Translating Politeness of Persadaan Tendi Texts in Karonese Language Into English

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the politeness of persadaan tendi texts in Karonese language and translate them into English. Persadaan tendi or mukul is the process by which the bride and groom introduce themselves to their new relatives. This study was conducted using descriptive qualitative research and supported by translation and pragmatics analyses. There are three data sources of this study; from two books titled Adat Karo Si Rulo written by Ginting (2008) and Indahnya Perkawinan Adat Karo by Milala (2007); and from the researchers’ observations as participants at persadaan tendi ceremonies in Tigabinanga sub-district, Karo Regency and Tuntungan sub-district, Medan, North Sumatra. The results reveal that in persadaan tendi texts there are linguistic and cultural forms of politeness which are kalimbubu, kampil, and manok sangkep as cultural politeness. The second singular pronoun kam subject and the enclitic pronoun –ndu means ’your’, and endi or ‘here’ are linguistic politeness. Rebu (social avoidance to talk directly) among the rebu participants in Karonese society is cultural politeness. These examples of linguistic and cultural politeness in the source language (SL) are not found in the target language (TL). Molina and Albir’s (2002) translation technique of description, supported by critical discourse analysis and semantic analysis is workable to overcome untranslatable of the cultural and linguistic politeness in the SL.