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CHAPTER2
THEO'RI'riC'AL REVIEW
OF
NOUN-PHRASE TRANSLATION
2.1. OVERVIEW
TRAl"ijSLATION
Tra.."'lSlation, by dictionary definition, consists of changing from one stste or form
own or another language (the Merriam-Webster Dictionary,
to another, to tum
1974). Translation is basicaliy a change of form. When we speak of the form of a
language, we a:e referring to the words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, etc.,
which is spoken
written.
translation, the meaning of the source language replaces
the meaning of the target language.
The purpose of translation process is to show L1-mt translation consists of
tra..r1sfe1ring the me aning of the source language into the target language. It is meaning
which is being transferred must be constant, only the form changes. The form from
which the translation is
be called the Source Language and the form into
which it is to be changed will be called the Target Language.
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As Larson said L'l Choliludin:
Translation consists of studying lexicongrammatical structure, communicatioa
situatioand cu!ttral conte1-'t of the source language text, analyzing it in order to
determine its meanlng, and then reconstructing this sam_e meaning using the 1exicon
and grnmmatica!structure which appropriate in the Target Language and its cultural
context.
(Choliludin, 2005, p.4)
In anoLfter cases, there are some persons who can oiten make the tmnsfer from
one 1ac"1guage very rapidly, without thinking about grammatical or semantic structure.
However, for complicated texts, this rnsy not work. That is why, they would not able to
make a good translation, unless they get the meaning of the translator tried to transfer
arrange it in a good sentence of the target language.A good translation is better by
expressing the meaning of the source language into the target language in a natural way.
Tmnslation is basically a cha;1ge of form. '-'lhen we speak of the fom1 of a
language, we refer to the actual words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, etc,
which are spoken and written. These form are referred to as the surface structure of a
language. It is the structural part oflanguagc, whlch is actually seen in print or heard
speech (Larson, !984:1). In translation, the form of the receptor (target) language source
replaces the form of !he source language.
Wel;stcr's New World Dictionary (1996:1421) defines translation as the process
of rendering from one la.'lguage into another of something written or spoken. The
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process of translation means translating activities, which is done by tbe translator when
he
Source Language into Target Language.
Translation is also defined as a craft consis1.:L"!g in the attempt to replace a written
message a.>d!or statement in one language by the same message and!or statement L'l
another language (Newmark, 1988:7),
The chain of the process of translation as it is pictured by an Indonesian
translator, Suryawinata in Nababan (1999, p.25) sald it is related and has a single
purpose while translating which is to transfer the same mear>Jng a.'ld information from
the Source Language into Target Language.
Analisis
PROSES
Transfer
I
Restrnksturisasi
Isi,
Makna
Pesan
Pemahaman
Figure 2.1 The Process of Translation
As it is seen in the figure above, Suryawinata separates the process of translation
into three parts. The first part understands the Source Language before analysis. During
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the process, the second part, the translator VIii! check and do evaluation in order to avoid
the mistake or misunderstanding. At the end, the text, which has been transformed into
Target Language, \v.ill be ready for the checking process to make sure there will be
no mistake in the writing and translating process.
During the translation process,
that the text has been transferred
translator is supposed to check and make sure
way it should be. Since the purpose of translation is
to transfer to meaning between two different languages in the same way, that is why, the
translator should pay attention to the transformation of the text during the process of
translation.
2.2 PROBLEYIS OF T 'NSLATiON
When we deal with translation, we are dealing \v.ith two different languages or
more. Just like English and Indonesian languages, these two languages have differences
in m&"ly ways.
In opinion of Nida and Taber in Lie (2005, p.l 0) a translator v.'ill be faced with
severlli problems. There are t.he foHowing:
3.1 Problems ofCultJrdl Equivalence
3.2 Problems of Linguistic Equivalence
Connotative Mea.'ling
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1.2.1 Problems of Culmral Equivalence
Each language represents the culture of the country, In this case English and
Indonesian. English has its own lan.,cruage characteristics, which differ from Indonesian.
Those characteristics represent English culture that makes it different frcm otl1er
co;mtries.
For example in case of refusing someone's offer, English people will say "No,
thank you". TI1ey are more straigc'lt and to the point. If they do not like something they
will say "no" but of course in a polite way. On the other hand, Indonesia."ls are known as
t,'lought:fui person and feel reluctant to say "no". So they will say ''tha:lk you" in order
not to
the one who is asking, while English people will t:l:lli'lk that Indonesian people
accept the offer.
2.2.1: Problems of Linguistic Eqnivruence
Linguistic e{juivalence is equivalence
meaning between the Source Language
&"ld the Receptor Language. According to Nida and Tiber in Lie (2005, p.l2), The
problem of linguistic equivalence will be considered under:
2.3.2.1 Category
2.3.2.2 Lexicon
2.3.2.3 S)nltix
Respect
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2.2.2.1 Category of Respect
Indonesian is known as friendly and respectful person. This can also be seen in
the way they speak or write their language. The style and structure of Indonesia
lat>guage shows how Indonesian is really careful in choosing words. It depends on the
age, rank, social status or familiarity of the people whom they are talking with.
example, Indonesia used to speak with lower voice when they are talking
older people to respect them. This is also one of the cultures of Indonesian.
2.3.2.2 Lexicon
In this case, It is separated in three part which are Polysemy, Ambiguity,
Figcn:r: fi,re L!mgllllage.
The name comes up fonn Greek Poly (many) and semy (to do with meaning) If
we elaborate those two words, Polysemy is a word or phrase which have wide range of
memungs.
For Example:
.. The athlete is running
" Her nose is running
For how long is the movie runtJ.ing?
(G.Lie, 2005,p,l4)
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Those three sentenees above use one same word "running" in different contexts.
Each "running" word of each context has different meanings. In the first sentence,
nh-ming here is an activity. The second sentence, the word "running" refer to a condition.
And t,':!e last, "running," explains the adverbial of verb.
above example shows that a word has no single meaning ean only be
particular aspects of pa.c'iicular situations
On the other hand, something is ambiguous when it can be understood in two or
more possible sense. The word ambiguity comes from ambiguitas means acting both
ways. The word ambiguity itself can mean indecision as to what you mean, and intention
to meat> several things.
Another problem in translation is the uso of figurative ianguage. Figurative
lang:.Jage is language that does not mean exactly what it says word by word, but it must
be w'lderstood as a whole expression.
For example:
* Cat
the bird seat
*Go bust
* Dressed to the
= kedudukan
=
nines
yang mapan
bangkrut
berbusana seeara flamboyant
(G.Lie, 2002, p.15)
Those phrases cannot be translated literally if the reader wants to get the real
meaning. It is rather difficult to translate figurative language sinee the readers are
expected to have wide knowledge to translate the phrase, words or sentences in order to
get
meaning.
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Syntax is a study of language that deals with a.'Tangement
words. L>.donesian
and English have different linguistic structures. The two languages also do not have the
similarity in arranging words in a sentence. If Indonesian text is translated into English
or vice versa as the same words arrangement without considering the target la."'lguage
linguistic stmcture then the translation vvill maybe meaningless.
For Example:
"England rules the wave" is different from "England waves the rules"
(G.Lie, 2005, p.l6)
In tra11s!ating this sentence, the translators are supposed to understand the text
clearly otherwise there wiil be misundersta'lding with the reader.
2.3 TECHNIQCE 01<' TRANSLATION
Peter Newmark (1988, p.l515) explained Iris book, a text of Translation, that
there are several methods in doing translation, such as: Literal translation, Dymunic
translation and Idiomatic trans!atior:.
T11e source language is translated into the nearest Target Language eqnivalence.
And yet the lexical words are translated singly. This method quite slmilar with word-for-
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word translation, the difference is the word-for-word translation is totally translated the
souree language text by translating eaeh of the word in the target lang-Jage. That is why
the risk in doing this technique of translation s bigger than using literal translation.
For Example:
Source Language : It happened in a small tov.n "With sparse population which had
only one doctor.
Target Language : Teljadi di suatu kota kccil yang punya seorang dokter
(taken from Lie, 2002, p.4)
2.3.2 Dynamic Translation
Thls Dytlarnic Translation reproduces the natural closest meaning from the
Source Language. By using relatively close equivalent phrase to express the words,
pl:>.rase, or sentence this type of translation so that the reader will understand t.l:te context
clearly and easily.
ForExampl
Source Language :
essential thing now I should say, is to see the property. If you
insist on the qrumy being included, then seventeen thousand seems reasonable. 11%
commission too much, 4% is ample. You;"s truly.1\rthur Levershanl
Target Language: Dengan honnat, Hal penting sekarang
adalah untuk
menengok kekayaan itu. Jika
saya hams katakan
tuan mendesak agar soal tamba<1g
dimasu.lckan juga, maka tujub belas ribu agaknya. beralasan. 11% komisi terlalu banyak,
4%cukup. Honnat saya, '"L'tur Leversham
(teken from Lie, 2002,p.5)
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2.3.3 Idiomatic Tnl!nsi£tion
Idiomatic translation concerns with the meaning of t,'le original text. They way
translator translates the text is not really a matter since the reader can get the
meaning and understand it easily.
La...rson in Meaning-Based Translation (1984) points out that idiomatic translation
uses
enatural forms of the receptor language both in the grannnatical constructions
a."ld in the choice of the lexical items. They sound like they are written originally in the
receptor language (p.l6). For example, "that's so sweet of you!" will be tr.msalated
"kanm baik sekali or kamu sangat baik!"
2.4 THE EXPLANATION OF NOUN PHRASE
Noun-phrase is a noun that generally includes one or more modifying words, but
allowance is usnally made for single-word and it functions as a noun (Nevvmark, Pg. 67).
noun is different with regular nouns, because it is completed 'l'.ith modifying words
to explain it. The noun itself is called the head, a'ld the other modifying words are called
modifier of the noun,
FoExamp!e:
The red beautiful flower
A ridiculous jake
(NeVvmark, Pg. 67)
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The head of that noun-phrase is flower which is modified with the adjective
words which are red and beautiful as modifier.
2.4.1ADJECTIVAL NOUN-PHRASE
A nou11-ph:rase can be rather complex, containing other noun-phrases, or it can
consist of just one word (a noun) if that word
caJl
occur without any modifier
(Newmark, Pg.71). Therefore, Noun-Phrase can be modified with more than one
modifier. The modifiers might consist of more than one word explaining the Noun.
My daughter who wears blue ribbon on his hat should continue her study abroad
next year.
(Newmark, Pg. 72)
italic word is fu.c'1ctioned as the Adjectival Noun-Phrase wbich consist of
daughter as the head and modified with a phrase explained about the daughter.
2.5 PROBLEM RN TRANSI,AT!NG AD.JECTIVAL l'i'OUN-PHRASE
we deal with two different countries or more we wi11 find problems in
elaborating the languages to make good l:rac'lslation. In translating adjectival noun
phrase, English and Indonesian have different ways.
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As Machali states in an unpublished work by Sarkum (1997, p.8) that a
procedure is 1mderstood as a manner of translating sentences and other smaller linguistic
units such as clauses, phrases, words and morphemes. Through tlmt statement we could
that English has its own characteristics with their language including NoU<"l-Phrases.
On the other hand Badudu in Sarkum (1997, p.8) said it is explained that
L11donesi.an Nominai Phrase are contracted on the D.M law. 1n English we may say "a
pretty girl" which is tra.11sferred in Indonesian into "gadis cantik". English is used the
adjective before the noun
to
explain the noun.
English Adjectival Noun-Phrase
characteristic is M.D or menenmgkan-diterangkan. However, Indonesian is D.M or
DiteJ:?..ngkan Menerac"lgkan. So that it uses the adjective after t.he noun to explain it
The main problem i.t:l translating English Adjectival Noun-Ph..rase into Indonesian
Adjectival Noun-Phrase is the different structure of those two languages. English prefer
to
t.e adverbial or adjectival before the main noun.
On the other hand, Indonesia patterns DM for their Adjectival Noun-Phrase.
They will put the adjectival or adverbial afl"..er the noun.
However, to match these two languages correctly, the translator should have
knowledge to trdJlsferring the language without losing its meaning.
2.6 TEHNIQUES OF TIRANSLATING ADEJCTIVAL NOUN-PHRASE
In translating Adjectival Noun-Phrase there are some points to consider. That is
way it needs specific technique to translate the Adjectival Noun-Phrase. According to
the unpublished work by Sa:rkum (1997, p.24) based on Indonesian either as the source
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language or as the receptor language, in translating English Adjectival Noun-Phrase into
Indonesia."! a t:rZLnslator needs to apply one of the five translation procedures:
1.Trmrnsposition
Catford in Sarkum (1997, p.24) states transposition as a shift is in translation
procedure that requires the change of grammatical form of Source Language into the one
of the Target Language. In the context of translating English Adjectival Noun-Phrase
Indonesian, this change occurs as
result of different structore of English and
Indonesian to convey the same mea."'lings. The application of traJ!Sposition is aimed to
avoid literal translation that only results in an unnatural translation.
2.Modulation
Modulation is a translation procedure that occurs with a change of semantic
viewpoint of meaning contained in the text to be tra,'lslated. Regarding the trenslation of
English adjectival Noun-Phrase into Indonesia, Modulation of compulsory type is used
when a certain construction of English Adjectival Noun-Phrase has no equivalent in
Indonesian.
3. Adaptation
Adaptation is a procedure of translation in which an etl'ort to seek a cultural
equivalence in the process of translating from Source Language into Target Language
with the single aim to have a correct and natural translation. In translating English NounPhrase into Indonesian, adaptation is needed when certain Adjectival Noun-Phrnse has a
c.Utural content and cannot be translated either by Transposition or Modulation.
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4i.Ccntext\ila1izing Equiv!li!em:es
Contextualizing equiv-alence explores more about the procedure of translation
that
the exact meaning of the translated text which depends on the context of the
words. Therefore, to translate the adjectival Noun-Phrase by using this technique, the
translator should
5.Am:mtating Equiva enees
By Annotating Equivalences means a translation procedure that demands the
translaenr to provide explanatory notes to
item eifuer a word or a phrase to explai.;.
fue Noun-Phrase clearly. This technique is usually used if t,e Adjectival Noun-Phrase
cannot be translated into the target language.
These techniques are discussed
explanation
chapter three (Sediol!ll 3.3.2).
fue research with fue example and the