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The Translation of Idioms with Reference to The Big Bang Theory Comedy Series’ Subtitles

Gede Made Surya Dharma

Extension Program Faculty of Letter Udayana University

Abstrak

Jurnal ini difokuskan pada analisis penerjemahan ungkapan yang ditemukan dalam sebuah serial komedi yang berjudul The Big Bang Theory. Data dalam penelitian ini diambil dari subtitel dalam bahasa Inggris dan bahasa Indonesia. Kemudian dianalisa secara kualitatif dengan penyajian data dalam bentuk subtitel dari setiap jenis idiom dalam subtitel. Untuk analisis idiom yang telah diterjemahkan ke dalam subtitel berbahasa Indonesia, idiom yang ditemukan dalam subtitel berbahsa Inggris maupun Indonesia disajikan berdampingan. Jurnal ini menggunakan teori yang dibuat oleh Seidl dan Mcmordie (1989) dalam bukunya A Fift Edition of English Idioms and How to Use Them untuk menganalisan tipe-tipe idiom yang ada di subtitel. Sebagai teori pendukung digunakanlah teori kesepadanan kata dalam penerjemahan karangan Larson (1998) dalam bukunya Meaning-Based Translation: A Guide to Cross-Language Equivalence. Analisa jurnal ini membahas beberapa jenis idiom yang ditemukan dalam subtitel, diantara lain; kata kunci dengan penggunaan ungkapan, ungkapan dengan kata benda dan kata sifat, ungkapan dengan kata yang sama, ungkapan deangan kata keterangan, frasa verba, ungkapan dengan kata kerja, ungkapan di bidang tertentu, dan ungkapan dengan kata kunci dari kategori tertentu. Untuk analisa penerjemahan di subtitel analisa mencakup padanan kata saat konsep saling diketahui dan padanan kata saat konsep tak diketahui.

Kata Kunci: ungkapan, penerjemahan dan subtitel.

  • 1.    Background

Translation is an important feature in the language development. As the world goes modern translation becomes a media to broaden ideas to be known all over the world. Larson (1998:3) states that translation consists of transferring the meaning of the source

language into receptor language. Translation process is a process of analyzing and reconstructing of the same meaning of the lexicon and grammatical structure, which are appropriate in the target language and its cultural context. Even there is a consistent progress of translation, translator often found difficulty to translate a text into another target language.

Larson (1998) proposes two concept of lexical equivalent in the process of translation, they are; lexical equivalent when concepts are shared and lexical equivalent when concepts are unknown. In the lexical equivalent when concepts are shared Larson divides the concepts into five strategies; non literal lexical equivalents, descriptive phrases, using related words as equivalents, generic-specific words, and secondary and figurative senses. In the lexical equivalent when concepts are unknown he divides it into three strategies; modifying a generic word, equivalence by loan word and equivalence by cultural substitute.

Seidl and Mcmordie (1988:10) states that the vocabulary of a language grows continually with new developments in knowledge. Words which already used daily can take on an additional meaning in a special context. In all language there are a great number of idioms, language-fixed expressions whose meaning cannot be deducted from the individual words of the phrase. Therefore this journal’s interest is to propose the analysis through subtitles of a comedy series entitles The Big Bang Theory. The subtitles analyzed were taken from English subtitles and Indonesian subtitles.

  • 2.    Problem of study

The problem of this study is:

  • 1.    What types of idiom are found in the subtitles of The Big Bang Theory comedy series?

  • 2.    What types of lexical equivalent concepts are used to translate English subtitle into Indonesian subtitle?

  • 3.    The aim of this study is:

  • 1.    To find out what types of idiom used in the subtitle of The Big Bang Theory comedy series.

  • 2.    To analyze the types of lexical equivalent concepts are used in translating English idioms into Indonesian in subtitles.

  • 4.    Research Method

Data in this study were taken from idioms found in subtitles in English. They were collected through documentation method, in which data were found by reading the subtitles and classify the types of them. The data were analyzed qualitatively by presenting the data in the form of examples of each type of idiom in the subtitles with discussion of each sample. Then the collected data were analyzed based on the theory of idiom types proposed by Seidl and Mcmordie (1988) in theor book A Fifth Edition of English Idioms and How to Use Them.

  • 5.    Analysis

There are eight types of idiom found in the subtitles; those are keywords with idiomatic uses, idioms with nouns and adjectives, idiomatic pairs, idioms with preposition, phrasal verbs, verbal idioms, idioms from special subject, and idioms with key words from special categories. The first type of idiom, keywords with idiomatic uses covers the using of adjectives, nouns and miscellaneous (Seidl and Mcmordie, 1989: 14). Some idioms found in this type are: mum’s the word, good lord, and crosses a line. The three examples have keywords in it, the phrase mum’s the word has keyword word that result this phrase is classified as an idiom. The phrase has meaning keep the secret. The phrase Good Lord has word Good as the keyword, the word Good has literal to be desired or approved. But the phrase has a different meaning of the formal usage, it carries a meaning of a strong expression of surprise, shock or amazement and it is often unpleasant. The phrase is translated into Ya Tuhan which carries a same meaning with Good Lord which is a strong

expression of surprise. It is translated using non literal lexical equivalent because the literal meaning of the phrase in the source language results a unnatural phrase in the target language. The concept of the phrase is known in the target language therefore the translator uses this strategy to make the reader familiar to the phrase.

Some idioms are formed by key words from special categories, such the phrase rip eyes out. This phrase results a different meaning in the usages that is why it is classified as an idiom with key word from special categorize, the key word is eyes. A Word eyes is categorized as a key word because it is a part of body. The idiomatic meaning is to open eyes and see. Meanwhile the literal meaning of the phrase is to pull the eyeballs out. In different context a normal phrase can have different meaning. This phrase is translated using non literal lexical equivalent strategy because the literal translation results an unclear definition to the audience in the target language. The phrase is translated into membuka mata which has meaning to open the eyes. It is more familiar to the target language speaker. This strategy is used by the translator because there is no similar figurative form of the phrase in target language.

Another strategy is applied in translating idiom into target language. The strategy is secondary and figurative senses, this strategy become important because the secondary and figurative senses is almost never can be translated with equivalent lexical item of the source language. The phrase croses a line is classified as keyword with idiomatic uses type of idiom. The translator translates the phrase using secondary figurative senses translation strategy because the there is no similar lexical item in the target language. The literal translation of the phrase is melewati sebuah garis which can not carry the same meaning of the idiomatic phrase. The phrase is translated into kelewatan which is a figurative form in target language. The phrase has meaning disturbing someone’s state which result a negative effect. Same with the phrase crosses a line which carries a meaning of disturbing someone’s state that usually resulting negative effect. Both of the phrases in the source language and target language are figurative forms. This strategy needs adjustments by the translator because the lexical items of the phrase are different but the meanings are the same, and naturalness of translation is achieved by using this strategy.

  • 6.    Conclusion

Based on the analysis of idioms in the subtitles of The Big Bang Theory comedy series, eight types of idioms and two types of concept of lexical equivalents are found. The eight types of idiom are keywords with idiomatic uses, idioms with nouns and adjectives, idiomatic pairs, idioms with prepositions, phrasal verb, verbal idioms, idioms from special subject, and idioms with key words from special categories. In translating idiomatic expressions from source language to target language there are found two translation strategies used by the translator. They are classified as non literal lexical equivalents and secondary or figurative sense concepts.

The analysis concludes that idiomatic expressions are used to strengthen the context of sentence, to make the description more beautiful and to give some dramatization outcome in labeling new ideas in communication. The using of idiomatic expressions makes the reader more flexible in receiving idiomatic expressions and the spread of them into special context.

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