The English - Indonesian Translation Of Taboo Words In Ted Movie
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ISSN: 2302-920X
Jurnal Humanis, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unud
Vol 16.1 Juli 2016: 159 – 166
The English - Indonesian Translation Of Taboo Words In Ted Movie Kadek Putri Yamayanti1*, Frans I Made Brata2, I Nyoman Sedeng3 123
123English Department Faculty Of Arts, Udayana University 1[[email protected]] 2[[email protected]]
3
*
Corresponding Author
Abstrak
Penelitian ini membahas temuan kata – kata tabu dalam Bahasa Inggris dan terjemahannya dalam Bahasa Indonsesia. Dikarenakan masing – masing bahasa memiliki latar belakang budaya yang berbeda, maka penerjemah akan menemukan beberapa perbedaan budaya yang membuat penerjemahan kata – kata tabu menjadi rumit. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengklasifikasikan kata – kata tabu yang muncul dalam bahasa sumber dan mendeskripsikan teknik penerjemahannya sehingga didapat padanan dalam terjemahan.
Metode dokumentasi diaplikasikan untuk mengumpulkan data dari film Ted. Selanjutnya, metode deskriptif kualitatif diaplikasikan dalam analisis dan penyajian data. Analisis dari penelitian ini diperoleh dengan cara mengaplikasikan teori yang dikemukakan oleh Jay (1992) tentang tipe – tipe kata tabu, Larson (1998) dan Davoodi (2009) tentang teknik penerjemahan. Kemudian, teori – teori tersebut didukung dengan pendekatan makna konsep oleh Bell (1991).
Terdapat 9 tipe kata tabu yang ditemukan, yaitu cursing, profanity, taboo, obscenity, vulgarity, slang, epithet, insult and slurs and scatology. Sementara blasphemy tidak ditemukan dalam data. Terdapat 6 variasi teknik penerjemahan yang muncul dalam menerjemahkan kata tabu. Secara garis besar teknik tersenut dibagi menjadi dua yaitu literal and idiomatic translations. Secara lebih spesifik, dibagi menjadi empat yaitu, censorship, substitution, taboo for taboo and euphemism. Teknik penerjemahan tersebut diterapkan dengan mempertimbangkan kondisi dan situasi pada saat kata tabu tersebut diucapkan sehingga akan didapatkan padanan dalam terjemahan.
Kata kunci: kata tabu, teknik penerjemahan, padanan terjemahan
In society, the use of language can be divided into two forms. There are literal and non- literal languages. Non – literal language is a language which is not
to mean what the speaker stated but to imply something else. In non – literal language, the speaker tries to construct the language itself by using parable natural phenomenon which has resembled meaning to the meaning that is intended to inform. Then, one term of non – literal language occur in society as the interaction of language and society itself is taboo words. Taboo words are the words that one often considered offensive, shocking or rude because they refer to sex or a part of body which cannot be stated literally (Fromkin: 1988: 286).
There are many kinds of taboo words found in movie’s dialog, for instance in Ted Movie. This movie is watched cross nationalities. Therefore, for the other countries where English is not their mother tongue, the movie will be added translation or known as subtitle into their languages, in this case Indonesian.
Translation is not simply as a process of replacing words from source language (SL) to target language (TL). However, it includes the transfer of the meaning of SL to TL (Larson: 1998). Furthermore, when we talk about the translation of movie or other literary works, we cannot focus only on the form of the target language but we also have to focus on the other sides of the form, like cultural side. In translating taboo words, there are various translation techniques applied in order to gain the equivalent in translation. Those ways can be literal and idiomatic which specifically in term of: taboo for taboo, euphemism, substitution or censorship.
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1. What types of taboo words were found in Ted Movie and in film Ted?
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2. What translation techniques were applied in the translation of taboo words in Ted Movie and in film Ted?
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1. To classify and explain the types of taboo words found in Ted Movie and in film Ted.
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2. To analyze and describe the translation techniques applied in translating taboo words in Ted Movie and in film Ted.
The data of taboo words were taken from Ted Movie which was an American comedy movie. This movie was directed by Seth MacFarlane, produced by Media Rights Capital and distributed by Universal Pictures in 2012. The translation or subtitle can be found in its DVD.
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4.2 Method and Technique of Collecting Data
The method applied in this study was documentation method. The method was supported by some techniques. They were note taking and comparative technique. Note taking was applied in collecting data from subtitle. Afterward the comparative technique was applied in comparing the data from English version to Indonesian subtitle.
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4.3 Method and Technique of Analyzing Data
Descriptive qualitative method was applied in the analysis of this study. First, the collected data, taboo words from the movie were selected to a certain number. Second, the taboo words were classified based on the theory proposed by Jay (1992). Finally, the taboo words and their translation were analyzed in order to find out the translation technique in reaching translation equivalence based on theories by Larson (1998) and Davoodi (2009). Then, it was supported by Bell’s approaches (1991) of the conceptual meaning in translation.
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4.4 Method and Technique of Presenting Analysis
The result of the analysis was presented using formal and informal methods and it was supported by some techniques. Those were, firstly, the data was classified into the types of taboo words and it was shown informally in the form of sentence in table. Finally, in order to answer the second problem, the translation techniques were presented descriptively by showing it in form of table and also presenting the diagram of the conceptual meaning to prove the equivalent in translation.
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5. Analysis of English – Indonesian Translation of Taboo Words in Ted Movie
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5.1 Types of Taboo Words and Their Translation into Indonesian
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5.1.1 Taboo
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Taboo is cultural custom that forbids talking about a certain thing, in general agreement not to discuss something. The function of taboo is to prohibit the behavior of a speaker and preserve social cohesion. Different cultures, in order to preserve social order use taboo words to control individuals within groups. Below is an example of taboo word that was found in the movie:
SL: Did you just call me a whore?
TL: Apa kau baru saja meyebutku pelacur?
The taboo word whore was uttered to Lori by Tammy who got angry to her. The word whore in this case was used in order to name the term female prostitute. This term was used since it was prohibited to say prostitute directly. Therefore, the words whore was uttered in the movie in order to preserve social cohesion.
Based on the data presented above, whore was translated into pelacur in TL. The source language was translated with the proper expression in the target language since the translation result could support the plot of the story which meant the sense of the meaning was almost the same as the source language.
The word whore itself in SL indeed means a female prostitute. Nevertheless, the word pelacur in TL is originated from the basic word lacur. Lacur in TL means unlucky or unfortunate thing. The basic word, lacur is attached by prefix me–. As a result, it becomes melacur which has meaning to do unlucky thing or known as selling own self (prostitute). Then, in another term, the word lacur is attached by agentive prefix pe–. In this case, the meaning of the
word pelacur becomes someone who does the job as a prostitute or known as a female prostitute.
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5.2 The Translation Techniques of Taboo Words into Indonesian
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5.2.1 Idiomatic Translation
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5.2.1.1 Taboo for Taboo
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In this translation technique, the translator prefers to render the taboo terms into taboo though they know that they are inadmissible to the target society and people. The instance can be seen as follow:
SL: Plus a hooker took a shit in our apartment.
TL: Ditambah, seorang pelacur membuang kotoran di apartemen kita.
The denotative meaning of word hooker is a player in rugby team, whose job is to pull the ball out the scrum with his foot. If it is looked at the basic word, the meaning of hook refers to a plastic or wire for hanging things on. Then, if the word hook is attached with suffix morpheme –er which becomes hooker, there will be a change in its meaning. The meaning of hooker implies the connotative meaning of a person who hooks in somebody or something.
This connotative meaning was translated into pelacur in TL. The context of situation when the speech was uttered in the movie’s scene had considered. Therefore, the translation result was still in taboo term. In accordance with the explanation, it can be drawn that the translation technique applied was idiomatic translation since it was not word per word translation. Furthermore, the translation techniques applied was taboo for taboo.
The equivalent in translation of the words hooker and pelacur could be seen as hyponymy. The meaning concept of hooker in the English was translated into pelacur. The term hooker is considered as more general, which may include the concept of a person who hooks in somebody but not a female prostitute. On the other hand, the concept of pelacur is more specific as the part of the term hooker. Even though the concept of both words is not quite similar, however it is
still equivalence in translation since the meaning of source language can be transferred in the same context of the target language.
SL
TL
Pelacur
a person who hooks in somebody
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5.2.1.2 Substitution
This technique of translation tries to change the form of source language to target language’s form but the meaning does not gain enough definition as the meaning in source language. However, the audiences still can understand the meaning that wants to be conveyed. The example of this technique was found in the data, as follow:
SL: Hey, play chopsticks, you jazzy slut.
TL: Hei, bermain dengan sumpit, kamu pelacur jazzy.
The example above shows that translator tended to translate the expression by using idiomatic technique, especially substitution. It can be seen when the word slut that has real meaning as a woman who has many sexual partners but it was translated into pelacur. Pelacur in Indonesian refers to a woman who has sex as her job for getting money in order to fill her life’s necessity.
There is a little bit difference between slut (a woman who has many sexual partners) and pelacur (a woman who has sex for getting money). A slut is a woman who has many sexual partners. However it does not mean that she does it for getting money. She probably does it only for pleasure not money. On the other hand, pelacur is a woman who has sex for getting money. She has more than one
partner (client) in doing sex to get money. Although the senses of slut and pelacur have a little bit different sense, the audiences still can understand what the translator wanted to be conveyed.
The word slut itself in SL means a woman who has many sexual partners. However, the word pelacur in TL was originated from the basic word lacur. Lacur in TL means unlucky or unfortunate thing. The basic word, lacur is attached by prefix me–. As a result, it becomes melacur which has meaning to do unlucky thing or known as selling own self (prostitute). Then, in another term, the word lacur is attached by morpheme pe–. In this case, the meaning of the word pelacur becomes a female prostitute.
The meaning concept of pelacur which means a woman who has sex with many boys is included to a part concept of slut. The difference is only the aim of having sexes in each word are different. The Componential analysis in table below can show the clear explanation of slut and pelacur:
|
Semantic Features |
Slut |
Pelacur |
|
Female |
+ |
+ |
|
Has many sexual partners |
+ |
+ |
|
Doing it for getting money |
^^™ |
+ |
|
Doing it for pleasure |
+ |
^^™ |
As previous explanation, slut is a female who has many sexual partners. She does it merely for pleasure. Nevertheless, pelacur is a female prostitute or a female who does sexual activity for getting money. Although there is a difference aim between slut and pelacur, however both of them have the similarity in bad connotation or meaning in society.
There are nine types of taboo words from ten types of taboo words found from the data. Those are cursing, profanity, taboo, obscenity, vulgarity, slang, epithet, insult and slut, and scatology. One of the ten types is not found in the data is blasphemy. There are no words which are attack religion, since the story of movie itself is not related to religion. Therefore, there is no blasphemy.
The translator attempted to reach the equivalent in translation by applying some translation techniques. There are six variant translation techniques applied in translating taboo words. In general, it is divided into literal and idiomatic translation. Specifically the translation techniques applied are censorship, substitution, taboo for taboo and euphemism. Those translation techniques are applied based on the condition when sentences were uttered and situational feeling of the characters in the movie scene. In translating taboo words, both the conceptual meaning of source and target languages were also considered. All of the techniques applied were intended to have closet equivalent in translating taboo words.
Bell, Roger T. 1991. Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice. London: Longman Group.
Davoodi, Z. 2009. On the Translation of the Taboos. Available from: URL: http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article2052.php
Fromkin, Victoria. 2005. An Introduction to Language. United States of America: Thompson Corporation.
Jay, T. 1992. Cursing in America: A Psychological Study of Dirty Language in The Courts, in The Movies, in The Schoolyards and on The Street. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
Larson, M.L. 1998. Meaning-Based Translation ‘A Guide to Cross-language Equivalence’. Second Edition. New York – Oxford: University Press of America.
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