“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more

important than fear”

MODUL 4

LEXICAL PROBLEMS IN TRANSLATION

A. PENDAHULUAN

Penerjemahan bukanlah suatu pekerjaan yang mudah. Banyak kesulitan atau

permasalahan muncul, baik pada tataran kosa kata, tata bahasa, maupun budaya. Dalam
pertemuan ini akan dibahas permasalahan atau kesulitan yang dihadapi oleh penerjemah
ketika melakukan pekerjaan penerjemahan, khusunya yang berkaitan dengan makna kata
secara leksikal. Distribusi makna, pilihan kata (kata yang membingungkan), idiom,
singkatan, dan istilah-istilah teknis sering menjadi masalah penerjemahan pada tingkatan
makna kata tersebut.
Setelah mempelajari topik ini mahasiswa diharapkan mampu:
1. Menyebutkan beberapa jenis kesulitan pada tingkat kosa kata disertai
contoh-contoh.
2. Mencari/menemukan contoh-contoh (kata) yang lain dalam bahasa Inggris
dan menerjemahkannya ke dalam bahasa Indonesia, begitupun sebaliknya dari bahasa
Indonesia ke dalam bahasa Inggris.
3. Menerjemahkan kata-kata sesuai dengan konteks kalimat.
Kegiatan belajar mahasiswa dalam modul ini terdiri dari 5 kegiatan
pembelajaran: (1) pendahuluan dan tujuan, (2) penyajian materi pembelajaran, (3)
rangkuman, (4) latihan, dan (5) tes.

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Translation I – Modul 4
 “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more
important than fear”

B. PENYAJIAN

B.1 LEXICAL PROBLEMS IN TRANSLATING FROM ENGLISH INTO

INDONESIAN

1. Meaning Distribution
In English one word may have two or more meaning. That is why translators
especially beginners often have problems with the choice of contextually appropriate
English word equivalent in Indonesian.
Examples:
Emerentiano is wearing glasses (Emerentiano memakai kaca mata)
My son has broken a glass (Anak saya memecahkan gelas)
The door is made of glass (Pintu itu terbuat dari kaca).
There is no smoke without fire.
= Tidak ada asap tanpa api (tidak ada asap kalau tidak ada api).
The president came to negotiate cease fire
= Presiden datang untuk menegosiasi genjatan senjata.
The General ordered his men to fire the crowd
= Sang Jenderal memerintahkan anak buahnya untuk menembak kerumunan
masa itu.
The Rector of Undana fired him for being incompetent.
= Rektor Undana memecat-nya karena (dia) tidak mampu.

2. Lexical Transfer of Individual Words

The translators look up the meaning of English word equivalent in Indonesian
in a bilingual dictionary and then translate it directly without assessing whether or not
the translation makes sense in TL. The following examples illustrate the problem.
I am not in a position to help you.
Lex. Trans. : saya tidak dalam suatu kedudukan menolongmu.
Cont. Trans. : Saya tidak dapat menolongmu.
Both speaking and writing are important

____________________________________ 19
Translation I – Modul 4
 “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more
important than fear”

Lex. Trans : Kedua-duanya berbicara dan menulis penting.

Cont. Trans. : Baik berbicara maupun menulis penting.
Here we can see that translation is concerned with words, but not with words
alone. Even simple word for word translation can sometimes be misleading. So the best
way to know the Indonesian equivalents of English words would be through context.

B.2 LEXICAL PROBLEMS IN TRANSLATING FROM INDONESIAN INTO

ENGLISH

1. Confusing Words
Translators often have problems with confusing words. Some examples can be
seen below.
Example:
- lend vs borrow
Bolehkah saya meminjam kamusmu? = can I borrow (not ‘lend’) your
dictionary?
- between vs among
Bagi apel ini antara kamu bertiga = Please divide this apple between (must
be’among’) you three.
- Make, do, and work
Saya sudah mengerjakan pekerjaan rumah saya = I have done (noy ‘done’ or
worked’) my homework
- Accept vs receive
Saya menerima pendapatmu. = I accept (not ‘receive’) your idea.
- Rise vs raise
Yang sudah kerjakan PR, silakan angkat tangan = those who have done their
home work, please raise (not ‘rise’) your hand.

2. The Transfer of Individual Words

Partly due to the incomplete knowledge of the target language (English),
translators, especially beginners, tend to transfer individual words or idiomatic
expressions when they translate.

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Translation I – Modul 4
 “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more
important than fear”

Examples:
- Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa (The only single God. It is better translated
‘Believe in God).
- Dia dianggap sebagai kambing hitam (He is considered ‘black goat’. It
must be ‘scapegoat).
- Saya akan gunakan uang ini untuk membeli sebuah kamus ( I will use this
money to buy a dictionary. It must be ‘spend’).
- Etc.

3. Technical Terms and Acronyms/Abbreviations

In translating technical terms, acronyms and abbreviations, meaning is more
important.
Example:
- AURI = The Indonesian Air Force
- REPELITA = Five-Year Development Plan
- Pancasila = The Five Basic Principles of the Republic of Indonesia.
- Etc.

C. PENUTUP

C.1 RANGKUMAN
There are two common problems found by a translator in translating from
English into Indonesian: Meaning Distribution and Lexical Transfer of Individual Words.
In other side, there are three common problems found by a translator in translating from
Indonesian into English, including Confusing Words, the Transfer of Individual Words,
and Technical Terms and Acronyms/Abbreviations.

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Translation I – Modul 4
 “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more
important than fear”

C.2 LATIHAN
1. Make the outline of the materials discussed in this meeting by using the
following diagram. Letters (A, B, C, etc.) represent the sub-topics being
learned.

A
H
B

Lexical Problems
G (Examples) C

D
F
E

2. Find more English words having more than one meaning and translate them into
Indonesian!
3. Find other examples showing the problems related to lexical differences.

C.3 TES

1. Translate the following words/phrases/sentences into Indonesian!

a. I am sure I can do that easily.
b. Please put it in a can.
c. He sat on the chair.
d. He has the chair of philosophy at the university.
e. He will chair the meeting.
f. He was condemned to the chair.
g. He was sentenced to death.
h. It is a must!

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Translation I – Modul 4
 “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more
important than fear”

i. They can the fish.

j. He kicked the can hard.
2. Translate the following words / sentences into English!
a. Bunga Bank NTT tinggi
b. Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Daerah (BAPPEDA).
c. Saya telah meminjamkan mobil saya kepada Emrin sejak minggu lalu.
d. Pacar saya bekerja pada salah satu LSM asing di Kupang.
e. Peningkatan kualitas pendidikan
f. Menteri Dalam Negeri Republik Indonesia.
g. Gunung itu sangat tinggi.
h. Dia seorang kritikus sastra yang terkenal.
i. Apakah anda seorang mahasiswa jurusan matematika?
j. Barang ini harus didistribusikan dari rumah ke rumah.

DAFTAR PUSTAKA

Duff, A. (1989) Translation, Resource Books for Teachers, London: OxordUniversity

Press.
Kian Bera, L. (1991) Some Lexical and Syntactic Problems in Translating from
English into Indonesian, Paper, FKIP Undana, Kupang.
Nababan, M.R. (1999) Teori Menerjemahkan Bahasa Inggris, Yogyakarta: Pustaka
Pelajar.
Payong Pukan, M. (1985). Establishment of Basic Translation Ability as a Contribution
to Facilitate SMA Students’ Reading Comprehension. Thesis.FKIP Undana,
Kupang .

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Translation I – Modul 4
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more
important than fear”

____________________________________ 24
Translation I – Modul 4
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more
important than fear”

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Translation I – Modul 4