Global Scientific Review

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Volume 7, September 2022 ISSN (E): 2795-4951

An Analysis of Translation Strategies on

Idioms Found in Novel Harry Potter and
The Philosopher’s Stone
Bloner Sinurat1, Dian Jessica Noventy Sigalingging2, Narambean
Simanjuntak3, Herman4, Febrika Dwi Lestari Lumbantoruan5*
1,2,3,4,5*Department of English Education, Universitas HKBP Nommensen, Medan,

Indonesia
*Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract
This research aims to analyze the translation strategies in idioms found in the
novel Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone. Translating an idiom is not an easy
task. To translate idioms, a strategy is needed to translate them, especially in
translating idiom expressions in a novel. Idiomatic translation strategy is a way that
translators use to translate an idiomatic expression. This research used qualitative
research. The instrument of collecting data used documentation and documents data
collection. The data of this research are idioms, and the source data is taken from the
novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The result of the research shows that
there are three types of idioms namely pure idioms, semi-idioms, and literal idioms.
There are four types of idiom translation strategies, namely using idioms of similar
meaning and form, using idioms of similar meaning but dissimilar form, translation
by paraphrasing and translation by omission. Based on the results of data analysis that
had been obtained, the most dominant idiom translation strategy used by translators
in chapters one and two is translation by paraphrasing with a total of 8 data (57%),
then idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form 3 data (22%), translation by
omission 2 data (14%), and using the idiom of similar meaning and form 1 data (7%).
For the most dominant type of idiom, pure idiom is 6 data, semi-idiom is 4 data, and
literal idiom is 3 data.

Keywords: Translation strategies, Idiom, Source language, Target language

Introduction
Translation is needed because it plays an important role in the process of
exchanging messages or information. Translating is not an easy task; translating
requires a good understanding of the source and target languages. Translation is the
exchange of information from one language to another. It is the guide from the source
language text to the target language. It is also a bridge to master knowledge, textual
material, and others. In translating, a translator is not just copying text from one
language to another. In translating: there is a message and meaning that must be
conveyed to the reader of the translation; there is a feeling, nuance, and atmosphere
that must be conveyed in a language different from the translated text.
Anthony (2004) states that basically translation is the replacement of natural
language symbols which is often done in a very literal way. A translator must have
mastery of the two languages in question with good mastery (Yuliasri 2016). In making
a translation that is easily accepted and understood by the reader, a translator must

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 Global Scientific Review
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Volume 7, September 2022 ISSN (E): 2795-4951
also have a good mastery of the two languages involved. Peter (2001:7) states that
translation is a work that consists of an attempt to replace a written message or
statement from one language with the same message or statement in another language.
From the explanation above, it can be concluded that translation is a process of
transferring messages or meanings from the source language into the target language
without changing the actual meaning of the text. Translation is not only done to
interpret a word or sentence but can also be done in translating idioms.
Idioms are unique forms of creation in a language. This uniqueness is shown by the
meaning of the constituent elements which are not reflected in the meaning of the
invented form itself or the lexical meaning of the elements and the grammatical
meaning of the elements cannot be 'predicted' so more knowledge is needed to
understand them. This situation makes it difficult to find equivalent idioms in the
target language. In addition to their unique form, idioms also have cultural content
that becomes an obstacle in their translation because the source language and target
language do not necessarily have the same culture. In translating idioms, a translator
must be wiser, so that the information or messages that will be exchanged from the
source language to the target language do not experience double meaning. Therefore,
the problem of translating idioms, both in English and Indonesian, is a challenge that
cannot be ignored in translation activities. In addition, the translator must also
observe the context of the existing sentences because idioms in English can have
several meanings when translated into Indonesian. This is done so that the context of
meaning in the sentence is not misinterpreted and does not cause misunderstandings.
In addition, the use of idioms is also often found in literary works of novels, short
stories, poems, songs, or articles in English. To make it easier for us to translate an
idiom, several strategies can be done so that the idiom's meaning can be known.
The translation strategy in idioms is the strategy used by the translator to interpret
the meaning of the expressions contained in a text. Idiom expressions cannot be
translated using word-for-word translation, if the idiom is still translated literally, the
meaning of the idiom will not be conveyed correctly to the reader. Idiom translation
strategy is of course also used in interpreting an idiom in the novel. In a novel, idiom
expressions are needed to help the novel to be more beautiful and meaningful.
Therefore, a translation strategy is needed in translating an idiom.
In this research, the researcher chose a translation strategy in idioms to find out
what strategies were used by the translator in translating an idiom, especially in a
novel. The reason why the researcher chose the Harry Potter and The Philosopher's
Stone novels is that first, this novel is one of the best-selling novels ever. The storyline
presented by the author also has the meaning and message implied in it. Second, the
Harry Potter novels have been translated into 73 languages. Third, translating an
idiom is not an easy task, especially the idioms contained in the novel in line with the
expert explanation by Baker (1992). Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Novel
by J. K. Rowling is a novel that contains many idioms. This novel has a genre that is
strong in the modern world by presenting ethical and social issues, as well as how to
deal with oppressors. This novel won most awards and topped the New York Times
bestseller list in 1999. In Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone, there are types of
idioms and strategies used by translators to translate idiom expressions. For example:

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Table 1. Novel’s script with translation from SL to TL

SL TL

Which came in very useful as she Baginya ini menguntungkan,

spent so much of her time karena kegemarannya adalah
craning over garden fences, menjulurkan leher di alas pagar-
spying on the neighbors. pagar, untuk mengintip para
tetangga.

From the results of the translation of the idiom above, the translator uses a translation
strategy using an idiom of similar meaning and form. Translators interpret the English
idiom "spying on" as "mengintip" in Indonesian. Which if translated literally would
mean "memata-matai". The translator interprets the idiom expression by changing
the meaning of the idiom from the source language into the target language by using
idioms with the same meaning and vocabulary. From the example above, the idiom is
categorized as semi-idiom.
For development in this research, researcher will provide research that has
previously been done. Buditama’s (2018) his research is entitled "An Analysis of the
Translation of Idiomatic Expressions Found in the Inside Out Movie". In this research,
he analyses and classifies the types of idioms contained in Inside Out Movie. The
researcher classifies the types of idioms contained in the movie based on Hockett's
theory (1958), the types are substitutes, proper names, abbreviation, English phrasal
compounds, figure speech, and slang. The difference between previous research and
this research is in the object presented. Previous researcher chose the movie as the
object. The second difference lies in the research problem. Previous researcher only
focused on the types of idioms found in Inside Out Movie.
There are several reasons for choosing the topic "An Analysis of Translation
Strategies on Idioms Found in Novel Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone" in this
thesis. The reasons can be grouped into: 1) reasons based on the theoretical gap aspect,
2) reasons based on the research gap aspect, 3) empirical gap aspect. However, in this
case the researcher will only review the research gap contained in this research. When
viewed from the aspect of previous studies, it is found that many studies on idiom
translation strategies have been carried out. Several researchers who conducted
studies on the analysis of idiom translation strategies include Pratiwi (2017), Fachrizal
(2018), Fitri (2019), Asri (2019), Destaria (2019). Most of these studies use a
qualitative approach. Researchers generally only analyze the strategies used by
translators in translating an idiom. However, this research has differences with
current research, especially with regard to the time of the research and the data
analysis approach used. This research uses a qualitative approach and analyzes the
strategies used in translating the idioms used by the researcher and the types of idioms
found in the novel.

Research Methodology
A. Research Design
This research will apply descriptive qualitative research. The researcher used the
descriptive method which involved collecting data to answer the research questions
formulated in the problem statement. According to Afifuddin (2009), qualitative

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Volume 7, September 2022 ISSN (E): 2795-4951
research methods are research methods used to examine the condition of objects
naturally, where the researcher is the key instrument, the data collection technique is
triangular or combined, the data analysis is inductive, and the results of qualitative
research emphasize meaning rather than generalization. In this case, the researcher
collected, analyzed, and interpreted the data and then described it.
B. Data and Source Data
The data in this research are idioms contained in the novel Harry Potter and The
Philosopher's Stone. The data source is taken from the novel Harry Potter and the
Philosopher's Stone. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is a novel that was first
published in 1997. This novel was written by J. K. Rowling. This novel was translated
into Indonesian by Listiana Srisanti with the title “Harry Potter dan Batu Bertuah”.
This novel contains a total of 17 chapters. Researcher took data from chapters 1 and
2. The reason for choosing the chapter is because it has a more interesting and unique
storyline to explore, especially identifying the idioms contained in the chapter. The
idioms contained in chapters 1 and 2 are also quite a lot to be used as data in this
research.
The researcher chose Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as the object of
research because this novel contains many idioms in it. In addition, this novel has
become the best-selling novel in history, this novel has also been translated into 73
foreign languages.
C. Instrument of Data Collection
Research instruments are tools or devices used by researcher to collect data. The
instrument used in this research is the e-book version using a smartphone (Oppo),
books, and pens. This is to examine the idioms contained in the novel Harry Potter
and The Philosopher's Stone. In addition, this novel has 2 versions, namely English
and Indonesian. The English version of the novel was taken as the source language and
the Indonesian novel "Harry Potter and the Bertuah" was taken as the target language.
D. Techniques of Data Collection
Researcher used documents as data collection in this research. To get the data, the
researcher collects the data in the following way:
1. Searching the e-book novel Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone.
2. Downloading the English version of the e-book novel from
https://d.docs.live.net/418684d0bf4d73f1/Documents/PROPOSAL/REFERE
NCES/wp-1633774309392.pdf
3. Downloading the Indonesian version of the e-book novel from
https://d.docs.live.net/418684d0bf4d73f1/Documents/PROPOSAL/REFERE
NCES/Harry-Potter-01-Harry-Potter-dan-Batu-Bertuah-1.pdf
4. Analyzing the idioms contained in the novel and the strategies used by the
translator.
E. Techniques of Data Analysis
After collecting the data, then the researcher analyses the data by having some
steps, namely:
1. Reading the novels Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone in the English
version and Harry Potter dan Batu Bertuah in the Indonesian version.
2. Collecting the idioms contained on the novel.
3. Researcher classifying what types of idioms are found in the novel in Harry
Potter and The Philosopher's Stone by Fernando’s theory.

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4. Identifying idiom translation strategies used by translators in translating an
idiom using Baker's theory.
5. In The last step researcher drawing a conclusion based on the result of the
research.

Research Findings and Discussion

A. Research Findings
After analyzing the data above, the researcher determined the data findings as
a result to answer the research problems that have been described previously.
Researcher found four types of idiom translation strategies used by translators in
translating idioms contained in the novel Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone.
The strategies found are using idiom of similar meaning and form, using idiom of
similar meaning but in dissimilar form, translation by paraphrasing, and translation
by omission. The researcher also found three types of idioms contained in the novel,
they are pure idioms, semi-idioms, and literal idioms. When translating an idiom
expression should use strategies in translating it, so that an idiom expression can be
interpreted according to its equivalent meaning. The following is a percentage of the
amount of data found.
Table 2. The Result of Translation Strategies Idiom

No. Translation Strategies Frequency Percentage

Idiom (%)
1. Using Idiom of Similar 1 7%
Meaning and Form
2. Using Idiom of Similar
Meaning but in Dissimilar 3 22%
Form
3. Translation by Paraphrasing 8 57%
4. Translation by Omission 2 14%
TOTAL 14 100%

Table 3. The Result of Types of Idioms

No. Types of Idioms Frequency Percentage

(%)
1. Pure Idiom 6 43%
2. Semi Idiom 5 36%
3. Literal Idiom 3 21%
TOTAL 14 100%

Based on the table above, the percentage of translation strategies of idioms and
the types of idioms found in the Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone novels in
chapters one and two of the first volume of the novel are obtained. The researcher
found that there were four types of translation strategies idioms found. To see the
acquisition of translation strategies idioms along with their types in certain numerical
data. The researcher presents it in the form of a diagram to facilitate the percentage of
types of translation strategies idioms in the research data.

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Translation Strategies Idiom in novel Harry Potter and

The Philosopher's Stone (Chapter 1 & 2)

14% 7%

22%

57%

Using Idiom of Similar Meaning and Form

Using Idiom of Similar Meaning but in Dissimilar Form
Translation by Paraphrasing
Translation by Omission

Figure 1. Translation Strategies Idiom in novel Harry Potter and The

Philosopher’s Stone

Based on the data analysis that has been done, the researcher found that there
are 14 types of idioms and translation strategies idioms in the novel Harry Potter and
The Philosopher's Stone chapters one and two. The most widely used translation
strategies idiom is translation by paraphrasing with 8 data (57%), followed by using
idiom of similar meaning but in dissimilar form with 3 data (22%), followed by
translation by omission with 2 data (14%), and at the lowest level using the idiom of
similar meaning and form as much as 1 data (7%).

B. Discussion
After the researcher analyzed the data taken from the first Harry Potter and The
Philosopher's Stone novel, the researcher found several translation strategy idioms
based on Baker's theory. Based on data analysis and research findings, in this section
the researcher presents a discussion that aims to provide an overview of the research
problem that has been formulated in chapter one.
From the research results, it can be seen that there are four idiom translation
strategies found in the research data, namely using idioms of similar meaning and
form, using idioms of similar meaning but in dissimilar form, translation by
paraphrasing, and translation by omission. Each idiom has a hidden meaning implied
in it. By examining the 2 chapters contained in the novel, the researcher found 14
translation strategies used by translators. Translation by paraphrasing has the highest
rank in the data with an overall data percentage of 57%, followed by the second
position using the idiom of similar meaning but in dissimilar form at 22%, the third
translation by omission with a percentage of 14%, and the lowest is using the idiom of
similar meaning and form by 7%. After identifying the percentage of data above, the
researcher found that the most dominant type of strategy used by translators in
translating idioms in chapters one and two was translation by paraphrasing. 8 data
found, or 57% of the total 14 data found.

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The difference between this research and the previous research entitled “The
Translation Strategy of Idiomatic Expression in Novel Harry Potter And The Half
Blood Prince” by Ahmad (2018). Thesis English Letters Department Faculty of Adab
and Humanities State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. Ahmad found
three types of idiom translation strategies and ten data in the novel Harry Potter and
The Half Blood Prince. Strategies found in the novel is a strategy of similar meaning
with similar form, one data of Similar meaning but dissimilar form, and eight data for
translation by paraphrase.
In this research, researcher found four types of idiom translation strategies used by
translators in translating an idiom in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone novel,
namely one using idiom of similar meaning and form, 3 data using idiom of similar
meaning but in dissimilar form, 8 data translation by paraphrasing, and lastly 2 data
translation by omission. The similarity between Ahmad's research and this research is
that the translation strategy of translation by paraphrasing is the most dominant
strategy used in the novel from the research data. The two studies above have different
aspects. If previous research only focused on the strategies used to translate an idiom,
this research shows a relationship with other aspects, such as the source language. This
is the reason for using idioms in other aspects of research data.

Conclusions
After completing the data analysis about the idiomatic expressions in novel
Harry Potter and The Philoshopher’s Stone, the researcher concludes:
1. Idioms found in the novel Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone are
classified into three, namely pure idioms, semi-idioms, and literal idioms.
Meanwhile, for the idiom translation strategy used by the translator, there are
4 categories, namely using idiom of similar meaning and form, using idiom of
similar meaning but dissimilar form, translation by paraphrasing and
translation by omission. The total data of idiom expressions obtained from
chapters one and two of idiom expressions contained 14 data.
2. The most dominant idiom translation strategy found in chapters one and two
of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone novel is translation by paraphrase
with a total of 8 data (57%), then followed by using idiom of similar meaning
but dissimilar form with a total of 3 data (22%), translation by omission 2 data
(14%), and using idiom of similar meaning and form 1 data (7%).
After analyzing the data regarding the idiom translation strategy in the novel, it
can be concluded that in translating an idiom expression the translator must pay
attention to the aspects of the idiom translation strategy. So that the idiom expressions
contained in a novel are not misinterpreted by the reader and their meaning can be
conveyed properly to the reader. The results of applying the idiom translation strategy
must be appropriate so that the implied message or meaning does not cause ambiguity
or change in meaning.

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