TECHNIQUES FOR TRANSLATING ENGLISH SENTENCES

The Paper is Presented for Seminar on English Language Teaching

Guide By:

Drs. Surono

Written By:

FENI IKE KUSUMA 04005019

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAMMEFACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

AHMAD DAHLAN UNIVERSITY2007

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Globalization Era has brought the world to the development and the

modernization. People are demanded to accept many kinds technology and

understand the technology. It demands everyone to possess sufficient knowledge

and information in order not to be left far in the back. Knowledge and skill cannot

be reached by merely coming to the class and listening carefully to the instructors.

There are many ways that can be used to reach the information, included by using

the technology. Reaching knowledge of technology, practicing and getting much

information and skill can be called as creativity.

Besides practicing knowledge to reach skill, knowledge can be also

ascertained from reading. In social life, we can read much information from

numerous sources even from rubbish anyway. By reading many things, there are

much more information that can be obtained than listening the teacher in the class.

A problem comes when we cannot understand the content of a book that is

written in the foreign language. In Indonesia, there are few people understand the

text written in English well and also there few books that have been translated in

Indonesian because of the problem, Indonesia is still lack of information.

According with it, Hartono (2003: iv) rewrites Wilss’s statement (1982) that from

all of publications in physics studies, 50 percents of it cannot be read by the

experts and scientists, because they are not mastered the foreign language needed.

We still require good skill of translation. Because when we cannot master the

skill, we will loose the spectacular knowledge and the information in the world.

Due to the fact that the books are not only written in our own language, it

requires a process of translation. According to it, Hartono (2003: iv) states that

translation can be functioned as a bridge that connects countries in the world with

different languages and cultures. Furthermore, he adds that from the monumental

translation works, a nation can learn and understand the knowledge and

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technology developments from the other countries (2003: iv). It is clear that

translation ability is really required to follow the developments.

As the problem above, translation becomes important to be understood by

everyone. There are two important things that must be aware before translating.

To produce an understandable translation, one has to start translating by firstly

learning how to translate well. He has to have or choose some techniques in order

to make the translation to be a simple process. As the six steps of translating

English sentences written by Choliludin (205: 46), the six steps are below:

1. Sentence identification

2. Sentence analysis; knowing the subject, predicate, object and the adverb of

the sentence.

3. Make sure that messages from the source language have been understood, that

is marking the main part of the sentence. They are the subject, predicate,

object or the complement.

4. Restructure the sentence that doesn’t have the same point.

5. As Duff’s translating principle states “One of the most frequent critics of

translation is that it does not sound ‘natural’. This is because the translator’s

thoughts and choice of words are too strongly molded by the original text. A

good way to avoid the influence of the source language is to set the text aside

and translate a few sentences aloud from memory. This will suggest natural

patterns of thought in the first language which may not come to mine when

the eye is fixed on the SL text.” (Choliludin 2005:43)

6. Try to translate until the level of idiomatic as suggested by Larson.

Secondly, the translator has to understand the text and the content of the

text itself, such as the parts of speech and what the things of the writer want to

reveal are. Choliludin (2005: 1) states:

The problem, that it is hard to master translation techniques, is not only caused by

the man’s intern factor, but also caused by some extern factors from the

characteristic of the source language itself, such as the English sentence structures

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that mostly written in a complex formation so that make the understanding or

translation process to be more complicated.

In the back an excellent translation, there are some processes that have to

be completed by the translator. The processes are such as knowing the

vocabularies, understanding the sentence structure, diction, etc. In other words,

Choliludin (2005: 2) reveals:

It cannot be ignored that the general problem in translating a language is the ability

in memorizing vocabularies from the source language. But in fact, it is the main

thing that can make one is able to translate. It is an element from the other elements

that must be learned, one of them is knowledge of the function and position of word

in a sentence.

As the words above, the writer write about what translation is and how to

create a good translation. Function and position of a word in a sentence is the

limitation of the problems in this paper.

B. Formulation of the Problems

Based on the limitation above, the writer formulates the problems as

follows:

1. What is translation?

2. What are the kinds of translation?

3. What translation processes and techniques can be used in translating English

sentences?

4. How to translate English words, phrases, and sentences?

Based on the formulation above, the objectives of the study are:

1. To describe what translation is.

2. To describe about techniques and processes in translation.

3. To describe the way to translate English words, phrases, and sentences.

C. Significance of the Study

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The expected advantages that are hoped can be achieved from this present

study are:

1. To support the teacher and the student in translation study by showing the

right processes that must be completed in translating English sentences.

2. To give more information about sentence structure that must be observed

before translating English sentences, so that the students can understand it and

can translate the sentences well.

CHAPTER II

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DISCUSSION

A. What is Learning Technique?

To be a professional, in all cases one has to ascertain knowledge from his

experiences. Some people get knowledge from learning their environment. It

indicates that learning is getting knowledge from the other people or environment.

Learning, by dictionary definition, is “To gain knowledge of a subject or skill by

experience by studying it or by being taught.’ (Longman Dictionary, 2003). A

more specialized definition declared by Kimble and Garmezy might read as

follows: “Learning is a relatively permanent change in a behavioral tendency and

is the result if reinforced practice (Douglas, 2000: 7)

Learning everything requires optimum ways or techniques to reach the

optimum result. A search in Longman Dictionary (2003) reveals that technique is

a special way gaining knowledge. Douglas (2000: 37) said, “Learning strategies

deal with the receptive domain of intake, memory, storage, and recall,

communication strategies pertain to the employment of verbal or nonverbal

mechanisms for the productive communication of information.”

B. What is Translation?

Due to the fact that translation is a principal subject in understanding

English sentences, we should initially understand what the translation is and how

to translate a sentence. Translation is a process of replacing meaning of a sentence

to the other language sentences. “Translation consists in reproducing in the

receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message,

first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style.” (Nida, 1969: 12)

Widyamartaya (1995: 3) writes:

Secara lebih sederhana, menterjemahkan dapat didefenisikan sebagai memindahkan

suatu amant dari bahasa sumber ke bahasa penerima (sasaran) dengan pertama-tama

mengungkapkan maknanya dan kedua mengungkapkan gaya bahasanya.

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Catford (1965: 20) supports, “Translation is the replacement of the textual

material in one language (the source language/ SL) by equivalent textual material

in another language (the target language/ TL).”

Bassnett (1991: 15) writes:

Beyond the notion stressed by the narrowly linguistic approach, that translation

involves the transfer of ‘meaning’ contained in one set of language signs into another

set of language signs through competent use of the dictionary and grammar, the

process involves a whole set of extra-linguistic criteria also.

C. Translation Process

For a good translation, we have to choose the best processes for translating.

Many translators had passed and utilized some process of translation so that they

produced the monumental works in the world of language.

Nababan (1999: 24) writes:

Proses penerjemah dapat diartikan sebagai serangkaian kegiatan yang dilakukan oleh

seseorang penerjemah pada saat dia mengalihkan amanat dari bahasa sumber ke

dalam bahasa sasaran.

Nababan (1999: 25-28) also describes the process of translation. The process is as

follows:

1. Source Language Text Analysis

It starts form reading the source language text and understanding the

linguistic and extra-linguistic elements of the text. Language analysis

implemented to source language has some levels, they are: level of sentence,

clause, phrase, and word. Understanding the levels is the main thing to have for

understanding the whole text.

2. Transfer Meaning

It is transferring the context, meaning and message of the source language

text to the receptor language text. After thinking about the content, meaning and

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message in his thought, the translator will express them both in spoken or written

way.

3. Restructuring

Restructuring is changing the transferring process to the suitable stylistic

form of receptor language, reader or listener (Kridalaksana, 1984). It indicates

that a translator must pay attention to kinds of language to determine the suitable

receptor language style. It is also important to see about who the receptor

language is.

D. Kinds of Translation

In his book, Nababan (1999: 30-46) reveals some kinds of translation as

follows:

1. Word by Word Translation

In this kind of translation, a translator just ascertains the same meaning of

the source language word to the receptor language word. It can be implemented

when the source and the receptor language have the same sentence structures. For

the examples:

SL text

Content,

meaning,

message

Content,

meaning,

message

TL text

Analysis

understanding1

Evaluation & Revision

transfer

2 comparison

3

restructuring

Translation Process (Suryawininata, 1987: 80)

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- She can speak French. (Dia dapat berbicara Bahasa Prancis)

- I like reading. (Saya suka membaca)

2. Free Translation

To translate with free translation, a translator has to understand the main

idea for the source language paragraph of discourse and then describes it to the

receptor language. Idiomatic expressions and proverbs are often translated freely.

For the examples:

- To play truant. (membolos)

- To kick something around. (membahas)

- Killing two birds with one stone. (menyelam sambil minum air)

3. Literal Translation

It is between word-for-word translation and free translation. It is usually

used when the sentence structure of the source language and the receptor the

language is different. e.g. My dog is chasing your neighbor’s cat.

(Anjing saya sedang mengejar kucing tetangga anda).

4. Dynamic translation

It is transferring the main idea of source language to receptor language by

common expressions. It gives the priority to the main idea expression and specific

receptor language. e.g. the sentence ‘The author has organized this book since

1995.’ is not common when translated to be: ‘Penulis mengorganisasi buku ini

sejak 1995’. ‘Menyusun’ is the common translation of the word ‘to organize’.

5. Pragmatic Translation

It prioritizes the similarity of the source language and the receptor language

information translation. It does not depend on esthetic values. For the example:

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White Cross Baby Powder is soft and smoothing. It absorbs moisture and keeps baby

cool and comfortable. It contains Chlorhexidine 0,038 %, and antiseptic widely used

in hospitals and clinics.

(White Cross Baby Powder lembut dan halus, menyerap kelembaban, menjaga

kesegaran dan kenyamanan bayi anda. Mangandung Chlorhexidine 0,038 %

antiseptik yang banyak digunakan di rumah sakit dan klinik).

6. Esthetic-Poetic Translation

It does not only give a priority to transfer the information, but also to

impression, emotion and feeling by considering esthetic values of receptor

language. The example of Esthetic-Poetic translation of Brislin (1976: 6):

The rising sun is found not to be the rising sun.

It is the world which goes around.

The bachelor is found not to be a bachelor.

It is the flower that thought he was a liar.

The love that shine collides with the lust and desire she fears.

And the bachelor flies to the skies to get the dice to show in front of her eyes.

But he dies and she dies.

If we can’t say good bye, eye to eye.

Then we don’t have to cry.

But actually I WANT to cry.

For you must fly high up in the sky.

Leaving me alone here high and dry.

There will be no more lullaby.

Recited with a tone of shine.

(Choliludin, 2005:27)

7. Ethnographic Translation

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In kind of translation, the translator tries to describe the culture context of

source language in the receptor language. In translation we often find some words

that can not be translated in the receptor language. Translators usually write the

original word when the words can not be translated.

Brislin (1976: 3-4) says:

The purpose of ethnographic translation is to explicate the cultural context of the

source and TL versions. Translator has to be sensitive to the way words are used and

must know how the words fit into culture. An example is the use of the word ‘yes’

versus ‘yea’ in America.

8. Linguistic Translation

It is the translation that contains implicit linguistic information in source

language that is changed to be explicit and in the transfer meaning, it use the

reflect transformation and meaning component analysis. For the example:

Surface Structure Deep Structure

a. Harry is willing to help.

b. Harry is difficult to help.

a.Harry is willing to help one.

b. Harry is difficult for one to help.

9. Communicative Translation

Communicative translation requires a translation language that has form,

meaning and function. For the example:

- I would admit that I am wrong.

(would in the sentence express a willing to do something)

- I will admit that I am wrong.

(will in the sentence express something to do)

Semantic translation is focused on the most suitable word for the receptor

language that pays attention to the source language culture. e.g. Differences in

using word ‘dad’ and ‘sir’. Although the word are used to call the same person,

the meaning is still different; ‘papa’ and ‘Pak’.

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E. Techniques for Translating

Translating English sentences is a simple thing when the sentence to be

translated is a simple sentence and does not have a special idiom. But it will

change when the sentences become complex and use special idioms, as the

example below:

The whisky market, older and more traditional than Martini market, is catered to in

advertising by an emphasis on the quality of the product, on the discerning taste of

the buyer and on the social status the product will confer.

A beginner translator is usually confused by the complex sentences. He has

difficulty in determining the parts of the sentences. As Choliludin states “It is

important before translating (English sentences) the reader has to deeply know

many kinds of subjects, verbs, objects and adverbs and master Indonesian

grammar well and rightly” (2005:46). Those words illustrate that mastering

English grammar is important, and mastering Indonesian grammar is more

important in translating English sentences. Furthermore, Choliludin writes the six

important steps in translating English sentences:

1. Sentence identification

2. Sentence analysis; knowing the subject, predicate, object and the adverb of

the sentence.

3. Make sure that messages from the source language have been understood, that

is marking the main part of the sentence, they are subject, predicate, object or

the complement.

4. Restructure the sentence that doesn’t have the same point.

5. As Duff’s translating principle states “One of the most frequent critics of

translation is that it does not sound ‘natural’. This is because the translator’s

thoughts and choice of words are too strongly molded by the original text. A

good way to avoid the influence of the source language is to set the text aside

and translate a few sentences aloud from memory. This will suggest natural

11

patterns of thought in the first language which may not come to mine when

the eye is fixed on the SL text.” (Choliludin 2005:43)

6. Try to translate until the level of idiomatic as suggested by Larson.

F. Translating English Words

1. English Plurals

In Indonesia, English plurals should not be translated to reduplication, e.g.

Few members support the movement. (Tidak banyak anggota yang mendukung

gerakan itu).

In Indonesia there is not nominal concord or agreement form between plural

numbers or plural words and the nouns.

In Indonesian there are reduplication words to express variety and plural.

But the reduplication word is useless when there is another word expressed plural.

e.g. Sekelompok mahasiswa (-mahasiswa) mengadakan aksi damai di depan

kampus.

2. Indefinite Article

English indefinite article should not be translated in Indonesian. e.g. A dog

is an intelligent animal. (Anjing adalah binatang yang cerdas).

English indefinite articles – a or an – do not express singular nouns but also

express general definition or conceptual definition. Conceptual definition is only

in our thought; the nouns or the reality is not always presented.

(1) A dog is an intelligent animal only express a conceptual definition about the

dog; there is not a dog in the situation.

(2) There is a dog in the garden does not express a conceptual definition about

the dog; it express that there is a dog in the real situation.

3. Definite Article

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Definite article –the – is translated to be: -nya, itu, tersebut, tadi in

Indonesian. Yet, is should not always be translated in Indonesian. Although it is

not translated, sometimes the meaning has been seen from the situation or the

context.

Turn on the light in the kitchen. (only the light in the kitchen)

Have you been to the mountains recently? (mountains nearby that are known to

everyone)

They prefer to live in the city. (The reader, it is assumed, understands the difference

between living in the country or suburbs and living in the city.)

4. English Pronoun

English pronoun should not always be translated in Indonesian pronoun.

The amount and the meaning of Indonesian pronouns are not as many as English

pronouns.

My brother is married to an English girl. He loves her very much.

(Kakak laki – laki saya menikah dengan seorang gadis Inggris. Ia sangat

mencintainya.)

There are female personal pronouns in English; she, her. The meaning

context is not only used for human but also for animals. In Indonesian, there is not

female personal pronoun.

5. Is, Was or The Other Conjugations from To Be

The English words is, was or the other conjugation from the verb To Be

also must be translated well. The linking verbs that are from To Be should not be

translated in Indonesian.

When they are used after a noun as the nominal predicate, they are usually

translated to be ‘adalah’, especially to define something.

He is a very good teacher. (Dia adalah guru yang sangat baik.)

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Rectangle is surface that its four sides are equally length. (Bujur sangkar

adalah bidang yang keempat sisinya sama panjang.)

Yet, it is incorrect when we translate:

Your help is very useful. (Bantuan anda adalah sangat bermanfaat.)

G. Translating English Phrases

Alice Maclin in Reference Guide to English writes “A phrase is two or

more words that work together as a unit and/ or as the same part of speech. The

main word in phrase is sometimes called the head word.” By knowing the head

word of the phrase, we can translate a phrase correctly.

NOUN PHRASE: The large white house was sold yesterday.

(Rumah putih yang besar itu telah terjual kemarin.)

The head word of the noun phrase above is house. The words before house are

describing the noun.

VERB PHRASE: The house has been sold. (Rumah itu telah terjual.)

The head word of the verb phrase above is sold.

INFINITIVE PHRASE: The house to be sold is across the street.

(Rumah yang akan dijual berada di seberang jalan.)

GERUND PHRASE: Selling the house may be difficult.

(Menjual rumah bisa menjadi sangat sulit.)

PARTICIPAL PHRASE: Having sold the house, he was happy.

(Setelah menjual rumah itu, dia sangat senang.)

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE: The house on the next corner has been sold.

(Rumah di sudut sana telah terjual.)

ADVERB PHRASE: They sold the house very quickly.

(Mereka menjual rumah itu dengan sangat cepat.)

Quickly modifies sold and very modifies quickly.

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H. Translating English Clauses and Sentences

Before translating English sentences, we should firstly understand about

kinds of sentences in English:

1. Simple Sentence, such sentences have only one full predication in the form of

an independent clause, e.g. The man stole the jewelry.

2. Compound Sentence, such sentences have two or more full predication in the

form of independent clauses, e.g. The man stole the jewelry and he hid it in his

home.

3. Complex Sentence, such sentences also have two or more full predications.

One of these is an independent clause (or, main clause) that is similar to the

form of the simple sentence, and one or more of these are dependent clauses

(or, subordinate clauses), e.g. The man who stole the jewelry hid it in his

home.

4. Compound – Complex Sentences, contains two or more independent clause

and more dependent clauses. e.g. The man stole the jewelry and he hid it in his

home until he could safely get out town.

Secondly, we have to know and determine the subject and the predicate of

the sentence (and also the object, if any). Then we have to find the parts of the

sentence that belong to: when, where, why and how.

Example: We find that in the 7th century (there is not much exact information to

be gathered about earlier times) Chinese pilgrims on their way to and

from India, where they visited the holy places of Buddhism and devoted

themselves there to the study of that religion, frequently visited

Indonesia, too

I. Complex Sentences

When we find a complex sentence, we have to identify the main clause and

the subordinate clause. Then we have to identify the function of the subordinate

clause in the sentence: subjective, predicative, objective, attributive, or adverbial.

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“The major mistake in translating is caused by the translator who doesn’t firstly

analyze the subject, predicate, object, and adverb of the sentence.” (Choliludin,

2005:49)

Example:

- Subjunctive Clause : Whoever drew this painting certainly have an excellent

talent. (Siapapun yang melukis likisan ini pasti mempunyai bakat yang sangat

baik.)

- Objective Clause : I wonder whether he is autism. (Saya mengaguminya

meskipun ia penderita autis)

- Predicative Clause : The surprise is not that there is a party but that you really

understand me. (Yang mengejutkan bukanlah pestanya tetapi kamu benar –

benar mengerti aku.)

- Attributive Clause : He is the man with whom I watched the movie yesterday.

(Dia laki – laki yang nonton film bersamaku kemarin.)

- Prepositional Clause : I will be happy for whatever you give to me. (Aku

bahagia atas apapun yang kau berikan untukku.)

- Adverbial Clause : Shinta stopped crying when her mother gave her a glass of

milk. (Shinta berhenti menangis ketika ibunya memberinya segelas susu.)

Choliludin (2005, 52-54) writes that when we find a complex sentence, firstly we

have to determine the main parts of the sentence.

The determination of the degree to which Sanskrit loan-words show Javanese

influences in their meaning forms a rewarding subject of investigation for

linguists.

→ The determination of the degree forms a rewarding subject of investigation for

linguists.

Secondly, we have to translate the words:

The determination of = kuatnya

Degree = tingkat

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Forms = membentuk

Rewarding = berharga

Subject = subjek

Investigation = penyelidikan

For = bagi

Linguist = ahli bahasa

→ Kuatnya tingkat membentuk subjek penyelidikan yang berharga bagi para

ahli bahasa.

According to Larson, the sentence above is still inconsistent mixture. To change it

to be idiomatic, we have to adjust some words;

Kuatnya tingkat yang menjadikan hal tersebut subjek penyelidikan yang

berharga bagi para ahli bahasa.

Then, we have to translate the clause bellow:

… to which Sanskrit loan-words show Javanese influences in their meaning…

… pengaruh bahasa Jawa pada makna terhadap kata-kata pinjaman bahasa

Sanskerta…

The complete translation is as follow:

The determination of the degree. subject Kuatnya tingkatTo which Sanskrit loan-words show Javanese influences in their meaning.

adverb Pengaruh bahasa Jawa pada makna terhadap kata-kata pinjaman bahasa Sanskerta.

Forms verb Menjadikan hal tersebut.A rewarding subject of investigations for linguists.

object Sebagai subjek penyelidikan yang berharga bagi para ahli bahasa.

→ Kuatnya tingkat pengaruh bahasa Jawa pada makna terhadap kata-kata

pinjaman bahasa Sanskerta menjadikan hal tersebut sebagai subjek

penyelidikan yang berharga bagi para ahli bahasa.

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PART III

CONCLUSION

Translation can be a simple thing when we understand what the translation is.

Translation is not merely a transfer meaning from the source language to the target

language by functioning dictionaries. Translation also needs a grammatical

understanding, as Bassnett writes:

Beyond the notion stressed by the narrowly linguistic approach, that translation involves

the transfer of ‘meaning’ contained in one set of language signs through competent use

of the dictionary and grammar, the process involves a whole set of extra-linguistic

criteria also.

Because translating with merely transferring meaning will not produce a good

translation.

In translating English texts, we have to pass the process of the translation. It

starts from reading the text and understanding the content. After understanding the

content of the text, we can start to find the meaning of each word. After we find the

meaning, we have to restructure the sentence in order to get a flexible translation.

There are some kinds of translation that stated by Nababan (1999: 30-46),

such as: word by word translation, free translation, literal translation, dynamic

translation, pragmatic translation, esthetic-poetic translation, ethnographic translation,

linguistic translation, and communicative translation. The kinds of translation will be

used based on the conditions below:

- Level of complexity of the sentences.

- The context of the sentences.

- When the sentences are used.

- With whom the sentences are used.

- How the sentences are expressed.

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In order to make a good translation, we have to pay attention to:

1. Understanding parts of speech; many kinds of word and how to adjust them into

the target language.

2. Determining the head word of a phrase would make easier translating a phrase.

3. When we find a complex sentence, we have to identify the main clause and the

subordinate clause. Then we have to identify the function of the subordinate

clause in the sentence: subjective, predicative, objective, attributive, or adverbial.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bassnett, Susan. 1991. Translation Studies. London and New York: Routledge.

Brown, H. Douglas. 2000. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. San

Francisco: Longman.

Choliludin. 2005. The Technique of Making Idiomatic Translation. Bekasi: VISIPRO.

Frank, Marcella. 1972. Modern English, A Practical Reference Guide. New Jersey:

Prentice-Hall.

Hartono, 2003. Belajar Menterjemahkan, Teori dan Praktek. Malang: UMM Press.

Maclin, Alice. 1996. Reference Guide to English: A Handbook of English as a

Second Language. Washington D. C.: Decalb College.

Nababan, Rudolf. 1999. Teori Menterjemahkan Bahasa Inggris. Yogyakarta: Pustaka

Pelajar.

Sutopo, Anam & Dewi Candraningrum. 2001. Translation. Surakarta:

Muhammadiyah University Press.

Widyamartaya, A. 1995. Seni Menterjemahkan. Jakarta: Sari Ilmu.

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