CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents theoretical background of related reviews to this

study. It covers translation, definition of realia, translation strategies, translation

strategies for realia.

2.1 Definition of Translation

Brislin (1976, p.1) states that translation is a process to change the ideas

from one language to another language both written or oral but still have same

meaning. In this definition, Brislin emphasized on thoughts and ideas from one

language to another in written and oral.

In addition, Newmark (1991, p.27) states that the act translating varies

briefly. It is the act of transferring meaning of a stretch or a unit of language, the

whole or a part, from one language to another. Meanwhile, Catford (as cited in

Kardimin, 2013) states that translation is the replacement of textual material in one

language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL). From both

definitions, we know that equivalence is important in translating one language into

another language.

Another expert, Wilss (1982: 3), states that translation is a procedure to

change source text (ST) into target text (TT), which has a great equivalency. It

means a translator has to comprehend an idea of syntactic, semantic and pragmatic

in the process of rendering ST into TT.

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 From the explanation above the researcher concluded that translation is a

process or a way to produce equivalence from one language to another language.

2.2 Definition of Realia

Realia (from the Latin realia) are “words and combinations of words

denoting objects and concepts characteristic of the way of life, culture, social and

historical development of one nation and another “(Florin 1993, p.123).

A word realia originates from latin and means the real things. It is objects

of material culture that is culturally bound and it can be words that signify concepts

of a specific culture (Newmark 1981, p.7)

Klaudy (1997:60) states that “the term realia is used to denote objects, ideas,

symbols or habits, specific to a given language community”. In the other hand

Florin (1993, p.122-123) also states that “realia are culture-specific, they do not

necessarily exist in the target language culture, which makes it possible that the

translation does not have to be target language”.

In sum, the term realia in translation can be defined as a combination of

words that refer to concepts found in the culture of a specific source, because they

express the history or culture which has no appropriate equivalent in the target

language.

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2.3 Translation Strategies

Based on Vinay & Darbelnet (2000), translation strategies are divided two

types, direct or literal translation and oblique translation. In the listing which

follows, the first three procedures are direct and the others are oblique translation.

1. Borrowing

Vinay & Darbelnet (2000) states that “Borrowing is the simplest of all

translation method. Inothis context translatorsidid notioccasionallyineed to

use it in order to create a stylistic effect. For instance, in order toiintroduce

the flavor of the source language (SL) culture into a translation, foreign

terms may be used”. Borrowing in translationiis notialways justified

byilexical gap in the target language, but it can mainly be used asiway to

preserve the localicolor of the word.

Examples:

- Entrepreneur (French) Entrepreneur (English)

- Asparagus (English) Asparagus (Indonesian)

- Internet (English) Internet (Indonesian)

In the examples, there are pure borrowing techniques because with

no change in form and meaning (pure loanwords).

2. Calque

A calque is a special kind of borrowing whereby a language borrows

an expression form of another, but then translates literally each of its

elements from source language to the target language.

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 Examples:

- Positive Energy Energi Positif

- Normal School Sekolah Normal

From the examples above, there are structures that follow the calque

technique and there are lexical elements are still preserved because the

source language is literally translated every element into the target language.

3. LiteraliTranslation

According to Vinay & Darbelnet (2000) “Literal or word for word

translation is the direct transfer of a SL text into a grammatically and

idiomatically appropriate TL text in which the translator task is limited to

observing the adherence to the linguistic servitudes of the TL. In principle,

a literal translation is a unique solution which is reversible and complete in

itself”. The translationidoesn’t need toimake any changesilike concerning

theigrammaticaliharmony or inflectionaliending that was clear (e.g between

English and French) English ‘where are you?’ is translanted into French ‘Ou

etes yous?’ Another

Examples:

- Wireless Nirkabel

- Network Jaringan

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 The examples use the literal translation technique (literal translation)

as the source language translated into the target language with a little

adjustment of the structure of the language.

4. Transposition

Vinay & Darbelnet (2000) states that “the method called

transposition involves replacing one word class with another without

changing the meaning of the message. Besides being a special translation

procedure, transposition can also be applied within a language”. This

strategy can change from plural to singular, change the position of

adjectives and change the whole of sentences.

Examples:

SL: Let’s getiLittle Starihome toithe moon

transpositionichanges oneiword classiwith anotheriwithout changing the

meaning of the messages.

5. Modulation

Vinay & Darbelnet (2000) argue that “Modulation is variation of

the form of the message, obtained by a change in the point of view”. This

change can beijustified, althoughia literal, or evenitransposed,

translationiresults in a grammaticallyicorrect utterance, it is used to find

out a natural form in the TL.

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 Examples:

SL: I make aiwish on theifirstilittle star thatiI see in theisky.

TL: Aku mengucapkanikepada bintangikecil yang pertamaimuncul di

The illustration, the translator uses modulation translation strategy

in order to produce a grammatically correct utterance from the sentence “I

make a wish” to “I pronounce“ and to change the point of view of “the first

little star that I see in the sky” to “small stars first appeared in the sky”.

6. Equivalence

“In equivalence, one and the same situation can be rendered by two

texts using completely different stylistic and structural methods. In such

cases we are dealing with the method which produces equivalent texts. The

classical example of equivalence is given by the reaction of an amateur who

accidentally hits his finger with a hammer: if he were French his cry of pain

would be transcribed as Aïe!, but if he were English this would be

interpreted as Ouch!. Another striking case of equivalences are many

onomatopoeia of animal sounds”.

Examples:

- cock-a-doodle-do (English) kukuruyuuk (Indonesian)

- miaou (English) meong (Indonesian)

- groaarr (English) auumm (Indonesian)

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 Moreover, the examples above describe same situation by different

stylistic or structural method to produce equivalence texts.

7. Adaptation

Adaptation method is used when the TL does not have such kind of

term or situation that is relevant to the culture of SL. In such cases

translators have to create a new situation that can be considered as being

equivalent. This method is usuallyiapplied in theitranslation ofibookiand

film title, foriexampleokungfu in Chinese is translatediintoisilat in

Indonesian.

2.4 Translation Strategies for Realia

Translation strategies for realia are divided into seven such as maintenance,

calque, omission, adaptation, generalisation, approximation, description. Each part

will be explained as follows:

1. Maintenance

Maintenance or transcription is the translator keeps the original term

Grit (as cited in Gebraad, 2012). This strategy means that the translator do

the translated without changing anything.

Examples:

SL: KNM1

TL: KNMI

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 The example from strategy above KNMI is translated into KNMI in TL

without changing anything because maintenance keeps the original term.

Koninklij Nederlands Instituut Meteorologisch (KNMI) is the National

Meteorology Service of the Netherlands.

2. Calque

“This strategy the ST word is translated word for word literally,

calque can at first be considered interference, but are usually in time adopted

into the TL” (Leppihalme 2001:141). The example of this strategy is

supported by Nurlaily (2014):

SL: Down on our left, the moon bounced off the Weymoutth Back River.

TL: Bulan memantul di Sungai Weymouth Back.

The term Weymouth Back River is literally translated it becomes into

Sungai Weymouth Back in TL, because in this strategy ST is translated word

for word literally.

3. Omission

Leppihalme (2001:145) states that “Omission may be used to avoid

the need to translate a problematic realia and sometimes only some of the

details are lost, when detailed specificity is not necessary”. This strategy

means that the term or word deleted by the translator is not appropriate for

the target language.

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 Examples:

SL: Palembang, the capitaliof SouthoSumatra Provinceiis alsoiknown as

BumiuSriwijaya

TL: Palembang, dikenal juga dengan sebutan Bumi Sriwijaya.

The word the capital of South Sumatra Province is omitted because it is

unimportant only the additional term or word there is no influence to the

original meaning and message.

4. Adaptation

Adaptation termed ‘the extreme limit of translation’, it is

domestication at its fullest. Translators resort to it when the situation being

referred to in the SL does not exist in the TL culture (Vinay and Darbelnet

2000: 90). This strategy means that it is appropriate for translating based on

the realia function.

Examples:

SL: I answered that I would meet my friend by correspondence at London

on Thursday at half-past twelve.

TL: Saya balas suratnya bahwa saya akan menemani teman saya di London

Kamis pukul 12.30.

From the example above adapting the writing hours “half past

twelve” becomes “12.30” because the readers more often find the pointer

hours are indicated by number “12.30” rather than the “ half past twelve”.

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5. Generalisation

Generalisation is the replacement of a ST element which refers to

something specific with an element which refers to something more general

(Pedersen 2007: 118).

Examples:

SL: Flying can dehydrate you, so drink plenty of non-alcoholic liquid.

TL: Berada di ketinggian dapat menyebabkan dehidrasi, sebaiknya anda

mengkonsumsi cukup minuman non-alkohol.

In the example, the word “liquid” meaning “cairan” to translated

become “drink” because generalisation is the replacement of ST element

which refers to something specific with an element which refers to

something more general.

6. Approximation

The translator uses an expression of the target language which

corresponds to that of the source language Grit (as cited Gebraad, 2012).

The example of strategy is proposed by Nurlaily (2014):

SL: Another few inches down, the shovel hit something solid.

TL: Setelah beberapa senti lebih dalam, sekop menghantam sesuatu yang

padat.

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 The word few inches down is approximately translated into beberapa

senti without considering difference between inch and centimetre because

approximation strategy uses an expression of the target language which

corresponds to that of the source language.

7. Description

Description and function are essential elements in explanation and

therefore in translation” (Newmark, 1988 p.84). Description strategy enable

us to have a correct perception of Culture Specific Items (CSIs) by using

other words and phrases. In this strategy the translator uses some

descriptions to clarify the meaning for audience.

Example:

SL: I’ll have a gimlet, Robert Wilson told him.

TL: Aku mau gimlet (minuman terbuat dari air jeruk atau air soda), kata

Robert Wilson padanya.

In the sentence above, the translator use the technique description

because to describe a word or term in order for the reader to better

understand the target language. As in the first sentence, the translator

describes “Gimlet” is kind of a drink made of lemon juice, soda or water.

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