Theories and Practices of Translation

Yağmur Küçükbezirci

❖ Definition of Translation

Translation consists of changing from one state or form to another, to turn into one’s own or
another’s language. Translation is basically a change of form. When we speak of the form of a
language, we are referring to the actual words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, etc. which
are spoken or written. These forms are referred to as surface structure of a language. In translation,
the form of the source language (SL) is replaced by the form of the receptor/target language (TL).

Translation consists of transferring the meaning of the source language into receptor language. This
is done by going from the form of the first language to the form of a second language by way of
semantic structure. It is ‘meaning’ which is being transferred and must be held constant. Only the
form is changed.

Translation, then, consists of studying lexicon, grammatical structure, communication situation,

and cultural context of the source language text, analyzing it in order to determine its meaning,
and then reconstructing this same meaning using the lexicon and grammatical structure which are
appropriate in the receptor language and its cultural context.

❖ Translation and Culture

Translation is a two-way process: from one culture to the others; and from other cultures into one’s
own culture.

There is a long list of definitions about culture. Here are some of them:

a) the total of the inherited ideas, beliefs, values, and knowledge, which constitute the shared
bases of social action,

b) the total range of activities and ideas of a group of people with shared traditions.

If we translate those items into aspects of culture that a language learner needs to come to terms with,
we could include some of these things: customs, literature, architecture, traditional ceremonies,
movies, music, art, and the way people relate to one another in families, in a society, and the sense of
humor.

Culture may be defined as the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that
uses a particular language as its means of expression.

❖ Importance of Translation

Translation is an activity of enormous importance in the modern world, and it is a subject of interest
not only to linguists, professional or amateur translators and language teachers, but also to electronic
engineers and mathematicians.

It is definitely known that, as soon as writing was invented and developed among separate nations in
antiquity, translation came to play a significant role in intercommunication.

The need for translation can be viewed from two different perspectives. On the one hand, it seems to
be useless and of no value since it is possible to conduct a long-time career without any access to
translations. If there is no enthusiasm to know others or even to care what others do, then translating,
taking into consideration all its shortcomings, is a waste of energy and time spent by individuals. Only

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a few may be interested in knowing other peoples’ cultural, sociological, political, and emotional
attitudes and thoughts and, for them, the solution would be to learn the respective languages.

On the other hand, the flow of enthusiasm to get the thoughts, ideas, and information of others, no
matter how and what extent, makes translation inevitable and as a consequence, it becomes a choice
of priority.

❖ Translation for Different Purposes

a) Translation for pleasure,
b) Translation of promotional and instructional material,
c) Translation of advertising copy,
d) Translation of publicity and sales literature,
e) Translation of captions,
f) Translation of signs and notices,
g) Translation of instructional material,
h) Translation of instructions on forms,
i) Literary and book translation.

❖ Role of the Translator

a) The translator must fully understand the sense and meaning of the original author
although he is at liberty to clarify obscurities,
b) The translator should have a perfect knowledge of both SL and TL,
c) The translator should avoid word-for-word renderings,
d) The translator should use forms of speech in common use,
e) The translator should choose and order words appropriately to produce the correct tone.

❖ Translator is described as:

a) ‘requires a knowledge of literary and non-literary textual cohesion’, otherwise he cannot
make judgments and cannot differentiate possible interpretations,
b) Should constantly improve his style of writing,
c) Must possess a potential capability to make judgments on the literary quality of a text,
d) Must have a good knowledge of logic,
e) Must be so component in the two languages that can determine the degree of the author’s
faithfulness on observing dominating norms of his community and also be able to
determine the best target-language style that suits the author’s work best,
f) Must be familiar with figurative, technical, and colloquial senses of two languages,
g) Must differentiate between primary meaning, secondary/collocational meaning, and core
and peripheral meanings,
h) Must be familiar with the following techniques: transcription, one-to-one translation,
through-translation, lexical synonymy, componential analysis, transposition, modulation,
compensation, defining, paraphrasing, expansion, contraction, discourse rearrangements,
and new linguistic coining in the two languages.

❖ In rendering a text, the translator must:

a) Be sure that he/she has understood the text by knowing the intention of the text, readers’
social and cultural strata, sex, and specific occupations they are engaged in,
b) Determine the text category whether it is expressive, descriptive, or informative or
vocative,
c) Determine if some parts of the text are ironical or nonsensical,

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 d) Determine what type of meaning he/she has to take into account: linguistic, referential,
performative, cultural, inferential, connotative, or pragmatic,
e) Make his/her own interpretation of the parts of the text which are semantically vague.

❖ Specific Problems of Translation

The problem of translatability or untranslatability is closely related to man’s understanding of

the nature of language, meaning, and translation. Since all human beings use some type pf
language to represent their thoughts and all talk about the same world of reality, translating
from one language into another is not a difficult task and therefore easy to be carried out. But
the fact is that translators, in rendering texts, are always confronted with a number of problems
which are to be tackled consciously, consistently, and accurately.

➢ The first problem is how to get access to adequate comprehending of the original text
with all its complexities. In order for the translator to capture the image of the original
text, its intention, its power act, its pragmatic valency, and the political applicability of
the related language is to be conducted.
➢ The second problem concerns the inefficiency of the translator’s mastery of the target
language and how that language is to be manipulated. It is false to assume that anyone
can translate equally well from one language into another by simply being a native
speaker of that language. A thorough knowledge of the target language style, registers,
dialectal variations, cultural diversifications, and ethnic and traditional backgrounds as
well as a familiarity with the socio-psychological expectations of the related
community is the basic requirement for anyone to claim being in this camp.
➢ A third problem is that whats and hows of the procedures involved in between the two
stages, namely, the stage of comprehending the source language text and that of the
manipulation of the target language.

Due to the differences, there is no completely exact translation between any two
languages. What one can hope for is an approximation. The degree of similarity between
the systems of the two languages determines the efficacy of the translation made.

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A. What is translation?

Translation by dictionary definition consists of changing from one state or form to another, to turn into
one’s own or another’s language (The Meriam-Webster Dictionary, 1974). A translation is a text. It is
words arranged in sentences, and sentences arranged in larger structures, in a non-arbitrary way
according to the conventions of language, with the purpose of communicating something in particular.
A speech actor, which in this case is a translator, constructs this text with a purpose. The translator is
referencing another text and aiming to produce something perceived to be equivalent to the original
text in some significant way. The translator perceives that an original author intended to communicate
something to an original audience, and the translator aims to reproduce something from that original
communication in a new context and with a new audience that was not reached by the original, source
text.

A translation is a text derived from another text in another language, exhibiting qualities of equivalence
to that source text, such that the derived text can be taken as a substitute for the original text.
Translation (or the practice of translation) is a set of actions performed by the translator while
rendering the source (or original) text (ST) into another language. Translation is a means of interlingual
communication. The translator makes possible an exchange of information between the users of
different languages by producing in the target language (TL or the translating language) a text which
has an identical communicative value with the source (or original) text (ST). This target text (TT, that is
the translation) is not fully identical with ST as to its form or content due to the limitations imposed by
the formal and semantic differences between the source language (SL) and TL. Nevertheless, the users
of TT identify it, to all intents and purposes, with ST – functionally, structurally, and semantically.

The functional identification is revealed in the fact that the users (or the translation receptors - TR)
handle TT in such a way as if it were ST, a creation of the source text author. The structure of the
translation should follow that of the original text: there should be no change in the sequence of
narration or in the arrangement of the segments of the text. The aim is maximum parallelism of
structure which would make it possible to relate each segment of the translation to the respective part
of the original.

B. Translation and Interpreting

Interpreting and translation are two closely related linguistic disciplines. Yet they are rarely performed
by the same people. The difference in skills, training, aptitude and even language knowledge are so
substantial that few people can do both successfully on a professional level. On the surface, the
difference between interpreting and translation is only the difference in the medium: the interpreter
translates orally, while a translator interprets written text. Both interpreting and translation presuppose
a certain love of language and deep knowledge of more than one language. The key skills of the
translator are the ability to understand the source language and the culture of the country where the
text originated, then using a good library of dictionaries and reference materials, to render that
material clearly and accurately into the target language. In other words, while linguistic and cultural
skills are still critical, the most important mark of a good translator is the ability to write well in the
target language.

Even bilingual individuals can rarely express themselves in a given subject equally well in both
languages, and many excellent translators are not fully bilingual to begin with. Knowing this limitation,
a good translator will only translate documents into his or her native language. This is why we at
Language Scientific absolutely require our technical translators only translate into their native
language, in addition to their subject matter expertise. An interpreter, on the other hand, must be able
to translate in both directions on the spot, without using dictionaries or other supplemental reference

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materials. Interpreters must have extraordinary listening abilities, especially for simultaneous
interpreting. Simultaneous interpreters need to process and memorize the words that the source
language speaker is saying now, while simultaneously outputting in the target language the translation
of words the speaker said 5-10 seconds ago.

The key difference between translation and interpretation lies within the choice of communication
channel. Simply put, translation deals with written communication, while interpreting is all about the
spoken word. Translators work on written documents, including books, essays, legal documents,
medical records, websites, instruction manuals, subtitles for film or TV, or any other form of
information in written form. Interpreters, on the other hand, are involved in projects that require live
translation; for example, conferences and business meetings, medical appointments, and legal
proceedings. Both translators and interpreters have a deep linguistic and cultural knowledge of their
working languages, as well as the ability to communicate clearly and succinctly. It is, however,
important to highlight the distinctive features of these two professions.

Translators generally work from their home computers and tend to specialize in a particular field. Good
translators have excellent written skills and are usually perfectionists by nature, paying particular
attention to the style of the source documents, as well as the accuracy and significance of the terms
used within their translations. Unlike translators, interpreters do not provide a word-for-word
translation; instead, they transpose spoken messages from one language into another, instantly and
accurately. Interpreters work in real-time situations, in direct contact with both the speaker and the
audience. They rely primarily on their linguistic expertise acquired through training and experience - a
sentence in one language may be rendered an entirely different way in another. Good interpreters are
endowed with very quick reflexes, as well as a good memory and speaking voice. An interpreter is often
more than an on-demand translator, however - they also act as a facilitator between speaker and
listener, both linguistically and diplomatically.

C. Why Is Translation So Important?

Here are some reasons of why translation is so important:

1. Only about 10% of people in the world speak English. There exists a large opportunity to reach out
to markets other than the English-speaking ones, with the help of translation services.

2. Internet adoption around the world is increasing; people are transacting over the net much more
than they did before. Hence, it is important to translate your web content into other languages.

3. The main and major role of language translation services, we can see in business. To become a
partner of global market and wants to promote your brand product elegantly, the help of skilled
translation services is essential. It is because the professional translator in a particular language is
having the ideas of emotions and feelings on those languages speaking peoples. They translate your
quotes in such a way that would be so appealing for themselves and can catch up with the market
easily. On the other hand, the use of English is limited in some more countries. So, to reach those
customers with proper translation services is the keyway to get them easily.

Many developing markets such as China, Brazil, Mexico etc., have little business communication in
English. People in such countries continue to communicate in their own language. Translation helps in
cutting across language barriers and interacting with people in such countries.

4. Literary texts, books and novels need to be translated into various languages so that they can be
read by people in other countries.

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5. For companies from translating a website, emails, or company brochures, each translation can go a
long way and translation services should become an integral part of every company’s long-term
marketing and business development strategies.

Obviously large Fortune 500 companies are going to have bigger budgets to allocate to using translation
services, which many small to medium sized businesses don’t have. However, the results are clear that
if a company has or is trying to develop an international presence or if a company deals with
multinational customers, the use of translation services can only serve to benefit these aims.

Now technology is so advanced and in order to communicate with the foreign delegates in
multinational countries a conferencing system is popular. In this situation handle the matter properly,
one can take the help of translator services. An efficient translator can resolve your problem and can
do your business deal significantly.

Translation service can solve your communication and cultural differences. You can easily enrich your
thoughts with the help of the right translation services.

Kinds of Translation According to Roman Jakobson

There are some kinds of translation. Roman Jakobson (1959, 234) divided translation into three; intra-
lingual translation, inter-lingual translation, and inter-semiotic translation. Intra-lingual translation is
the process of transforming a text into another text according to translator’s interpretation in the same
language. For example; A translator translates a poem “Aku” by Khairil Anwar into a prose in Indonesia.
This kind of translation is called intra-lingual translation.

The second is inter-lingual translation. Inter-lingual translation is transforming the source text message
into the target language.

The third one is inter-semiotics translation. It is a kind of translation that interprets a text into another
sign or system. One of the example is a novel entitled “Karmila” written by Marga T. that was turned
into a movie with the same title “Karmila”.

Savory (1969, 20-24) divided translation into four kinds, those are; perfect translation, adequate
translation, composite translation, and research and technical translation.

Perfect translation is a kind of translation that is often to see in public area. For this kind of text, the
most important thing is the source message is transformed well with the same meaning in the target
text.

Adequate translation is made for readers who aim to get the general information of in the text for fun
readings. The example of this translation is popular novel and short stories translation. In translating
this kind of text, the translator sometimes deletes difficult words to understand, and the translator is
free to paraphrase the sentences to make the readers catch the plot of the stories.

Composite translation is a serious translation of literatures. The translation is made well enough to
make the message, meaning, and style of the source text can be transformed well in the target
language.

Research and technical translation is made for translating texts related to science or techniques, for
example; translating books related to computer science from English to Turkish in order to develop the
information about computer in Türkiye.

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Problems In Translating Text

The translation of idioms takes us a stage further in considering the question of meaning and
translation, for idioms, like puns, are culture bound.

The Italian idiom “menare il can per l’aia” provides a good example of the kind of shift that takes place
in the translation process. Translated literally, the sentence

Giovanni sta menando il can per I’aia.

becomes

John is leading his dog around the threshing floor.

The image conjured up by this sentence is somewhat startling and, unless the context referred quite
specifically to such a location, the sentence would seem obscure and virtually meaningless. The English
idiom that most closely corresponds to the Italian is “to beat about the bush”, also obscure unless used
idiomatically, and hence the sentence correctly translated becomes:

John is beating about the bush.

That substitution is made not on the basis of the linguistic elements in the phrase, nor on the basis of
a corresponding or similar image contained in the phrase, but on the function of the idiom. The SL
phrase is replaced by a TL phrase that serves the same purpose in the TL culture, and the process here
involves the substitution of SL sign for TL sign.

In his definition of translation equivalence, Popovič distinguishes four types:

(1) Linguistic equivalence, where there is homogeneity on the linguistic level of both SL and TL texts,
i.e. word for word translation.

(2) Paradigmatic equivalence, where there is equivalence of ‘the elements of a paradigmatic expressive
axis’, i.e. elements of grammar, which Popovič sees as being a higher category than lexical equivalence.

(3) Stylistic (translational) equivalence, where there is ‘functional equivalence of elements in both
original and translation aiming at an expressive identity with an invariant of identical meaning’.

(4) Textual (syntagmatic) equivalence, where there is equivalence of the syntagmatic structuring of a
text, i.e. equivalence of form and shape.

Common Mistakes in Translation

If you know the most common mistakes in the translation process, you can take steps to avoid them.
Here they are:

a. The translator leaves out some of the text that appeared in the source document, such as a
paragraph, a sentence, a phrase, or an item in a list that does not require translation, such as a
telephone number. All content in the source document should appear in the translated document,
either as translated text or (as in the case of title, numbers, and illustrations) duplicated exactly from
the original. The translator should find these mistakes in his or her review. If not, you or a member of
your team may catch them in your review.

b. The translator misinterprets the meaning of the text, and the final translation gives the wrong
message. For example, “No, benefits will be provided anyway” is translated as “No benefits will be
provided anyway.”

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c. The translator incorrectly identifies abbreviations or misinterprets specific terminology. For example,
the translator writes that CIS, which in your organization might mean “Customer Information Site”,
means “Citizenship and Immigration Services.”

d. The translator (or the client) includes text or examples that are culturally inappropriate for the
intended audiences.

e. The translator is inconsistent in using or defining key words or phrases throughout the document or
across different documents that are part of the same body of work. Inconsistency can be confusing to
readers, especially when the information being presented is new to them.

f. The client accepts changes to the translation offered by unqualified, ad hoc reviewers. Many times,
clients are tempted to put their faith in unqualified reviewers, because those reviewers just happen to
read or speak the language of the translated document. Do not put your faith in a reviewer unless you
know that person is qualified –that he or she is a well-educated native speaker and a good writer who
is knowledgeable about grammar, spelling, punctuation, and the other elements of acceptable writing.

Translation Problems and Solutions

1. Titles

Literal translations of titles will often fail to grab the prospective audience for the book. Sometimes a
complete change is required to make the book saleable in English-speaking countries, and difficult
decisions may have to be made. Ultimately, the title is a commercial decision on which the publisher
will have the final say, but creating a bland new title in order to avoid alienating readers is not good
practice. The editor (with ammunition from the translator and possibly the author) should stand his or
her ground and offer more viable solutions that better reflect the book.

2. Stylized language

Translating a book written in a particular style (baroque, for example), even when written by
contemporary authors, poses its own problems. Do translators ‘update’ the text to refresh it and make
it accessible, thereby losing distinctive use of vocabulary and turn of phrase, or do they labor to match
it? No one would expect to read Shakespeare in modern English (apart, perhaps, from lazy students),
nor would they expect to lose the beauty of Francesc Fontanella’s or Francesc Vicenc Garcia’s prose by
having it written in a contemporary style.

Another stylistic problem can be presented by purposeful awkwardness in the original that simply does
not work in the new language. There’s always a danger that it will just read like a bad translation. You
can try to convey the sense of awkwardness in other ways—by subtly referring to it, for instance, or
moving direct dialogue into indirect, etc.—but sometimes you simply have to leave the passage out.
Something will have been lost, but the important thing is that the translation should not call attention
to itself in a way that will mar the reader’s experience of the book.

3. Regional dialects

There’s a fine line between making foreign authors accessible to English-speaking readers and making
them sound like English writers. The rhythms and patterns of their own languages are part of what
makes them interesting, and it can be a mistake to iron them out completely.

While leaving in too many ‘unknown’ cultural references will weaken a book, and lose readers, there
must, still, be an essence of something different. Some languages need lengthy explanations, which

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can be cumbersome, and force the translator to rely on glossaries and notes in order to provide the
necessary explanations.

4. Strong language

Expletives that are integral to a book should always remain. The difficulty lies in making the language
accessible and relevant, without offending more delicate sensibilities. In some cultures, swearing is an
everyday activity, whereas in many English-speaking countries bad language is considered to be less
acceptable and gratuitous swearing may be frowned upon. Another problem, too, is the wealth of
expletives in other languages, which simply cannot be matched by English equivalents.

5. Colloquialisms

Similar considerations apply to colloquialisms as to expletives. Martin Riker says that the most
important issue with slang is timeliness—will the approximate slang chosen by the translator remain
relatively current? With some translations you can almost identify the year, if not the month, in which
it must have been translated, especially when it comes to teenage slang.

6. Humor

Just as slang or colloquialisms often fail to translate, so humor can present a problem for translators.
Something hugely funny in another language can fall flat in English, without lengthy explanations that
certainly reduce any humor involved. Equivalents may simply be out of context with the book itself,
and often seem nonsensical.

Plays on words are obviously specific to their original language. An equivalent has to be found in the
new language and sometimes these simply don’t work or need to be cut, or a completely different play
on words has to be invented to retain the liveliness of play. In such cases, the translator and editor
might have to decide which is more important to the passage—the literal sense of the phrase or the
playfulness that it brings to bear.

7. Untranslatable words and culture-specific references

When translating Tiziano Scarpa’s Venice Is a Fish Shaun Whiteside had to rely on extensive discussions
with the author as well as a great deal of research to work out English equivalents for some of the more
specialist vocabulary. Martin Riker says:

‘If references are not obscure or difficult for the original audience, they should not be obscure or
difficult for the new audience. Of course, there are real limits to the extent to which it is possible to
make such references familiar, but certain simple tricks can contextualize for the reader without
damaging their experience of the book.’

Some words, however, simply don’t translate. Ros Schwartz usually prefers to leave these in the text
and to provide the reader with a glossary, which can serve the purpose of explaining more obscure
geographical and cultural references, without interrupting the flow of the text with lengthy descriptions
and explanations. A map can also prove invaluable for readers. Eliminating traces of foreignness
completely can iron out the quirks and flatten the text, and this is a potential problem that calls for
vigilance.

8. Quotations from other sources

In most cases, it is good practice to seek out existing English translations of quotes or material such as
poetry or song lyrics, rather than re-translating—not only because of the time constraints involved in
creating associations and rhythm between the words of yet another author, but because it is, in

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essence, a different ‘art.’ The demands of finding equivalent vocabulary that is as rich with allusions
and meaning, along with recreating rhythm and rhyme can pose an insurmountable problem. It is,
however, often necessary for a translator to do the work him or herself, because there is no English
equivalent available.

Some quotes simply do not translate and are best dropped. Others must be altered to make their
meaning and relevance to the text clear. In these cases, a translator must be given some license to
make appropriate changes—dropping the original rhyme structure, for example, or altering the
rhythm. A direct replacement might also be necessary, in the case of lyrics, for example, to something
that has the right resonance with English readers.

A note should be made of any other sources from which translations are taken and given to the copy
editor along with the translator’s notes. In some cases, permission may be required to reproduce
someone else’s translation.

9. Difficult languages

There are some languages for which high-quality translators are few and far between, forcing
publishers either to abandon the idea of translating, or to rely on the joint efforts of a prose stylist and
a native speaker to get the balance right. It may also be necessary to translate from a separate language
altogether, because a good native translator simply can’t be found.

English is often the key bridging language into other languages—a translator in India will be more likely
to be able to translate a book from English than from Finnish or Dutch, for example. Thus, to publish
an excellent translation in English is to open up possibilities of further translation of that title into other
languages throughout the world.

Translation Techniques

We can define translation techniques as procedure to analyze and classify how translation equivalence
works. They are five basic characteristics:

a. They affect the result of the translation.

b. They are classified by comparison with the original.

c. They affect micro-units of text.

d. They are by nature discursive and contextual.

e. They are functional.

Translation techniques are used when structural and conceptual elements of the source language can
be transposed to the target language.

B. Translation Techniques

The translation techniques below are taken from Molina and Albir (2002), Machali (2009), and
Suryawinata & Harianto (2003):

1. Borrowing

Suryawinata and Harianto referred to borrowing as translation strategy considering the meaning of the
text. This technique is called naturalization by Newmark (1988). Borrowing is a strategy used by taking
word of the source language in the target text. The use of this technique aims to keep the source

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language as an appreciation for the source text, or there is no appropriate equivalent for the words in
the target language.

For example:

Source text Target text

Mall Mall

Sandal Sandal

Orangutan Orangutan

Lobby Lobby

Futbal Football

Lider Leader

Mitin Meeting.

Flasdisk Flashdisk

Television Televisi

2. Calque

Molina and Albir (2002, 510) defined calque as a translation technique used by translating a word or a
foreign word literally. Calque is also called loan translation by Richards (1992: 44). It is used for
translating morpheme of a language into another equivalent morpheme in another language, for
example: The word “omnipotens” comes from Latin “omniall”, and “potens-mighty”, so “ominpotens-
almighty.” Other examples are “beer garden” from German “beer garten”, “academic freedom” from
“akademische freiheit”, and “normal school” from france “ecole normale”.

3. Literal Technique

This technique also includes the translation method focused on the source text (Machali, 2009). The
example of literal translation is in translating “It’s raining cats and dogs” into “Ini hujan kucing dan
anjing”. The phrase “cats and dogs” should not be translated into “kucing dan anjing”. The translator
should realize that there is no correlation between cats and dogs with raining because it is impossible
for cats and dogs to fall from the clouds, and it makes the target text will be weird. Then, the translator
should use another method in translating this phrase into Indonesia. A good translation of this phrase
will be “Hujannya deras sekali”, “deras sekali” replacing the words “cats and dogs”.

4. Synonym

Synonym is a strategy used by finding the most similar word for the target language, for example:

Source text: What a cute baby you’ve got!

Target text: Alangkah lucunya bayi Anda!

The translator uses the word “lucu” to replace “cute” in English because the word “cute” is the most
similar to “lucu” in Indonesia.

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5. Adaptation

Adaptation is also called as cultural equivalent by Newmark (1988), or Cultural substitution by Baker
(1992). Adaptation is used to find the cultural equivalency of source language in the target language.
For example;

Source text: “Dear sir”

Target text: “Dengan hormat” (Indonesia). It should not be translated literally as “Tuan yang terhormat.

Source text: “Sincerely yours”

Target text: “Hormat saya”

Source text: As white as Snow

Target text: Seputih kapas. It should not be translated into “Seputih salju” because “Salju-snow” is not
very common in Indonesia.

6. Cultural Equivalence

Translator used this strategy by replacing the special word of the source text with another special word
in the target text. For example:

Source text: Minggu depan Jaksa Agung Andi Ghalib akan berkunjung ke Swiss.

Target text: Next week the Attorney General Andi Ghalib will visit Switserland.

7. Contextual Conditioning

Machali included contextual conditioning and notes conditioning as translation procedures. Contextual
conditioning is used to give some information in the context to make the message of the source
language sounds clear in the target text. For example: “The mustang was the fastest in the race”. The
translator should be aware that to translate this text, he should understand that “mustang” is a horse.
Then, he can translate the text to be “Kuda Mustang itu adalah yang tercepat dalam pacuan tersebut”.

8. Established Equivalent

Established equivalent is to use a term or expression recognized (by dictionary or language in use) as
an equivalent in the TL (Molina and Albir, 2002: 510). It is used by giving common expression used
every day. For example:

Source text: They are as like as two peas

Target text: Se parecer como dos gotas de agua (literally means: they are as two drops of water)

9. Generalization

Generalization is used to use a more general or neutral term (Molina & Albir, 2002: 510). It's used more
neutral expression in the target language. It’s also called neutralization by Newmark, or translation by
general word (Baker). For example:

Source text: Penthouse

Target text: Tempat tinggal

Source text: Becak

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Target text: Vehicle

Source text: Quichet (France)

Target text: Window. The meaning of Quichet is actually “shop window”.

10.Particularization

Particularization is to use a more precise or concrete term (Molina & Albir, 2002: 510). For example:

Source text: Window

Target text: Quichet (shop window)

Source text: Air transportation

Target text: Helikopter (Indonesia)

11.Compensation

Compensation is used to introduce a Source Text (ST) element of information or stylistic effect in
another place in the Target Text (TT) because it cannot be replaced in the same place as in the Source
Text (ST) (Molina & Albir, 2002:510). It introduces the language style of the source language in the
target language.

12.Transposition

Transposition is to change a grammatical category (Molina and Albir, 2002: 510). This strategy is used
to translate clauses. Translator changes the source text structure to get an equivalency in the target
text.

13.Modulation

Modulation is a way used by translator to see the message of the source language from different angle
(Newmark, 1988:88). This strategy is used when a literal translation produces unnatural translation. If
transposition functions to shift the language structure, then modulation functions to shift the language
meaning in order to make the message of the source text can be understood well by target readers.
The shift here means to change the point of view the text has.

14.Addition

Addition is a strategy used by giving additional information to the target language as an obligatory. For
example:

Source text: Saya guru

Target text: I am a teacher

In the text above, translator needs to add “am” and “a” in the target text to make a complete sense. It
must be done by the translator as a regulation of the grammatical structure in the target text.

15.Amplification

Amplification is a technique used by paraphrasing implicit information of the source language in the
target language. It gives more detail information about the source text, for example:

Source text: Marhusip (Bataknese)

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Target text: Lamaran tradisi batak

Source text: Ramadhan (in Arabic)

Target text: Bulan puasa kaum muslimin

This technique is similar to Note conditioning (Machali, 2009). It is used to translate the phrases that
have no equivalency in the target language. Then, to translate these kinds of phrases, a translator needs
to add notes to represent the contextual meaning of the phrases to get the readers’ understanding the
target text. The notes can be put as footnotes or endnotes.

16.Reduction

Reduction is also called omission or deletion. Omission is used by omitting words of the source text in
the target text. In other word, these parts are not translated into the target language. Omission is made
because the words are not very important and difficult to translate. Reduction means to reduce the
language component of source language, for example:

Source text: “automobile”

Target text: “mobil” (Indonesia)

17.Discursive Creation

Discursive creation is an operation in the cognitive process of translating by which a non-lexical

equivalence is established that only works in context. Discursive creation is an operation in the
cognitive process of translating by which a non-lexical equivalence is established that only works in
context (Molina and Albir, 2002: 505). Molina and Albir added that discursive creation is used to
establish a temporary equivalence that is totally unpredictable out of context (Molina and Albir, 2002:
510). Discursive creation is often used in translating titles of movie. For example:

Source text: Si Malinkundang

Target text: A betrayed son Si Malinkundang

Source text: The godfather

Target text: Sang Godfather

Reference: Dr.Muchtar, M. M.S., Kembaren, F.R. (2016). Basic Theory of Translation.

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 Things to Consider When Translating English
Alper Onur

One could say that translation is the transfer of text written in English by a translator to non-English
speakers. But this is a very rough definition. Translation is more than that, because for a good
translation it is not enough to be able to speak English proficiently. It is also necessary to understand
the economic, sociological, and cultural dynamics in the English-speaking country.

Translation is a complex and deep work that requires professionalism. Even a small mistake made by
the translator while translating can greatly affect the meaning. Therefore, you should be careful when
translating. Of course, you must have a good command of English to translate in English.

The Importance of Thinking in English

Translating English can help you get used to the English language. But you should remember that you
cannot speak English well without thinking in English. Thinking of the Turkish version of every word you
see will not help you much in the next stage.

You can think of the English translation method as a warm-up. You are already working with simple
sentences. You are not yet doing a professionally deep and complex English translation. Once you feel
ready, you can focus on English grammar, listening, speaking, and writing.

For starters, translating simple and fun sentences into English will make it easier for you. It will make
learning English seem like a fun and easy task. This will also motivate you.

After you have made some progress in your English learning journey, you can do more complex English
translations. Translating English professionally is a serious job. There are many points that need to be
taken care of. Let's take a look at what translation means and what to consider when translating English.

What is Translation?

There are many languages that are currently spoken. Therefore, people need to translate what is being
said in one language into another. This is where translation comes into play. It is the process of
translating any text written in one language into another.

English is valuable because it is a universal language. Many source texts are written in English. In
addition, most academic articles, literary novels, magazines, and social media content are written in
English. In this case, it is necessary to know how to translate in English. So, how do you make a good
English translation?

How to Translate in English?

When translating, it is necessary to look at the structure of the sentence. Every sentence has a
predicate. First you need to find the predicate of the sentence. The predicate usually reports work,
occurrence. However, in some sentences the predicate can also be a noun or an adjective.

You have found the predicate. You can start translating the sentence by translating what comes before
the predicate into Turkish. This is easy to do for simple sentences. Then you can complete your English
translation by translating the predicate. Let's continue with a few simple examples.

Bees are small.

In Turkish: Arılar küçüktür.

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Life is nice.

In Turkish: Hayat güzeldir.

Kids run.

In Turkish: Çocuklar koşar.

People eat.

In Turkish: İnsanlar yemek yer.

It is quite easy to translate sentences with only subject and predicate into English. But sentences don't
only consist of subject and predicate. We usually make longer sentences and there are also elements
called objects and complements. In this case, the translation order should be pre-predicate, post-
predicate, and predicate. So, you have to find the predicate of the sentence first again.

Old people are walking on the beach.

In Turkish: Yaşlı insanlar sahilde yürüyor.

Big houses are painted red.

In Turkish: Büyük evler kırmızıya boyandı.

The order of the words in Turkish sentences is different. It is very important to notice the difference
between English and Turkish. Realizing this will also help you when learning English grammar. To make
a good translation, it is important to work with the differences between languages. It is the translator's
responsibility to ensure that the sentence does not lose its meaning after translation.

What are the Stages of Translation?

What are the tricks of translation? What are the things to consider when translating into English? What
should be done while translating? All these questions may be on your mind. The secret to a good
translation is to follow certain steps.

Analyzing the Translation Text

The first step in English translation is for the translator to analyze the text. If you want to translate a
text, you first need to examine and analyze it. You should prepare the terminology and resources you
will use in the language you will translate. These sources can be a dictionary, the internet, any article.

Translating the Text

At this stage of translation, the text is translated after the preparation. The most difficult and extensive
stage is the translation of the text. The important thing here is to stay faithful to the text you are
translating. When translating in English, you should pay attention to the grammar rules of English.

Final Reading

The final stage of translation is proofreading the translated text. You can think of it as double-checking
your translated text. If you catch any mistakes, you have the opportunity to correct them.

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What are the Things to Consider When Translating English?

Making a good translation is not an easy task. There are critical points to pay attention to. You can make
better English translations by paying attention to these critical points. Of course, first of all, you need
to know the rules of the English language.

The biggest mistake is not reading the translated text from beginning to end. You should think
holistically for your English translation. Because dividing the text into parts by proceeding sentence by
sentence can distort the meaning. First of all, you should read and understand the whole text.

English is a very rich language. When translating English, you should remember that words have many
meanings. You should concentrate on the meaning of the word in the text. This is the sine qua non of
a good English translation. Otherwise, the meaning of the text may be interrupted.

Each discipline has its own terms. If the text you are translating is a philosophical text, you need to have
the necessary knowledge for the subject. This does not only apply to philosophy. Law, literature,
economics, and many other fields are also included. The way to gain knowledge is to be curious and
read a lot of books.

As you translate and read texts in English, your translation skills will improve. The important thing here
is to practice constantly. You can even read the English translations you have done in the past from time
to time. This way, you will realize your mistakes and you will be happy with your progress.

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