Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

THEORETICAL REVIEW

2.1 Translation Theory

Today, translation becomes a usual even daily activity. Everyone needs it both in the

need of study, work, or even business. It is different with the condition of the early

translation where translation was only needed and done in particular ways. During the

development of the translation’s use, the experts are also busy in developing the

translation’s theory and hypothesis. The earliest ones are Catford’s (1978) linguistic

theory of translation, Larson’s (1984) meaning-based translation, and the latest,

Newmark’s (1988) textbook of translation.

2.1.1 Definition of Translation

Some people consider that translation is an infidelity because both form and sense

transformed into other kind. It may less the level of context and even meaning.

According to Catford (1978: 1)

“Translation is a process of substituting a text in one language for a text in another.”

There are many areas of translation as Newmark (1988: 1) suggested science

and technology, social, economic, political, and literary works.

2.1.1.1 Translation Process

Nida and Taber (1969: 33) defined the translation process as follows

1) analyzing SL (Source Language) text;2) transferring, and; 3) reconstructing TL (Target Language) text.

The explaining of the translation process is as follows.

“Analyzing is a process where the relationship of grammatical words and meaning are analyzed. In transferring, the analyzed SL text in the first step is then transferred into TL text. Reconstructing is a process where the translator rewrites or reconstructs the text in order to get the comprehensive translation.”

Bell (1991: 60) described the translation process as an interactive process

which consists of three main steps –syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Each step

should be analyzed and synthesized. He added in the process there might be (a) some

steps quickly ignored, and (b) the combination of bottom-up and top-down process

norm both in pattern-introduction and inference procedure.

2.1.1.2 Translation Methods

Newmark (1988: 45-47) used the eight classifications, they are word-for-word, literal,

faithful, semantic, communicative, idiomatic, free, and adaptation that were

organized into two areas; SL textual approach and TL textual approach. He put them

in the following diagram called diagram V.

SL Emphasis TL EmphasisWord-for-word Translation Adaptation Literal Translation Free Translation Faithful Translation Idiomatic Translation Semantic Translation Communicative Translation

(Newmark, 1988)

The method of SL textual approach a. Word-for-word Translation. SL is translated through interlinear translation.b. Literal Translation. The SL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest TL equivalents but the lexical words are again translated singly, out of context.c. Faithful Translation. The precise contextual meaning of the original is reproduced within the constraints of the TL grammatical structures.d. Semantic Translation. The aesthetic value of the SL text must be taken more account.

The method of TL textual approach a. Free Translation. It reproduces the matter without manner, usually a paraphrase than the original.b. Adaptation. This is the freest form of translation, used mainly for the plays.c. Idiomatic Translation. It reproduces the message of the original but tends to distort nuances of meaning.d. Communicative translation. It renders the exact contextual meaning of the original in such a way that both content and language are acceptable and comprehensible for readers.

Larson (1984: 15) divided the translation methods into two parts, literal

translation and idiomatic translation. Literal translation is defined as a SL textual

approach, while idiomatic translation deals with the message delivered by the

translator in TL naturally.

Larson (1984: 16) added there are no literal translation itself but it reaches

very literal, literal, modified literal, inconsistent mixture, near idiomatic, idiomatic,

and unduly free level as described in the following

(Larson, 1984)

Larson (1984: 16-18) explained:a. Very literal. It is the most interlinear translation method that aimed to reproduce the linguistic features.b. Literal translation. It has a less TL communicative aspect of meaning.e. Modified literal method. The SL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest TL equivalents but the lexical words are again translated singly, out of context.c. Inconsistent mixture. It is the combination of literal and idiomatic translation method.d. Near idiomatic. It reproduces the almost communicative message to TL within remaining the naturalness.e. Idiomatic translation. The meaning is reproduced in natural TL.f. Unduly free translation. The additional information is done, and as a result, it converts the cultural meaning in TL.

2.1.1.3 Translation Procedures

While methods in translation relate to the whole text, the procedures deal with the

sentences and the smaller units of language. To decide the students’ procedures used

in translating, the researcher differentiates them into any kinds of Newmark’s theory

in the following

1. Transference

It is a kind of translation procedures, includes transliteration which relates to the

conversion of different alphabets, they might be consonants or vowels.

2. Naturalisation

This procedure supports transference and adapts the SL word first to the normal

pronunciation.

3. Cultural equivalent

This is an approximate translation where a SL cultural word is translated by a TL

cultural word.

4. Functional equivalent

This common procedure, applied to cultural words, requires the use of a culture-

free word, sometimes with a new specific term.

5. Descriptive equivalent

In this translation procedures, description and function are essential elements in

explanation.

6. Synonymy

This procedure is used for a SL word where there is no clear one-to-one

equivalent and the word is not important in the text such as adjectives or adverbs

of quality.

7. Through-translation

This procedure is often used for the literal translation of common collocation,

names of organisations, the components of compounds and perhaps phrases.

8. Shifts or transposition

It is a translation procedure involving a change in the grammar from SL to TL.

9. Modulation

This procedure is defined as a variation through a change of viewpoint, of

perspective and very often of category of thought.

10. Recognised translation

It is normally used for the official or generally accepted translation of any

institutional term.

11. Translation label

This is a provisional translation, usually of a new institutional term, which should

be made in inverted commas.

12. Compensation

This procedure is used when loss of meaning, sound-effect, metaphor or

pragmatic effect occur.

13. Componential analysis

It is the splitting up of a lexical unit into its sense components, often one-to-two,

-three or –four translation.

14. Reduction and expansion

This is a kind of procedure when imprecise translation happens, therefore some

reductions and expansions are used such as noun, adjective.

15. Paraphrase

It is an amplification or explanation of meaning that used in an ‘anonymous’ text.

2.1.2 Criteria of Good Translation

Widyamartaya (1989) in Zifana (2006) stated that a good translation should appear as

a translation but has readability in the origin through the whole meaning. Larson

(1984: 6) proposed some characteristics of good translation as follows

1. Applying normal TL style.

2. Connecting the message of SL text and the meaning in TL text.

3. Remaining the dynamics of SL in the original text.

From the explanation above, we can conclude that translation produces SL

meaning (organized by the native) in TL form of meaning.

Barnwell (2000) in Zifana (2006) emphasized the good translation in terms of

accuracy, clarity, and naturalness, as described in the following:

1. Accuracy means translation is identical with the source text.

2. Clarity deals with the appropriate message delivered.

3. Naturalness measures the SL text dynamics.

2.1.3 Language Function

For the purpose of translation, Newmark (1988:39) classified text types based on

theories of Buhler (1965). They are

1. The types of expressive text are literally works, authoritative statements,

autobiography, essays and personal correspondences;

2. The informative texts are textbooks, technical reports, articles, scientific papers,

theses, minutes or agenda of a meeting;

3. The vocative texts are notices, instructions, propaganda, publicity, and popular

fiction.

Following Newmark’s classification on text types above, we can see clearly

that poem, which is a form of narrative fiction in certain written always in lines or

stanzas, is an expressive text.

Text types further demands the translator to acquire at least some basics of

knowledge related to the text. In other words, this means that a translator should have

a good comprehension on the text she/he handles. Reading references related to the

knowledge may help translator in this matter so he/she can translate the text well.

2.2 Poetry and Translation

2.2.1 Definition of Poetry

Poetry is a word of Greek origin. It comes from a verb which means "to create". A

poem is something made or created. A Roman English poet, William Wordsworth

defined poetry as a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings while Jacobson, a

French linguist, emphasized to the poetic function which points to the elements of the

text in poetry.

As its convention developed, the definition of the poetry amends. Start from

the most conventional meaning that addressed poetry as something entertaining and

educating to the deepest one as a high expression that is not only entertaining but has

other function of meaning.

2.2.2 Elements of Poetry

1. Accent

The prominence or emphasis given to a syllable or word. In the word poetry, the

accent (or stress) falls on the first syllable.

2. Allegory

Allegory is a narrative having a second meaning beneath the surface one.

3. Alexandrine

A line of poetry that has 12 syllables and derives from a medieval romance about

Alexander the Great that was written in 12-syllable lines.

4. Alliteration

The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words such as

tongue twisters like 'She sells seashells by the seashore' 

5. Analogy

Analogy is a likeness or similarity between things that are otherwise unlike.

6. Anapaest

A metrical foot of three syllables, two short (or unstressed) followed by one long

(or stressed). The anapaest is the opposite of the dactyl.

7. Antithesis

An example of antithesis is "To err is human, to forgive, divine." by Alexander

Pope is an example of antithesis with words and phrases with opposite meanings

balanced against each other.

8. Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is

addressed as if it were alive and present and could reply.

9. Archetype

Archetype is the original pattern from which copies are made.

10. Assonance

The repetition or a pattern of similar sounds, as in the tongue twister "Moses

supposes his toeses are roses." 

11. Bard

The definition of a Bard is a Gaelic maker and signer of poems.

12. Blank verse

Blank verse is in unrhymed iambic pentameter which is a type of meter in poetry,

in which there are five iambs to a line.

13. Cacophony

Lewis Carroll makes use of cacophony in 'Jabberwocky' by using an unpleasant

spoken sound created by clashing consonants.

14. Caesura

A grammatical pause or break in a line of poetry (like a question mark), usually

near the middle of the line.

15. Classicism

The principles and ideals of beauty, minimized by the use of emotional restraint,

that are characteristic of Greek and Roman art and literature used by poets such

as John Dryden and Alexander Pope.

16. Conceit 

An example of a conceit can be found in Shakespeare's sonnet "Shall I compare

thee to a summer's day?" when an image or metaphor likens one thing to

something else that is seemingly very different. 

17. Consonance

Consonance is the repetition, at close intervals, of the final consonant sounds of

accented syllables or important words.

18. Connotation

Connotation is what a word suggests beyond its basic definition. The words

childlike and childish both mean 'characteristic of a child,' but childlike suggests

meekness and innocence.

19. Couplet 

Shakespearean sonnets usually end in a couplet and are a pair of lines that are the

same length and usually rhyme and form a complete thought.

20. Dactyl 

A metrical foot of three syllables, one long (or stressed) followed by two short

(or unstressed), as in happily. The dactyl is the reverse of the anapaest.

21. Denotation

Denotation is the basic definition or dictionary meaning of a word. 

22. Dialect

Dialect refers to pronunciation of a particular region of a Country or region.

23. Doggerel

Doggerels are a light verse which is humorous and comic by nature.

24. Elision

Elision refers to the leaving out of an unstressed syllable or vowel, usually in

order to keep a regular meter in a line of poetry for example 'o'er' for 'over'.

25. Enjambment

Enjambment comes from the French word for "to straddle." Enjambment is the

continuation of a sentence form one line or couplet into the next and derives from

the French verb 'to straddle'. An example by Joyce Kilmer is 'I think that I shall

never see/A poem as lovely as a tree'. 

26. Envoy 

The shorter final stanza of a poem, as in a ballade.

27. Epithet

An epithetis is a descriptive expression, a word or phrase expressing some

quality or attribute. 

28. Euphony

Euphony refers to pleasant spoken sound that is created by smooth consonants

such as "ripple'. 

29. Euphemism

Euphemism is the use of a soft indirect expression instead of one that is harsh or

unpleasantly direct. For example 'pass away' as opposed to 'die'

30. Falling Meter

Trochaic and dactylic meters are called falling meters because they move from

stressed to unstressed syllables.

31. Feminine rhyme

A rhyme that occurs in a final unstressed syllable: pleasure/leisure,

longing/yearning.

32. Figure of speech

A verbal expression in which words or sounds are arranged in a particular way to

achieve a particular effect such as alliteration, antithesis, assonance, hyperbole,

metaphor, onomatopoeia and simile.

33. Foot 

Two or more syllables that together make up the smallest unit of rhythm in a

poem. For example, an iamb is a foot that has two syllables, one unstressed

followed by one stressed. An anapest has three syllables, two unstressed followed

by one stressed.

34. Form

Form is the generic term for the organising principle of a literary work. In poetry,

form is described in terms elements like rhyme, meter, and stanzaic pattern.

35. Heptameter

A line of poetry that has seven metrical feet.

36. Heroic couplet

A stanza composed of two rhymed lines in iambic pentameter.

37. Hexameter

A line of poetry that has six metrical feet.

38. Hyperbole 

Hyperbole (overstatement) is a type of figurative language that depends on

intentional overstatement.

39. Iamb

A metrical foot of two syllables, one short (or unstressed) and one long (or

stressed). The lamb is the reverse of the trochee.

40. Iambic pentameter 

Shakespeare's plays were written mostly in iambic pentameter, which is the most

common type of meters in English poetry. It is a basic measure of English poetry,

five iambic feet in each line.

41. Idiom

Idiom refers to words, phrases, or patterns of expression. Idioms became

standard elements in any language, differing from language to language and

shifting with time. A current idiom is 'getting in a car' but 'on a plane'. 

42. Imagery

Imagery draws the reader into poetic experiences by touching on the images and

senses which the reader already knows.

43. Irony

Irony is a situation, or a use of language, involving some kind of discrepancy. An

example of this is ''Water, water everywhere but ne'er a drop to drink'.

44. Jargon

Jargon refers to words and phrases developed by a particular group to fit their

own needs which other people understand. 

45. Litotes 

A litote is a figure of speech in which affirmative is expressed by the negation of

the opposite. "He's no dummy" is a good example.

46. Metaphor 

A metaphor is a pattern equating two seemingly unlike objects. An examples of a

metaphor is 'drowning in debt'.

47. Meter 

Meters are regularized rhythms. An arrangement of language in which the

accents occur at apparently equal intervals in time. Each repeated unit of meter is

called a foot. 

48. Meiosis

Meiosis is a figure of speech that consists of saying less than one means, or of

saying what one means with less force than the occasion warrants. 

49. Metonymy 

A figure of speech in which one word is substituted for another with which it is

closely associated. Some significant aspect or detail of an experience is used to

represent the whole experience.

50. Moritake 

Maritime is figurative speech that depends on intentional overstatement or

exaggeration.

51. Onomatopoeia

A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds. Examples of

onomatopoeic words can be found in numerous Nursery Rhymes e.g. clippety-

clop and cock-a-doodle-do.

52. Paradox

A paradox is a statement or situation containing apparently contradictory or

incompatible elements.

53. Pentameter 

A line of poetry that has five metrical feet.

54. Persona

Persona refers to the narrator or speaker of the poem, not to be confused with the

author.

55. Personification 

Personification means giving human traits to nonhuman or abstract things.

56. Quatrain

A stanza or poem of four lines.

57. Refrain

A phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated throughout a poem, usually after

every stanza.

58. Rhyme 

The occurrence of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words.

59. Rhythm

Rhythm is significant in poetry because poetry is so emotionally charged and

intense. Rhythm can be measured in terms of heavily stressed to less stressed

syllables. Rhythm is measured in feet, units usually consisting of one heavily

accented syllable and one or more lightly accented syllable.

60. Rising Meter

Anapaestic and iambic meters are called rising meters because they move from

an unstressed syllable to a stressed syllable. 

61. Romanticism 

The principles and ideals of the Romantic movement in literature and the arts

during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Romanticism, which was a reaction

to the classicism of the early 18th century, favoured feeling over reason and

placed great emphasis on the subjective, or personal, experience of the

individual. Nature was also a major theme. The great English Romantic poets

include Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats.

62. Scansion

The analysis of a poem's meter. This is usually done by marking the stressed and

unstressed syllables in each line and then, based on the pattern of the stresses,

dividing the line into feet.

63. Simile

A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word "like" or

"as" to draw attention to similarities about two things that are seemingly

dissimilar.

64. Slang

Slang refers to highly informal and sub-standard vocabulary which may exist for

some time and then vanish. Some slang remains in usage long enough to become

permanent, but slang never becomes a part of formal diction. 

65. Spondee

A metrical foot of two syllables, both of which are long (or stressed).

66. Stanza 

Two or more lines of poetry that together form one of the divisions of a poem.

The stanzas of a poem are usually of the same length and follow the same pattern

of meter and rhyme.

67. Stress 

Stress refers to the accent or emphasis, either strong or weak, given to each

syllable in a piece of writing, as determined by conventional pronunciation.

68. Synecdoche 

Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole. 

69. Syntax

Syntax refers to word order and sentence structure. Normal word order in English

sentences is firmly fixed in subject-verb-object sequence or subject-verb-

complement. In poetry, word order may be shifted around to meet emphasis, to

heighten the connection between two words, or to pick up on specific

implications or traditions.

70. Tetrameter 

A line of poetry that has four metrical feet.

71. Trochee 

A metrical foot of two syllables, one long (or stressed) and one short (or

unstressed).

72. Trope 

Trope is the use of a word or phrase in a sense different from its ordinary

meaning.

73. Understatement

Understatement refers to the intentional downplaying of a situation's

significance, often for ironic or humorous effect. 

74. Verse 

A single metrical line of poetry, or poetry in general (as opposed to prose).

75. Versification

The system of rhyme and meter in poetry.

2.2.3 Types of Poetry

Over the centuries poetry has taken a variety of forms, each with its own set of

conventions:

1. EPIC POEM, a long narrative of heroic actions.(Examples are Beowulf -V-VI

century AD; Ilyad, Odyssey VIII Century BC; Aeneid 20 BC).

2. LYRICAL POEMS, which are designed to express a poet's thoughts or feelings.

Originally they were sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument, the

lyre. Lyrical poetry is characterized by intense emotion, brevity, subjectivity and

highly musical quality. A type of Lyrical poem is the elegy.

3. DRAMATIC POEMS, where a character speaks with his/her own voice either

to another character or to an imaginary listener. In the first case there is a

dialogue, in the second a monologue. Dialogue and monologue are techniques

borrowed from drama. (examples: dialogues in the Canti of the Divina

Commedia,  or Edgar Lee Masters' Trainor the Druggist (1915))

4. FIXED FORMS: is a poem written in a fixed form following a prescribed

model. A typical English form is the limerick, another fixed form is the Japanese

Haiku, and other are the ballad, the ode, the epigram, the sonnet and the elegy.

2.2.4 Definition of Literary Translation

According to Jackson (2003) in Vahid’s Journal,

“Literary translation is a translational species in itself, but it differs in many important respects from the kind of translation practiced in a language class. On the one hand, literary translation involves a good deal of interpretation about intent and effect. On the other hand, the literary translator is often not as much interested in literal 'transliteration' as in finding a corollary mood, tone, voice, sound, response, and so forth.”

It can be explained that in literary translation, such as poetry, there would be

any other different interpretation of the translator’s intent and effect which influence

the work of poetry elements such as tone and rhyme, even meaning. Thus, those

would be discussed seriously during the translation.

Yadnya (2006) stated in her conclusion there should be adjustment in

translating Indonesian into English text to avoid the problems in language and culture

issues as follows (1) translator’s obligatory/mandatory in transferring the language

and (2) optional decision which is taken in translator’s degree of translation style.

2.2.5 Methods of Translating Poetry

Lafevere (in Bassnett-McGuire, 1980: 81-82 in Hariyanto) noted seven

methods of translating poetry; they are phonemic translation, literal translation,

metrical translation, verse-to-prose translation, rhymed translation, free verse

translation and interpretation.

1. Phonemic translation

Phonemic translation attempts to recreate the sounds of the source language (SL) in

the target language (TL). And at the same time the translator tries to transfer the

meaning. According to Lafevere, in general the result sounds awkward and

sometimes leaves some parts of the original meaning behind.

Lafevere's explanation of the above methods seems to reemphasize

Cluysenar's opinion that the weaknesses of the poetry translation methods are due to

the emphasis given to one or some of the poetic components in the process of

translating. The literal, metrical, and rhymed translation seem to emphasize the

"form" or "poetic structure" of the poem; while the rest emphasize on the transferring

of the precise meaning into the TL. It seems no methods described above will cater

the poetry translators' needs appropriately.

2. Literal translation

Literal translation means word-for-word translation. This method will not be able to

transfer the original meaning; while the phrase and sentence structures tend to fall by

the wayside in the TL.

3. Metrical translation

The metrical translation emphasizes the reproduction of the original meter into the

TL. And because each language has its own specific stressing and pronunciation

system, this method will result in the inappropriate translation in terms of meaning

and structure.

4. Verse-to-prose translation

Verse-to-prose translation has also some weaknesses. The outstanding weakness is

the loss of the beauty of the original poem.

5. Rhymed translation

The next method is rhymed translation which emphasizes the transferring of the

rhyme of the original poem into the translation in TL. The result will be appropriate

physically but tend to be semantically inappropriate.

6. Free verse translation

The sixth method is free verse translation. With this method the translator may be

able to get the accurate equivalents in the TL with a sound literary value of the result.

On the other hand, the rhyme and meter tend to be ignored. So, physically the result is

different from the original, but semantically it seems the same.

7. Interpretation

The last method noted by Lafevere is interpretation. According to him there are two

types: version and imitation. A version of a poem in the TL will semantically be

exactly the same with the original, but physically totally different. Further, an

imitation is exactly a different poem, but the title, topic, and starting point are the

same with the original poem.

2.3 Translating Quality

2.3.1 Untranslatability

Untranslatability is a property of a text, or of any utterance, in one language, for

which no equivalent text or utterance can be found in another language.

Untranslatability - Overview

Contrary to popular belief, words are not either translatable or untranslatable. They

are only words, and these words are more or less hard to translate depending on their

nature and the translator's skills. Quite often, a text or utterance that is considered to

be "untranslatable" is actually a lacuna, or lexical gap, that is to say that there is no

one-to-one equivalence between the word, expression or turn of phrase in the source

language and another word, expression or turn of phrase in the target language. A

translator, however, can resort to a number of translation procedures to compensate.

Untranslatability - Available translation procedures

The translation procedures that are available in cases of lacunae, or lexical gaps,

include the following:

Untranslatability - Adaptation

An adaptation, also known as a free translation, is a translation procedure whereby

the translator replaces a social, or cultural, reality in the source text with a

corresponding reality in the target text; this new reality would be more usual to the

audience of the target text.

For example, in the Belgian comic book The Adventures of Tintin, Tintin's

trusty canine sidekick Milou, is translated as Snowy, in English and Bobby in Dutch;

likewise the detectives Dupond and Dupont become Thomson and Thompson in

English, Jansen and Janssen in Dutch, Schultze and Schulze in German, Hernández

and Fernández in Spanish and 杜本 and 杜朋 (Dùběn and Dùpéng) in Chinese — the

Spanish and Chinese examples not being quite so faithful translations since the

pronunciation of the two names is different, and not just the spelling.

Similarly, when Quebec playwright Michel Tremblay adapted Gogol's play

Revizor (The Inspector General), as Le gars de Québec, he transposed the setting

from Russia to his home province.

Adaptation is often used when translating poetry, works of theatre and

advertising.

Untranslatability - Borrowing

Borrowing is a translation procedure whereby the translator uses a word or expression

from the source text in the target text holus-bolus.

Borrowings are normally printed in italics if they are not considered to have

been naturalized in the target language.

Untranslatability - Calque

Calque is a translation procedure whereby a translator translates an expression (or,

occasionally, a word) literally into the target language, translating the elements of the

expression word for word.

Untranslatability - Compensation

Compensation is a translation procedure whereby the translator solves the problem of

aspects of the source text that cannot take the same form in the target language by

replacing these aspects with other elements or forms in the source text.

For example, many languages have two forms of the second person pronoun:

an informal form and a formal form (the French tu and vous, the Spanish tú and

Usted, the German du and Sie, to name but three), while most modern-day dialects of

English no longer recognize the T-V distinction, and have retained the you form only.

Hence, to translate a text from one of these languages to English, the translator may

have to compensate by using a first name or nickname, or by using syntactic phrasing

that are viewed as informal in English (I'm, you're, gonna, dontcha, etc.)

Untranslatability - Paraphrase

Paraphrase, sometimes called periphrasis, is a translation procedure whereby the

translator replaces a word in the source text by a group of words or an expression in

the target text.

An extreme example of paraphrase can be found in the BBC [1] reports of

June 22, 2004 of the identification of the "most untranslatable" word. The word

chosen is Ilunga, a word supposedly from a language in the Democratic Republic of

the Congo. The BBC article states that "Ilunga means 'a person who is ready to

forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third

time'." Here, the report proves that this word is not in fact untranslatable, as it

provides an English translation by way of the periphrasis.

Incidentally, the word Ilunga is of questionable provenance, as some

Congolese (notably the Congo government) claim that it is simply a name, without

additional connotations. See the article Ilunga for more information.

Another example of paraphrase is the Portuguese word saudade, which is

often translated at a loss into English as "missing a person who is gone".

Untranslatability - Translator's note

A translator's note is a note (usually a footnote or an endnote) added by the translator

to the target text to provide additional information pertaining to the limits of the

translation, the cultural background or any other explanations. Some translation

exams allow or demand such notes. Despite this, resorting to notes is normally seen

as a failure by many translation professionals.

Untranslatability - Untranslatability in poetry and puns

The two areas which most nearly approach total untranslatability are poetry and puns;

poetry is difficult to translate because of its reliance on the sounds (for example,

rhymes) and rhythms of the source language; puns, and other similar semantic

wordplay, because of how tightly they are tied to the original language.

That being said, many of the translation procedures discussed here can be

used in these cases. For example, the translator can compensate for an

"untranslatable" pun in one part of a text by adding a new pun in another part of the

translated text.

2.4 Why Test the Translation

It is necessary for translators to know how they succeed or not because they are

concerned that their work should be in a good quality. Therefore, through testing the

students’ translation there would be some consideration related to the accuracy,

clarity and naturalness during the process.

2.5 Who Test the Translation

Besides the importance of testing and translator’s self-checking, it is also needed

people engaged in checking process to avoid the subjectivity then the researcher

intended to play as the people.

2.6 Ways of Testing a Translation

It accords with Larson (1984) there are five ways to test the translation; (1)

comparison with the source text, (2) back-translation into the source language, (3)

comprehension checks, (4) naturalness and readability testing, and (5) consistency

checks. Thus, those will be applied in this research.