Of all the many definitions on translating, it can safely be defined as substituting a text in a source language (SL) with that in a target one (TL), the result showing similar semantic and pragmatic aspects.
This causes the readers of the TL text to understand the text the same way the readers of the SL text do. And in order for the translator to be able to do this, he has to master the TL into which the SL text is to be translated, in addition to mastering the SL, the content to be translated, and the techniques for translating (Directorate General of Higher Education as quoted by Adjat Sakri 1984 cited in Musthafa 1990; adapted).
in reality, the process of substituting the text—that is, translating it—is faced with problems. This comes from the fact that languages are used differently by their own speakers to express themselves in oral and written form.
There is something “cultural” about the speakers using their own language differently. Not only does this mean that speakers express proverbs, idioms, nominal or adjectival phrases, and the onomatopoeia of animal sounds differently in their language (Leonardi 2000).
A good and professional translator will take all those aspects above into consideration when translating a SL text into a TL one. He will make sure that his translation conforms to the rules of the target language understanding that his translation will now be read by the TL readers, while at the same time trying to be faithful to the original text not changing anything but the wording and form of the text.
From my experience (both in teaching and translating), it is obvious that Indonesian is used loosely /freely by its users. This means that the use of the language in practice deviates from what is formulated by the Tatabahasa Indonesia Baku. This violation also occurs in written form, where the language used must actually be formal. This deviation applies in word choice, word collocation, sentence patterns, and discoursal patterns.
Even if the use follows the rules, there are still other problems, one of which is ambiguity as asserted by Gunarwan (2001). A good example given by him is when they say “anak perempuan presiden yang kaya itu.” When English-translated, it can be either “the rich daughter of the president” or “the daughter of the rich president.”.”
At this level, problems are usually concerned with free sentence construction, meaning that it does not follow the rules prescribed by Tatabahasa Indonesia Baku with regards to use of predicate, conjunctions, etc. e.g. - Negara yang telah meratifikasi KHA, maka Negara tersebut terikat, baik secara Yuridis maupun politis (p. 1). (unclear predicate, inappropriate use of conjunction) - Dampak lain masa depan anak tidak menentu serta menjadi “Unskill Worker” sehingga mereka akan menjadi beban negara di masa mendatang (p. 2). (ineffective sentence)
- Hal itu mengakibatkan kurangnya fasilitas sekolah yang memadai, rendahnya kualitas guru, sehingga pelatihan teknis administrasi dan profesionalisme di bidang pendidikan kurang terjamin (p. 3). (run-on sentence, ineffective sentence, no logic) - Perhatian yang kurang dari orangtua dan ketidakharmonisan komunikasi yang terjadi dalam keluarga telah mengakibatkan anak merasa dikucilkan dalam interaksi sosial keluarga, sebagai akibat anak menjadi terlempar ke jalan (p. 7). (run-on sentence, ineffective sentence)
At this level, problems are associated with the way sentences are loosely connected in the text, this producing no apparent coherence and cohesion. There is little attempt on the part of the writer to make use of transitional markers and other cohesive devices to connect ideas together. It may also happen that some ideas stand irrelevantly among other ideas in the text. e.g. - Indonesia telah meratifikasi KHA melalui Keppres No. 36/1990. Negara yang telah meratifikasi KHA, maka Negara tersebut terikat, baik secara Yuridis maupun politis (p. 1). (missing transitional marker, ideas loosely connected) - Anak yang putus sekolah adalah anak-anak yang kehilangan hak pendidikannya dan tidak memiliki kesempatan untuk mengembangkan dirinya secara maksimal. Kondisi seperti ini adalah kondisi yang sangat menyedihkan. Dampak lain masa depan anak tidak menentu serta menjadi “Unskill Worker” sehingga mereka akan menjadi beban negara di masa datang (p. 2). (missing transitional marker, inappropriate use of „lain‟) -
- Munculnya anak yang hidup di jalanan adalah salah satu akses ketidakberdayaan Masyarakat dalam memenuhi kebutuhan dalam keluarga khususnya kebutuhan yang diperlukan oleh anak. Perhatian yang kurang dari orangtua dan ketidakharmonisan komunikasi yang terjadi dalam keluarga telah mengakibatkan anak merasa dikucilkan dalam interaksi sosial keluarga, sebagai akibat anak menjadi terlempar ke jalan (p. 7). (lack of focus, ideas loosely connected) - Kondisi kehidupan yang sedemikian keras tidak menutup kemungkinan munculnya tindak kekerasan yang ditimbulkan oleh orang-orang dewasa yang notabene sebagai orang yang harusnya melindungi. Perlakuan salah yang dialami anak-anak di jalan dapat berupa kekerasan fisik, mental, eksploitasi ekonomi, kekerasan seksual (pemerkosaan, sodomi dan pornografi). Masalah lain yang Dihadapi anak-anak di jalanan adalah beresiko tinggi terhadap berbagai masalah kesehatan dan korban penyalahgunaan obat-obatan terlarang (p. 7). (ideas loosely connected, missing cohesive device)
First-Person Pronoun
Notice that Indonesian distinguishes between inclusive and exclusive.English has simply one subject pronoun for FIRST PERSON PLURAL, we.We may at times be talking only about the speaker and someone else other than the hearer, and at other times about the speaker and thehearer. In Indonesian, there are two first-person plural pronouns. Kitameans we and you; that is, it is inclusive of the hearer. Kami meanswe, but not you; that is, the HEARER is not included and this form is, therefore, called exclusive. Inclusive means that the hearer is included in the FIRST PERSON PLURAL form and exclusive means that the hearer is not included.
Thus, before an English sentence liike 'Webelieve we can do this' is translated into Indonesian, a translator has to find out if we means kita (inclusive: both writer/speaker and reader/hearer) or it means kami (exclusive: only writer/speaker). In order to discover the correct meaning the translator must study the paragraph or the whole text and the communication situation in which this sentence exists.
By so doing he can come up with only one of the following translations: Kami yakin kami bisa melakukan ini. Kami yakin kita bisa melakukan ini. Kita yakin kita bisa melakukan ini. Kita yakin kami bisa melakukan ini.
In contrast, translating Indonesian pronouns kita or kami in a particular context into English the translator simply uses we. The meaning component of either inclusive or exclusive would be lost when translating from Indonesian into English
Translating you into Indonesian from a formal letter, an announcement, a formal speech script and some other written messages needs to be carefully studied. An English clause like Herewith I advise you ........ may be translated into Indonesian in several ways: Bersama ini kami memberitahukan kamu (anda) ....Bersama ini kami memberitahukan bapak... Bersama ini kami memberitahukan ibu Bersama ini kami memberitahukan saudara
If the addressee is either an adult male or an adult female with a higher social status you is translated using the second person familiar formbapak or ibu (see Table 2) the primary meanings of which are father and mother, respectively, while saudara means either brother or sister in its primary sense and is used if the addressee has a similar social status with the writer and/or if the writer is in a higher status.
Althoughkamu (anda) is a formal form of the second-person pronoun in the Indonesian pronominal system, it is considered impolite to use these pronouns to address adult readers except younger ones. So, bapak, ibu, saudara in a second person familiar form are preferably used to replace kamu (anda) to show politeness in addressing adults
In contrast, when a translator translates an Indonesian sentence like'Kami
mengundang Bapak/Ibu/Saudara untuk menghadiri pernikahan anak kami' into English
an inaccurate and unnatural translation will result if the translator does not know the use of bapak, ibu, and saudara in this context. He will then produce a translation like this 'We invite Father /
Mother / Brother / Sister to attend our son's wedding' The accurate, clear and natural translation should be We invite you to attend our son's wedding.
In translating a third-person pronoun from Indonesian into English a translator faces the problem of whether ia (dia) (-nya) is translated ashe (him) or as she (her) because Indonesian only has ia (dia) without distinguishing gender. For example in the sentences like: Ia membayar utangnya. Saya mengundangnya.
These sentences can be translated into English as follows: He paid his debt (Sentence # 1) He paid her debt (Sentence # 1) She paid her debt (Sentence # 1) She paid his debt (Sentence # 1) I invited her (Sentence # 2) I invited him (Sentence # 2)
If the two Indonesian sentences are standing alone without context, any of the above translations is acceptable. However, if they are parts of a paragraph in a discourse, a translator must discover which version is the accurate and natural one. On the contrary, when translating a third-person pronoun from English into Indonesian, the component of meaning, masculine or feminine,would be lost when using Indonesian pronoun ia (dia). In English it is clear that he ( him) refers to a male person and she ( her) refers to a female person but this is not the case for Indonesian.
In two Indonesian sentences like (1) 'Mananir merayakan hari ulang tahunnya and (2) 'Amazane lupa undangan yang diberikan kepadanya„ it is difficult to tell whether Mananir or Amazane refers to a male or a female name and -nya as a possesive or object. Possible translations for Sentence 1 are: (a) 'Mananir celebrated his birthday party'; (b) 'Mananir celebrated her birthday party' whereas Sentence 2 are: (a) 'Amazane forgot about the invitation given to him'; (b) 'Amazane forgot about the invitation given to her'.
If the above Indonesian sentences are parts of a text like:
Mananir merayakan hari ulang tahunnya. Isterinyamenghadiahkan sebuah dasi untuknya. Amazane lupa undangan yang diberikan kepadanya sehingga ia dan suaminya tidak hadir (Mananir celebrated his birthday
party. His wife gave him a tie as a present. Amazane forgot about the invitation given to her so she and her husband did not show up),
then the translator can easily and accurately identify Mananir as a male name or a husband because the supporting phrase isterinya (his wife) provides him a clue to do the translation as in Sentence 1a. Also, Sentence 2b is the right one because of the phrase suaminya (herhusband). A given name to a person in some particular places in Indonesia is usually a local, culture-based name. Such a name always forces the translator to decide whether it is a male name or a female name.
In addition, names of domesticated animals cause ambiguities in translation work. Notice the following sentences: Bruno menghabiskan makanan di atas meja karena ia lapar. Jakob menjatuhkan pisang yang diberikan kepadanya Manis tidak mau makan di piringnya
The names of Bruno, Jakob, Manis are referring to the pet names. These are only three out of hundreds of names found in different parts of Indonesia. In English there are also pet names which are similar to human names.
Basically, Bruno is a dog's name, Jakob is a bird's name, and Manis is a cat's name. These pet names are commonly found in Indonesia (Papua Province) and they are used to name either male or female pets. Bruno and Jakob are basically male human names and Manis commonly refers to a female human, but, these names are always used to name pets without distinguishing gender.
Thus, the translation for each of the sentences above should be: Bruno ate up the food on the table because it was hungry. Jakob dropped the banana given to it. Manis did not want to eat on its plate
However, if the pets are personified by a writer in a paticular text, the use of he, she,him, her or his is acceptable in the translation. If this is the case, the translator should be very careful to study a text in order to avoid ambiguities in using proper names for the pets in Indonesian texts.
Thanks a bunch. www.pakfaizal.com
