Definition of Translation
According to Manser (1996:441), translation is the
activity of changing something spoken or written into another language. It
means that whatever we are doing with something (e.g. information, idea), when
changed into another language is called translation. Next we will see some
other definitions stated bysome linguists. Nida and Taber (1974 : 12) state
that translating consists of reproducing in the receptor language (RL) the
closest natural equivalent of the source language (SL) message, first in terms
of meaning, and secondly in terms of style. Here, we know that in reproducing
the message there is a good relationship between RL and SL that should be
equivalent. Catford (1965:1) defines that translation is an operation performed
on languages: a process of substituting a text in one language for a text in
another.The writer assumes that all of the activities of transferring a text
from one language to another are called translation. Larson (1984:1) states
that translation consists of studying the lexicon, grammatical structure,
communication situation, and cultural context of the SL text, analyzing it in
order to determine its meaning, then reconstructing the same meaning using the
lexicon and grammatical structure which appropriate in the RL and its cultural
context. Larson also says that translation has three steps; they are studying
the source text, analyzing it and reconstructing the meaning. Newmark (1988:28)
says that translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language
in the way that the author intended the text. In short, the meaning of a text
should be the same with the author’s aim when it is translated. Yusuf (1994 :8)
says that “terjemahan dapat diartikan sebagai semua kegiatan manusia dalam
mengalihkan seperangkat informasi atau pesan baik verbal maupun non-verbal-
dari informasi asal atau informasi sumber ke dalam informasi sasaran”
(translation can be defined as all of human activities in transferring
information or message-verbal or non-verbal- from original information into
target information). It means that when we transfer information from one source
to another then we do translation. Simatupang (1999:2) defines translation as
“menerjemah adalah mengalihkan makna yang terdapat dalam bahasa sumber ke dalam
bahasa sasaran dan mewujudkannya kembali di dalam bahasa sasaran dengan
bentuk-bentuk sewajar mungkin menurut aturan-aturan yang berlaku dalam bahasa
sasaran”(translating is transferring the meaning of SL into RL and rewaken it
in RL withnatural forms that follow the valid rules in RL). It means that
translation is closerto the meaning than the style (form) but translation
should follow the rules oftarget language.
From
the definitions above, the writer may say that translation is defined as the
process of transferring the idea or information from the source language to the
target language. For instance, when a teacher explains his idea to the
students, he does a translation activity, i.e. he transfers the idea (the
material of the lessons) from his mind to the students by using language that
can be understood by them. In short, in wider meaning translation is the
process of transferring the meaning of the idea, verbally and non-verbally from
one to another. The RL reader’s response to the translation work has to be the
same with the SL reader’s response to the original text itself. Actually, the
response of the SL and the RL readers will never be identical because the
difference in both readers (cultural and historical settings). The following
example shows how a translation work makes the different response we
put our head together. If the sentence is translated into Bahasa
Indonesia as kami meletakkan kepala kami
bersama-sama, the response or idea is different from English. In other
words, the response of the English people and Indonesian people is not the
same. The response or understanding will be the same if it is translated as bermusyawarah.
The same response between the source and receptor readers can reach the
goal if the message expressed as natural as possible in the RL. From all of the
explanations above, the writer assumes that there are four important elements
in translation. They are: source language, text, equivalence, and receptor
language. Source language is the original language of a work that is used by
its author to assert his idea. Text is the material of a work that will be
translated. Equivalence is the suitable form whether in meaning and style.
While receptor language is the aim language that has been translated from the SL.
The Function of Translation
Translation plays an important function as an
interlingual communication activity in developing country to get the
information and technology. Reiss in Venutti (2000: 160) states “Interlingual
translation (translation between twodifferent languages) is a bilingual
mediated process of communication, which usually aims at the production of a
target language text that is functionally equivalent to source language text”.
One clear statement is expressed by Levy in Venutti (2000: 148). He states
“…Translation is a process of communication: the objective of translating is to
impart the knowledge of the original to the foreign reader.” Duff (1989: 5)
states “As a process of communication, translation functions as the medium
‘across the linguistic and cultural barriers’ in conveying the messages written
in the foreign languages”. It functions as a bridge to carry the messages
(meanings) from the SL to the RL. This function is very useful for someone who
faces a foreign-language barrier when he/she wants to know the meaning or
content of the foreign language text. In other words, the language of the
original text is the barrier for him/her to know the content of the text. This
problem can only be overcome by translation which functions as the medium
between SL and RL
The Kinds of Translation
Many linguists make the divisions on translation.
Catford divides some broad types or categories of translation in terms of the
extent, levels, and rank of translation. Below the writer explains them one by
one.
a. In Terms of
the Extent
The extent type relates to full versus partial
translation. In full translation, the entire text is submitted to the
translation process that is every part of the SL text is replaced by RL text
material. In partial translation, some parts of the SL text are left no
translated; they are simply transferred to and incorporated in the RL text. So,
not all of the text is translated. There are some reasons why some parts of SL
text cannot be translated. First, the vocabularies in SL cannot be found or
cannot be translated correctly in RL. For example: the Indonesian word “nasi
tumpeng” canot be translated into English because “nasi tumpeng” is not found
in English. Second, the vocabularies, in the SL have no translation equivalence
in RL. For example: the word “television” in English becomes “televisi” when
translated to Indonesia. It happened because Bahasa Indonesia has no
translation equivalence with that word. In this case, there is a loan
translation i.e. the using of SL’s element in RL by changing the phonological
and morphological structure. And a text may thus be a whole library of books, a
single volume, a chapter, a paragraph, a sentence, a clause, a phrase, a word,
and a morpheme.
b. In Terms of
the Levels
According to Catford (1965: 22), the levels type
relates to total versus restricted translation of language that involved in
translation. Total translation can be defined as the replacement of SL grammar
and lexis by equivalent RL grammar and lexis with consequential replacement of
SL phonology/ graphology by non-equivalent RL phonology/graphology. Whereas
restricted translation means replacement of SL textual material by equivalent
RL textual material, at only one level, that is translation performed only at
the phonological or at the graphonological level, or at only one of the two
levels of grammar and lexis.
c. In Terms of the Rank
The rank type relates to the rank of translation in
grammatical (or phonological) hierarchy at which translation equivalence is established.
Here, Catford (1965:25) divides this type into three distinctions. They are:
Free Translation, Word-for word Translation, and Literal Translation. Free
translation is always “unbounded-equivalences shunt up and down the rank scale,
but tend to be at the higher ranks-sometimes between target units than the
sentences”. It reproduces the matter without the manner, or the content without
the form of the original. It is usually a paraphrase much longer than the
original. It is also called as ‘intralingual translation’. Word-for-word
Translation generally means what its say: i.e. is essentially rank bound at
word-rank (but may include some morpheme equivalences). In this type the words
of the SL text are rendered one by one into the RL without making allowance for
grammatical or lexical difference between them. This type is usually used in
case of translating poems. Literal Translation lies between these extremes; it
may start, as it were, from a word-for-word translation, but make changes in
conformity with RL grammar (e.g. inserting additional words, changing
structures at any rank, etc); this may make it a group-group or clause-clause
translation. This type is usually used if the structure of SL is different with
the structure of RL. Below is the example of the three distinctions
(English-Bahasa Indonesia).
SL text: Her mouth is parch
RL text: 1. Mulutnya kering (Word-for-word
translation)
2.
Mulut perempuan itu kering (Literal translation)
3.
Dia haus (Free translation)
After explaining the Catford’s type translation, the
writer wants to explain categories
Translation Methods
In translating one
text into another text in different language, a translator of course need a
method. Newmark (1988: 45) puts the methods of translation into two categories i.e. (1) translation methods which put emphasis
on source language (SL) and (2) translation
methods which put emphasis on target language (TL).
In the first
category, the translator should be able to recreate the contextual meaning of the source text (ST) into the
target language (TL) precisely although there are such syntax and semantic
problems in the target text (TL). Meanwhile, in the second category, the
translator tries to make the same result as the native writer intends the source
text. (ST).
In the following
section, the researcher will discuss each method of translation:
Source Language
(SL) emphasis
1. Word for Word Translation
This translation method tends to put the
target language words below the source language words without considering the
structure of target language. In the matter of word for word translation, Newmark states:
“This is often
demonstrated as interlinear translation,
with the TL immediately below the SL words. The SL word- order is preserved and
the words translated singly by their most common meanings, out of context.
Cultural words are translated literary. The main use of word-for-word translation is either to understand the
mechanics of the source language or to construe a difficult text as a pre-translation”. (1988: 45-46).
Example: (SL):
I like that clever student.
(TL): Saya menyukai itu
pintar anak. (Nababan, 1997:
20)
2. Literal Translation
In literal translation, the translator tries to
transfer the source language grammatical constructions to the nearest TL
equivalents. However the ST is still translated into TT literally. Therefore,
the message sometimes experiences untransfered. This opinion agrees with
Newmark’s ideas shown below:
“The SL grammatical
constructions are converted to their nearest TL equivalents but the lexical
words are again translated singly, out of context. As a pre- translation process, this indicates the
problem to be solved”. (1988: 46)
Example: (SL): It’s raining cats and
dogs.
(TL): Hujan kucing dan
anjing. (Machali, 2000: 51)
3.Faithful Translation
In connection with faithful translation, Newmark proposes that:
“A faithful translation
attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning
of the original within the constraints of the TL grammatical structure. It
‘transfers’ cultural words and preserves the degree of the grammatical and
lexical ‘abnormality’ (deviation from SL norms) in the translation. It attempts to be
completely faithful to the intentions and the text-realization of the SL
writer”. (1988: 46)
This translation method tends to be faithful
to the source text, therefore its translation
sometimes experiences clumsiness and strangeness.
Example: (SL): Ben is too well aware that he is
naughty.
(TL): Ben menyadari terlalu baik bahwa
dia nakal.
(Machali, 2000: 51-52)
4. Semantic Translation
Compared with
‘faithful translation’,
semantic translation is more
flexible. In the matter of semantic translation,
Newmark states:
“Semantic translation differs from ‘faithful translation’ only in as far as it must
take more account of the aesthetic value (that is, the beautiful and natural
sound) of the SL text, compromising on ‘meaning’
where appropriate so that no assonance, word-play or repetition jars in the
finished version. Further, it may translate less important cultural words by
culturally neutral third or functional terms but not by cultural equivalents”.
(1988: 46)
Example: (SL):
He is a book –worm.
(TL): Dia (laki-laki) adalah
seorang yang suka sekali membaca. (Machali, 2000: 52)
Target Language
(TL) emphasis
1. Adaptation
The adaptation
method is the freest form of translation.
It is also the nearest to the target language. In connection with this method,
Newmark states:
“This is the
‘freest’ form of translation.
It is used mainly for play (comedies) and poetry; the themes, character, plots
are usually preserved, the SL culture converted to the TL culture and text
rewritten. The deplorable practice of having a play or poem literally
translated and then rewritten by an established dramatist or poet has produced
many poor adaptations, but other adaptations have ‘rescued’ period plays”.
(1988: 46)
Example: Translation of Shakespeare’s drama
entitled Macbeth by WS Rendra which was played at Taman Ismail Marzuki,
Jakarta, 1994. (Machali, 2000: 53)
2. Free Translation
A free translation
is not bound up with structure of the source language. Using this type of translation, a translator has a freedom
to express a source language’s message in his/her own style. Dealing with this
method, Newmark explains:
“Free translation reproduces the matter
without the manner, or the content without the form of the original. Usually it
is a paraphrase much longer than the original, a so-called ‘intralingual translation’, often prolix and
pretentious, not translation at
all”. (1988: 46)
Example: (SL): (Time, May 28, 1990):
”Hollywood Rage for Remark”
(TL): (Suara Merdeka, 15 Juli
1990): “Hollywood Kekurangan Cerita: Lantas Rame-rame Bikin Film Ulang.
(Machali, 2000: 54)
3. Idiomatic Translation
This
translation method tries to
recreate the source language message that is the message of the writer or the
native speaker, in flexible words or sentences of target language. However,
this method seems to distort the nuances of meaning
because the use of idioms which are not found in source language. It is like
what Newmark said:
“Idiomatic translation reproduces the ‘message’ of
the original but tends to distort nuances of meaning
by preferring colloquialisms and idioms where these do not exist in the
original”. (1988: 47)
Example: (SL): Mari minum bir sama-sama; saya
yang bayar.
(TL): I’ll shout you a beer.
(Machali, 2000: 55)
4. Communicative Translation
Communicative translation does not only involve in
converting to the acceptable structure of TL, but also in transferring to the
flexible and beautiful effect of TL. In case Newmark gives opinion as follows:
“Communicative translation attempts to render the exact
contextual meaning of the
original in such a way that both content and language are readily acceptable
and comprehensible to the readership”. (1988: 47)
Example: The
word spine in ‘thorns spines in old reef sediments’ (SL) will be translated
into spina (Latin technical term) for biologists and into duri
for the public readers. (Machali, 2000: 55)
Meaning in Translation
Nababan (1997), in
his book entitled “Aspek Teori Penerjemahan dan
Pengalihbahasaan”, states that
there are some problems in translating the meaning
of a word, for a word can have some different meanings. They are caused by some
aspects as Nababan explains below.
1.
Lexical Meaning
In
the lexical meaning, the meaning of each word has its own meaning as mentioned in the dictionary.
For example the adjective ‘dark’ has four meanings according to the dictionary,
namely: gelap, tua, suram and hitam. We do not know
exactly which one of those meanings is the equivalent word of the word ‘dark’
before it is used in a sentence with certain situation.
- Grammatical Meaning
In
this case, the translator should comprehend the relation between element of
language in the larger units such as the relation between a word and other
word(s) within phrase or clause. For example, the word ‘fly’, in the two
example below, has different meanings depending on its own position in the
sentence.
There is a fly on your hand. = Ada seekor lalat di atas tanganmu.
(The word ‘fly’ is as a noun which means ‘lalat’ in Indonesian.)
The birds fly in the sky. = Burung-burung itu terbang di angkasa (The
word ‘fly’ is as a verb which means ‘terbang’ in Indonesian).
- Contextual Meaning
Contextual
meaning means that each word
has meaning related to its
context and situation as it is used in a sentence. For example, the word ‘join’
commonly means ‘ikut serta’ but in the sentence: ‘The bridge joins the
two islands’. The word ‘join’ means ‘menghubungkan’ according to the
context of the sentence, and the sentence can be translated as follows: “Jembatan
itu menghubungkan kedua pulau itu”.
- Textual Meaning
The
textual meaning is related to the material of
the text and the differences of the type can make the meaning of a word different. For example
the word ‘interest’ can have two different meanings by considering the two
different material texts. In a general text, it means ‘give or pay attention to
something’, but in an economics text, it means ‘profits or money charged for
borrowing money’.
- Socio-Cultural Meaning
The
socio-cultural meaning has a
close relation with the socio-culture of the source language text. The example
is the word ‘hot dog’ from Western culture or ‘ulos’ of Batak culture.
They do not have equivalent words in Indonesian or English, so the translator
should give more explanation about these terms such as: ‘hot dog’ (a kind of
Western food; a sausage bread with some sauce and some slices of tomato and
mustard) and ‘ulos’ (traditional Batak cloth worn covering shoulder).
Technique of Adjustment
In process of
translating, a translator often uses techniques of adjustment. The techniques are dealing with what the
translator does in terms of addition, subtraction, and alteration in his translation. It is consistent with
Nida’s idea concerning the technique of adjustment,
i.e.
“In point of fact,
what he really does, or should do, is to select in each instance the closest
natural equivalent. But if the corresponding forms in the source and the
receptor languages are compared after equivalents have been selected, it will
be found that they conveniently fall into such classes of modification as can
be described by these terms: additions, subtractions, and alterations”. (1964:
226)
From the Nida’s statement
above, it is clear that the technique of adjustment
may do by a translator can be divided into three classes of modification
namely: additions, subtractions, and alterations.
Further, Nida
states that the essential purpose of these techniques is to produce correct
equivalent, not to serve as an excuse for tampering with the source language
message (Ibid).
Besides one
essential purpose, the technique of adjustment
has other four purposes. They are as follows: “(1) permit adjustment of the form of the massage to
the requirement of the structure of the receptor language; (2) produce
semantically equivalent structures; (3) provide equivalent stylistic
appropriateness; and (4) carry an equivalent communication load (Ibid).
After defining the
technique of adjustment, the
following section will elaborate each type of those techniques by giving some
examples.
1. Addition
Addition in translation is permitted in order to
avoid missleading or ambiguity (Nida, 1964: 228). The statement means that
addition is aimed to make clear of the source language message. Concerning with
addition, Newmark proposes that:
“The additional
information a translator may have to add to his version is normally cultural
(accounting for difference between SL and TL culture), technical (relating to
topic) or linguistic (explaining wayward use of words), and is dependent on the
requirement of his, as opposed to the original, readership”.(1988: 91).
Furthermore, Newmark (1988:
92) explains that the adding of information can be put within the text,
at bottom of page (footnotes), at end of chapter or at end of book (notes or
glossary).
There are many
types of addition which may be employed in the process of translating, among
them the most common and important are shown in the section below.
a. Filing out Elliptical Expression
An
ellipsis of expression in one language may not be permitted in another. Hence,
a translator sometimes must fill out an elliptical expression found in the
source language.
Example:
(SL):
“If any other man thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have
more...”
(TL):
“If any other man thinks he has reason to be confident because of his
personal qualifications, I have even more reason to be confident...”
(Nida, 1964: 227)
b. Obligatory Specifications
The
specification required in some translations result from one of two reasons,
namely: (1) ambiguity in the receptor language formations and (2) the
specifications may be required so as to avoid misleading reference.
Example:
(SL):
They tell him of her.
(TL):
The people there told Jesus about the woman. (Nida, 1964: 228)
c. Additions Required by Grammatical Restructuring
The
most common instances concerning types of restructuring of a source language
expression which can result in some lexical additions are: (1) shift of voice,
(2) modification from indirect to direct discourse, and (3) alteration of word
classes.
Example:
(SL):
He will be condemned.
(TL):
God will condemn him.
(SL):
To confess sins.
(TL):
To say, it is true we have sinned.
(SL):
False prophets
(TL):
Those who pretend the work of a prophet
(Nida, 1964: 228)
d. Amplification From Implicit to Explicit Status
Important
semantic element stated implicitly in the source language may require explicit
identification in the receptor language.
Example:
(SL):
Queen of the South
(TL):
Woman who was ruling in the south country (Nida, 1964: 228)
e. Classifiers
It is usually used to identify proper names and
borrowed terms.
Example:
(SL): Jordan
(TL): River Jordan (Nida, 1964: 229)
f.
Connectives
Transitionals,
which consist of the repetition of segments of the preceding text, are widely
used in many languages. They serve merely to orient the reader constantly to
the sequences of events and the precise relationships between events.
Example:
(SL):
He went up to Jerusalem. There he taught the people.
(TL): He
went up to Jerusalem. Having arrived there, he taught the people.
(Nida,1964: 230)
2.
Subtraction
Subtraction or
omission means that information communicated in the source language is left out
of the translation (Blight,
1992:33). Related to this strategy, Baker states:
“This strategy may
sound rather drastic, but in fact it does no harm to omit translating a word or
expression in some contexts. If the meaning
conveyed by particular item or expression is not vital enough to the development
of the text to justify distracting the reader with lengthy explanations,
translators can and often do simply omit translating the word or expression in
question” (1992: 40)
From the statement
above, it can be drawn a conclusion that the use of subtraction or omission
strategy in translation
is fairly acceptable.
Subtraction just
considers adjustments which involve certain structural losses, but which are
advisable because of the grammatical or semantic patterns of the receptor
language (Nida, 1964: 231). Some types of subtractions are presented below.
a.
Repetitions
Repetitions
may be quite acceptable in one language, nevertheless, in another language one
of these repeated lexical items must be omitted, or in some cases, replaced by
a term that intensify the expression in question.
Example:
(SL):
I will kill him with my weapon. I will slay him with my sword.
(TL):
I will certainly kill him with my sword. (Nida, 1964: 231)
(TL):
Aku pasti akan membunuhnya dengan pedangku. (Indonesian)
b.
Specification of Reference
In
some languages, for example, the repetition of proper name in two closely
related sentences may be misleading; thus, in some language the name must be
omitted, since this name has been clearly identified before.
Example:
(SL):
Mary is delighted because she is going on holiday.
(TL):
Mary senang karena akan berlibur. ( Harinda, 2000:18)
c.
Conjunctions
Some
elements are combined without conjunction, either in appositional relationships
or in a series.
Example:
(SL):
God and Father.
(TL):
God, Father.
(SL):
John and Bill and Jim
(TL): John, Bill, Jim.
(Nida, 1964: 232)
d.
Vocatives
All
languages have ways of calling to people, but in some languages there is no
means by which one may directly address another in a polite form. In certain
situation, the ways of calling to people (vocatives) can be shifted into nearby
clause or omitted, if the total impact does not distort the meaning.
Example:
(SL):
Peter said to Jesus: Teacher, it is well that we are here.
(TL):
Peter said to Jesus, his teacher: it is well that we are here.
(Nida, 1964: 233)
e.
Formulae
A
number of formulae in source language are relatively meaningless in receptor
language, hence the formulae may be subtracted.
Example:
(SL):
In the name of the Lord.
(TL):
By the Lord.
(Nida, 1964: 233)
f.
Categories
The
insistence of some translators that all categories in the original be fully
reflected in the receptor-language text has resulted in some awkward translations.
In the past form, for instance, the past-form verb may be represented by some
appropriate adverbial expression of time.
Example:
(SL):
After the letter had been read, he seemed angry
(TL):
Setelah surat dibaca, dia kelihatan marah. (Harinda, 2000:20)
3. Alteration
In the process of translation,
a translator is not only doing in a series of changes involving in additions
and subtractions but also in alterations. In the matter of alterations,
Nida (1964: 233) adds that there are many types of alterations from the
simplest problems of correspondence in sounds to the most complicated adjustment in idiomatic phrases.
Related to this
matter, some types of alteration are discussed below.
a. Sounds
Even
the most system of translation
may occasionally produce a severe difficulty, since the resulting form may have
another meaning in the receptor
language.
Example:
(SL):
Messiah
(TL):
Mezaya (Nida, 1964: 233)
b.
Categories
Alteration of categories include
shifts from a singular expression to plural, a past-tense to a future, passive
to active voice, etc.
Example:
(SL): For to him who has
will more be given
(TL): Because to those who
have will more be given.
(SL): If the Lord had not
shortened the days.
(TL): If the Lord will not
shorten the days.
(Nida, 1964: 234)
c. Word Classes
Alterations
of word classes include the shifts from noun to verb, preposition to verb, etc.
Example:
(SL): Theft.
(TL): They steal.
(SL): He who is not against
us.
(TL): He who does not look mean
at us.
(Nida, 1964: 234)
d.
Order
The
shifts are used to emphasize important elements in a sentence, and provide a
pleasing rhythm, so they can make clear of a complicated expression.
Example:
(SL):
And they compelled a passer by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the
country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
(TL): Simon
of Cyrene, who is the father of Alexander and Rufus, was coming in from the
country. The soldiers ordered him to carry Jesus’ cross.
(Nida, 1964:235)
e. Clause and Sentence Structure
This
kind of alteration includes shifts of sentence type, for instance, from
questions to statements, changes from indirect discourse to direct, or
vice-versa, shifts between and paratactic formations, etc.
Example:
(SL):
Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
(TL):
Make your selves good; make your hearts new.
(Nida, 1964: 236)
f. Semantic Problem Involving Single Words
All
the semantic problems involving single words arise from distinctions in
hierarchical status. Accordingly, alterations of this type may be classified on
the basis of whether the lexical elements in question are of a lower rank, of a
higher rank, of a higher rank plus qualifiers, or of the same rank but shifted
in position.
Examples:
(SL):
What shall I ask?
(TL):
She did not know what she should ask for.
(SL):
hour and day
(TL):
time and occasion
(SL):
wolf
(TL):
hunting dog
(SL):
pray
(TL):
speak to God
(Nida, 1964: 237)
g. Semantic Problem Involving Exocentric Expressions
This
type of alteration is applied to translate expressions or idioms. Because of
the different social-cultural background between the source language and target
language, consequently a translator often makes a radical change in translating
idioms or expressions.
Example:
(SL): (in German) Mit wolfen muss
man heulen. (literally, “one must howl with wolves”)
(TL): When in Rome do as the
Romans.
Process of Translation
Translation process is a procedure which consists of some
steps in a practice of translating. Two experts, Nida and Taber, suggest three
stages in the process of translation,
namely: analysis, transfer, and restructuring. With respect to that
matter, they states as follows:
“The second system
of translation consists of a
more elaborate procedure comprising three stages: (1) analysis, in which
the surface structure, i.e. message as given in language A is analyzed in terms
of a) the grammatical relationship and b) the meaning
of the words and combination of words, (2) transfer, in which the
analyzed material is transferred in the mind of translator from language A to
language B, and (3) restructuring, in which the transferred material is
restructured in order to make final message fully acceptable in the receptor
language”. (1974: 33)
With respect to
process of translation stated
by Nida and Taber, Suryawinata (in Hartono, 2003: 106) explaines those stages
as follows:
“Tahap pertama
adalah tahap analisis dan pemahaman. Dalam tahap ini struktur lahiriah dan
pesan dalam bahasa sumber dianalisis menurut hubungan gramatikal, menurut makna
kata-kata ataupun gabungan kata-kata, menurut makna tekstual dan makna
kontekstual. Ini merupakan suatu proses transformasi balik. Tahap kedua adalah
tahap transfer. Materi yang sudah dianalisis dan dipahami maknanya selanjutnya
diolah oleh penerjemah dalam pikirannya (batinnya) dari bahasa sumber ke dalam
bahasa sasaran. Tahap ini masih merupakan proses batin. Pada tahap ketiga,
setelah memperoleh padanan-padanan (ekuivalensi) makna dalam bahasa sasaran,
maka penerjemah berusaha mencari padanan (ekuivalensi) kata, kelompok
kata (frasa), ungkapan (idiom), klausa atau kalimat yang tepat dalam
bahasa sasaran, di dalam tahap ini penerjemah perlu menstrukturisasi kembali
padanan-padanan tersebut sesuai dengan kaidah-kaidah bahasa sasaran”.
Furthermore, Nida (1964: 246) considered some steps of procedure relevant to
the translation process. The
steps employed by competent translator can be outlined, as follows:
1.
Reading over the entire document.
2.
Obtaining background information.
3.
Comparing existing translation
of the text.
4.
Making a first draft of sufficiently comprehensive units.
5.
Revising the first draft after a short lapse of time.
6.
Reading aloud style and rhythm.
7.
Studying the reactions of receptors by reading of the text by another person.
8.
Submitting a translation to the
scrutiny of other competent translators.
9.
Revising the text for publication.
. Principles
of Translation
In a practice of
translating, it is true that a translator should have to consider some
principle matters related to translation.
He has to realize that a result of translation
must represent the closest equivalent between the source language and the
target language message, firstly in terms of meaning
and secondly in terms of style. (Nida and Taber, 1974)
Tytler in Bell
(1991: 11) states that there are some principles of translation namely:
1. The
translation should give a
complete transcript of the ideas of the original work.
2.
The style and the manner of writing should be of the same character with that
of the original.
3. The
translation should have all the
ease of the original composition.
It can be concluded
that the importance of translation
is transferring the content, meaning
or message correctly and completely from the source language into the target
language. The result of translation
should be complete, flexible and easy to read, as stated by Sudarno:
“Dalam
pengalihbahasaan itu tentu saja penerjemah diwajibkan untuk tidak mengurangi,
menambah ataupun mengubah pesan (message) pengarang aslinya namun penyajiannya
tetap dalam bahasa yang luwes dan enak dibaca.” (1993: 8)
The Process of Translation
As a
process of interlingual communication, translation transfers the meaning from
SL idea into RL idea. It means that translation involves two different
languages. This process begins by analyzing the source text into grammatical
and semantic structure of the SL, transferring the meaning and at last by
reconstructing the grammatical and semantic structure into the appropriate RL forms
in order to create an equivalent RL text. However, the process of translation
mentioned above is a very general way of looking at the translation procedure.
Translation procedure is actually more difficult and complicated than such an
overview might indicate. Larson (1984:476-490) divides the process of
translation into 8 steps. They are: a.
Preparation, b. Analysis, c. Transfer, d. Initial Draft, e. Reworking the
Initial Draft, f. Testing the Translation, g. Polishing the Translation, and h.
Preparing the Manuscript for the Publisher.
a. Preparation
There are
two kinds of preparation that has to be done by translator. The first is the
preparation before beginning the translation task. It includes training in writing,
in linguistics and in translation principles. In this preparation, a translator
must have training in writing the RL, then he has to study linguistics so that
he can discover the features of the RL which indicate the groupings, cohesion,
and prominence in that language. Finally he has to study the principles in
doing a translation work. The second preparation is the preparation which the
translator undertakes as he begins work on a specific translation project. It
means that the translator begins to do preparation related to the text to be
translated. In order to be able to understand the message intended by the
author, the translator should read the text through several times and mark any
section which seems unclear. Then he/she studies the background material which
is available. It can be done by doing the same steps such as finding out about
the author, about the circumstances of the writing of the text, about the
purpose for which it was written, about the culture of the source text, whom
the text was written for, and about the study of linguistic matters related to
the text. For example: if a text is about historical, the background material
should be a study of the period of history in which the events took place and
in which the text was written. The last thing that should be done by the
translator in preparation is reading and rereading of the text. He will make
notes (about key terms, obscure sections). Finally, when he fells acquainted
with the text he is ready to do analysis.
b. Analysis
In this process, the translator should study the key
words of the text carefully. It aims to find a natural lexical equivalent in RL
and it can be done by consulting dictionaries and encyclopedias.
It is important to divide the text into smaller units,
and work one of these at a time if the text is very long. The smaller units
division can be a section or a chapter. Therefore it is necessary for the
translator to study the groupings of the text. He must give a special attention
to identify the opening and closing of the text. He also needs to note the
relations between various units, discover what the cohesive divides used are
indicating and also identify the units which are most
prominent. Even though the analysis begins with the
smaller unit and moves up to the whole discourse, the actual analytical process
is the opposite. Commonly, the translator analyzes the larger unit first,
identifying the units and the relation between the units, deciding which are
more prominent. Then he/she moves down to the smaller ones. Though he does that
way, but also be constantly moving back to look at the larger units and to
reevaluate his analysis on the basis of the analysis of smaller units. The more
difficult the text, the more need there will be for a careful rewrite into
semantic structure before any transfer is begun.
c. Transfer
Transfer is the process of going from the semantics
structure to the initial draft of the translation. This process takes place in
the mind of the translator. The semantic analysis will have eliminated most of
the skewing between the deep and surface structure of the source text. In this
process, the translator produces a RL equivalent. It is done by finding the
good lexical equivalence for concepts and the culture of SL; deciding whether
some adjustment are needed or not; considering
what grammatical forms to use best communicates the
correct meaning, and considering how to signal cohesion and prominence. The
transfer process can be very difficult without an adequate study on translation
principles. And the results can also be unsatisfactory. The transfer process
will result in an initial draft.
d. Initial Draft
The translator begins making his initial draft after
moving back and forth from the source to the receptor text. He may need to go
back for more background reading and check again in the dictionary. In this
process, the translator should be working at paragraph level. He must be sure
of what the paragraph communicates, then he composes the draft naturally,
without looking at the SL or even the semantic rewrite. He should just let it
flow naturally and expressing the meaning clearly. The translator will not find
difficulty in expressing the meaning in the RL if the analysis has done well. There
are a number of things which the translator should remember when
he does this process. He should know who will use the
translation, their level of education. He should know about the author’s
purpose, about topic of the paragraph, about semantic structure analysis. If
the numbers of things are combinated, the initial draft will be accurate and
natural.
e. Reworking the Initial Draft
The reworking the initial draft checks for naturalness and for accuracy. The
first thing that the translator will do is to read through the manuscript of larger
unit that he is checking. In doing this, he should be looking for: - Wrong grammatical forms or obscure constructions, - Places
that seem too wordy, - Wrong order, awkward phrasing, - Places where the
connections do not seem right and it does not flow easily, - Collocation
clashes, - Questionable meaning, - Style
The
second thing is checking for accuracy of meaning. The translator compares the
source text and the semantic analysis carefully. He also looks at the meaning
of words, the sentences, and the relations between the sentences and the paragraphs
and larger units. The third thing is checking whether the theme comes through
clearly or not.
f. Testing the Translation
There
are three main reasons in doing testing the translations; they are accurate, clear, and natural. In order to make
the translation as accurate, clear, and natural as possible, the translation
must involve at least four persons. They are: translator, consultant, tester,
and reviewer. The translator will do self-checks by making a comprehension
testing. He asks people to read the translation whether they understand or not.
He also does the naturalness checking by comparing his translation with the RL
text. The consultant helps the translation in inaccuracies and correcting use
of translation principles. He can train the translator in how to do other kinds
of testing. He also encourages the translator throughout the project. A
consultant can often help with difficult exegetical questions. The tester tests
the translation with people whether the source text is familiar or not. The
reviewer reads through the translation and makes comments concerning clarity
andnaturalness.
g. Polishing the Translation
After
doing all the steps above, the translator needs to polish the translation. He
needs to know whether he makes an adequate translation or not. h. Preparing the
Manuscript for the Publisher In this last step, the translator checks the
translation by having it tested over and over again until he is sure that there
is no any missing information from the source text.
Problems in Translation
The process of translation always involves
two or more languages, the source language (SL) and the target language (TL).
Related to this view, it is clear that the work of translation is not a
simple work, since not all people can master other languages and not all people
know well about translation.
Beside someone has to comprehend the message of the text, he also has to master
the system of the SL and the TL, because each language has its own system that
are different from one to another. Because of those phenomena, the translator
may face many problems.Translator may face some problems such as different
system of source language and target language, semantics and stylistic
complexity, translator’s competence, and quality of the text, as stated by
Nababan:
“kesulitan-kasulitan
yang kerap timbul dalam praktek menerjemahkan, yang disebabkan oleh beberapa
faktor, seperti perbedaan system bahasa sumber dengan system bahasa sasaran,
perbedaan tingkat kemampuan penerjemah dan tingkat kualitas tulisan bahasa
sumber.” (1999: 55)
Those factors above will be
discussed further below:
1. The Different Systems of The SL and TL
All languages in the world have different systems, either in terms of
syntactical, lexical, or morphological structure. Nababan stated that “Akan
tetapi, adalah kenyataan bahwa tidak ada satu pun bahasa yang mempunyai sistem
yang sama, baik ditinjau dari sudut struktur sintaksis, leksikal, dan morfem”
(1997: 55). For example:
(SL): Dia adik saya.
(TL): He is my brother.
In the example above the target language will be wrong if ‘to be’ (is) is
deleted, because in English ‘to be’ (is, am, are, was, were) must be attended
in the nominal sentences.
2. The Semantics and Stylistics
Complexity
Each nation surely has a different language, as a part of cultural expressions.
Semantic complexity has a strong relation to the socio-cultural background of
the speaker of the language. A lot of words of one language do not have
equivalence in another language. For example, the word highlight, it is
one of hairstyles. This term comes from western and the translator will face
difficulty in rendering the term into Indonesian because the term is new and
there is no equivalence in Indonesian.
Stylistic complexity also becomes one of the difficulty factors in translation. Every text has different
style and the translator should be able to express the same style in the target
language. Literary text, like poem, prose, and drama will be expressed by a
certain style and it is different from expressing scientific text. The language
style between Source language and Target Language are different because both
languages have different cultural background and system.
3. The Translator’s Competence
The capability of the translators in translating a text is different from one
another. Nababan says “…si penerjemah adalah pelaku utama dalam proses
penerjemahan, tingkat kemampuannya menjadi faktor penentu berhasil tidaknya
penerjemahan itu dilakukan” (1997: 43). A translator with high competence
can solve the problems in translation easily. Therefore, the translator
should have translation competences consisting of
language competence, textual competence, subject competence,
cultural competence, and transfer competence. (Neubert in Nababan; 2003: 416)
On the contrary, a beginner with limited competence and experience will get
many problems. It is not enough for the translator just to be fluent or to have
knowledge of languages. He should have a good knowledge of the languages and
sufficient experience in translating practice
4. The Quality of the Source Language Text
The quality of the source text influences the translator’s activity in creating
a translation. The low quality of the text
will be a problem for the translator because he will get difficulties to
understand the text. The low quality of the source text is caused by the
grammatical error, ambiguous sentence, etc. Moreover Nababan states that
“Pesan yang terkandung dalam bahasa sumber akan sulit
ditangkap atau dipahami apabila kualitas teks tersebut tidak baik, seperti
gramatikanya tidak benar, kalimatnya taksa, pengungkapan idenya tidak runtut,
banyak kesalahan ejaan dan fungtuasi, dan lain sebagainya”. (1997: 43)
Accuracy
The accuracy of transferring message is an important part in translation. Accuracy is one of the
factors which determine the quality of translation. According to Barnwell (in
Suparman; 2003: 142), the quality of translation depends on three
components; accuracy, clarity, and naturalness. Accuracy means that the meaning of the source text is transferred
into target text correctly and the translation can be understood by the
target reader easily. Clarity means that the expressing of idea clearly.
Naturalness means that the translation is effective and acceptable.
Basically, accuracy is related to choose the correct words in order to reveal
the same idea in Target language or in other words as Mustakim says
“Ketepatan dalam pemilihan kata berkaitan dengan
kemampuan memilih kata yang dapat mengungkap gagasan secara tepat dan gagasan
itu dapat diterima secara tepat pula oleh pembaca/ pendengarnya” (1994: 42).
Choosing the right word is very important because if
the translator is wrong to choose the word, the text will not be accurate.
Choosing the right word should consider some factors, such as, the target
readers, context of the text, socio-cultural condition. A translation is considered to be accurate
if it conveys the meaning of the Source Language to the Target
language correctly.
Accuracy is no doubt an important aim in translation, but it is also
important to bear in mind that the use of common target-language patterns, which
are familiar to the reader, plays an important role in keeping the
communication channel open. (Baker; 1992: 57)
The Shifts in Translation
Every translator will always attempt to transfer all
the messages from SL to TL. In doing this, a translator should determine the
form and content of the SL text and then reconstruct the same content (meaning)
using the forms that are appropriate in the TL (Larson, 1984: 3). But, in
his/her attempt to transfer the message/content from one language (SL) to
another (TL) by means of the universally known practice of translation, the
translator usually faces the difficulties in finding the same equivalent and
the exact structure (form) in TL. It is because language has its own genius and
possesses certain distinctive characteristics that give it a special character,
such as a word-building capacities, unique patterns of phrase order, techniques
for linking clause into sentences, etc. (Nida and Taber, 1974:4). In this case,
the translator should be able to adjust the structure of the translation in
accordance with the rules and grammar of the TL. In adjusting the structure of
the language, the translator is sometimes forced to make some changes or shifts
in the translation. Say for example, something conveyed properly and naturally
in one language might not be properly conveyed in another by using the same
structure; it is because every language has different systems. This is where
shifts need to be done in order to produce natural translation. Thus, the
occurrence of shifts in any translation activity is an unavoidable phenomenon.
Therefore, ‘shift’ should be redefined positively as the consequence of the
translator’s effort to establish translation equivalence betweendifferent
language systems. Catford (1965 :73) states that by ‘shifts’ we mean departures
from formal correspondence in the process of going from the SL to the TL. There
are two major types of ‘shift’. They are level shifts and category shifts.
Category Shift
Catford (1965: 76) states that category shifts, which are
departures from formal correspondence in translation, consist of
structure-shift, class shift, unit shift (rank-changes), and intra
system-shift.
a. Structure
Shift
Catford (1965:77) states that a structure shift
involves a change in grammatical structure between the source language and the
target language.
Example: white house – ‘Gedung putih’
b.Class Shift
Catford (1965: 78) states that class shift occurs when
the translation equivalent of a SL item is a member of a different class from
the original item.
SL: The neighbours were hostile to the family.(Adjective)
TL: Para tetangga memusuhi keluarga tersebut.(Verb)
c.Unit Shift
Catford (1965 : 79) states that by unit-shift we mean
changes of rank-that is, departures from formal correspondence in which the
translation equivalent of aunit at one rank in the SL is a unit at a different
rank in the TL.
Example: These days translated into sekarang (from phrase to word).
d.Intra-system
shift
Catford (1965: 80) uses the term intra-system shift
for those cases where the shift occurs internally, within a system; that is for
those cases where SL and TL posssess systems which approximately correspond
formally as to their constitution, but when the translation involves selection
of a non-correspondingterm in the TL system.
For example: Cans translated into kaleng-kaleng.
Plural word in English may be translated into
reduplication in Indonesian language.
. Level Shift
Catford (1965: 73) states that by a shift of level we
mean that a SL item at one linguistic level has a TL translation equivalent at
a different level. Meanwhile, according to Peter Newmark (1988: 85), a ‘shift’
(Catford’s term) or ‘transposition’ (Vinay and Darbelnet) is a translation
procedure involving a change in the grammar from SL to TL. Transposition is the
only translation procedure concerned with grammar, and most translators make
transpositions intuitively. One type, the change from singular to plural, e.g.
‘furniture’; des meubles; ‘applause’, des applaudissements; ‘advice’, des
conseils; or in the position of the adjective: la maison blanche, ‘the white
house’ is automatic and offers the translator no choice. A second type of shift
is required when an SL grammatical structure does not exist in the TL. Here
there are always options. The third type of shift is the one where literal
translation is grammatically possible but may not accord with natural usage in
the TL. The fourth type of transposition is the
replacement of a virtual lexical gap by a grammatical
structure
The Grammatical Units of English and Bahasa Indonesia
Unit
means an extend of language activity which is the carrier of a pattern of a
particular kind. English grammar has units such as sentence, clause, phrase,
word, and morpheme. Each of these is the carrier of a particular kind of
meaningful grammatical pattern. The grammatical units operate in hierarchies,
the larger units being made up of the smaller units, and from a scale of units
at different ranks/levels (Catford, 1965: 5-6).
Both English and Bahasa Indonesia grammar set up a hierarchy of five
units, they are: morpheme, word, phrase,
clause, and sentence. As what Machali(2000:20) says “dalam tata bahasa kita
mengenali adanya hierarki lima satuan bahasa: (1)kalimat; (2)klausa; (3)frase;
(4)kata; (5)morfem. “The highest level is the sentence and the lowest one is
the morpheme. The sentence is a unit of higher level than the clause; the
clause is a unit of higher level than the phrase; the phrase is a unit of
higher level than the word; the word is a unit of the higher level than the
morpheme. In other words, every sentence contains at least one clause; each
clause is made of at least one phrase; each phrase contains at least one word;
every word contains at least one morpheme. Each level from the lowest one forms
the higher level of grammatical unit. In other words, the higher level of
grammatical unit consists of elements from the lower level of grammatical unit.
For instance, the morphemes hunt and er from a higher grammatical level to be
hunter (a word). A phrase white house consists of two words, i.e. white and
house. Thus, it can be said that the higher grammatical unit can be analyzed by
dividing it into its lower grammatical unit.
1. The
Grammatical Units of English
a. Morpheme
The
word ‘morpheme’ is derived from the Greek word morphe, which means ‘form’. A
morpheme (Fromkin and Robert, 1983:114) may be also defined as the minimal
linguistic sign, a grammatical unit in which there is an arbitrary union of a
sound and a meaning and that can not be further analyzed. Morpheme can be
classified into free and bound forms. Free morpheme is
a linguistic form which can be used alone as an
independent word. For example: Betty, horse, red, town, and appear. Bound
morpheme is a linguistic form which is never used alone but must be used with
another morpheme, e.g as an affix. In other words, free morphemes can occur as
separate words, but bound morphemes can not occur on their own. Morphemes
cannot be equated with syllables. On the one hand, a single morpheme can have
two or more syllables, as in harvest, grammar, river, gorilla, and Indonesia.
On the other hand, there are sometimes two or more morphemes in a single
syllable, as in judged (judge + -ed), dogs (dog + -s), and men (man + plural),
with two morphemes each and men’s, with three morphemes (man + plural +
possesive). Affixes are the bound morphemes which are added to a word which
change the meaning/category or the grammatical function of the word. The
classes of affixes are the prefix, infix, suffix, simulfix and confix. Prefix
is the affix which is added to the beginning of a word. Infix is the affix
which is added within a word. Suffix is the affix which is added to the end of
a word. The English suffix –s shows the grammatical information of plural: e.g.
chair → chairs. Simulfix is the affix which functions to build verb. Confix is
a pair of morphemes which has one meaning. English just recognizes three types
of affixes: prefixes, suffixes, and confixes. E.g.: prefixes un-(unhappy),
il-(illegal), im-(impolite), ex-(exchange); suffixes –fy (codify),
-ness(bitterness), -al (instrumental), -er (leader); confixes il- + -al
(illogical), in-+ -ion (indecision), im-+ -al (immaterial).
b. Word
A word can
be a free morpheme or the combination of morphemes which are considered by the
linguists as the smallest unit and can be used as a free (single) form
(Kridalaksana, 1996:98). In other words, a word can be a free morpheme or the
combination of free and bound morphemes. For example, blue and sky are free which
constitute the smallest meaningful unit and can be used as a single (free)
form. The word unemployment is an example of a word as the
combination of three morphemes, i.e. two bound
morphemes un- and -ment and a free morpheme employ. In the word level, we could
find word classes, which are traditionally known as parts of speech. They are:
noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction and
interjection. Words are differentiated by their function and content. Based on
the function words can be classified into seven groups. They are: pronouns,
determiners, auxiliaries, qualifiers, prepositions and conjunctions. Whereas if
it is based on the content, words are classified into four forms. They are:
nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs (Gatherer, 1986: 118).
1. Noun
Noun is the name of thing, quality, person, and place
(Manser; 1996:281). Nouns can be classified into:
A. Common Noun
Common Noun is a name given in common to every person
or thing of the same class or kind, for example: girl, boy, book, and city.
Common Nouns can be classified into Collective Nouns and Abstract Nouns. A
Collective Noun is the name of a number (collection) of persons or things taken
together and spoken of as one whole, for example: crowd, mob, team, flock. An Abstract
Noun is usually the name of a quality, action, or state considered apart from
the object to which it belongs; for example:
Quality: goodness, holiness, and honesty
Action: movement, laughter, and hatred
State: poverty, death, and sickness
B. Proper Nouns
Proper Noun is the name of some particular person or
place. Proper Nouns are always written with a capital letter at the beginning;
for example: Jenny, Jakarta, and Indonesia.
2. Pronoun
Pronoun is a word that is used instead of a noun
(Manser, 1996:330). It can be divided into:
A. Personal Pronoun
Subjective form (I, you, e, they, he, she, it)
Objective form
(me, you, us, them, him, her, it)
B. Possesive Pronoun, examples: mine, your, ours,
theirs, his, hers, its.
C. Reflexive Pronoun, examples:myself, yourself,
ourselves, their selves, himself, herself, itself.
3. Adjective
Adjective is a word that describes noun (Manser;
1996:5). There are some
kinds of adjective. They are:
a.
Demonstrative: this, that, these, those
b. Distributive:
each, every
c. Quantitative: some, any, little, much, many
4. Verb
Verb is a word that shows what a person or thing does
or is (Manser; 1996:458). Verb can be divided into four forms, namely:
1. Present or Simple Form of the verb such as drink,
and talk
2. Past Form of the verb such as drunk, and talked
3. Continuous Form such as drinking, and talking
4. Past Participle such as drank, and talked.
Verbs in English are divided into two parts by the
objects. They are transitive verb and intransitive verb. A verb, which needs
directly an object, is called transitive verb. Whereas a verb which does not
need an object is called intransitive verb.
5. Adverb
Adverb is a word that adds information to a verb,
adjective, phrase, or another adverb (Manser; 1996:6). There are some types of
adverbs, they are:
1. Adverb of manner such as quickly, fast, well, etc.
2. Adverb of place such as here, there, etc.
3. Adverb of time such as now, soon, today, yesterday,
etc.
4. Adverb of frequency such as always, never, seldom,
etc.
5. Adverb of degree such as too, rather, fairly, very,
etc.
6. Adverb of affirmation and negation such as
certainly, surely, etc.
7. Adverb of reason such as hence, therefore, etc.
6. Preposition
Preposition is word normally placed before noun and
pronoun and also can be followed by verb (A.J. Thomson 1986: 91). It can be
simple (consists of only one word) and complex (consists more than one word).
Examples: Simple Preposition : at the time, from you,
in the house.
Complex Preposition: because of going there, instead
of staying here.
7. Conjunction
Conjunction is word that joins words, phrases, or
sentences (Manser; 1996:84). It can be divided into:
A. Coordinating Conjunction that joins unit of equal
cases.
Example: The pen and the pencil (joins the phrases)
B. Subordinating Conjunction that introduces
subordinates adverb or noun clauses and provides information on when, why, or
how an event occurred.
Example: The teacher is angry because the student
speaks loudly
8. Interjection
Interjection is word that expresses emotion, greeting,
and surprise, (Manser; 1996:220). It takes no part of the structure of the
sentence. It standsalone.
Examples: Hi! Shalom! Oh! Ouch!
C. Phrase
Phrase is a group of words that lacks either a subject
or a predicate or both. Phrase is usually classified into types, depending on
the word class of the head (the most important or the most essential word in
the phrase). A phrase does not contain a finite verb and does not have a
subject predicate structure, for example
smart boy, expensive new car, etc.
Based on the central word or head, phrases can be
classified into noun
phrase, verb phrase, adverb phrase, prepositional
phrase, and numeral phrase.
Each kind of phrases increases its identity from the
word-class of the head word.
1. Nominal
Phrase
Nominal phrase is a phrase composed of a head and
modifiers that the headword is a noun. The function of Noun Phrase in sentences
is as Subject (S), Object (O) and Complement (C). On below examples the letter
M stands for Modifier and H stands for Headword.
Examples:
a. Two eggs are just enough for me. NP: S
M H
b. She bought red shoes yesterday NP: O
M H
c. He is a good policeman NP: C
M H
2. Adjectival Phrase
Adjectival
Phrase is a group of words that does the function of an adjective.
Examples:
a. Very slow
M H
b. Extremely hot
M H
c. Too old
M H
3. Adverbial Phrase
Adverbial phrase is a group of words that does the
work of an adverb.
Example:
a. Very quickly
M H
b. So hard
M H
c. Rather quietly
M H
4. Prepositional Phrase
Prepositional phrase is a group of words that contains
no verb and thatbegins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun (the
object of thepreposition).
Examples:
a. After the show we had dinner.
b. A page with no writing on it.
c. A boy with blue eyes .
5. Verbal phrase
Verbal phrase contains a verb part that functions not
as a verb, but rather as a noun or an adjective. Verbals are either
infinitives, present participles, or past participles (non - finite verb
forms). As opposed to absolute phrases, verbal phrases modify part of a
sentence but not the whole sentence.
Examples:
a. We used the last day of our trip to visit the
Berlin zoo
[Infinitive phrase modifying]
b. Visiting the Berlin zoo, we were amazed by the
beauty of the exotically
designed animal enclosures. [Present participial
phrase functions as an adjective modifying we]
c. The children, amazed by the animal exhibits, didn't
want to leave the Berlin zoo. [Past participial phrase functions as an
adjective modifying the children]
d. Clauses
A group of words that forms part of a sentence and has
a subject and a predicate of its own is called a clause. These are clauses: ecology
is a science
because pollution causes cancer
These are not
clauses: to protect the environment
after working
all day
There are two kinds of clauses: independent and
dependent. An independent clause contains a subject and a verb and expresses a
complete thought. It can stand alone as a sentence by itself. An independent
clause is formed with: subject + verb (complement)
Examples: -Students normally spend four years in
college.
- Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry
quiz.
A dependent clause begins with a subordinator such as
when, while, if,
that, or who. A dependent clause does not express a
complete thought and cannot
stand alone as a sentence by itself. A dependent
clause is formed with:
Subordinator + subject + verb (+complement)
Examples: -when they come to Hollywood…
-when Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry
quiz…
Based on the function in the sentence, dependent
clause can be divided into noun clause, adjective clause, and adverb clause. Noun
clause is a dependent clause which functions like a noun or noun phrase
(Richards et al, 1985:192). It is used in the same way that any noun is used.
Noun clauses are generally introduced by who, whom, which, that, etc.
Noun clauses are used as: a. Subject of the sentence
Examples: How to make a good presentation will be our
topic next week.
b. Direct object of the verb
Examples: Do you know what he did to the girl last
night .
c. Predicate noun
Examples: Your biggest fault was why you let the door
unlocked.
d. Object of a preposition
Examples: Everything depends on what the director will
decide in that meeting.
Adjective clause is a dependent clause which functions
like adjective and used to modify or describe noun or pronoun and object.
Adjective clauses are generally introduced by the conjunction of the clause
such as who, whose, that, etc.
For example, The boy whose father is a director in
that office was arrested by the police yesterday. In this complex sentence, the
simple sentence is the boy was arrested by the police yesterday, the adjective
clause modifies or describes the subject of the sentence, boy.
Another example
of the adjective clause that modifies the object of the sentence : She is wearing
a skirt which she just bought this morning. The simple sentence of the complex
sentence is she is wearing a skirt; the adjective clause describes the object,
skirt.
Adverb clause is a dependent clause which functions as
an adverb and used to modify or add the meaning to the verb (predicate) of the
complex sentence. It modifies verb from various aspects such as reason, place,
time, degree, manner, purpose, etc. For example:
a. She went home because she was sick. (adverb clause
of reason)
b. It is the office where he works. (adverb clause of
place)
c. We arrived before they came. (adverb clause of
time)
d. She will come here as soon as she can. (adverb
clause of degree)
e. They danced as if they were birds. (adverb clause
of manner)
f. I woke up early so that I could catch the bus.
(adverb clause of purpose)
E Sentence
Many grammarians define what sentence is. Matthews
(1980: 26) in his book Syntax states, “Sentence is a series of words in
connected speech or writing, forming the grammatically complete expression of a
single thought.” Morever Richard et al (1985: 255) says, “sentence is the
largest units of grammatical organization within which parts of speech (e.g.
nouns, verbs, adverbs) and grammatical clauses (e.g. word, phrase, clause) are
said to function.”
Based on the types, sentence can be classified into:
a. Simple sentence. It contains only one predicate or
an independent clause. For
example: They
bring the money.
b. Compound sentence. It contains two or more
independent clause which is
joined by
conjunction: and, or, but, semi-colon (;), and transition word: however,
besides, moreover, etc.
For example: I’ll either phone you or I’ll send you a
letter.
c. Complex sentence. It contains one independent
clause and one or more dependent clause in addition to its independent and they
are joined by the subordinating conjunction. For example: Everyone is happy
because the girl found the dog that had been lost.
d. Compound-complex sentence. It contains two or more
independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses. For example: Because the
work was finished, the workers went to the office and asked for the money they
had earned.
The Grammatical Units of Language in Bahasa Indonesia
1 Morfem (morpheme)
Chaer (1994 : 146) states that morfem adalah satuan
bentuk bahasa terkecil yang mempunyai makna secara relatif stabil dan tidak
dapat dibagi atas bagian bermakna yang lebih kecil (morpheme is the smallest
meaningful unit of a language). It consists of:
a. Morfem
Bebas (free
morpheme)
Yaitu morfem yang secara potensial dapat berdiri
sendiri dalam suatu bangun kalimat (morpheme that can stand alone as a word in
a sentence)
Examples: saya (I), duduk (sit), kursi (chair)
Morfem Terikat (bound morpheme)
Yaitu morfem yang tidak mempunyai potensi untuk berdiri
sendiri dan yang selalu terikat dengan morfem lain untuk membentuk ujaran
(morpheme that cannot stand alone as an independent word but must be attached
to another morpheme/ word)
Example: berjalan ( the word berjalan consists of two
morphemes, i.e. bound morpheme ber- and free morpheme –jalan).
b. Kata (word)
Kata adalah satuan bahasa yang dapat berdiri sendiri,
terjadi dari morfem tunggal ataupun gabungan morfem (word is a single unit of a
language that can stand alone, that is formed from a single morpheme or more). According
to Kridalaksana (1990: 49-103), there are 12 parts of speech in Bahasa
Indonesia. They are: verba, ajektiva, nomina, pronominal, numeralia, adverbial,
interogativa, demonstrativa, artikula, preposisi, konjungsi,and interjeksi.
1. Verba (verb)
Verb is a word that expresses an action or state of
existence. Verba divided into 2 parts by form. They are: verba dasar bebas and
verba turunan.
A. Verba Dasar Bebas (free verb)
Yaitu verba yang berupa morfem dasar bebas (free
morpheme).
For examples: tidur(sleep), makan(eat), minum(drink).
B. Verba Turunan (verb that has some processes)
Yaitu verba yang mengalami afiksasi, reduplikasi, and
gabungan proses (the verb that gets affixation, reduplication, and combining
process).
2.Ajektiva
Ajektiva adalah kata yang memberi keterangan
tentang sifat khusus,
watak, atau keadaan benda (word that describes noun).
It divided into 2 parts.
A. Ajektiva dasar Bebas (base adjective)
Examples: bodoh (stupid), besar
(big), cemburu(jealous), miskin (poor)
B. Ajektiva Turunan (Adjective that has some
processes)
-Ajektiva turunan berafiks (adjective that has
affixes)
Example: terhormat (prefik ter-follows the adjective
hormat)
- Ajektiva turunan bereduplikasi (adjective that
reduplicates)
Example: kecil-kecil (there is a reduplication of
ajectiva dasar)
-Ajektiva turunan berasal dari berbagai proses
(adjective that comes from
some process)
Examples: tertekan (deverbalisasi/ adjective comes
from the verb tekan)
mendua (denumeralia/ adjective comes from the numeral dua)
3. Nomina (Noun)
Nomina adalah
kata yang menyatakan nama benda (word that describes
things). It consists of:
A. Nomina Dasar (base noun)
Examples:
buku (book), pensil (pencil), cermin (mirror)
B. Nomina Turunan (noun that has some processes)
-Nomina berafiks (noun that has affixation)
Example: keuangan (uang exist between prefix ke and
suffix-an)
-Nomina reduplikasi (noun that has reduplication)
Examples: rumah-rumah, baju-baju (reduplication of nomina
dasar)
-Nomina yang berasal dari berbagai proses (noun that
comes from some
processes)
Example: pemandian (deverbalisasi/ noun comes from the
verb mandi)
4. Pronomina (Pronoun)
Pronomina
adalah kata yang berfungsi untuk menggantikan nomina (word
that used instead of noun). It can be divided into:
A. Pronomina Takrif, yang menggantikan nomina yang
refereensinya jelas
(pronoun that replaces noun that has clear
references). It consists of:
Pronomina
Persona I : saya, aku (singularis); kami,
kita (pluralis)
Pronomina
Persona II : kamu, engkau, anda
(singularis); kalian (pluralis)
Pronomina
Persona III : ia, beliau (singularis);
mereka (pluralis)
B. Pronomina Tak Takrif, yang tidak merujuk pada orang
atau benda tertentu
(pronoun that does not consider to anyone or anything,
does not have clear
references)
Examples:
sesuatu (something), seseorang (someone)
5. Numeralia (Numeral)
Numeralia
adalah kata yang dipakai untuk menyatakan jumlah benda
(word that used to state the quantity of things). It
can be divided into:
A. Numeralia Takrif, yang menyatakan jumlah yang tentu
(numeral that
considers the certain count)
e.g. numeralia utama (main numeral) : satu (one), dua(two)
numeralia
tingkat (degree numeral) : kedua
(second)
numeralia
kolektif (collective numeral) : ribuan
(thousand)
B. Numeralia Tak Takrif, yang menyatakan jumlah tak
tentu (numeral that
considers the uncertain count)
Examples:
beberapa (some), tiap-tiap (each), semua (all), sebagian (half).
6. Adverbia (Adverb)
Adverbial
adalah kata yang memberi keterangan kepada kata kerja atau
kata keadaan (word that explain verb or adverb). It
can be divided into:
A. Adverbia
Dasar (base adverb)
Examples:
selalu (always), pernah (ever), jarang (seldom)
B. Adverbia Turunan (adverb that has some processes)
Examples:
belum-belum, agak-agak (reduplication)
terlalu,
terlampau (adverb that has prefix ter-)
7. Interogativa (Interrogative)
Interogative
adalah kata interogatif yang berfungsi menggantikan sesuatu
yang ingin diketahui oleh pembicara (word that
replaces something that want to
be known by the speaker). There are 3 kinds of
interrogative, they are:
A. Interogativa Dasar (base interrogative)
Examples:
apa (asking something), kapan (asking time)
B. Interogativa Turunan (interrogative that has some
processes)
Examples:
berapa (has prefix ber-), apa-apaan (has reduplication)
8. Demonstrativa (Demonstrative)
Demonstrativa
adalah kata yang berfungsi untuk menunjukkan sesuatu di
dalam maupun di luar wacana (word that refers to
something). There are two
kinds of demonstrative, they are:
A. Demonstrativa Dasar (base demonstrative)
Examples:
itu (that is), ini (this is)
B. Demonstrativa Turunan (demonstrative that has some
processes)
Examples:
di situ (has prefix di-), di sana-sini (has reduplication)
9. Artikula (Article)
Artikula
adalah kategori yang mendampingi nomina dasar, nomina
deverbal, pronominal, verba pasif (word that follows
base noun, noun, pronoun,
and passive verb). It can be divided into:
A. Artikula yang bertugas untuk mengkhususkan nomina
singularis jadi bermakna
spesifik (to specify noun).
Examples:
si, sang, sri
B. Artikula yang bertugas untuk mengkhususkan suatu
kelompok (to specify
group of things)
Examples:
para, kaum, umat
10. Preposisi (Preposition)
Preposisi
adalah kata yang terletak sebelum noun atau pronoun dan
berfungsi untuk menyatakan tempat (word that placed
before noun or pronoun to
show place). It can be divided into:
A. Preposisi Dasar (base preposition)
Examples:
di, ke, dari
B. Preposisi Turunan (preposition that has some
processes)
Examples:
sepanjang (deajektiva/ preposition comes from adjective)
11. Konjungsi (Conjunction)
Konjungsi
adalah kategori yang menghubungkan bagian-bagian yang
setataran maupun tidak setataran (word that relating
statements). It is divided into:
A. Konjungsi Intra-kalimat, yang menghububgkan kata
dengan kata, frase
dengan fase, atau klausa dengan klausa (word that
relates word and word,
phrase and phrase, or clause and clause)
Examples:
aku dan kamu (word and word), para guru atau para murid (phrase
and phrase)
B Konjungsi Ekstra-kalimat, yang menghubungkan kalimat
dengan kalimat atau
paragraf dengan paragraph (word that relates
sentence and sentence or
paragraph and paragraph)
Examples:
Rosmauli makan nasi kemudian dia pergi ke kampus (sentence and
sentence)
12. Interjeksi (Interjection)
Interjeksi adalah
kategori yang bertugas mengungkapkan perasaan
pembicara (word that used to express speaker’s
feeling).
Examples: aduh! (to express illness)
ah, yaa!
(to express disappointed)
3 Frase (phrase)
Kridalaksana
(1984 : 53) states “Frase adalah gabungan dua kata atau
lebih yang bersifat non predikatif”. (Phrase is a group of words that does not
contain predicate). There are few kinds of phrases:
1. Frase Nominal (noun phrase)
Frase nominal
adalah frase yang memiliki distribusi yang sama dengan
kata benda (phrase that function as a noun).
Examples: baju baru (new clothes)
gedung sekolah (school building)
musik klasik (classic music)
2. Frase Verbal (verbal phrase)
Frase verbal
atau frase golongan V ialah frase yang mempunyai distribusi
yang sama dengan kata verbal (phrase that functions as
a verb)
Examples: akan pergi (will go)
sudah datang (already come)
dapat menyanyi (can sing)
3. Frase Bilangan (numeral phrase)
Frase bilangan
ialah frase yang mempunyai distribusi yang sama dengan
kata bilangan (phrase that function as a numeral).
Examples: dua buah rumah (two houses)
lima botol bir (five bottles beer)
tiga puluh kilogram beras ( thirty kilograms rice)
4. Frase Keterangan (adverbial phrase)
Frase
keterangan ialah frase yang mempunyai distribusi yang sama dengan
kata keterangan (phrase that function as an adverb).
Examples: kemarin pagi (yesterday)
nanti malam (tonight)
besok sore (tomorrow)
5. Frase Depan
(prepositional phrase)
Frase depan
ialah frase yang terdiri dari kata depan
sebagai penanda,
diikuti oleh kata atau frase sebagai aksisnya (phrase
that always starts with a
preposition and functions as a modifier).
Examples: di sebuah rumah (in a house)
dari Surabaya (from Surabaya)
D. Klausa (Clause)
Kridalaksana ( 1984: 100) states “Klausa adalah satuan
gramatikal yang berupa kelompok kata, sekurang-kurangnya terdiri atas subjek
dan predikat dan berpotensi menjadi kalimat”. (Clause is a group of words that
forms part of a sentence and has a Subject and a Predicate of its own). Clauses
can be classified into two classes:
1. Klausa Bebas (independent clause)
Klausa bebas
adalah klausa yang secara potensial dapat menjadi kalimat
bebas (clause that may stand alone as a sentence).
Examples: Nenekku masih cantik. (My grandma is still
pretty)
Saya bangun pukul enam setiap pagi. (I wake up at six every morning)
2. Klausa Terikat (dependent clause)
Klausa terikat
adalah klausa yang tidak dapat berdiri sendiri sebagai kalimat tunggal mandiri, menjadi bagian
klausa lain atau bagian dari kalimat
majemuk bertingkat (clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence).
Examples: - Rina tidak masuk sekolah ( can stand
alone) karena tidak memiliki uang. (cannot stand alone) - ketika kami sedang
belajar (cannot stand alone)
E. Kalimat
(sentence)
Kridalaksana (1984 :83) states “Kalimat adalah satuan
bahasa yang
mengungkapkan pikiran secara utuh dan telah dibubuhi
intonasi atau tanda
baca”. (Sentence is a set of words which are tied
together and convey an idea
begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop).
There are some kinds of sentence, they are:
1. Kalimat Sederhana (Simple sentence)
Kalimat
sederhana adalah kalimat yang terdiri dari satu klausa (simple
sentence is a sentence which only contains of one
clause)
Examples: Dia sedang membaca majalah.(She is reading a
magazine)
Saya pergi ke sekolah setiap hari. (I go to school everyday)
2. Kalimat Luas
(Compound sentence)
Kalimat luas
adalah kalimat yang terdiri dari dua
klausa atau lebih
(sentence which contains two or more clauses)
Examples: Ia mengakui bahwa ia jatuh cinta kepadaku.
(He admits that he loves me)
Ia mengunci mobilnya, lalu masuk ke sebuah toko. (He
locked his car, then entered the shop)
Affixes
in English: analysis and implications
Most EFL researchers will agree that there is a strong relationship
between knowledge of word parts and overall vocabulary size, but the research
field has been strangely quiet over the last few decades, with only a dozen or
so meritable studies being carried out. This is surprising, considering the
salience of this issue and its implications. Bauer and Nation (1993) define a
word family as consisting of a “base form and all of its derived forms that can
be understood by a learner without having to learn each form separately”, e.g.
agree, agrees, agreeing, agreement, agreeable, disagrees, disagreement, etc.
Affixes, i.e. word parts, are the parts of words that attach to the base word
(agree) to create derived forms (agreement, etc). These distinguish between the
various members of a word family. In English, prefixes (such as pre- or un-)
cause a semantic change in the resulting derived form, whilst suffixes cause a
grammatical change.
Inflectional suffixes
(such as plural -s, -ing) indicate number and person but do not alter the base
word’s part of speech, and derivational suffixes normally cause a change in the
part of speech, such as forming the adjective agreeable from the verb agree. If
a word contains both a derivational and inflectional suffix, the inflectional
will always follow the derivational (e.g. agreements).
There have been many
studies attempting to calculate the prevalence of affixes in English, most of
which conclude that they are both frequent and useful. White, Power and White
(1989) found that by knowing the commonest meaning of the base word, the
meaning could be guessed in 60% of words with the prefixes un-, re-, dis-, and
in-. When the subjects knew less common meanings of the base word and were
aided by context, this rose to 80%. Nagy and Anderson (1984) showed how around
21.9% of all tokens in the corpus of printed school English were inflected, and
12.8% were inflected with a derivational suffix. Bird (1987) studied the
origins of the English lexicon, and found that although Germanic words prevail
in the first one thousand most frequent (base) words, after that Latin and
Hellenic words are more frequent. Words with classical roots are inflected more
often, and thus derivation occurs frequently in the English language.
Chronological literature review
Nation (1990: 31) compiled
a list of the aspects of knowledge that a speaker (L1 or L2) must possess both
receptively and productively to be able to say that they fully know a word.
They must master:
1. The spoken form of a word
2. The written form of a word
3. The grammatical behaviour of a word
4. The collocational behaviour of a word
5. How frequent the word is
6. The stylistic register constraints of a word
7. The conceptual meaning of a word
8. The associations a word has with other related words
Later (2001: 27), he amended the list and broke the types of knowledge into
categories:
Form
1. Spoken
2. Written
3. Word parts
Meaning
1. The ability to connect the form with the concept
2. Conceptual meaning and referents
3. Paradigmatic relations
Use
1. Grammatical behaviour
2. Collocations
3. Usage constraints, e.g. register, frequency
Based on Nation’s 1990
list, Schmitt and Meara (1997) hypothesised a link between two of these types
of knowledge, word associations and grammatical behaviour, and their contribution
to overall vocabulary size and general language proficiency. They focussed on a
particular aspect of grammatical behaviour; suffix knowledge, as morphological
mastery is acquired later than knowledge of word class or sentence order, and
thus students capable of using suffixes would have a large enough vocabulary to
cope with word associations. They hypothesised that: “greater knowledge of
suffixes would coincide with a larger vocabulary because it would facilitate
access to more members of a word’s family. This makes it more likely that an
appropriate word family member is available for use as an association (nature
might associate with agreeable but not with the more common agree)”
In other words, the more
derivatives of a word a learner is introduced to, the larger their vocabulary
becomes, and the more their semantic network of word associations in the L2
branches out and expands. They tested 3 groups of Japanese EFL learners, all of
whom had received at least 5 years’ instruction in English. From 20 prompt
words (all verbs) they were asked to list the allowable affixes from a list of
14 (-ed, -er, -s, -able, -en, -ly, -ion, -ment, -age, -ance/ence, -al, -ee,
-ive, and -ure) to test their receptive knowledge. To test their productive
knowledge, they were asked to list all allowable affixes for each of the 20
prompt words. The subjects completed the test at the beginning and the end of
the academic year. Although some have deemed the improvement of the subjects
‘modest’ (Milton, 2009: ch5), Schmitt and Meara found a statistically
significant correlation - 0.41 - between suffix knowledge and vocabulary size.
Perhaps unwisely, they were quick to interpret this as a causal relation,
positing that suffix knowledge resulted in a growth in vocabulary size. Milton
(2009: ch5) points out that this could easily be reversed; a larger vocabulary
may be necessary to encounter a suffix enough times and fully appreciate its
“significance”.
Mochizuki and Aikawa
(1997) were more cautious in their conclusions. They said that Schmitt and
Meara’s results in their 1997 study may have been corrupted by the subjects
knowing the words rather than the specific suffixes; in other words, Schmitt
and Meara tested the subjects’ knowledge of certain verbs and their allowable
derivations, rather than actual suffix knowledge. To demonstrate this, they
designed a study that singled out suffix knowledge from whole-word knowledge.
Based on Mochizuki’s 1998 study, they chose 13 prefixes and 16 suffixes based on
Bauer and Nation’s levels 3 to 6 and Nation’s 1996 vocabulary list. For each
prefix, they chose three words containing the prefix and made them
unrecognisable by changing the consonants. Underneath, 4 different meanings of
the prefix were given in Japanese, one of which the subjects had to chose. Here
is an example:
redronuce reuzipe refait
(1) together (2) before (3) extra (4) again
For each suffix, three
words containing the suffix were made into pseudo words by changing their
consonants, and the subjects were asked to select the correct part of speech
from four options: noun, verb, adjective, adverb. Here is an example: rombortable quifable slomitable n. v. a.
ad.
They noted an even
stronger relationship between affix knowledge and vocabulary size (0.58 with
prefixes, 0.54 with suffixes, and 0.65 combined scores). On the whole their
test group was much the same as Schmitt and Meara’s (high school and university
students, with Japanese as their L1), but the size was much greater (403
compared to 95 in Schmitt and Meara’s).
In a paper submitted to
System in October 2008 entitled “Suffix knowledge: acquisition and
applications”, (we shall refer to it as the ‘System paper’) researchers
conducted a study on an high-ability EFL group (medicine undergraduates) and an
medium-ability EFL group (engineering undergraduates), both in a Thai
university. The subjects were asked to translate 16 base words and 16 derived
forms, from a total of 32 word families. A week later, they were asked to
translate 16 derived forms of the base words in test 1, and the base words of
the derived forms in test 1. Unlike other studies previously discussed, they
used words for the Academic Word List (AWL), as they were focussing on the relevance
of affix knowledge in English for Academic Purposes (EAP). It is perhaps more
relevant in this aspect than any other, as academic jargon is more formal and
is ripe for morphological analysis, as most of the words have classical roots –
85% of the AWL is of Greek or Latin origin.
The System paper found
that the high-ability group had a larger vocabulary and showed signs of word
building, and the medium-ability group (with a smaller vocabulary) showed
almost no word building capabilities. They came to a rather different
conclusion from other similar studies; that derived forms – when given - are
learnt alongside their base words, but they (i.e. their morphological
characteristics) cannot be used to infer the meanings of new words. They advised
teachers to focus less on morphological break-down activities and more on the
provision of derived forms. They cite Bybee (1995: 430), the emergentist, who
said that sets of words sharing semantic and phonological patterns reinforce
each other and create emergent generalisations. The G2 learners “clearly” had
some mental representations of affixation in English, derived from the
frequency of these items. They declared that the word-building strategy in the
classroom “may appear to represent a plausible short-cut to vocabulary
acquisition”, but is unlikely to be fruitful.
Importance of research into affix
acquisition and determinants
Bauer and Nation (1993)
explicated the breadth of applications brought by research into word families
and affix acquisition in relation to overall vocabulary size. In pedagogy,
systematic word-building strategies and a deeper understanding of affixation
could increase learners’ vocabularies with less effort than learning each word
piecemeal, creating a “graded syllabus” in TEFL. In L2 teaching, when coming
across a word in class the teacher can offer some derivatives (e.g. happy –
unhappy, happiness), which is much less time-consuming and memory-loading than
learning each word individually. Teachers may become attuned to the most useful
affixes to teach their students; those that need more emphasis or are more
challenging to learn, and which are appropriate to their stage of learning.
This standard definition
could also act as a reference point in psycholinguistics and linguistics
developmental research, shed more light on the question of lexical storage,
viz., is each derived word stored separately in the brain or are derived forms
‘constructed’ to order from their parts?
Bauer a nd Nation argue
for formalising the criteria for vocabulary calculation; in other words, should
word families be counted as one word (the base word) or each of its members be
counted separately? Some consider any change, including capitalisation, to
result in a new word. Others discount inflectional suffixes, others discount
both inflectional and derivational suffixes. Standardising the definition of
the vocabulary unit and its statistical value in vocabulary size would allow
results to be reliably compared. Gardner (2007), however, has some reservations
regarding the use of whole word families as a counting unit in vocabulary
calculation: there is a risk that a learner’s ability may be underestimated. He
says that for a learner from a non-Romance L1, high grammatical competence is
required even to master 3rd person singular –s, but this competence would be
disregarded in a student evaluation. On the other side of the coin, Bauer and
Nation (1993) warn that an overly conservative estimate of word family size would
result in many more items to be learned and taught separately.
The main determinants of affix
acquisition
Kwon (2005) gives an
overview of morpheme studies in the last 4 decades, and discusses driving
forces behind morpheme acquisition. She says that the majority of research into
determinants was carried out in the 1980’s, but researchers were driven by
their own hypotheses and tended to focus on a single determinant, rather than
considering a multifaceted contribution to morpheme acquisition. After the
historical survey, she foregrounds 3 primary “putative determinants” of
morpheme acquisition that have been most frequently cited by researchers are
semantic complexity, input complexity, and native-language transfer.
Semantic complexity can refer
to affixal polysemy; whether a form expresses more than one meaning. An example
would be –th, which occurs in Bauer and Nation’s Level 3 when used in sixth or
twelfth, and Level 6 when used in warmth or breadth. Brown (1973) established a
complexity hierarchy, in which morphemes with multiple meanings (grammatical or
semantic) would be acquired later than those with only one meaning or function.
Semantic or conceptual complexity strongly highlights differences between L1
and L2 speakers: L2s already have a concept of time, and so find it easier to
learn the past tense, as they only need learn the form and not the concept.
Input frequency denotes
the frequency at which a given structure occurs in the
language to which the learner is exposed. There are disagreements over the
mechanisms behind this determinant: on one side of the fence are the
behaviourists, who say that the learner hears and imitates frequently used
structures; and on the other side are the nativists, who say that hearing the
structure activates the learner’s Language Acquisition Device (LAD- Chompsky
1981). Larsen-Freeman (1976) propose that input frequency is the principle
determinant in the order of L2 acquisition.
The third putative
determinant discussed by Kwon is native-language transfer, that similar
structures in the L1 will facilitate learning and different structures will
deter learning in L2 acquisition. Many studies carried out in the 1970s
(including Dulay and Burt 1974, Fathman 1975, and Larsen-Freeman 1976) examined
subjects from a variety of L1s in a single study, and harvested results that
suggested the order of acquisition does not differ greatly and thus cannot be
determined by a learner’s L1. Some studies, however, found elements of L1
transfer in the acquisition of certain ‘foreign’ structures, such as the
placement of verbal negation in German EFL learners (Wode 1977), acquisition of
English plural -s (Zehler 1982), and the slower article acquisition in a
Chinese child than a Spanish child learning English (Zobl 1982). She concludes
by saying native-language transfer should no longer be dismissed, that the
mechanism “plays an important role in L2 acquisition” (p. 15).
6.3 Affixes
The process of combining sememes to produce more complex
expressions is well indicated in the following list of affixes and compounds
such as that given in Tata Bahasa Baku.283 The following prefixes are worth
particular attention because they seem to have definite prominence in
contemporary Indonesian.
pasca-
pra- post pre purna-
swa-
post, after,
super self
These prefixes may partly represent a growth in the
capacity of Indonesian to represent international concepts. They may also
represent a patterning after English forms. This makes translation simpler and
easier to monitor. Such a practice does not invalidate previously existing
methods of expressing intended meaning in other ways, but as one way of
conveying a new form
translation can readily produce text that makes effective use of English phrases
and even result in change to Indonesian. Prefixes derived from Sanskrit are
evidence of a philological resource that has been brought into play to equip
Bahasa Indonesia with a capacity to express flexibly an externally presented
challenge, that is the felt need to develop effective equivalents (padanan) for
foreign terms.
A fuller list of new combinations is as follows
|
Unsur Pembentuk
Combining Element
|
Bentukan
Compund Form
|
Padanan
Equivalent
|
|
alih
bawah
lepas
adi-
antar-
awa-
lir-
pasca-
pra-
pramu-
purna-
swa-
-wan
-wati
|
alih aksara,alih tulis,alih teknologi
bawah normal, bawah permukaan
lepas landas,lepas pantai
adikarya, adikuasa
antardepartemen, antarbangsa
awaair, awalengas
lirintan, lirruang
pascapanen
prasejarah,prasangka
pramugari,pramuniaga,pramuwisata
purnawaktu
swasembada,swalayan
ilmuwan
seniwati
|
Transliteration,transcript,technology,transfer
Subnormal,subsurface
Takeoff, offshore
Masterpiece, superpower
Interdepartemental,international
Dewater,dehumidify
Diamondlike,spacelike
postharvest
prehistory,prejudice
stewardess,sales person,tour guide
full-time
selfreliance,selfservice
scientist
woman artist
|
Translation of difficult text can be carried out after exacting analysis of
the content and import of a saying, but perhaps more efficiently it could
happen as a trial and error process of intuitive creation of an equivalent—some
kind of intuition appears likely because phrases are less likely than
individual words to be in a dictionary, or even if they are in the dictionary
the equivalent given may be unacceptable to the translator. Translation of
Indonesian and English proverbs mostly precludes using a proverb in one
language to equate to a proverb in the other, and there is risk of serious
error in attempting to do this by the use of reference sources. Embedded
proverbs and quotations may be unconsciously used and an original saying may be
virtually lost.
Blending, Cliping, Acronym
Hopefully you have not forgotten
these terminologies. Your module two on vocabulary that you studied in the
first semester says that: "Blending is the fusion of two words into one,
usually the first part one word with the last part of the other so that the
resultant blend consists of both original meanings, e.g.: motel, brunch,
fridge, smog".
You still remember the meanings of these
blendings, do you? If you don't, study again your vocabulary lessons, will you?
Clipping is a process in which a word ia formed by shortening a longer word,
e.g.: zoo dorm, mag, pub, ads. You also have many clippings in Indonesian.
Acronym is the result of forming a word from the first letter or letters of
each word in a phrase, e.g. NASA, VIP, YMCA, AIDS. These systems of word
formation are not only found in English but also in Indonesian. Look at the
examples below:
Satpam, Hansip, Kanwil, Kades,
Jatim, Perek.
Nur (for Nurhadi), kek (for kakek),
pak (for Bapak).
KK, LSD, ABRI. AND, PBB, POMG, RSU.
It is sometime difficult, if not
impossible, to find the lexical equivalent of either English blending, clipping
and acronym in Indonesian or Indonesian blending, clipping and acronym in
English. What is the Indonesian word for 'motel’ or 'brunch'? And what is the
English word for 'hansip' or 'Kanwil'? The easiest way to translate those words
is to explain the meaning of their components, e.g.;
motel = motor + hotel = hotel untuk
para pelancong yang berkendaraan mobil
brunch = breakfast + lunch = makan
pagi dan siang sekaligus
hansip = pertahanan + sipil = civil
defence
Kanwil = Kantor + wilayah =
Regional Office
Thus in this case there is no word
for word translation. Or, if the new word has become very popular, you don't
even have to translate it, just write as it is. For examples you have words
such as NASA, UNICEF, WHO, and AIDS which you don't have to translate because;
they are quite popular. It is funny that we have etc in Indonesian which is
identical with the English etc. We also have PM which can be interpreted as
Perdana Perdana Menteri or Prime Minister. But these are only few coincidences.
In translating English blendings,
clippings or acronyms into Indonesian you should first of all try to find the
original word or words. Sometimes an acronym or a clipping has more than one
meaning, thus the context will help you identify the intended one. Look at
these examples below:
1. We arrived here at 7 p.m. (post
maridem = sore)
2. The p.m. will be done as (post
mortem = pemeriksaan mayat)
soon as the doctor arrives.
3. The British P.M. is a really
tough (Prime Minister = Perdana Menteri)
woman.
4. The new P.M. has been in the
(Provost Marshal = opsir tentara yang
army for more than ten years.
bertugas menjaga keamanan)
5. A sub is a warship able to
operate (Submarine = kapal selam)
under the surface of the sea.
6. Chris is a sub teacher for Mrs.
White (Substitute = pengganti)
while she is on official leave.
7. The monument was erected by
public (subscription = sumbangan)
sub.
In translating English acronyms or
blendings into Indonesian sometimes you have to make lexical adjustments. Look
at the examples below:
U.F.O. = Unidentified Flying Object
1 2 3
tak dikenal terbang benda
1 2 3
= Benda terbang tak dikenal =
Piring terbang
Subway = sub railway
1 2
di bawah jalan kereta api
1 2
= Jalan kereta api di bawah =
kereta api di bawah tanah
Translation Style
Style is something that cannot be handled through dictionaries
because it extends very much more widely than the domain of words and phrases.
Style needs to be consistent across whole texts and must sometimes even be consistent
with writings outside the text at hand. Style is difficult to master because it
relies on extensive personal experience in acquiring language. It
cannot be validated by checking individual words in a
dictionary, for example. Although style includes word usage, it also covers use
of functional particles and organisation of ideas within sentences and
paragraphs as well as
in longer
discourses. It is difficult to imagine that a non-native speaker can learn
expression in the target language so well that a valid and consistent style will
emerge. Even if the fitting of language to thought is carried out to a high level,
that is assuming that every word is used precisely correctly, the question
remains of whether the work can be syntactically flawless. The
Polish speaking Joseph Conrad apparently learned
English only in his late teens, but acquired a style of moving and graphic
beauty in his novels; yet it is not at all clear whether his grammatical,
syntactic and lexical work was not checked by others. If a non-native speaker
has translated material into the target language, above all it is probably the
area of style as well as syntactic and lexical usage that needs serious
attention. It would be unwise, generally speaking, for a translator to handle
translation into a language that is not his or her native language. Furthermore
it is important that the native speaker checking the translation has a good
educational background that will enable adequate reconciliation of matters of
style. At worst, poor style can make an intelligible translation a laughing
stock.
Affectation
may be defined here as the excessive display of stylistic knowledge in order to
impress. In Indonesia, exhibitionism through using English terms is well enough
known. In English, the use of Indonesian terms may betray a use of well known
terms as opposed to words that the translator may not know very well—a desire
to display knowledge of Indonesian which
may often be caught out as the speaker consistently
errs by using inappropriate terms which are in the end quite unnecessary
anyway. At its best, affectation may be a harmless personal stamp that is left
on a conversation. At its worst, affectation may be a heavy burden occasioned
by overweening pride. This perhaps bland observation has relevance to the
process of change in the
Indonesian language. The process may not be able to
measure in a quantitative sense, but it does seem quite rapid. Yet to follow on
from the logic of the preceding paragraph, this hardly matters. Older and
contemporary Indonesian translates into contemporary English, older and
contemporary English translates into contemporary Indonesian, and both older
Indonesian and older English may on occasion translate into contemporary
language. Contemporary language will not tend to be translated into older
language, partly because there would be little point in such an exercise, and
partly because there is barely a pool of expertise to effect such translation.
To try to depict this situation metaphorically, the gyroscope perhaps suits the
situation best. It is the living language of the time that is the standard. It
follows that those who exercise mastery over that living language are the ones
equipped to write it and to decide what fits its canon and what does not. From
the propositions made in this thesis about the process of translation there are
certain conclusions for the management of translation. On the one hand, the
ability of the translator is strictly limited by proficiency in the non native
language. It can even be limited by proficiency in the native language, though
this is an undesirable state of affairs. The maintenance of databases follows
from this limitation. On the other hand, there is clearly a need for flair in
the handling of translation, and this is part of the work of translation that comes
from individual talent. In managing a translation office, both aspects of
translation are needed.
In
practice translation often involves deadlines, and the problems that need to be
solved are the immediate ones involved in a particular paragraph or a particular
sentence. However if more time is available it is possible to apply methods of
analysis that throw more light on the processes of translation that are going
on. A translation performed under pressure of time is unlikely to be the same
as one that emerges from a relaxed and leisurely situation—though it is also
arguable that translating under pressure can imply heightened learning and more
efficient methodology.
Translation
often involves summary, and it often will involve the translator’s comment.
This is something that is inadequately treated in presentations of translation
ethics. The fact is that there will often be demand for user summaries, and it
seems reasonable to say that the translator would be the best one to do these.
Selection of Texts
In
seeking to define a methodology, the need for detailed reference and analysis
is in some conflict with the demand for an overview of what happens when
translation occurs. Part of this conflict relates to the fact that verbal commentary
must proceed seriatim. However despite the fact that the methodology emerging
from this chapter is still inchoate, it does emphasise the need for close
attention to particular cases of usage as they demonstrate the intricacies of
translation between Indonesian and English. It also emphasises the need for a
holistic approach which is prepared to take into account semantic as well as
syntactic issues. Apart from this, the methodology that emerges is tied into a
theory of translation as something that occurs as images rather than only
words. A methodology for translation could employ metaphorical
characterisations which are intrinsic to the translation process.
There
really is no problem in obtaining samples of Indonesian and English text. It is
not always so easy to find respective versions set side by side. Another stage
of research is the utilisation of a methodology adequate for the task of
drawing useful conclusions from analysis.
The symbolic and graphic illustrations are of course
not put forward in this chapter as objectively proven realities. They interact
with the analysis of text to form a body of theoretical material which is given
definition through the use of symbolic and modular themes and which at the same
time acts to confirm the reality of these themes. The concept of the text
provides a natural basis for the work of this thesis in identifying meaningful
cultural and linguistic elements that feature in the process of translation
between Indonesian and English. A textual approach to qualitative research
means that ethnography is used to observe organisationalevents and access
related textual or documentary data for exhaustive analysis. Researcher
observations and written documents are referred to as texts (Gephart 1993).
A researcher using the
approach seeks to account for how a given text is
made meaningful to readers
by previous (and later) texts and how meaning
is created for readers in
and by the text. The approach also seeks to uncover
the general conventions,
interests, and cultural practices that make the text
meaningful.182
Ambiguity, vagueness and contradiction are part of
life within cultures and between cultures. Research into processes of
translation are unlikely to eliminate all the fuzzy areas of language, but such
research may be able to clarify areas of comparatively good match between the
two languages as well as areas of mismatch.
PROBLEM OF BILINGUAL LEXICOGRAPHY
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