TRANSLATION PROBLEMS AND SOLVING: GRAMMATICAL ISSUES AND
CULTURAL ISSUES IN TRANSLATION
Nazilla Hamidah Suci Pramesthi 13020121140115
Advanced Translation D
English Department Faculty of Humanities
Diponegoro University
ABSTRACT
The process of translation is one of the factors that is very important for the translator. The
translation must be precise, transparent, and natural as a means of communication. When translating text
from the source language (SL) to the target language (TL), it can be challenging for the translator to locate
an appropriate word (TL). this article aims to discuss what problems are often encountered in the world of
translation in translating languages. In addition, it will explain how to overcome these problems. Therefore,
the writer will use research questions to help identify and discuss problems in the world of translation. The
writer will use three questions for this article: (1) What are the problems with translation issues? (2) How
do you solve the problem? and (3) Why did this problem occur? This article uses a qualitative descriptive
methodology. The data collection process was carried out by examining the questions asked during the
question-and-answer session for the presentation of advanced translation courses in progress. there are
several problems that occur, namely grammatical issues and cultural issues that often occur in the
translation process. These issues can be overcome by the translation process, using and determining
translation techniques, types of translation, and translation strategies, then critiquing the translation at the
end so that the translation can be accepted by the target language (TL).
Keywords: Translation Problems; Solution; Grammatical; Cultural; Idioms; Humor; Sarcasm
1. INTRODUCTION
In the 21st century, the progress of world development rests on integration and
globalization. It is widely recognized that nations are interconnected and inseparable from the
global community, and people depend on one another for businesses' survival, existence and
growth. At any time, people's need for communication and information exchange from one country
to another has increased significantly. However, due to the diversity of languages in the world, the
field of translation plays an important role in bridging language barriers and differences to facilitate
effective communication. Translation is a very complicated task, as Newmark (1988) explains. It
involves skillful efforts to convey written messages or statements from one language to another.
According to this definition, the essence of translation lies in preserving the message. Translated
messages should reflect the original source as closely as possible.
Translation has emerged as a very important field of study in our world today and goes
beyond the field of education. Then, with the rapid advancement of technology, translation now
plays an important role in almost every aspect of human life. Basically, translation involves
transforming language from one form to another. This includes modifying words, phrases, clauses,
sentences, and even entire paragraphs (surface structure). The translation process, as explained by
Munday (2008), requires the translation of the original text from the original language into a
different language by the translator. The purpose of translation is to divert messages or meanings
from the source text to the target text.
The process of translation is one of the factors that is very important for the translator. In
the process of translations, translators do a series of actions in their attempt to transfer a message
of a source language into a target language, Nida (1964) and Suryawinata (1982) see the translation
process consists of three types of activity: the analysis of source language text, (2) the transfer of
content or meaning or message, and (3) the restructuring in the target language.
The translation is the accurate transmission of a language in text form or source language
(SL) to another language or target language (TL) performed by a translator. In order to produce a
quality translation, the translation process must be accurate. (Catford, 1965:20) states that
translation means replacing textual material in one language (SL) with equivalent textual material
in other languages (TL). The translation must be precise, transparent, and natural as a means of
communication. When translating text from the source language (SL) to the target language (TL),
it can be challenging for the translator to locate an appropriate word (TL). For example, the
Indonesian term 'Lontong' has no equivalent in English. This event occurred because 'lontong' is
an Indonesian dish that signifies Indonesian culture. It happened because 'lontong' is Indonesian
food that means Indonesian culture. This means as the property of a language is influenced and
determined by the culture of a speech community (Larson, 1984:7). To solve such kind of this
issue in translating, a translator should carefully keep attention to every word that is translated
because it will influence the equivalence meaning between SL and TL on its translation. The
translator should consider the translation process to translate a text from the source language into
the target language. A translation is not an easy process because every language contains its
characteristics and culture (Darmayanti, 2020).
However, the issues that translators often face can cause translation errors or something
else. However, there is a difference between the terms mistake and error. According to Koller
(1979) via Dewi (2017), a translation error is an inequality between source text (ST) and target
text (TT) or the inadequacy of TT if it is viewed from the meaning equivalence of ST and TT.
Thus, a good translator should be able to translate many text types through the correct methods.
This article was created because there are still many people who have difficulty translating
the source language into the target language. Therefore, this article aims to discuss what problems
are often encountered in the world of translation in translating languages. In addition, it will
explain how to overcome these problems. Therefore, the writer will use research questions to help
identify and discuss problems in the world of translation. The writer will use three questions for
this article: (1) What are the problems with translation issues? (2) How do you solve the problem?
and (3) Why did this problem occur?
2. METHODS
This article uses a qualitative descriptive methodology. According to Sugiyono (2019: 18),
the qualitative descriptive research method is based on the philosophy of post-positivism which is
used to examine objects in natural conditions (actual conditions, unregulated or in experimental
conditions) where the researcher is the key instrument. The data collection process was carried out
by examining the questions asked during the question-and-answer session for the presentation of
advanced translation courses in progress, then drawing problems from these questions and from
the article data with the same discussion and then providing solutions to existing problems.
3. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Result
Based on the data found by the author in several previous research articles, from the
presentation topics that were brought by each group during advanced translation courses, and with
a list of questions in the question-and-answer session when presenting answers to three research
questions as well as data for further discussion. Thus, the answer to the first question is found,
what are the problems that occur in the translation issue? Namely, there are several problems that
occur, namely grammatical issues and cultural issues that often occur in the translation process.
Second, why does this problem occur? Grammatical and cultural differences between the source
language and the target language will cause problems in translation. Third, how to deal with it? the
way to overcome this problem is to know the translation process, translation methods, translation
strategies, types of translation, and translation criticism as the final touch so that the translation is
good and correct.
3.2 Discussion
3.2.1 Grammatical Issue
In prescriptive grammar, the term "grammatical error" in translation refers to the use of
incorrect, non-standard, or debatable language, such as a misplaced modifier or improper verb
form from the source language (SL) to the target language (TL). This can also be called misuse
and is different from the truth. Other synonymous terms for grammatical errors include error, bad
grammar, error, and misuse.
This problem is assumed from the fact that each language has its own way of conveying
messages, meaning that a language has certain characteristics that other languages do not have.
Therefore, with regard to translation, because the translator must try to find the closest equivalent
in terms of concepts or ideas in the Source Language (hereinafter SL) to those in the Target
Language (TL), similar structures or concepts will be easy to translate; However, those who were
different would lead to difficulties. These difficulties are considered to cause problems. The
problems that arise are:
A. Noun
The problems are shown by improper translation, especially in translating nouns dealing with
ordinary words in terms of the name of the country, the concept of time, and currency and culturespecific words.
Example: In Holland, skating is not looked upon a personal sport but as a national pastime.
Many people still have difficulty translating common words associated with country names. Many
still mistranslate the word Holland by translating it into Belanda and Holland. Even though
Holland is a common word, many people mistranslate the word. The correct translation is Negeri
Belanda.
This description shows that many still experience difficulties translating even ordinary words,
especially those explaining time, currency, and country, even though these words are equivalent in
Indonesian. This difficulty is caused by general knowledge that is still lacking.
B. Verbs
As in the case of nouns, verbs also cause difficulties and are a problem for many people. This
difficulty is shown by the translation which is not precise in translating single verbs and compound
verbs. It seems that there are still many who do not take into account the context of the text and
even misunderstand the message conveyed by the writer.
Example: Even the Queen takes to the ice as soon as it is strong enough.
The closest equivalent of the sentence is Bahkan Sang Ratupun ikut terjun ke es begitu esnya sudah
cukup keras. However, there are still many who mistranslate the sentence into: Meskipun sang ratu
mengambil seluruh es yang ada sesegera mungkin, Meskipun sang ratu bermain dengan segera
tetapi dia cukup kuat untuk melakukannya, Bahkan ratu berada di es sekuat mungkin, and the like.
This shows that there is an error in understanding the message conveyed by the author.
C. Adverbs
The problem in translating from English into Indonesian dealing with adverbs is the adverb of
manner. The problem is caused by inadequate syntactic function and word meaning in a sentence.
Example: When colder weather came, grownups would eagerly test the ice hour by hour.
The closest equivalent of the sentence is Ketika cuaca yang lebih dingin tiba, kaum muda dengan
penuh semangat menguji es tersebut jam demi jam. The word eagerly is translated into dengan
semangat in Indonesia.
D. Tense
There are two tenses in all English verbs, namely common tense (present tense) and past
tense, except for a few auxiliary words (ought, must). In this study, tense is included in the
grammatical issue category where there are still many problems with this in translating a sentence
or text.
For example, in the sentence Manusia tidak pernah tahu dengan tepat bagaimana bumi tercipta.
Many still translate this sentence into, for example, Humans never know exactly how the
earth was created or made. This shows that the translator does not consider the past tense. It is
widely known that the creation of our earth took place in the distant past.
E. Omission
There is an error in translating, where to use this strategy in solving difficulties in translating a
word. In this case, the translator only removes difficult words from the translated text. As a result,
the message contained in the text is not fully conveyed in the target language. The imprecise
translation is the result. This kind of omission occurs in the translation of nouns, verbs and adverbs.
Example 1: (Source text): In fishing village, the men had little to do in the winter …. (Target text):
Di desa-desa, para lelaki tidak memiliki banyak pekerjaan di musim dingin.
Supposedly, the correct meaning is Di desa nelayan, laki-laki hanya punya sedikit pekerjaan di
musim dingin…. (TL).
As shown in the example above, it appears that there is an intentional omission of words and does
not care that this results in a reduction in the message conveyed in the target language.
F. General Word (Superordinate)
Errors in using this strategy in translating texts also often occur in the world of translation, causing
grammatical issues.
Example: (Source text): … and so had plenty of time to be at the canal. (Target text): … dan mereka
menggunakan banyak waktunya untuk berada di saluran.
The examples above show the use of superordinate in the target language compared to the source
language. In the example, the word “canal” is translated into saluran.
3.2.1.1 Problem-Solving in Grammatical Issues
This grammatical problem can be solved by going through the translation process in
sequence, that is, the source language (SL) is analyzed in advance which type of translation will
be used, for this case the type of translation used is formal equivalence to maintain the grammar
structure down to the target language (TL). After that, determine the appropriate translation method
and strategy, for this case the appropriate method is Calque (Loan Translation), which is a special
type of loan in which a language borrows forms of expression from another language, but the
translator translates each of its elements literally and Formal Equivalence because Formal
equivalence translation is inherently source-oriented as it is intended to convey as much of the
form of the original message as possible (for example, syntax and idioms) and content (for
example, themes and concepts). Thus, formal equivalence seeks to reproduce several formal
elements, such as (1) grammatical units, (2) consistency of word use, and (3) meaning in the
context of the source text. The right strategy for this case is Structural Strategy. The structural
strategy relates to the sentence structure of the translated text so that it can maintain the
grammatical in the text to the source language. This strategy consists of addition, subtraction, and
transposition. After being analyzed, then the text will be transferred and will be criticized to revise
the errors of the translation in order to produce a good and correct translation, after which it will
be given to the target language (TL).
3.2.2 Cultural Issue
Generally, language is believed to function as an important instrument for expressing ethnic
culture: beliefs, customs, rituals, and behaviors, which constitute the identity of a particular ethnic
culture. Mu’in (2019) stated a language is an element of culture; in certain circumstances, culture
is expressed through a language. Translation encounters cultural problems when there are
disparities between two languages in conveying identity and ways of life. Translators face
difficulties when attempting to translate abstract or concrete ideas from the source language/culture
(SL/C) that have no direct equivalents in the target language/culture (TL/C). The issue arises when
the reader encounters cultural terms in the text but lacks comprehension of their meaning due to a
disparity between the source language and the target language. This gap in understanding creates
a challenge for effective translation. According to Newmark (1988) "Most cultural‟ words are easy
to detect since they are associated with a particular language and cannot be literally translated, but
many cultural customs are described in ordinary language, where a literal translation would distort
the meaning and a translation may include an appropriate descriptive-functional equivalent”.
(p.95).
Sometimes, the readers cannot understand the meanings of cultural words itself, in
consequence, it is important for the translators to transfer messages in order to make it clear the
text SL from TL without any reduction.
Larson (1998) stated, “The goal of the translator is to keep the meaning constant… the
receptor language form should be changed in so that the SL meaning not be distorted”. (p12).
Catford mentioned that translation is the replacement of the material textual in a source language
(SL) with its equivalent in another language or target language (TL) throughout the translation.
(1965) (p20). The word that contains cultural words needs an appropriate translation. Many
countries have sub-cultures in one language. Newmark (1988:94) defines, “cultural as the way of
life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its
means of expression.”
Here are some cultural categories. Newmark (1988) classified cultural words into 5
categories. First, Ecology, Geographical features are usually distinguishable from other cultural
terms in that they are usually value-free, politically and commercially. Newmark (1988) defines,
that many countries have local terms for ecology, such as; flora, fauna, wind, plains, and hills.
(p.96). Second, Material Culture. There are several types of material culture; food, clothing, houses
and cities, buildings, and transportation. Food is the most sensitive and important expression of
national culture. Fashion as a cultural term is probably sufficient for the general TL reader. (p.97).
Third, Socio-Cultural. There are two types of socio-culture; work and relaxation. In considering
social culture one must distinguish between denotative and connotative translation. (p.98). Fourth,
Organization and habits. Politics and administration are included in the category of cultural words.
The political and social life of a country is reflected in its institutional terms. (p.99). Fifth, Gestures
and Habits. There is a distinction between description and function which can be made where
necessary in ambiguous cases when gestures and customs are one culture in some cultures and
others. Example: kiss their finger in greeting or praise.
The following is an explanation of the types of cultural issues contained in the translation.
A. Idioms and Expressions
The use of idiomatic expressions in any material often requires translators to find and translate
idiomatic expressions from their language into English and vice versa. During the process of
translating idiomatic expressions, translation problems may arise. As mentioned by Wright (2002,
p. 10), translating idioms is difficult because idioms cannot be translated word for word. The
translator must understand the meaning first before translating the whole meaning.
Example: “close call”, according to the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms, “close call” means a
narrow escape from danger or disaster. In Bahasa Indonesia, that kind of situation is said with
“dalam keadaan terhimpit”. Otherwise, an Indonesian idiom has the same thought about the
circumstance.; “berada di ujung tanduk”.
B. Humor and Sarcasm
Sarcasm and humor are culturally distinctive, and what is humorous or sarcastic in one culture
may not be in another. This can make it difficult to accurately communicate humor or sarcasm
from one language to another. One type of humor, there is verbal humor, this type of humor is
humor that is developed by manipulating words to produce a funny effect. According to Shade
(1996) through Mulyati & Nugroho (2023) there are subtypes of verbal humor, they are pun, riddle,
jokes, satire, limerick, parody, anecdote, farce, irony, sarcasm, tall tale, and wit. Verbal comedy
employs language to generate laughter through puns, jokes, wordplay, sarcasm, irony, and satire,
which aids in the resolution of social tensions, relationships, emotions, and authority. This
linguistically restricted humor is also used to criticize society and challenge norms, so altering our
worldview. It can take several forms, including written materials, speeches, comedy, television,
and film. For example:
(1) ST:
MIKE: What’s the special prize, and who gets it?
WONKA: The best kind of prize is a sur-prize!
TT:
MIKE: Apa hadih spesialnya? Siapa yang akan mendapatkannya
WONKA: hadiah terbaiknya adalah kejutan
(2) ST:
VERUCA: I’m Veruca Salt.
WONKA: Funny. I always thought a verruca was a wart on the bottom of your foot.
Haha…
TT:
VERUCA: Aku Veruca Salt.
WONKA: Aku selalu mengira Verruca adalah sejenis kutil yang ada di bawah
kakimu. Hahaha.
3.2.2.1 Problem-Solving in Cultural Issues
A. Idioms and Expressions
To carry out a perfect translation of idiomatic expressions, the translator must follow the
translation process properly and in sequence. The first stage that must be followed in the translation
process, namely the Source Language (SL) is analyzed first, then, in this case, the translation
method can use the modulation and equivalence methods, namely, the word "close call," first look
for the meaning of "close call," according to the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms, a “close call” means
a narrow escape from danger or disaster. In Indonesian, such a situation is “dalam keadaan
terhimpit.” After finding the meaning, the translator can start looking for Indonesian idioms that
are equivalent to the situation, the translator also uses the unbounded type of translation to keep
the idiom's meaning in the word. After that, translators can use translation strategies, namely
cultural equivalent, and modulation. The next stage is transfer. The third stage in the translation
process is restructuring, where the translator has found the right word and then criticizes it again
so that the target language (TL) can receive the language well. As a result, "close call" in
Indonesian means “berada di ujung tanduk.”
B. Humor and Sarcasm
The problem of translation on data (1) is solved by following the translation process, then
choosing which method to use, in this problem are modulation and equivalence. The type of
translation used is unbounded translation, with the translation strategies used being modulation
and cultural equivalent. After finding some of the right meanings, the translator must criticize the
translation so that it can be accepted in the target language (TL) and in order to maintain and get
the humorous and sarcastic effects contained therein. Where the word "surprise" means "hadiah"
but in this sarcastic humor, "sur-prize" means "kejutan" which means the special gift is an
unexpected surprise. The data problem (2) has the same solution as data (1). Thus, the word
"verruca" in the target language (TL) Indonesian means "kutil" which is equivalent to the meaning
in the target language.
4. CONCLUSION
Based on the results of the data and discussion above, it can be concluded that problems in
translation can be in the form of grammatical issues caused by the fact that each language has its
own way of conveying messages, meaning that a language has certain characteristics that other
languages do not have and cultural issues caused by when translating, cultural challenges arise
when there are differences between languages in expressing identities and lifestyles. Translators
find it difficult to convey abstract or concrete concepts from the source language/culture (SL/C)
when there is no exact equivalent in the target language/culture (TL/B). This becomes a problem
when the reader encounters the term culture in the text but does not understand its meaning because
of the difference between the source and target languages. Grammatical issues can be resolved by
following the translation process correctly, using the Calque (Loan Translation) method and
strategy, and then using the Formal Equivalence type of translation to maintain the grammatical
structure and meaning contained in the text and, in the end, critique the translation results to create
a language that is right on target (TL). As for cultural issues, they can be solved using the
modulation and equivalence translation method and the unbounded translation type, then, to
maintain the meaning of idioms and the effect of humor in the text, use modulation and cultural
equivalent strategies.
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