F i n a l T a s k o f T r a n s l a t i o n | 1
The Analysis of Translation in Scott Pilgrim vs The World Movie
Yozar Firdaus Amrullah
NIM: 13020212410004
Introduction
People around the world use different language in communication, both written and
spoken. Consequently, in order to understand the meaning, concept, and even the culture of
other people in text form, translation is needed. Larson (1984:3) defined Translation as
transferring the meaning of the source language into the receptor. This is done by going from
the form of the first language to the form of the second language by way of semantic
structure. It is meaning which is being transferred and must be held constant, only the form
changes.
To catch the closest meaning amongst the languages in translation, a translators have to
understand not just the literal meaning of Source Language (SL), but also the meaning behind
the context, and then transferred them to the Target Language (TL) using approriate method.
However, in some cases, exact equal term amongst languages cannot be found, then
sometimes there will be non-equivalency in the translation.
The problem of non-equivalency may be found in various types of text. One of it is in
the subtitle of a movie or film. As cited from wikipedia, subtitles are textual versions of the
dialog or commentary in films, television programs, video games, and the like, usually
dispalyed at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a
dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of a dialog in the same language, with or
without added information to help viewers who are deaf and hard-of-hearing to follow the
dialog, or people who cannot understand the spoken dialogue or who have accent recognition
problems. The equivalence in subtitling a film can be essential in order to make the viewers
could understand the meaning and enjoy the story. However, since sometimes language could
not always be in apple to apple form, then there will be non-equivalency in the translation
amongst words. Baker said (1992:20) non-equivalence at word level means that the target
language has no direct equivalence for a word which occurs in the source text. Dealing with
the term ‘equivalence’, this study is conducted to find out the translation strategies which are
used to translate the Scott Pilgrim vs The World Movie from English into Bahasa Indonesia.
F i n a l T a s k o f T r a n s l a t i o n | 2
Review of The Study
As proposed by Baker (1992: 26-42) in her book, In Other Words, there are 8 (eight)
strategies used by professional translators to deal with non-equivalence problems of
translation at word level:
1. Translation by a more general word (superordinate)
This type works equally well in most, if not all, languages, particularly in the area of
propositional meaning.
2. Translation by a more neutral/less expressive word
Sometimes there is a noticeable difference between the expressive meaning of the SL
and its nearest TL equivalent. To avoid conveying wrong expressive meaning,
translater opted for a more general word.
3. Translation by cultural substitution
The strategy involves replacing a culture-specific item or expression with a target-
language item which does not have the same propositional meaning but is likely to have
similar impact on the target reader. It gives the reader a concept which s/he can
identify, something familiar and appealing.
4. Translation using a loan word or loan word plus explanation
This type particularly common in dealing with culture-specific items, modern concepts,
and buzz words.
5. Translation by paraphrase using a related word
The strategy tends to be used when the concept expressed by the source item is
lexicalized in the target language, but in different form, and when the frequency with a
certain form is used in the source text is significantly higher than would be natural in
the target language.
6. Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words
This strategy is making paraphrase that is based on modifying a superordinate or simply
on unpacking the meaning of the source item, particularly if the item in question is
semantically complex.
7. Translation by omission
If the meaning conveyed by a particular item or expression is not vital enough to the
development of the text, to justify distracting the reader with lengthy explanations,
translator can simply omit translating the word or expression in question.
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8. Translation by illustration
This strategy is used if the word which lacks an equivalent in the target language refers
to a physical entity which can be illustrated, particularly if there are restricitons on
space and if the text has to remain short, concise, and to the point.
Data and Data Collecting Procedures
There are 2 groups of data that I use to conduct this study. The first is the English
transcription of Scott Pilgrim vs The World Movie that I downloaded from subtitle sharing
website subscene.com on April 30th
, 2013. Then, the second is the Bahasa Indonesia subtitle
of Scott Pilgrim vs The World Movie in the form of text file that I retrieved also from
subscene.com on the same date. It could be noted that the translation of the subtitle is not
from the English transcript, but directly from the audio of the movie.
Considering the length of the movie, I took only the first 5 minutes for the study. The
descriptive qualitative approach is used for the analysis. It is aimed to give description of the
facts, features, and also the relationship in the material being investigated in sistematic,
factual, and accurate way. In the first step of the analysis, I placed the data in table. It is in
form of sentence to sentence, in order to compare and easily find oud the translation. Then, I
made analysis based on Baker’s non-equivalence strategy of translation at word level. The
transcript reveals 81 lines that I presented as follows:
Data
Number
Source Language
(English)
Target Language
(Bahasa Indonesia) Strategy of Translation
1 NOT SO LONG AGO… BEBERAPA WAKTU
YANG LALU…
Using more neutral
word/less expressive word
2 IN THE MYSTERIOUS
LAND…
DI PULAU YANG
MISTERIUS…
Using more neutral
word/less expressive word
3 OF TORONTO, CANADA TORONTO, CANADA… -
4
SCOTT PILGRIM WAS
DATING A HIGH
SCHOOLER
SCOTT PILGRIM
BERPACARAN DENGAN
ANAK SMA
Using more neutral
word/less expressive word
5 Scott Pilgrim is dating a
high-schooler?
Scott Pilgrim berpacaran
dengan anak SMA?
Using more neutral
word/less expressive word
6 Really? Is she hot? Benarkah? Apa dia sexy? Translation using a loan
word
7 How old are you now,
Scott? Like, 28?
Berapa usiamu sekarang,
Scott? 28? Translation by omission
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Data
Number
Source Language
(English)
Target Language
(Bahasa Indonesia) Strategy of Translation
8 I'm not playing your little
games, kids.
Aku tidak bermain
permainan kecilmu, anak-
anak.
Translation by a more
general word
(superordinate)
9 So, you've been out of high
school for, like, 13 years.
Jadi, kamu sudah keluar
dari SMA, sekitar 13 tahun
lalu.
Using more neutral
word/less expressive word
10 I'm 22. Twenty-two. Aku 22 tahun. Dua puluh
dua. -
11
And you're dating a high-
school girl. Not bad, not
bad.
Dan kamu berpacaran
dengan anak SMA.
Lumayan, lumayan.
Translation by a more
general word
(superordinate)
12
And you're dating a high-
school girl. Not bad, not
bad.
Dan kamu berpacaran
dengan anak SMA.
Lumayan, lumayan.
Using more neutral
word/less expressive word
13 Thank you, thank you. Terima kasih, terima kasih. -
14 So, did you guys, like, you
know, do it yet?
Jadi, apa kalian sudah
melakukannya? Translation by omission
15 We have done many things. Kita sudah melakukan
banyak hal. -
16 We ride the bus together. Kita naik bis bersama. -
17
And we have meaningful
conversations about how
yearbook club went
Dan kita melakukan
pembicaraan penuh arti
tentang bagaimana klub
buku tahunan berjalan
-
18 and about her friends.. and,
you know, drama.
dan tentang temannya dan,
kamu tahu, drama. -
19 Have you even kissed her? Sudahkah kamu
menciumnya?
Using more neutral
word/less expressive word
20
We almost held hands once,
but then she got
embarrassed.
Kita hampir berpegangan
tangan sekali, tapi
kemudian dia tersipu malu.
Translation by paraphrase
using a related word
21 Well, aren't you pleased as
punch.
Apa kamu benar-benar
senang?
Translation by paraphrase
using a related word
22 I don't know what you're
talking about.
Aku tidak tahu apa yang
kamu bicarakan. -
23 So, what's her name? Jadi, siapa namanya? -
24 Knives Chau. Knives Chau. -
25 She's Chinese. Dia orang China. -
26 Wicked. Hebat. -
27 So, when do we get to meet
her?
Jadi, kapan kita bisa
bertemu dengannya?
Using more neutral
word/less expressive word
28 Oh, please, let it be soon. Oh, tolong, semoga
secepatnya.
Translation by paraphrase
using unrelated words
29 That's for me. Itu untukku. -
30 Hi. Hai. -
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Data
Number
Source Language
(English)
Target Language
(Bahasa Indonesia) Strategy of Translation
31 You promise to be good? Kamu berjanji akan
bersikap baik?
Translation by paraphrase
using a related word
32 Of course I'll be good. Tentu saja aku akan
bersikap baik.
Translation by paraphrase
using a related word
33 Seriously, please be good. Serius, tolong bersikap
baik.
Translation by paraphrase
using a related word
34 Am I normally not? Apa biasanya aku tidak? -
35
Hey, Knives, this is
Stephen. Stills. He's the
talent.
Hey, Knives, ini Stephen.
Stills. Dia yang berbakat. -
36 Hey. Hey. -
37 Is she gonna geek out on
us?
Apa dia akan bersikap gokil
pada kita?
Translation by cultural
substitution
38 She'll just sit in the corner,
man.
Dia hanya akan duduk di
pojok, kawan.
Translation by cultural
substitution
39 I mean, I want her to geek
out on us.
Maksudku, aku ingin dia
bersikap gokil pada kita.
Translation by cultural
substitution
40 She'll geek. She geeks. Dia akan bersikap gokil.
Dia gokil.
Translation by cultural
substitution
41 She has the capacity to
geek.
Dia punya kapasitas
menjadi gokil.
Translation by cultural
substitution
42 Okay. Ok. -
43 You're good. Kamu boleh masuk. Using more neutral
word/less expressive word
44 Wow. Wow. -
45 Here, let me get your coat. Sini, biarku ambil jaketmu. -
46 Hi. Hai. -
47 Knives, that's Kim. Knives, itu Kim. -
48 Sorry, what was your
name? Maaf, siapa tadi namamu? -
49 Kim. Kim. -
50 And you play the drums? Dan kamu bermain drum? -
51 Yes. Ya. -
52 That is so awesome. Itu sangat hebat. -
53 Knives, that's Young Neil. Knives, itu Young Neil. -
54 Hi. Hai. -
55 Hi. Hai. -
56 What do you play? Apa yang kamu mainkan? -
57 Wow, Zelda, Tetris. Wow, Zelda, Tetris. -
58 That's kind of a big
question.
Itu seperti pertanyaan yang
berat.
Using more neutral
word/less expressive word
59 Okay, let's start with
Launchpad McQuack.
Ok, kita mulai dengan
Launchpad McQuack. -
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Data
Number
Source Language
(English)
Target Language
(Bahasa Indonesia) Strategy of Translation
60 That's not the actuaI title of
the…
Itu bukan judul sebenarnya
dari… -
61 We are Sex Bob-Omb! Kita adalah Sex Bob-Omb! -
62 One, two, three, four! Satu, dua, tiga, empat! -
63 Yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah -
64 Yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah -
65 Laminate the stasis Laminate the stasis -
66 Mama, mama serpentine Mama, mama serpentine -
67 I got a breathalyzer I got a breathalyzer -
68 And my body's clean And my body's clean -
69 Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! -
70 Thank you! Thank you! -
71 Get ready Get ready -
72 Yeah Yeah -
73 Yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah -
74 Yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah -
75 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah -
76 Yeah! Yeah! -
77 You guys are so amazing. Kalian sangat…
mengagumkan.
Translation by a more
general word
(superordinate)
78 She seems nice. Dia terlihat baik. -
79 Yeah. Ya. -
80 Yeah, she seems awesome. Ya, dia terlihat hebat. -
81 Yeah. Ya. -
Findings and Discussions
From the list of transcription, there are 27 non-equivalence at word level translation
found. The strategy which is often used is translation using more neutral word/less expressive
word. More details of the list is presented in the table as follows:
No. Type of Strategies Number of
Words Percentage
1. Using more neutral word/less expressive word 10 37 %
2. Translation by paraphrase using a related word 5 18,5 %
3. Translation by cultural substitution 5 18,5 %
4. Translation by a more general word (superordinate) 3 11,1 %
5. Translation by omission 2 7,4 %
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No. Type of Strategies Number of
Words Percentage
6. Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words 1 3,7%
7. Translation using a loan word 1 3,7%
Total Non Equivalence 27 100%
As shown from the table above, I found there are 10 cases using more neutral word/less
expressive word strategy, 5 cases of Translation by paraphrase using a related word strategy,
5 cases of Translation by cultural substitution strategy, 3 cases of Translation by a more
general word (superordinate), 2 cases of Translation by omission strategy, 1 case of
Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words, and 1 case of Translation using a loan
word. The findings are described as follows:
1. Translation by a more neutral/less expressive word
Data 1
(SL) NOT SO LONG AGO….
(TL) BEBERAPA WAKTU YANG LALU…
The equivalence meaning for long is panjang. It is translated into beberapa to make the
sentence natural in Indonesian context.
Data 2
(SL) IN THE MYSTERIOUS LAND…
(TL) DI PULAU YANG MISTERIUS…
The equivalence meaning for long is tanah. It is translated into pulau to make the
sentence natural in Indonesian context.
Data 4
(SL) SCOTT PILGRIM WAS DATING A HIGH SCHOOLER
(TL) SCOTT PILGRIM BERPACARAN DENGAN ANAK SMA
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Data 5
(SL) Scott Pilgrim is dating a high-schooler?
(TL) Scott Pilgrim berpacaran dengan anak SMA?
High schooler is a slang word that refer to high school students. Therefore to make the
translation natural in Indonesian context, it should be translated into anak SMA.
Data 9
(SL) So, you've been out of high school for, like, 13 years.
(TL) Jadi, kamu sudah keluar dari SMA, sekitar 13 tahun lalu.
In order to maintain the sense of the sentence, word sekitar is used instead of using
seperti.
Data 12
(SL) And you're dating a high-school girl. Not bad, not bad.
(TL) Dan kamu berpacaran dengan anak SMA. Lumayan, lumayan.
The equivalence meaning for Not bad is tidak buruk. To make the sentence natural in
Indonesian context, it is translated into lumayan.
Data 19
(SL) Have you even kissed her?
(TL) Sudahkah kamu menciumnya?
The equivalence meaning for kissed her should be mencium gadis itu. It is translated
into menciumnya to make the sentence natural in Indonesian context.
Data 27
(SL) So, when do we get to meet her?
(TL) Jadi, kapan kita bisa bertemu dengannya?
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The equivalence meaning for get is memperoleh or mendapatkan, but the translator
choose to translate it into bisa to make the sentence natural in Indonesian context.
Data 43
(SL) You're good.
(TL) Kamu boleh masuk.
good means baik in Indonesia, but the translator choose to translated it into boleh
masuk concerning the context of the story.
Data 58
(SL) That's kind of a big question.
(TL) Itu seperti pertanyaan yang berat.
The equivalence meaning for big is besar. To make the sentence natural in Indonesian
context, it is translated into berat.
2. Translation by paraphrase using a related word
Data 20
(SL) We almost held hands once, but then she got embarrassed.
(TL) Kita hampir berpegangan tangan sekali, tapi kemudian dia tersipu malu.
The real translation for embarrassed in this sentence is shy, but to achieve a high level
of precision in meaning tersipu malu is used.
Data 21
(SL) Well, aren't you pleased as punch.
(TL) Apa kamu benar-benar senang?
The literal translation for pleased as punch is happy like a hit. In this context, the
translator might think it is not suitable for the target language, thus he paraphrases it
into benar-benar senang.
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Data 31
(SL) You promise to be good?
(TL) Kamu berjanji akan bersikap baik?
Data 32
(SL) Of course I'll be good.
(TL) Tentu saja aku akan bersikap baik.
Data 33
(SL) Seriously, please be good.
(TL) Serius, tolong bersikap baik.
The equivalence meaning for good is baik, but to achieve a high level of precision in
meaning bersikap baik is used.
3. Translation by cultural substitution
Data 37
(SL) Is she gonna geek out on us?
(TL) Apa dia akan bersikap gokil pada kita?
Data 39
(SL) I mean, I want her to geek out on us.
(TL) Maksudku, aku ingin dia bersikap gokil pada kita.
Data 40
(SL) She'll geek. She geeks.
(TL) Dia akan bersikap gokil. Dia gokil.
Data 41
(SL) She has the capacity to geek.
(TL) Dia punya kapasitas menjadi gokil.
geek out and geek is a slang which means odd or non-mainstream people, with
different connotations ranging from “an expert or enthusiast” to “a person heaviliy
F i n a l T a s k o f T r a n s l a t i o n | 11
intererst in a hobby”. In this context it may means show enthusiasm, in which there is
no literal translation in bahasa Indonesia. Nevertheless, the translator try to translate it
into Indonesian slang word, the cultural subtition that is bersikap gokil and gokil.
Data 38
(SL) She'll just sit in the corner, man.
(TL) Dia hanya akan duduk di pojok, kawan.
Literally man means a male person, but in this context the meaning is buddy, thus the
translator use cultural subtition word that is kawan.
4. Translation by a more general word (superordinate)
Data 8
(SL) I'm not playing your little games, kids.
(TL) Aku tidak bermain permainan kecilmu, anak-anak.
kids is a slang word that refer to friends or buddies. To make the translation more
general in Indonesian context, the translator choose to translate it into anak-anak.
Data 11
(SL) And you're dating a high-school girl. Not bad, not bad.
(TL) Dan kamu berpacaran dengan anak SMA. Lumayan, lumayan..
The equivalence meaning for a high-school girl should be gadis SMA, but the
translator choose more general term in Indonesian context that is anak SMA.
Data 77
(SL) You guys are so amazing.
(TL) Kalian sangat… mengagumkan..
Literally, according to Oxford Basic English Dictionary, ‘guy’ means a man. In this
context, You guys is a slang word that refer to all of you. The translator choose to
translate it into kalian to make the translation more general in Indonesian context.
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5. Translation by omission
Data 7
(SL) How old are you now, Scott? Like, 28?
(TL) Berapa usiamu sekarang, Scott? 28?
The omission of word Like in this sentence does not change the meaning, therefore the
translator did this strategy to simplify the text.
Data 14
(SL) So, did you guys, like, you know, do it yet?
(TL) Jadi, apa kalian sudah melakukannya?
There is inevitable some loss of meaning in this case. The word like, you know in this
sentence convey the idea of to ascertain a condition, and this is lost in translation.
6. Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words
Data 28
(SL) Oh, please, let it be soon.
(TL) Oh, tolong, semoga secepatnya.
The real translation for let it be is allowing or biarkan in Indonesian, but to achieve a
high level of precision in meaning semoga is used
7. Translation using a loan word or loan word plus explanation
Data 6
(SL) Really? Is she hot?
(TL) Benarkah? Apa dia sexy?
Literally, according to Oxford Basic English Dictionary, ‘hot’ means having a high
temperature. The word sexy is a loan word from word in source language sexy as
replacement of the original word, hot. It is used because it sounds more modern and
youthful.
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Conclusion
To catch the closest meaning in the translation of one language into another, a
translator need to know the lexical and the meaning behind the context. Although there is
always non-equivalency at word level that could be found, he may uses appropriate strategies
as proposed by Baker. As revealed from the analysis, there are 7 strategies which is used by
the translator to deal with non-equivalency at word level problem. The most strategy used by
the translator is Translation by a more neutral/less expressive word (37 %). That means the
literal translation of the word maybe available in Bahasa Indonesia, but it may need to be
adjusted in order to make the translation natural in Indonesian context.
References
Baker, Mona. 1992. In Other Words : a Coursebook on Translation. London : Routledge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtitle
Larson, M. L. 1984. Meaning-Based Translation: a Guide to Cross-Language Equivalence,
Larham: University Press of America
Oxford Basic English Dictionary 3rd
Edition. 2006. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Subscene.com for Scott Pilgrim vs The World Movie Bahasa Indonesia subtitle, and Scott
Pilgrim vs The World Movie English transcript.