TRANSLATION AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: THE SYNERGY BETWEEN IDEOLOGY, POLICY AND CONSISTENCY

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1 TRANSLATION AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: THE SYNERGY BETWEEN IDEOLOGY, POLICY AND CONSISTENCY I Gusti Agung Sri Rwa Jayantini STIBA Saraswati Denpasar Bali srijay04@yahoo.com ABSTRACT This paper discusses the synergy of ideology, policy and consistency as the role of translation on language development. This phenomenon is identified through the translation of 539 English technical terms in the field of biosecurity, agriculture and environment into Indonesian. The relevant theory used to discuss the ideology of translation is Venuti's coinages of domestication and foreignization. Prior to the investigation on ideology of translation, the present study utilized Vinay and Dalbernet s procedures of translation. Through the analysis on how the English technical terms are translated into Indonesian, it was found that translation encourages the development of the Indonesian language through the adoption of several foreign language terms into Indonesian because of direct adoption or adaptation. Besides, ideology, policy and consistency are the interrelated factors in translation world that are compatible with the pillars in a building construction. Key words: translation, language development, ideology, policy and consistency. I. INTRODUCTION In translation, language contact is irrefutable since it commonly involves the simultaneous process of transferring meaning with the process of adapting several linguistic and cultural aspects of one language into another language. Here, language contact refers to the possibility of exchanging linguistic aspects that one language has with that of other languages. When language contact occurs, the transfer of meaning in translation activity is frequently followed by several phenomena including borrowing one language s words or terms, adaptation of forms and meaning as well as adoption of one language s vocabulary to another language. For example, through a translation task of scientific papers with their technical terms from English into Indonesian, a translator has a wide chance to introduce and popularize new terms resulted in the process of translating the English terms (Wuryantoro, 2005, Jayantini, 2010). In addition, many English terms have been developed more rapidly during the last couple of years as science and technology also grow very fast. When the terms are translated, there will be an opportunity opened for the translator to introduce new terms in the target language as the representation of meaning found in the source language texts. As such, it is translation that assists the creation of new terms through the

2 process of borrowing, adapting and adopting one language to another language (Jayantini in Falk et al, 2011). Ideology encompasses the tacit assumption, beliefs and value systems which are shared collectively by social groups. (Hatim and Masson in Hatim and Munday, 2004). Language policy is itself a product of a certain social and political context. Much of language policy affects translation (Grin, 2010). Meanwhile, in general, consistency in translation task is usually promoted as an essential feature of good technical writing (Vasconcellos in Rogers, 2007). Specifically, adopting the idea of consistency, it refers to how translation is utilized as a means of developing one particular language because the standardized terms resulted in technical terms translation do not vary greatly in over time. A particular term should be consistently translated and used with regard to the standardization encouraged by the language policy makers which, then, should be the guidance for every translator in achieving consistency and uniformity. Concerning the ideology of translation, Venuti's coinages of domestication and foreignization are the icons in the discussion of translator s preference whether to be on the target language or the source language side. These two opposing terms are better known as the ideology of translation since their characteristics are differentiated based on the values of either source language or target language that a translator prefers to preserve. Domestication is "an ethnocentric reduction of the foreign text to target language cultural values, bringing the author back home." Foreignization can take a number of different forms namely close adherence to the foreign text and retaining cultural markers (Venuti, in Yu and Li 2007). Historically, Venuti based his theory on the concepts proposed by Schleiermacher (in Yu & Li, 2007), a famous German philosopher and translator. This translation theorist proposes that there are only two approaches that involve the position of the author of SL text and the reader of TL text. The approach which is similar to the concept of domestication makes the author close to the reader while another approach which is compatible with foreignization leads the reader close to the author. Such approaches are also in line with the concepts of Nida s dynamic and formal equivalence. Domestication is close to dynamic equivalence whereas foreignization is closely associated with formal equivalence. Nida s dynamic equivalence emphasizes naturalness of a rendering which is in essence a domesticating relation. The translation is natural and smooth. Conversely, formal equivalence focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content. According to Yu and Li (2007) absolute foreignization and domestication actually do not exist. All translations have to make a compromise between the two basic methods of translation. The choice of one or the other depends on several factors that is the purpose of translation, intended readers, text type and so on. The close relation between ideology and strategy may happen in the sense that domestication and foreignization in translation deal with the situation faced by the translator when he/she has to choose whether to stick with the SL values and flavor or to share the TL values and flavor for the sake of style and the audience s need. The consideration that makes the translator believes that his/her translation acceptable and correct is ideology. Strategy of translation often relates to the ways chosen by the translator in the process of translation whether to keep the SL values and introduce the flavor of them or change the SL values and introduce the natural sense to the target audience.

3 The interconnection among translation, language development, and language policy can be seen from the rules and guidance showing how government and policy makers support the growth of language. In general sense, language policy should be widely known by the public so that people recognize its crucial importance. Language policy is a product of a certain social and political context. It is also intended to shape this context, through the influence it has on the extent of multilingualism in society either directly or indirectly. The direct effects take place because it makes translation mandatory, for instance, by requiring that for reasons of consumer safety, the product composition of medicines be available in various languages. Indirectly, language policy protects and promotes a variety of languages. As a result, this demand encourages multilingualism, boosting the need for language services, including translation and interpretation. (Grin, 2010). II. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study implements a descriptive qualitative method that utilizes unidirectional texts since the data cover only two different languages i.e. A and B. Specifically, the primary data utilized in this research are the technical terms and their translation found in three English- Indonesian glossary in the field of biosecurity, agriculture and environment. The glossary is published in conjunction with the research collaboration between Indonesia and Australia started in The research was conducted to find the solution for the two neighboring countries in facing the issues on the dissemination of crop diseases. The translation of 539 terms was analyzed based on the procedures of translation before they were classified into the ideology of translation used by the translators i.e. domestication and foreignization. The method of collecting the data in this study is observation method as proposed by Sudaryanto (1988).Then, note-taking technique was implemented to collect the relevant data. First of all, the data were classified based on Vinay and Dalbernet s procedures of translation (in Venuti, 2000). Prior to the analysis involving the procedures and ideology of translation, two divisions were made. The first group was the terms translated through literal translation procedure and the second group was the terms translated by utilizing non-literal translation procedures. The classification of literal translation includes borrowing, loan translation (calque), and the direct translation (literal). Meanwhile another table is made to list the terms that are non-literally translated utilizing transposition, modulation, equivalence and adaptation procedures. Secondly, in summarizing the finding, a table is made to show the total number of procedures of translation applied by the translator. Through this table, the frequency of the seven utilized procedures, whether literal or non-literal can be clearly seen. These steps support the process of analysis so that the findings are possibly made in line with the research problems. III. RESULT AND DISCUSSION In order to translate the English biosecurity-related terms into Indonesian, five procedures of translation were applied by the translator. The five adopted procedures are borrowing, calque, literal translation, transposition and adaptation. Out of 539 technical terms, 17 terms (3,15%) are translated through borrowing procedure, 191 terms (35,44%) through calque, 245 terms (45,45%) through literal translation, 30 terms (5,57%) through transposition and 56 terms (10,39%) through adaptation. Borrowing, calque, and literal translation procedures are classified as direct translation. By means of

4 direct translation procedure, the translator is able to preserve the SL flavor and keep its values. This process shows the characteristic of foreignization. Through literal translation, the translator can stick with the flavor of the foreign terms. The other two procedures adopted by the translator are transposition and adaptation. These procedures belong to the category of non-literal translation or oblique translation. These results demonstrate the application of domestication in translation in which the creation of new terms with domestic flavor is possible. The analysis on how the English technical terms in the field of biosecurity, agriculture and environment are translated into English, domestication and foreignization are applied with specific categories namely foreignization is fully applied through borrowing procedure; foreignization and domestication are applied through calque procedure which include three classifications namely (1) all elements of the terms that are fully foreignized, (2) a mixed between foreign and domestic flavor, (3) all elements of the terms that are fully domesticated; foreignization and domestication are applied through literal translation procedure which includes (1) the application of mix loanwords, (2) the existence of domestic flavor in the translated terms, (3) the direct transfer of a source language (SL) text grammatically and idiomatically appropriate in the target language (TL); domestication is applied through transposition procedure; domestication is strongly applied through transposition procedure. Based on these categories, domestication cannot always be fully applied to create new terms with their Indonesian flavor since the influence of the English technical terms are relatively strong for the Indonesian audience. The creation of new terms whose flavor is purely Indonesian cannot be successfully made all the time as the Indonesian audience has been familiar with the adopted English terms. When undertaking technical terms translation, a translator must deal with the fact that there are many English terms that have been adopted into Indonesian and, indeed, they have been part of the inventory of the Indonesian language. After investigating the procedure of translation as well as how the characteristics of domestication and foreignization, it can be summarized that adaptation is the meeting point of domestication and foreignization. It takes place in the translation of English-Indonesian technical terms. Adaptation of the concept which is the basic idea of adaptation as the procedure of translation is the implementation of domesticating translation. Adaptation of the form which shares the English flavor in the Indonesian word shows how foreignizing translation occurs in technical translation. This refers to the adaptation of spelling and pronunciation which is frequently chosen by the translator without, firstly, trying to domesticate the English terms into the Indonesian terms. For example, the term biosecurity is not translated biosekuriti. To transfer the concept of the term, the translator chooses to introduce a new term whose flavor is fully Indonesian by introducing a new term ketahanan hayati. Foreignization involves the element of adaptation which can be seen from the integration of many foreign terms, particularly English into the Indonesian language through the process of translation. The terms can be either directly borrowed or are absorbed into the Indonesian language based on the rules of Indonesian spelling system called Pedoman Umum Ejaan yang Disempurnakan (The Perfected Spelling System) which is known as EYD. It stands for Ejaan yang Disempurnakan. Several phenomena concerning ideology of translation and the potency of language development are also worth mentioning in this section. First, to analyze the characteristics of ideology in translation that a translator prefers in translating English technical terms into Indonesian, there must be procedures of translation that need to be investigated. From the procedures of translation, several classifications on how terms are translated can be made in accordance with the application of domestication and foreignization s

5 characteristics. Second, adaptation is the key aspect in translation since both domestication and foreignization involves the process of adapting form and concept. Preserving foreign language flavor is one of the characteristics of foreignization, thus, it can be assumed that through literal translation, the translator can stick with the flavor of the foreign terms. Third, in literal translation, the tendency of adapting form like adjustment of spelling and pronunciation opens more widely. As for domestication in which the source language values are changed, the adaptation of concept takes place through the process of understanding the concept and finding the terms equivalence whose sense is originally Indonesian. The interrelation of ideology, policy and consistency is visibly represented in the following figure: Figure 1: The Interrelation between Translation and Language Development Translators Translation Policy Makers Language Development: This figure demonstrates that as part of the translation activity and language development, the translators play their important role in rendering the meaning of the source language to the target language through the intellectual activity they perform. At the same time, they have a choice to preserve one language through the product of translation. In Indonesian side, the policy of the decision makers should bind the professionals in translation activity to be consistent in choosing and using the terms which have been standardized in the Indonesian Great Dictionary. As the key player in translation activity, translators need to be consistent in using the standardized terms which have been adopted into the Indonesian language with either its domestic Indonesian flavor or adopted foreign terms. Obviously, translators consistency benefits the target audience for they will not get lost in translation, particularly to use and to understand the terms adopted through translation process. Observing the work flow of translation process and the professionalism of translators needed to face communication across borders, ideology and consistency in translation world are parts of the inner complication of the translators as the main actors who undergo the process of translation. Ideology is reflected in the results of the translators work. As part of the translation contribution to the creation of

6 new terms with their domestic flavor, consistency can also be a factor that helps to accelerate the language development. The consistency of the translators in using the standardized terms which have been adopted and adapted in the Indonesian language will benefit the users of translation product as they will not be mislead by various terms which, actually, have the same meaning. Outside of the translator s inner complication world, the policy maker in the area of language preservation and maintenance should also be active in creating the atmosphere to encourage to acceleration of language development. One of the actions that can be taken is the socialization of the glossary of technical terms published by Pusat Bahasa Indonesia (Centre of the Indonesian Language Development). It is necessarily needed to gain a standardized translation for many technical terms in various fields of study. As a result, the translation of a particular term is consistently made. Having such a reference, different translators can make the same translation for a particular term. For example, if the term biodiversity is translated into keanekaragaman hayati by all translators, the user will always popularize it as keanekaragaman hayati, not biodiversity. In the Indonesian language, the perfected spelling system called Ejaan Yang Disempurnakan, abbreviated EYD is part of language policy in terms of gaining consistency and uniformity in the process of adopting and naturalizing foreign terms into the Indonesian language. Ejaan is the Indonesian word for spelling while sempurna in disempurnakan means perfect. It functions as a guidance for Indonesian Spelling System including the use of correct capital letters, the writing of words, phrases, collocation, abbreviations, numbers, punctuations and the rules of foreign terms adaptation. Among those things, the rules of how foreign terms should be adapted are the closest aspect to this present study. A crucial issue on translation and language development discussed in this paper is focused on how translation takes part in the enrichment of certain language lexical items, the possibility for knowledge transfer, the potential of translation to be the bridge for communication gap across borders, as well as to cope with communication problems due to language barriers. Through these potentials, the development of language should be beneficial for people and be easily accessed by people. Thus, translation s contribution to language development can be seen beyond the development aspect. Instead, it goes further to the point of civilization. In Indonesian context, adaptation is the meeting point of domestication and foreignization. It takes place in the translation of English-Indonesian technical terms. Adaptation of the concept which is the basic idea of adaptation as the procedure of translation is the implementation of domesticating translation. Adaptation of the form which shares the English flavor in the Indonesian word shows how foreignizing translation occurs in technical translation. This refers to the adaptation of spelling and pronunciation which is frequently chosen by the translator without, firstly, trying to domesticate the English terms into the Indonesian terms. For example, the term biosecurity is not translated biosekuriti. To transfer the concept of the term, the translator chooses to introduce a new term whose flavor is fully Indonesian by introducing a new term ketahanan hayati. Foreignization involves the element of adaptation which can be seen from the integration of many foreign terms, particularly English into the Indonesian language through the process of translation. The terms can be either directly borrowed or are absorbed into the Indonesian language based on the rules of Indonesian spelling system called Pedoman Umum Ejaan yang Disempurnakan (The Perfected Spelling System) which is known as EYD. It stands for Ejaan yang Disempurnakan. In the sense that translation is a irrefutably language contact product, the investigation on how translation can contribute to the Indonesian language development makes the tendency of

7 utilizing domestication as both ideology and strategy is stronger than utilizing foreignizing strategy. Ideally, the Indonesian language will be rich of new terms which do not share their foreign flavor if the strategy of domestication can be a policy that is always applied in every translation task. Uniformity and consistency are issues that are closely related to the process of new Indonesian terms formulation resulted in translation task. Then, the terms are popularized among the translators and those who are involved in translation studies. At this stage, gaining a national identity through translation becomes part of the translators task in addition to render the meaning accurately and naturally. This ideal may be accomplished because they have to prioritize the use of the Indonesian equivalents rather than simply adopting the foreign terms through the process of borrowing and adapting foreign terms. The Indonesian government s position on how translation encourages the enrichment of Indonesian language at the lexical level is reflected in Pedoman Pembentukan Istilah (General Guide to Term Formation). It is stated that in order to obtain good results in the exchange of information, specific terms, which are important elements in the science system, should have the same meaning for all who use them. General agreement about the meaning of the name and the specific terms and their use will consistently produce specific vocabulary that includes concepts, terms, and standard definition. Standardization of nomenclature and procedures for specific terms will facilitate mutual understanding and enable scientific communication. This will also be of use to avoid bias, ambiguity and misunderstandings. IV. CONCLUSION Concerning the contribution of domesticating strategy in translation that is to add new created terms with their Indonesian flavor in the Indonesian language, translation plays an important role in promoting the development of the target language. This is because domestication prefers to be on the target language s side. When this strategy can be suggested in every translation task, the preservation and development of target language will be achieved. The policy of considering the application of translation procedures and the ideology that a translator prefers is a key element in encouraging language development. A strategy focusing on changing the SL values and target-culture orientation in translation is always worth considering for the sake of language preservation. However, this ideal cannot always be easily realized as translation is a task of transferring meaning that should consider the need of the target audience and the naturalness. Thus, the phenomena that domesticating strategy may not be the only strategy that will be applied by a translator in translating technical terms should be taken into account wisely as there is evidence that translation always involves the aspects of accuracy and naturalness. The Indonesian government s position on how translation encourages the enrichment of Indonesian language at the lexical level is reflected in Pedoman Pembentukan Istilah (General Guide to Term Formation). It is stated that in order to obtain good results in the exchange of information, specific terms, which are important elements in the science system, should have the same meaning for all who use them. General agreement about the meaning of the name and the specific terms and their use will consistently produce specific vocabulary that includes concepts, terms, and standard definition. Standardization of nomenclature and procedures for specific terms will facilitate mutual understanding and enable scientific communication. This will also be of use to avoid bias, ambiguity and misunderstanding.

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