2025/1 Translation

1. Literal / Form-based Translations attempt to follow the form of the source language. For example: Kamu ditunggu tadi  You were waited* Jangan berpangku tangan saja  Do not just put your hand on the other*. Laki-laki itu menjadi mata gelap  The man became dark eyes*.

2. Idiomatic / Meaning-based Translations make every effort to communicate the meaning of the source language text in the natural forms of the target language. For example: Kamu ditunggu tadi  (idiomatic: Someone was waiting for you when you were out). Jangan berpangku tangan saja  Do not just sit and do nothing. Laki-laki itu menjadi mata gelap  The man became very angry. 

 The translator’s goal should be to reproduce in the target language a text which communicates the same message as the source language but using the natural grammatical and lexical choices of the target language. In order to translate idiomatically a translator will need to make many adjustments in form.

Parts of speech are language specific. Each language has its own division of the lexicon into classes such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. Different languages will have different classes and subclasses. For example: Indonesian forms the noun phrase using the noun + adjective order, while English uses adjective + noun order. For example: rumah cantik  a beautiful house, jalan panjang berliku-liku  a long and winding road, meja kayu jati yang diplitur halus  a finely-polished teakwood table. 

Pronouns. Pronominal systems vary greatly from language to language and the translator is obliged to use the forms of the target language even though they may have very different meanings than the pronouns of the source language. For example: If a translator is translating into Javanese, he must distinguish degrees of honor even though nothing in the source language indicates these distinctions. He must understand the culture of Javanese and the cultural context of the text he is translating in order to choose correctly. Another example: In English, the first person plural pronoun “we” is often used when the real meaning is the second person “you”. The reason for the use of exclusive “we” is to show empathy and understanding. E.g. Kami minta maaf atas kesalahan kami  I’d like to apologize for my mistakes. Apakah Anda baik-baik saja?  Are you alright? Bapak diminta untuk berpidato  You are kindly requested to deliver a speech, Sir. Apakah Beliau bisa diganggu?  May I disturb him?

Grammatical constructions also vary between the source language and the target language. It is not uncommon that passive constructions will need to be translated with an active construction or vice versa, depending on the natural form of the target language. For example: Kelas dimulai jam 7.  The class began at seven o’clock. Kepada yang terhormat para hadirin, kami persilahkan duduk  (Ladies and Gentlemen, please have a seat). 

 Caution: Grammatical choices in the translation must be based on the function of the grammatical construction in the target language, not on a literal rendition of a source language form. 

It is important to understand that there is no one-onone translation. In order to translate, a translator must be fluent in both languages, source and target. He/she must speak good Bahasa Indonesia or at least know the grammar and language device usage of his own language. Unreadable translation happens when the text is translated literally without applying the good grammar of Bahasa Indonesia. In other words, the text is in Indonesia words, but the meaning and the sentence structure are in English. To avoid that, there are some guidelines to point out that there are some differences in grammar use in both English and Bahasa Indonesia, therefore, blind translation must be avoided. These following guidelines proposed by Widyamartaya (1993) consist of some instructions on how to translate lexical and grammatical items.