Translating Nure-Nure Texts in Karonese Society Into English: Applying Translation Techniques

Abstract

The aim of this study is to develop Molina & Albir’s (2002) translation technique in translating nure-nure texts of the Karonese language into English. The problems in the process of translating the source language (SL) into the target language (TL) are the equivalences of the SL in the TL. The data are collected from Suka’s (2014) book entitled Ranan Adat: Orat Nggeluh, Rikut Bicara Kalak Karo ope Tubuh seh Idilo Dibata. Conceptual research was applied to get the data while translation and critical discourse analysis were used to analyze the data. The authors translated twenty-two data samples from the SL into the TL. They used Molina & Albir’s (2002) translation technique to translate metaphors, stylistic repetition, a poem, politeness, and cultural terms in the nure-nure text into English. The study reveals ndu, -ta, and kam are polite pronouns in the Karonese language but they are not found in English. The translation techniques of adaptation, description, transposition, calque, generalization, literal translation, modulation, compensation, amplification, and borrowing were applied when translating the SL into the TL. The authors propose using the interdisciplinary translation technique to develop Molina & Albir’s (2002) translation technique as an alternative technique to overcome the problems of equivalences in a TL.