must seek to find the closest possible
equivalence. There are fundamentally two different type of equivalence; there are formal
equivalence and dynamic equivalence.
Formal Equivalence (F-E) focuses attention on the massage itself, In both form and content. It
is concerned that the message in the receptor language (RL) should match as closely as possible
the different elements in the source language (SL). A formal equivalence translation attempt to
reproduce several formal elements, including: (1) grammatical units, consists in (a) translating
nouns by nouns, verbs by verbs, etc; (b) keeping all phrases and sentences intact (i.e. not splitting
up and readjusting the units; and (c) preserving all formal indicators, e.g. marks of punctuation.
(2) Consistency in word usage, and (3) meanings in terms of the source context.
While Dynamic Equivalence (D-E) aims at complete naturalness of expression, and tries
to relate the receptor to modes of behavior relevant within the context of his own culture. It does
not insist that he understands the cultural patterns of the SL context in order to comprehend the
message. This type of definition contains three essential terms: (1) equivalent, which points
toward the source language massage, (2) natural, which points toward the receptor language, and
(3) closest, which kinds the two orientations together on the basis of the highest degree of
approximation.
The discussion of this study mostly refers to dynamic equivalence, because D-E focuses
attention on constructing the SL text into the RL to be „the closest natural equivalence‟ to the
source message. In analyzing the data, the principles used are the principles of Nida‟sin his book
entitled Language Structure and translation; these principles means that no translation in a
receptor language (RL) can be the exact equivalence of the model in the source language (SL).
That is, the types of translation involve:
In relation with the principles of translation, viewed from Larson‟s statement, there are
certain characteristics of languages which have a very direct bearing on principles of translation
(Larson, 1984:6). There is mentioned that meaning components are combined into lexical items
but they are „packaged‟ differently in one language from another. The translator needs to be able
to analyze the lexical items (words) of the source text in order to translate them. Such statement
is adopted to the analysis of this study, in which each of the SL term and its translation in the RL
of the translated work is unpacked into its components by then they are compared to each other
to evaluate whether the transfer is already equivalent or it has loss, gain/addition/skewing of
information occurs in the transfer.
There are three basic alternative ways in which a translator can find an Equivalent
expression in the receptor language. These are (1) a generic word with a descriptive phrase, (2) a
loanword, and (3) a cultural substitute. They theory proposed by Beekman and Callow and
Quoted by Larson (1998 :179).
2.3
Theoretical Framework
The study is based on the theories proposed by Peter Newmark about Classification
of Cultural Terms (1989), Mildred L. Larson in his book entitled Meaning-Based
Translation (1998),The Basic Principles of Translation by Eugene Nida (1975), and Nida
in “Componential Analysis of Meaning” (1975:32)
2.3.1.Cultural Categories (Peter Newmark, 1989).Adapting Nida, Peter Newmark in his book
a textbook of translation categorized Culture into five categories, there are:
1.
Ecology( Animals, plants, mountains, plains etc.)
2. Material culture ( artifacts).Including Food, Clothes, Houses, Transport and
communications
3. Social Culture (work and leisure)
4. Social
Organizations
and
Religious
(Customs,
activities,
procedures,
concepts).Political and Administrative, social, Legal, Religious, Artistic.
5. Gestures and habits (often described in „non-cultural‟ language)
The concept of cultural terms are words or expression that have particular meaning
used by the society of a certain culture to express their thought, idea or principles which
are differently experienced in culturally different communities. For example, the Balinese
cultural term saput. The concept of the term is unknown in the English culture.
Balinese culture means the existence of the things (material-non material objects
including invisible things), the makings, expression, the places, the way of life including
social interaction, human actions (verbal-non verbal), something inherited from one
generation to the next, religion (mostly Hindu) with its belief and many other scopes
found in Balinese community which are admitted by the members of the community as a
culture. All those parts confront Hindu Balinese people with their daily life and activities.
It is inevitable to say that virtually all Balinese cultural events originate in religion. The
fact that everything involved in the events is also considered as part of Balinese culture.
(Alit, 2003; 121)
2.3.2 The Principles of Translation (Nida, 1975)
According to Nida in Venuti (2000:129), in translating one must seek to find the closest
possible equivalence. However, there are fundamentally two different types of equivalence: one
which may be called formal and another which is primarily dynamic.
Formal Equivalence (F-E) focuses attention on the massage itself, In both form and
content. It is concerned that the message in the receptor language (RL) should match as closely
as possible the different elements in the source language (SL). A formal equivalence translation
attempt to reproduce several formal elements, including: (1) grammatical units, consists in (a)
translating nouns by nouns, verbs by verbs, etc.; (b) keeping all phrases and sentences intact (i.e.
not splitting up and readjusting the units; and (c) preserving all formal indicators, e.g. marks of
punctuation. (2) Consistency in word usage, and (3) meanings in terms of the source context.
While Dynamic Equivalence (D-E) aims at complete naturalness of expression, and tries
to relate the receptor to modes of behavior relevant within the context of his own culture. It does
not insist that he understands the cultural patterns of the SL context in order to comprehend the
message. This type of definition contains three essential terms: (1) equivalent, which points
toward the source language massage, (2) natural, which points toward the receptor language, and
(3) closest, which kinds the two orientations together on the basis of the highest degree of
approximation.
The discussion of this study mostly refers to dynamic equivalence, because D-E focuses
attention on constructing the SL text into the RL to be „the closest natural equivalence‟ to the
source message. In analyzing the data, the principles that will be used are the principles of
Nida‟sin his book entitled Language Structure and translation; these principles means that no
translation in a receptor language (RL) can be the exact equivalence of the model in the source
language (SL). That is, the types of translation involve:
Loss of Information, which is the translation of items in the source language, does not cores the
whole information into the target language or the items are not translated and transferred into TL
explicitly in order to have natural meaning and form.
Gain of Information, which is the translation of items in source language into target language,
is with addition of extra information in order to match the massage between SL and TL to make
the receptor mere easy to understand.
Skewing of Information, it means that the translation of items in the source language is not the
exact equivalence in the target language.
In relation with the principles of translation, viewed from Larson,s statement, there are
certain characteristics of languages which have a very direct bearing on principles of translation
(Larson, 1984: 6). There is mentioned that meaning components are combined into lexical items
but they are „packaged‟ differently in one language from another. The translator needs to be able
to analysis of this study, in which each of the SL term and its translation in the RL of the
translated work is unpucked into its components by theb they are compared to each other to
evaluate whether the transfer is already equivalent or it has loss, gain/adition/ skewing of
information occurs in the transfer.
There are three basic alternative ways in which a translator can find an equivalent
expression in the receptor language. These are (1) a generic word with a descriptive phrase, (2) a
loanword, and (3) a cultural substitute. The theory proposed b beekman and Callow and quoted
by Larson (1998: 179).
2.3.3The Process of Translating (Larson, 1998)
The process of translating aims is to transfer as accurately as possible meaning and
messages in one language into another. The fundamental problems found in such process are
related to lexical, textual, gramatical structure, situational of communication and socio-cultural
meaning of the source language text.
“The most difficult problems faced by translator are how to find lexical equivalences for
objects and events which are not known in the receptor cultural and, therefore, there is no word
or phrase in the receptor language which is easily available for the translation (Larson, 1998:
179). In relation with the principles of translation, viewed from Larson‟s statement in his book
entitled Meaning-based Translation. The purpose of this text is to show that translation consists
of transferring the meaning of the source language into the receptor language. This is done by
going from the form of the first language to the form of a second language by way of semantic
structure. The form from which the translation is made it is called the source language (SL) and
the form into which it is to be changed it is called the receptor language (RL).
Another idea on translation is one stated in a dictionary definition that translation is a
process of changing the source language forms into those of the target language. Form here
include words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. However, in practice, we often cannot as easily
change the forms themselves. (The Merriam-Webster, 1984;3).
2.3.4Componential Analysis of Meaning (Nida, 1975: 32)
Categorize the types of components into two maintypes, i.e. common component and diagnostic
or distinctive component.
a. Common component.
This is the central component which is shared by all the lexemes in the same semantic
domain or lexical field.
b. Diagnostic or distinctive components.
They serve to distinguish the meaning from others from the same domain. A very simple
example to explain these two types is provided by the words man, woman, boy, girl, and
other related words in English (Leech, 1976: 96). These words all belong to the semantic
field of „human race‟ and the relations between them may be represented by the following
matrix.
Components Man
Woman
Boy
Girl
[human]
+
+
+
+
[adult]
+
+
-
-
[male]
+
-
+
-
Tabel 1. Common and Diagnostic Components of the words man, woman, boy, and girl
In the semantic domain of man, woman, boy, and girl, [human] is the common
component, and they are distinguished by [adult], [male], [female] as the diagnostic
components. The meanings of the individual items can then be expressed by
combinations of these features:
Man
+[human] +[adult] +[male]
Woman
+[human] +[adult] -[male]
Boy
+[human] -[adult] +[male]
Girl
+[human] -[adult] -[male]
Before going further with the componential approach, it is important toconsider
possible differences in the roles of diagnostic components (Nida, 1975: 38).The
differences can be best designated as (1) implicational, (2) core, and (3) inferential.
Implicational component are those implied by a particular meaning, thoughthey do
not form an essential part of the core meaning. On the contrary, implicational components
remain associated with a meaning, even when other components are negativized by the
context. The word repent has three diagnostic components: (1) previous wrong behavior,
(2) contrition for what has been done, and (3) change of behavior, and the first
component is implicational. Whether in a positive or negative context, e.g. he repented of
what he did or he didn‟t repent of what he did, the implication is that the person in
question did something wrong. The negation affects the core components which specify
the central aspects of the event, but does not modify the implicational component.
The inferential components of meanings are those which may be infered fromthe use
of an expression, but which are not regarded as obligatory, core elements. In the
expression the policeman shot the thief, „the thief was killed‟ is the inference, and without
further contextual condition assumed to be the case. However, it is possible to deny this
inference, e.g. „the policeman shot the thief but didn‟t kill him‟. At the same time an
inferential component may be explicitly stated, e.g. the policeman shotthe thief to death
or the policeman shot and killed the thief.
IN “BALI: ADAT” BOOK
By
I GDE PUTU AGUSTIA SANJAYA
1118351059
NON REGULAR PROGRAM ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LETTERS AND CULTURE
UDAYANA UNIVERSITY
DENPASAR
2016
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my praise and gratitude to my big inspirer, Ida Sang
Hyang Widhi Wasa, for His blessings in my life, therefore I can do this final paper, entitled
„Translation of Balinese Cultural Terms in Bali: Adat book.
In this opportunity, I would like to forward my sincere thank to Prof. Dr. Ketut Artawa,
M.A, as my first supervisor, for his guidance, suggestion and patience so that I can complete my
report. I am also grateful to Drs. I Made Winaya, M.Par., as my second supervisor. My sincere
gratitude is also dedicated to Prof. Dr. Ni Luh Sutjiati Beratha, M.A. as the Dean of Faculty of
Letters and Culture, and to Dr. N. L. Kt Mas Indrawati, M.A. as the Head of the English
Department.
Finally, my gratefulness for my beloved parents that inspire and push me to be better in
doing what I should do and to my lovely friends in English Department. I forward my
thankfulness to many more names that I could not mention here, but it could not make me forget
them and as well as their contribution. I wish this final paper may give some benefits to the
readers and motivate me to improve myself.
Denpasar, January 2016
I Gde Putu Agustia Sanjaya
ABSTRACT
The title of this paper is TRANSLATION OF BALINESE CULTURAL TERMS IN
“BALI; ADAT” BOOK. This paper is focused on the cultural terms and their translation into
Indonesian. The data in this writing were taken from Graham sheil‟s bilingual entitled “Bali;
Adat” and the Indonesian translation by Indrawati Firdaus.
The aims of this writting are to find Balinese Cultural Terms and their equivalence(s) that
occur in the text and find problems occuring in translating Balinese cultural Terms in the text. In
analyzing the classification and problem occur. It employed the theories proposed by Larson in
his book entitled Meaning-Based Translation (1998), The Basic principles of Translation by
Eugene Nida (1975) and Classification of Cultural terms by Peter Newmark (1989) and
supported by theories that are considered relevant to the topic of discussion in this paper.
Based on the analysis and discussion, it was found that the kinds of Balinese Cultural
Terms that occur in the text are mostly related with the Peter Newmark‟s Cultural categories.
Only three kinds of Balinese Cultural Terms categories of Peter Newmark‟s Cultural Catagories
are occurring in the text that is Material culture, social culture, and social organozation and
religious related terms.
Translating Cultural Terms, in this case Balinese Cultural Terms, would rise some
problem related to loss, gain, and skewing information in the process. There are some problems
related to loss, gain and skewing information occuring in the text. As consequence, some
translation cannot transfer the exact mesage from the SL text into the RL text and some of the
translation transfer more information that can help the RL readers to understand the SL meaning
of Balinse Cultural Terms that occur.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Pages
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………...
i
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………... iii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study……………………………………………………………………………………. 1
1.2 Pro le s of the Study………………………………………………………………………………………. 5
1.3 Ai s of Study………………………………………………………………………………………………….…. 5
1.4 Scope of Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
1.5 Research Method……………………………………………………………………………………..……… 6
1.5.1
Data Sour e……………………………………………………………………….………….. 6
1.5.2
Method and Technique of Collecting Data……………………..…………….
6
1.5.3
Method and Technique of Analyzi g Data……………………..…………….
7
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE, CONCEPTS, AND THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK
2.1 Review of Literature……………………………………………………..
8
2.2 Concepts…………………………………………………………………
12
2.2.1 Cultural Terms……………………………………………………
12
2.2.2 Definition of Translation................................................................
18
2.2.3 Translation equivalence........ …………………………………….
19
2.2.4 Basic Principles of Equivalence…………………………………..
20
2.3 Theoretical Framework…….......………………………………………
22
2.3.1 Culture Categories (Peter Newmark, 1989)………………………
23
2.3.2 The Principles of Translation (Nida, 1975)...……………………..
24
2.3.3 The Process of Translating (Larson, 1998)......................................
26
2.3.4 Componential Analysis of Meaning (Nida, 1975: 32).....................
27
CHAPTER III TRANSLATION OF BALINESE CULTURAL TERMS IN “BALI: ADAT”
BOOK
3.1 Introduction....................................................……………………….....
31
3.2 Classification of Balinese Cultural Terms and their equivalence(s)........
31
3.3 The Balinese Cultural Terms in “Bali: Adat”.............................................
36
CHAPTER IV CONCLUSION....................................................................
57
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
English essentially is a foreign language and most of the people in the world study English as
their second language or foreign language. In Indonesia, English is studied from elementary
school up to University beside Indonesian language. As foreign language there are many
difficulties found in studying English. Therefore, many books are translated into Indonesian.
The work of translation plays important role, because people are often faced with some
texts, which need to be translated into our language. The text could be found in articles, books,
mass media, or literary works. In learning language, especially learning foreign language,
translation is needed to understand the meaning of sentences. For example, when we want to
translate the English text into Indonesian we must know the rules and the process of translation.
The process of translating aims at transferringas accurately as possible meaning and
messages in one language into another. The fundamental problems found in such a process are
related to lexical, textual, grammatical structure, situational communication and socio-cultural
meaning of the source language text. In conveying the lexical meanings in cultural context, a
translator often find that there is no exact equivalence between the word of the source language
(SL) and the words of receptor language (RL).
“The most difficult problems faced by translator is how to find lexical equivalences for
objects and events which are not known in the receptor culture and, therefore, there is no word or
phrase in the receptor language which is easily available for the translation (Larson, 1998 : 179).
In relation with the principles of translation, viewed from Larson‟s statement in his book
entitled Meaning – Based Translation. The purpose of this text is to show that translation
consists of transferring the meaning of the source language into the receptor language. This is
done by going from the form of the first language to the form of a second language by way of
semantic structure. The form from which the translation is made called the source language(SL)
and the form into which it is no changed called the receptor language (RL).
Referring to the Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary (1974; 289), Equivalent means
equal in value, amount, meaning. To be equivalent, translation process must convey the same
meaning of any text or lexical item of the SL into the RL.
Another idea on translation is the one stated in a dictionary definition that translation is a
process of changing the source language forms into those of the target language. Form here
included words, phrase, clauses, and sentence. However, in practice, we often cannot as easily
change the forms themselves.
In the case of the principles of translation, Nida states “The basic principles of translation
mean that no translation in a RL can be the exact equivalence of the model in the SL. As a
consequence, translation involves (1) loss of information, (2) addition, and /or (3) skewing of
information “(Nida, 1975; 27) it inevitably occurs in translation, that the absolute exact
equivalence is really impossible. In rendering, a translator makes some adjustment in order to
achieve the excellent translation, which has the closest natural equivalence to the message of the
SL. The adjustment may lead to the occurrence of loss and gain information or even distortion
/skewing of information.
For this reason, translating cultural lexical terms is relatively difficult, and therefore to
get a good translation, a translator has to consider not only the two languages but also the two
cultures besides being supported by sufficient translation theories. There should also be
adjustments based on transferring of meaning from the source language (SL) into the receptor
language (RL).
From the statement above, we realize that translation is not an easy thing to do. Besides
transferring the form of the language, translation also, consist of transferring meaning from the
source language to the target language. Since translation involves culture, therefore, besides
mastering the language, translator should also know about the culture of both languages in order
to transferring the cultural term of the source language.
Peter Newmark in his book a Textbook of Translation states, “The more specific a
language becomes for natural phenomena, the more it becomes embedded in cultural features,
and therefore creates translation problem”. He also states, “most cultural words are easy to
detect, since they are associated with a particular language and cannot be literally translated, but
many cultural customs are described in ordinary language, where literal translation would distort
the meaning and a translation may include an appropriate descriptive-functional equivalent.
Cultural objects may be referred to by a relatively culture –free generic term or classifier plus the
various additions in different cultures and these additions may appear in the course of the SL
text”. (Newmark, 1989; 95)
As we know, our island, Bali, is famous for its very rich culture. Since long time ago Bali
has attracted the world with the beautiful island, unique cultures and social customs. Many
tourists have come to see and enjoy the richness of the island. Many of them record their travel
memories and experience in media such photo album or video tape. However, they who have
enjoyed Bali and have explored the island and the people also write many books about Bali in
English.
This study chose one of foreign-written books about Bali. The book that this study
choosesis Graham Sheil‟sentitled“Bali: Adat” which was written in Melbourne, 1991. This play
centers on the Puputanof the Raja of Badung and his court in their fighting against the Dutch
colonialismBali: Adatis a fictionalized account based on historical records. Although events have
been condensed, the Raja (king) of Badung and his great-aunts (Biyang) are historical figures.
The changes in the Dutch administration provoked by the Puputanwere real. The book is in
English and additionally with the Indonesian translation by IndrawatiFirdaus. The book is chosen
because it is loaded with Balinese cultural words, which are useful of the completion of this
study. For this study, only the cultural term classified as objects (noun) level of word and phrases
are taken.
1.2 Problem of the Study
Based on the above background the research problems can be formulated as follows:
1. What kinds of Balinese Cultural Terms are applied in theBali:Adatbook?
2. What kinds of problem that occur in relation to loss, gain and skewed information in
translating Balinese Cultural Terms?
1.3 Aims of the Study
This study was conducted in a way to broaden the knowledge in translation study.
Specifically it was done for the following purposes:
1. To find and classify Balinese Cultural Terms applied in the text.
2. To analyze problem occurring related to loss, gain, and skewed information in translating
Balinese Cultural Terms in the text.
1.4 Scope of Discussion
This study focuses on translation study, of which data were taken from “Bali: Adat”
book. More specifically, it is directed as to classify Balinese Cultural Terms Found in the text to
analyze problem in finding the translation equivalences of Balinese Cultural Terms related to
loss, gain and skewed information in the text. The analysis wasbased on Newmark‟s theory
limited in the types of Balinese cultural term which applied. As for the translation analysis,it is
based onNida‟s theory of Dynamic Equivalence, Componential analysis.
1.5 Research Methods
1.5.1 Data Source
Related to this study, I chose one of foreign-written books about Bali. The book that I
chose is Graham Sheil‟s play entitled “Bali:Adat”. The play “Bali: Adat” was written in
Melbourne, 1991. This play “Bali: Adat” is a fiction about the Puputan of the Raja of
Badung and his court in their fighting against the Dutch colonialism. The book was in
English and additionally with the Indonesian translation by IndrawatiFirdaus. The book is
chosen because it is loaded with Balinese cultural words. For this study, only the cultural
terms classified as objects (noun) level of words and phrases were taken.
1.5.2 Method and Technique of Collecting Data
This study used library research method. The data used to support the analysis of this
study were taken from the data source “Bali: Adat” Graham Sheil‟s. The data was collected
through reading all the pages of book and this process was accompanied by note taking. Then
the page number wasquoted down at the end of the data. The next step was classifying the
data and continued to data analysis to find the translation equivalence of the entire Balinese
Cultural Term in Indonesian language.
1.5.3 Method and Technique of Analysis Data
After classifying the data based on Cultural Categories (Newmark) and Nida in
“componential Analysis of meaning”(1975: 32) , it is followed by analyzing the data. The
collected data was descriptively analyzed based on the scope and the theoretical framework
and based on the theory of translation. The source and the translation were described first,
and then followed by more focused descriptive analysis by referring to problem occurred.
After data analysis, the last procedure is drawing conclusion of the research.
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW, CONCEPTS AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Literature Review
Literature review consists of some journals and papers, which were collected and reviewed
to make this study different from other similar studies. The reviewed journals and papers
enriched this study with some different point of view to the problems. In this part the study
explains the different of this study from reviewed journals and papers.
This is a review from article entitled Collocation, Semantic Preference and Translation:
Semantic Preference as a Reference Source for Translation by Allan Lauder. The article
presented a description of semantic profiles produced with a corpus linguistics-based method:
computating, data reduction, semantic analysis and interpretation. The focus of this article was
semantic preference used by translator for creating semantic profiles of words. Semantic
preference in this article based on collocation. There are many theory mixed in this article
especially in corpus-based analyses of language. Compared to my study this article provided
many kind of theory and they were also from many researcher. Many of the data that was used
were analyzed by translation software in computer. It also adding the reference of this study will
used to classified the data and analyzing it.
This is a review from article entitle cross culture: Between Lexical and Translation
Equivalents in the Case of English- Japanese DictionariesbyYoshiaki Otanifrom Tokyo Keizai
University. The paper focused discusses the limited relevancy of the lexical equivalents in
English- Japanese dictionaries. And also about formal and informal wordInformal poses two
problems. One is that it is a negative word. Though it is not entirely identical with unformalthe
word is still pregnant with potential meanings. Healsodiscussesabout the use ofJapanese
languageinorder totranslateintothe English languagecan beunderstood bymanypeople. in the
discussion oftheirclothesotherculturesand other countries. Conceptually, distinction between
formal and informal styles must exist in any culture but Japanese terms did not correspond
suitably with the English ones because of difference in dressing style at that time. He once the
coinage of new terms.Since then Japanese dressing style has become very extensively
Westernized and most of the time we dress that way both at home and outside the home, but we
have not completely identified ourselves with the Western dress code. Therefore the abovementioned newly-coined terms are still vague in Japanese.
This is a review from article entitle culture Based Translation and its Strategiesby Nazir
Ahmad Reshi (April 2012). The paper focused discusses the limited relevancy of the translation
process delivering text or message from one language intoanother. The process of translation is
mainly a processof communication between different languages. The theory of translation has
developed from the purely linguistic approach of 1960`s through the textual focus of the late
1970`s to the culturally based orientation of today. Translation is viewed by exponents of this
approach as a way of establishing contacts between cultures. Translation, thus, becomes a cross
cultural event and the translator has to formulate his translation strategies to translate source
culture into target culture. It begins from the very choice of the text to be translated by the
translator who has to keep acceptability and readability of the translated text in mind.
Translations from and to culturally closer linguistic system may be preferred at this stage. To
deal with these cultural problems translator is supposed to insert cultural filter in the initial stage
of understanding and analyzing codification of the source text in the first stance. Here the
cultural filter helps him in obtain various elements of source culture which cannot go as they are
in the target culture because of cultural differences. To translate one language into another
language translator must be aware of the culture of both languages SL (source language) and TL
(target language) without which it would be quite difficult job. Translation is a kind of cultural
bridge between languages. Culture includes language, worldviewand social and linguistic norms.
Linguistic equivalence and cultural communication are complementary to each other as language
is culture generative and culture bound. The reader of a target language text looks for a total
effect. No target language text is valued either for linguistic equivalence alone or for cultural
transmission only. They are the two sides of the same coin. Culture becomes the goal and
linguistic items become the medium to convey the cultural ethos. There are many theory mixed
in this article especially in corpus-based analyses of language. Many of the data that was used
were analyzed by culture language in translation. It also adding the reference of this study will
used classified the data and analyzing.
A paper that important to this study was taken from thesis of under graduate student
entitledThe Translation Of Ecological Terms With Reference To Senior High School Textbook
Entitled Biologi Bilingual by Ayu Oktiana (2013). The method in the collecting data in the paper
was qualitative method and the data was descriptively analyzed based on the theories applied,
which were related to the topic. There were some ecological terms found in this textbook and
they have been classified into two types of ecology they are the types of plant and types of
animal. Then, they would be analyzed
using two theories, the first one was Theory of
Translation (1998) proposed by Newmark and the second theory was the Componential Analysis
(1988) proposed by Newmark.
Wibisana (2012) in his paper entitled Idiomatic Expressions in the Lost Symbol and
Their Translations in the Lost Symbol describes types of idioms and the concepts of equivalent
in translating them. The research method is a library research method and qualitative method. He
applies theory from Larson in his book Meaning-Based Translation (1998). In his analysis,
idiomatic expressions are categorized in seven types; there are metonymy, synecdoche, idioms,
euphemism, hyperbole, metaphor and simile. In term of translation equivalent he described it by
the lexical equivalents proposed by Larson. Compared to this study there were similarities in the
research method and concept of equivalent, but it is different in the theory types of idiomatic
expression it uses theory from Siedl and Mcmordie (1988). In addition this study uses the maxim
of communication types to analyze the dialogue which contained idiomatic expression.
Another important reference is written by Nugraha (2005), this paper is entitled
Translation Equivalence of English Idioms into Indonesian With Reference to John Grisham‟s
the Rain Maker and Its translation. The aims of this paper are to analyze the types of English
idioms found in novel Rain Make and to analyze the types of semantic adjustments in the
translation of English idioms into Indonesian and to investigate the process of transferring the
meaning of English idioms into Indonesian. The focused idioms of this paper were idioms refer
to word, phrase, or clauses. The types of idioms are analyzed using the theory proposed by
Palmer (1976) there are three types of idioms, phrasal verb, prepositional phrase and partial
idioms. Theory from Larson was used to analyze the semantic adjustment, it is stated that there
are two types of adjustment; non figurative expression equivalent and by figurative expressions
equivalent. To analyze the process of translation this paper used the lexical equivalents theory
proposed by Larson. Differ from this paper the current study used Siedl and Mcmordie‟s theory
to analyze the types of idioms and theory proposed by Larson (1998). H.P. Grice‟s theory
maxims of communication are used to analyze dialogues that contained idiomatic expressions in
the subtitles.
2.2 Concepts
2.2.1 Cultural Terms
Peter Newmark in his book a textbook of translation states, “The more specific a
language becomes for natural phenomena, the more it becomes embedded in cultural features,
and therefore creates translation problems.” He also states, “Most cultural words are easy to
detect, since they are associated with a particular language and cannot be literally translated, but
many cultural customs are described in ordinary language, where literal translation would distort
the meaning and a translation may include an appropriate descriptive-functional equivalent.
Cultural objects may be referred to by a relatively culture-freegeneric termsor classifier plus the
various additions in different cultures and these additions may appear in the course of the SL
text.” (Newmark, 1989; 95).
Adapting Nida, Peter Newmark in his book a textbook of translation categorized Culture
into five categories, there are:
1. Ecology: ( Animals, plants, mountains, plains etc)
2. Material
culture
(artifacts):Including
Food,
Clothes,
Houses,
Transport
and
communications.
3. Social Culture: (work and leisure)
4. Social Organizations and Religious:(Customs, activities, proceduresconcepts)Political
and Administrative, social, Legal, Religious, Artistic
5. Gestures and habits: (often described in „non-cultural‟ language)
Most Cultural terms are easy to detect, since they are associated with particular language and
cannot be literally translated, but may cultural customs are described in ordinary language, while
literal translation would distort the meaning and a translation may include an appropriate
descriptive-functional equivalent. Cultural objects may be referred to by a relatively culture-free
generic term or classifier plus the various additions in different cultures and you have to account
for these additions that may appear in the course of the SL text.The description about each
categories itself will be described below;
1. Ecology
In this Classification, Peter Newmark considered the Geographical and some Flora and
Fauna features could be added here.
“Geographical features can be normally distinguished from other cultural term in that
they are usually value-free, politically and commercially. Nevertheless, their diffusion
depends on the importance of their degree of specificity. Their familiarity is a function of
the importance and geographical or political proximity of their countries. All these words
would normally be transferred, with the additional of a brief culture-free third term where
necessary in the text. This applies too to the „technical‟ tabuleiros(Brazilian low plateau)
if one assumes that the SL writers would not mention them if he does not attach
importance to them.”
“Nida has pointed out that certain ecological features-the season, rain, hills of various
sizes (cultural words: „down‟, „moor, kop, „dune‟) –where they are irregular or unknown
may not be understood denotatively or figuratively, in translation. However, here,
television will soon be a clarifying force.”
2. Material Culture
The material culture includes: clothes, houses.
“Clothes as cultural term may sufficiently explain it in for the TL general readers if the
generic noun or classifier is added. If the particular is of no interest, the generic word can
simply replace it. However, it has to be borne in mind that the function of the generic
clothes terms is approximately constant, indicating the part of the body that is covered ,
but the description varies depending on climate and material used”
“Many language communities have a typical house which for general purposes remains
translated: palazzo (large house), hotel (large house), and bungalow.
3. Social Culture
In this Classification, Peter Newmark considered the work and leisure could be added
here, as markets, classes, or leisure activities such as games etc.
“In considering social culture one has you distinguish between denotative and
connotative problems of translation”.
“There is rarely a translation problem, since the words can be transferred, have
approximate one to one translation or can be functionally defined, „hardware‟, „cake‟, or
„chocolate‟. Whilst many trades are swallowed up in super-, hypermarkets, shopping
centers, and precincts crafts may revive,”
“As a translation problem, this contrast with the connotative difficulties of words like:
„the working class”. Note that archaisms such as the last expressions can be still used
ironically, or humorously.
4. Social Organization and Religious
In this classification, peter Newmark considered all of the Political, Social, Legal,
Religious, and Artistic organization could be added here.
“The political and social life of country is reflected in its institutional terms. Where the
title of a head of state or the name of a parliament is „transparent‟ that is, made up of
„international‟ or easily translated morphemes they are through translated”
“When a public body has a „transparent‟ name, the translation depends on the „setting‟: in
official documents, and in serious publications such as textbooks, the title is transferred
and where appropriate, literally translated. Informally, it could be translated by a cultural
equivalent, e.g., „the French Electricity Board‟.”
5. Gestures and Habits
“There is a distinction between description and function which can be made where
necessary in ambiguous cases. This cases such as if people smile a little when someone
dies, do a slow hand-clap to express warm appreciation, spit as a blessing, nod to dissent
or shake their head to assent, kiss their finger tips to greet or to praise, give a thumb up to
signal OK, all of which occur in some cultures and not in others”.
The concept of cultural terms are words or expression that have particular meaning used
by the society or certain culture to express their thought, idea or principle which are
differently experienced in culturally different communities. For example, the Balinese
cultural term cili. The concept of the term is unknown in the English culture.
As this study is related to the cultural terms that is specific on Balinese culture, so it is
worthwhile to define shortly about Balinese culture. In fact, the scope of Balinese culture
is very wide and it requires much time and a great insight to explain about it. Here, a
short definition given due to those limitations and the scope of this study. Balinese
culture means the existence of things (material-non material object including invisible
things), the making, the expressions, the places, the way of life including social
interaction, human action (verbal-non verbal), something inherited from one generation
to the text, religion (mostly Hindu) with its belief and many other scopes found in
Balinese community which are admitted by the members of the community as a culture.
All those part confront Hindu Balinese people with their daily life and activities. It is
inevitable to say that virtually all Balinese cultural events originate in religion. The fact
that everything involved in the events is also considered as part of Balinese Culture. (Alit,
2003; 121).
2.2.2 Definition of Translation
This chapter discuss some points that have close relation to topic discussed and those
point are the understanding about translation and their equvalent.
Translation is a process, and always performed in agiven direction, that is form a source
language (SL) into a target language (TL). There are some definitions of translation: those are
quoted from some books.
Nida says that translation consists of producing in target language the closest natural
equivalent of the source language message, firstly in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of
style (Nida, 1972: 12). Nida also saya that in translating process, meaning must be preserved as
the main point. The translator must attempts to reproduce the meaning of the message as
understood by the writter. The result of translation must be as close equivalent as possible to the
source language.
The same argument is stated by Larson (1984) in his book entitled “ Meaning Based
Translation”. He said that: “Translation consists of studdying the lexicon, grammatical structure,
communication situation, and cultural context of source language sentence, analyzing it in order
to determine its meaning and then recontructing this same meaning using the lexicon and
grammatical language structure which are appropriate in the receptor language and its cultural
context (Larson, 1983:3). He also says that translation consists of transffering the meaning of the
source language into the target language.
Another idea of translation is stated in a dictionary definition that translation is a process
of changing the source language form into those of the target language, here it includes: words,
phrase, clauses, sentences, etc. But in practice, we can not as easily change the form. More
importantly, we have to able to maintain the source language idea in the target language (The
Merriam-Webster, in Larson Book, 1984: 3).
According to J.C. Catford in his book “A Linguistic Theory of Translation”, Translation
is an operation performed in one language: a proccess of substituting a sentence is one language
for a sentence in another (Catford, 1965). Translation maybe defined as “the replacement of
textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL)”
(Catford, 1965:20). The use of the term „textual material‟ underlines te fact that in normal
conditions it is not the entirely of a SL text which is translated, that is, replaced by TL
equivalents.
2.2.3 Translation Equivalence
Equivalence is something that has the same function or the reference; something that has
the same function or relevant situational features by both source language text (SLT) and target
language text (TLT). While „equivalent‟ means sameness of meaning, referring to the Oxford
Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary (1974:289), equivalent, translation process must convey the
same of any text or lexical item of the SL into the RL.
“Translation equivalence occurs when and an SL and a TL text or item are relatable to (at
least some of) the same features of substance (Cat ford, 1965:50). This statement has main point
that in order to have the SL equivalence in the RL, a translator must take care of the same
meaning of any text or lexical items. It can be said that it is not the word that is being translated,
but the total meaning within the word itself. In addition, we have to relate it to some situational
or contexts where the equivalence should be established.
According to Larson (1984;95), a translator is constantly looking for lexical equivalences
between the SL and the RL. The difficulties in finding lexical equivalences may occur when the
RL is spoken by people of a culture that is often very different from the culture of those speak
the SL. There are three matters that must be looked at in choosing adequate lexical equivalences
(Larson, 1984:169) :
a. Lexical equivalences when concepts in the SL are known/ shared in the RL;
b. Lexical equivalences when concepts in the SL are unknown3n in the RL;
c. Choosing lexical equivalences by considering them lexical items in the SL text that are
key terms.
2.2.4 Basic Principles of Equivalence
According to Nida (2000:129), in translating one must seek to find the closest possible
equivalence. There are fundamentally two different type of equivalence; there are formal
equivalence and dynamic equivalence.
Formal Equivalence (F-E) focuses attention on the massage itself, In both form and content. It
is concerned that the message in the receptor language (RL) should match as closely as possible
the different elements in the source language (SL). A formal equivalence translation attempt to
reproduce several formal elements, including: (1) grammatical units, consists in (a) translating
nouns by nouns, verbs by verbs, etc; (b) keeping all phrases and sentences intact (i.e. not splitting
up and readjusting the units; and (c) preserving all formal indicators, e.g. marks of punctuation.
(2) Consistency in word usage, and (3) meanings in terms of the source context.
While Dynamic Equivalence (D-E) aims at complete naturalness of expression, and tries
to relate the receptor to modes of behavior relevant within the context of his own culture. It does
not insist that he understands the cultural patterns of the SL context in order to comprehend the
message. This type of definition contains three essential terms: (1) equivalent, which points
toward the source language massage, (2) natural, which points toward the receptor language, and
(3) closest, which kinds the two orientations together on the basis of the highest degree of
approximation.
The discussion of this study mostly refers to dynamic equivalence, because D-E focuses
attention on constructing the SL text into the RL to be „the closest natural equivalence‟ to the
source message. In analyzing the data, the principles used are the principles of Nida‟sin his book
entitled Language Structure and translation; these principles means that no translation in a
receptor language (RL) can be the exact equivalence of the model in the source language (SL).
That is, the types of translation involve:
In relation with the principles of translation, viewed from Larson‟s statement, there are
certain characteristics of languages which have a very direct bearing on principles of translation
(Larson, 1984:6). There is mentioned that meaning components are combined into lexical items
but they are „packaged‟ differently in one language from another. The translator needs to be able
to analyze the lexical items (words) of the source text in order to translate them. Such statement
is adopted to the analysis of this study, in which each of the SL term and its translation in the RL
of the translated work is unpacked into its components by then they are compared to each other
to evaluate whether the transfer is already equivalent or it has loss, gain/addition/skewing of
information occurs in the transfer.
There are three basic alternative ways in which a translator can find an Equivalent
expression in the receptor language. These are (1) a generic word with a descriptive phrase, (2) a
loanword, and (3) a cultural substitute. They theory proposed by Beekman and Callow and
Quoted by Larson (1998 :179).
2.3
Theoretical Framework
The study is based on the theories proposed by Peter Newmark about Classification
of Cultural Terms (1989), Mildred L. Larson in his book entitled Meaning-Based
Translation (1998),The Basic Principles of Translation by Eugene Nida (1975), and Nida
in “Componential Analysis of Meaning” (1975:32)
2.3.1.Cultural Categories (Peter Newmark, 1989).Adapting Nida, Peter Newmark in his book
a textbook of translation categorized Culture into five categories, there are:
1.
Ecology( Animals, plants, mountains, plains etc.)
2. Material culture ( artifacts).Including Food, Clothes, Houses, Transport and
communications
3. Social Culture (work and leisure)
4. Social
Organizations
and
Religious
(Customs,
activities,
procedures,
concepts).Political and Administrative, social, Legal, Religious, Artistic.
5. Gestures and habits (often described in „non-cultural‟ language)
The concept of cultural terms are words or expression that have particular meaning
used by the society of a certain culture to express their thought, idea or principles which
are differently experienced in culturally different communities. For example, the Balinese
cultural term saput. The concept of the term is unknown in the English culture.
Balinese culture means the existence of the things (material-non material objects
including invisible things), the makings, expression, the places, the way of life including
social interaction, human actions (verbal-non verbal), something inherited from one
generation to the next, religion (mostly Hindu) with its belief and many other scopes
found in Balinese community which are admitted by the members of the community as a
culture. All those parts confront Hindu Balinese people with their daily life and activities.
It is inevitable to say that virtually all Balinese cultural events originate in religion. The
fact that everything involved in the events is also considered as part of Balinese culture.
(Alit, 2003; 121)
2.3.2 The Principles of Translation (Nida, 1975)
According to Nida in Venuti (2000:129), in translating one must seek to find the closest
possible equivalence. However, there are fundamentally two different types of equivalence: one
which may be called formal and another which is primarily dynamic.
Formal Equivalence (F-E) focuses attention on the massage itself, In both form and
content. It is concerned that the message in the receptor language (RL) should match as closely
as possible the different elements in the source language (SL). A formal equivalence translation
attempt to reproduce several formal elements, including: (1) grammatical units, consists in (a)
translating nouns by nouns, verbs by verbs, etc.; (b) keeping all phrases and sentences intact (i.e.
not splitting up and readjusting the units; and (c) preserving all formal indicators, e.g. marks of
punctuation. (2) Consistency in word usage, and (3) meanings in terms of the source context.
While Dynamic Equivalence (D-E) aims at complete naturalness of expression, and tries
to relate the receptor to modes of behavior relevant within the context of his own culture. It does
not insist that he understands the cultural patterns of the SL context in order to comprehend the
message. This type of definition contains three essential terms: (1) equivalent, which points
toward the source language massage, (2) natural, which points toward the receptor language, and
(3) closest, which kinds the two orientations together on the basis of the highest degree of
approximation.
The discussion of this study mostly refers to dynamic equivalence, because D-E focuses
attention on constructing the SL text into the RL to be „the closest natural equivalence‟ to the
source message. In analyzing the data, the principles that will be used are the principles of
Nida‟sin his book entitled Language Structure and translation; these principles means that no
translation in a receptor language (RL) can be the exact equivalence of the model in the source
language (SL). That is, the types of translation involve:
Loss of Information, which is the translation of items in the source language, does not cores the
whole information into the target language or the items are not translated and transferred into TL
explicitly in order to have natural meaning and form.
Gain of Information, which is the translation of items in source language into target language,
is with addition of extra information in order to match the massage between SL and TL to make
the receptor mere easy to understand.
Skewing of Information, it means that the translation of items in the source language is not the
exact equivalence in the target language.
In relation with the principles of translation, viewed from Larson,s statement, there are
certain characteristics of languages which have a very direct bearing on principles of translation
(Larson, 1984: 6). There is mentioned that meaning components are combined into lexical items
but they are „packaged‟ differently in one language from another. The translator needs to be able
to analysis of this study, in which each of the SL term and its translation in the RL of the
translated work is unpucked into its components by theb they are compared to each other to
evaluate whether the transfer is already equivalent or it has loss, gain/adition/ skewing of
information occurs in the transfer.
There are three basic alternative ways in which a translator can find an equivalent
expression in the receptor language. These are (1) a generic word with a descriptive phrase, (2) a
loanword, and (3) a cultural substitute. The theory proposed b beekman and Callow and quoted
by Larson (1998: 179).
2.3.3The Process of Translating (Larson, 1998)
The process of translating aims is to transfer as accurately as possible meaning and
messages in one language into another. The fundamental problems found in such process are
related to lexical, textual, gramatical structure, situational of communication and socio-cultural
meaning of the source language text.
“The most difficult problems faced by translator are how to find lexical equivalences for
objects and events which are not known in the receptor cultural and, therefore, there is no word
or phrase in the receptor language which is easily available for the translation (Larson, 1998:
179). In relation with the principles of translation, viewed from Larson‟s statement in his book
entitled Meaning-based Translation. The purpose of this text is to show that translation consists
of transferring the meaning of the source language into the receptor language. This is done by
going from the form of the first language to the form of a second language by way of semantic
structure. The form from which the translation is made it is called the source language (SL) and
the form into which it is to be changed it is called the receptor language (RL).
Another idea on translation is one stated in a dictionary definition that translation is a
process of changing the source language forms into those of the target language. Form here
include words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. However, in practice, we often cannot as easily
change the forms themselves. (The Merriam-Webster, 1984;3).
2.3.4Componential Analysis of Meaning (Nida, 1975: 32)
Categorize the types of components into two maintypes, i.e. common component and diagnostic
or distinctive component.
a. Common component.
This is the central component which is shared by all the lexemes in the same semantic
domain or lexical field.
b. Diagnostic or distinctive components.
They serve to distinguish the meaning from others from the same domain. A very simple
example to explain these two types is provided by the words man, woman, boy, girl, and
other related words in English (Leech, 1976: 96). These words all belong to the semantic
field of „human race‟ and the relations between them may be represented by the following
matrix.
Components Man
Woman
Boy
Girl
[human]
+
+
+
+
[adult]
+
+
-
-
[male]
+
-
+
-
Tabel 1. Common and Diagnostic Components of the words man, woman, boy, and girl
In the semantic domain of man, woman, boy, and girl, [human] is the common
component, and they are distinguished by [adult], [male], [female] as the diagnostic
components. The meanings of the individual items can then be expressed by
combinations of these features:
Man
+[human] +[adult] +[male]
Woman
+[human] +[adult] -[male]
Boy
+[human] -[adult] +[male]
Girl
+[human] -[adult] -[male]
Before going further with the componential approach, it is important toconsider
possible differences in the roles of diagnostic components (Nida, 1975: 38).The
differences can be best designated as (1) implicational, (2) core, and (3) inferential.
Implicational component are those implied by a particular meaning, thoughthey do
not form an essential part of the core meaning. On the contrary, implicational components
remain associated with a meaning, even when other components are negativized by the
context. The word repent has three diagnostic components: (1) previous wrong behavior,
(2) contrition for what has been done, and (3) change of behavior, and the first
component is implicational. Whether in a positive or negative context, e.g. he repented of
what he did or he didn‟t repent of what he did, the implication is that the person in
question did something wrong. The negation affects the core components which specify
the central aspects of the event, but does not modify the implicational component.
The inferential components of meanings are those which may be infered fromthe use
of an expression, but which are not regarded as obligatory, core elements. In the
expression the policeman shot the thief, „the thief was killed‟ is the inference, and without
further contextual condition assumed to be the case. However, it is possible to deny this
inference, e.g. „the policeman shot the thief but didn‟t kill him‟. At the same time an
inferential component may be explicitly stated, e.g. the policeman shotthe thief to death
or the policeman shot and killed the thief.