ESSAY

MEANING AND TRANSLATION

Lecturer: Faizal Risdianto S.S., M. Hum.

Dhea Alfiani Anindyawati 23030220006

Zahrani Karin Rizkiya Amanta 23030220013
Abdul Aziz Syahrani Yahya 23030220015
Afifah Khairun Nisa 23030220016
Alfiah Sofiana Damayanti 23030220017

DEPARTMEN OF ENGLISH EDUCATION

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND TEACHERS TRAINING
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF SALATIGA
2023
A. Introduction
Translation is an effort of finding equivalent meaning of a text into the second language.
We emphasis meaning equivalence since in translation meaning is the object to be rendered from
the source language text into the target language text.
The main question in translation is of meaning which always appears in the process of
translation, not translation as a product of the process. Translating a text from the source text
(ST) must consider the closest natural equivalent meaning. It implies that the meaning of the
target test must be equivalent with that of the source. Meaning can be classified into two kinds,
referential meaning and connotative meaning A translator must be aware of which meaning is
possibly intended by the author (Faizal Risdianto, 2022).
B. Meaning and Translation
Generally, translation is a process of rendering meaning, ideas, or messages of a text
from one language to other language. There are some considerations that follow this process,
which mainly related to the accuracy, clarity and naturalness of the meaning, ideas, or messages
of the translation. It means that it is an important thing to consider whether the readers of the
target test accept equivalent information as the readers of the source text do. These
considerations are clarified in some definition of translation stated by some experts.
One of the most prominent definitions of translation is stated by Newmark (1988; 5) who
defines translation as "rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the
author intended the text. This definition stresses on rendering meaning of the source language
text into the target language test as what is intended by the author.
Hatim and Munday (2004: 6) define translation as "the process of transferring a written
text from source language (SL) to target language (TL)". In this definition they do not explicitly
express that the object being transferred is meaning or message. They emphasis on translation as
a process, Nida and Taber (1982: 12), on the other hand, state that "Translating consists in
reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language
message" This definition is more comprehensive than the previous ones.
Nida and Taber explicitly state that translation is closely related to the problems of
languages, meaning, and equivalence. From the definitions mentioned above, it is found that
translation is a process which is intended to find meaning equivalence in the target text.
Rochayah Machali (2001) and Mona Baker (1992) underline the term meaning equivalence
because it is the meaning which is transferred in the target language.
In this case, translators are faced with test as unit of meaning in the form of sets of words
or sentences. This means that language which is used is unit of meaning in discourse which can
be understood by the participants of the communication (Machali, 2007).
Thus, the main problem in the translation process is about the meaning that will occur
when the translation process takes place, not translation as a product. whether the meaning of the
source language text has been accurately transferred into the target language text. Translation
requires several aspects, namely, diction, grammatical structure, communication setting, and
cultural context of the source text. The meaning of the source text and the target text must be
commensurate.
Noun phrases in English usually follow the modifier + noun head structure. Whereas in
Indonesian it usually follows the D-M (Diterangkan - Menerangkan) rule where the modifier
comes after the noun head. To clarify this fact, the following comparison can serve as an
example. The English phrase a big house translates to a big house in Indonesian.
In addition, not all phrases are simply translated but some have their own meaning. For
example, the Indonesian phrase "kambing hitam" doesn't always mean scapegoat. But if it means
"someone who is not actually at fault but is blamed" then the phrase is equivalent to the English
phrase "spacegoat".
1. kind of meaning
Meaning has many divisions, some say there are two classes, namely referential meaning
and connotative meaning and many more. We divide the last five types of meaning under one
general category of associated meaning.

1.1 Referential Meaning

Referential meaning is a word that can be searched for references to its meaning or
meaning, so it can be classified as reference meaning or referential meaning. Another opinion
states that reference meaning or also called referential meaning, is sometimes also called lexical
meaning, conceptual meaning, or denotative meaning. In giving the referential meaning of a
word, a translator must know the markers that appear in the text. There are two markers that can
be used to give a word meaning, namely syntactic markers and semiotic markers.
a. Syntactic marking
The grammatical structure of a word sometimes determines its meaning. Examples are as
follows:
Column i Column ii
He picked up a stone. They will stone him.
He saw a cloud. The quarrel will cloud the issue.
She has a beautiful face. He will face the audience.
He fell in the water Please, water the garden.

From the models above, it tends to be seen that in segment I the words 'stone', 'cloud',
'face', and 'water' are things which are typically converted into batu', 'awan', 'wajah, dan air'. The
underlined words in column II are not nouns but verbs that mean "melempar (dengan batu),"
"memperkeruh," "menghadapi," and "menyiram" in Indonesian. Each word's grammatical
structure explicitly reflects the intended meaning in this instance.
b. Semiotics marking
Semiotics is the study of visual language and signs. It looks at how meaning is created,
not just with words but also with images, symbols, gestures, sounds, and design. For example,
“coffee” is a brewed beverage, but it also evokes comfort, alertness, creativity and countless
other associations.

1.2. Connotative meaning

The connotative meaning of a word includes the feelings and ideas that people may
connect with that word. This refers to the emotional or evaluative associations that a word
carries, beyond its literal or dictionary definition. For example, when someone says “dog,” you
might think of a cute little puppy or your adorable pet. When someone says “spider,” most
people would immediately think of something creepy or scary. There are three main principles to
understand connotative meaning. They are:
a. The relationship between the word and the speaker
When certain words are commonly used by a particular group of people, others within
that group are likely to start using those words too.
 For example, a person who identifies strongly with a particular cultural or social group
might use language that is specific to that group or that reinforces their group identity.
b. Condition of the speaker
Refers to the speaker's emotional and mental state at the time of speaking, which can
affect the connotative meaning of their words. For example, if a speaker is feeling happy and
excited, they might use words with a positive connotation more frequently than if they were
feeling sad or angry. Similarly, if a speaker is feeling defensive or insecure, they might use
words with a more negative connotation to protect themselves or to express their frustration.
By taking into account the speaker's condition and emotional state, we can better understand
the connotative meaning of their words and interpret their message more accurately.
c. Linguistic factors
Refers to the features of language itself that influence its use and meaning. The elements
of meaning refer to the different components or aspects that make up the meaning of a word,
phrase, or sentence.
1. Plural system.
English and Indonesian language are different in marking plural nouns. In written
communication, English uses inflectional morphemes or -es, or adds phoneme / -s / , / -z /,
or / -is / in spoken. Some irregular and regular forms are also exist. While in Indonesia,
markers of plural nouns are shown by using repetition. For example:
English Indonesian
Fruit Buah
Fruits Buah-buahan
Book Buku
Books Buku-buku
Candy Permen
Candies Beberapa permen

a. Regular nouns
Most singular nouns form plural nouns by adding the -s ending.
Example :
 Single Plural
Boats Boats
House Houses
Paint Cats
River Rivers

Singular nouns that end in s, x, z, ch, sh form plural nouns by adding -es.
Example
Single Plural
Bus Buses
Wish Wishes
Pitch Pitches
Box Boxes

Singular nouns that end in a consonant and y form plural nouns by removing the y and
adding the ending -ies.
Example :
Single Plural
Penny pennies
Spy spies
Baby Babies
City cities
Daisy Daisies

b. Irregular nouns
There are some irregular plural nouns. Here are words that are often used
Example :
Single Plural
Woman Women
Man Man
Child Children
 Person People

Some nouns have the same singular and plural forms.

Example :
Single Plural
Sheep Sheep
Fish Fish
Deer Deer
Species Species

c. Irregular noun/verb agreement

Some nouns have a plural form but use a singular verb.
Plural nouns that use a singular verb Sentence
News The news is at 6.30 pm
Athletics Athletics is good for young people
Linguistics Linguistics in the study of languages

Some nouns have a fixed plural form and take a plural verb. These nouns do not
use the singular or have different meanings in the singular. These nouns include: trousers,
jeans, and glasses.
Plural nouns that take a plural verb Sentence
Trousers My trousers are too tight.
Jeans Her jeans are black
Glasses Those glasses are his

2. One form with many alternative meaning

A word has a primary meaning, that is the meaning which at the first time is got by the
receiver or reader . The second or alternative or connotative meaning is one which is
affected by the context. The examples below may clarify this.
a. The boy runs fast: Anak itu berlari dengan cepat.
b. He runs his eyes over the crowd: Ia melayangkan pandangannya pada kerumunan itu.
 c. Life must run its course: Hidup harus menempuh jalannya sendiri.
3. Gramatical marker
In this case, gramatical marker has two functions, primary and secondary functions. The
word “on”, to give an example, in English indicateds some meanings. This fact is described
below.
Sita found a book on the table,
Sita found a book on Biology,
Sita found a book on Wednesday.
The word “on” in the examples above indicates “position” or “location”, “about” and
relation of time which in Indonesian are translated as “diatas”. “tentang” or “pada”.
C. Problem of non-equivalence
Some problems of non - equivalence at word level , according to Baker ( 1992 : 17 ) , is
related to cultural differences , where there is no equivalent words in both source and target
language. This is what so called culture specific.
1. Cultural difference
Newmark ( 1988 : 94 ) defines culture as " the way of life and its manifestations that are
peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its means of expression " . Some
concept can not fully be understood by learners. The concept can be congrate or even
abstract thing related to religion, social tradision or meals. Alejendra Patricia Karamanian in
“Translation and culture” update on state : We are not just dealing with words written in a
certain time , space and sociopolitical situation ; most importantly it is the " cultural " aspect
of the text that we should take into account . The process of transfer , i.e. , re coding across
cultures , should consequently allocate corresponding attributes vis - à - vis the target culture
to ensure credibility in the eyes of the target reader. The following example is taken from
Opera Kecoak that is used by Machali (2007). The word 'Mas' in the dialog above is
translated into 'honey' in English. However, in different context, of course, the word 'Mas'
cannot be translated as 'honey', for example when it is used to address one's older brother.

2. No equivalent word in the target language

 Sometimes a word expresses a concept which can be understood in the target language
but there is no exactly equivalent expression. The word 'standard' in Indonesian is represented by
some meaning as 'ukuran' and 'patokan', but they are not fully equivalent with the meaning of the
word in the source language.
3. Source and Target Language Make Differences in Meaning
A translator sometimes makes different meaning of the source and target text. One
expression in the source text might be differently expressed in the target text. As an example, in
the sentence 'She was going out in the rain', it can be understood differently in Indonesian: 'Dia
pergi keluar tanpa tahu kalau hujan sedang turun' or 'Dia sengaja pergi keluar meskipun hujan
sedang turun'. In this case, the translator must be quite aware of the context in the source text.
4. There is No Specific Expression in the Target Language
English has some specific term for 'house' as 'bungalow', 'cottage', 'villa', 'hall', 'lodge',
and 'mansion'. Javanese, on the other hand, also has some specific terms related to plants as
'manggar', 'bluluk', 'cengkir', 'degan', 'klopo', and 'cumplung' which is not found in Indonesian
and English.
5. Summary
translation is a process of conveying meaning or meaning of a given-linguistic
discourse of a language into other language, more than just transferring words or grammatical
structure of the SL. The meaning of a word or set of words can be well understood because of its
role in the whole linguistic expression in where they occur.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Faizal Risdianto. (2022). Introduction to the World of Translation (The Mahfud Ridwan Institute
(ed.)). IKAPI Jawa Tengah.