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Abstract

Legal text translation is challenging because of its emphasis on semantic and syntactic faithfulness, while ST structures do not always have correspondent TL equivalents. One of such structures is the English “preposition + which” (PW) construction. This construction can be difficult to translate into Indonesian because the language does not always have ready-to-use connectors to produce a structurally faithful translation, often forcing translators to take the easy way of using ungrammatical and unnatural connectors which becomes the hallmark of the Indonesian legalese style. This research seeks to examine various ways to translate PW constructions in a more grammatical and natural way, which involves some degree of creative modification, as an alternative to the legalese style. This research is prescriptive in nature because it aims to promote the use of more natural and reader friendly style without sacrificing accuracy. Data in the form of English sentences containing various PW constructions were collected from several legal documents and then translated using the “legalese” and “creative” style for comparison purposes. The data contain various PW connectors such as in which, on which, at which, of which, to which, from which, by which, for which, under which, with which, without which, during which, and beyond which. The creative versions were then analyzed and discussed to generate a set of strategies to translate PW constructions, resulting in six major strategies and at least ten minor strategies which can be applied in combination with each other to produce accurate, natural, and grammatical translations. These findings are expected to reveal the complexity of PW construction translation and to help future translators to deal with similar STs.

Bahasa Abstract

Penerjemahan hukum menantang karena menekankan pada kesetiaan semantis dan sintaktis, padahal struktur TSu tidak selalu memiliki padanan siap pakai dalam BSa. Salah satu struktur semacam itu adalah konstruksi bahasa Inggris “preposisi + which” (PW). Konstruksi ini sering sulit diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Indonesia karena tidak adanya konektor siap pakai yang mampu menghasilkan padanan yang setia dari segi struktur, yang sering memaksa penerjemah untuk mengambil jalan pintas berupa konektor yang kurang gramatikal dan kurang lazim, yang telanjur menjadi ciri khas gaya bahasa hukum Indonesia. Penelitian ini mengeksplorasi berbagai cara untuk menghasilkan terjemahan konstruksi PW yang lebih gramatikal dan lazim dalam BSa, yang melibatkan modifikasi kreatif sampai taraf tertentu sebagai alternatif dari terjemahan bergaya “tradisional” (legalese). Penelitian ini bersifat preskriptif karena bertujuan untuk mendorong penggunaan gaya yang lebih lazim dan ramah pembaca tanpa mengorbankan keakuratan. Data berupa kalimat-kalimat bahasa Inggris yang mengandung konstruksi PW dikumpulkan dari beberapa dokumen hukum dan diterjemahkan menggunakan baik gaya “tradisional” maupun “kreatif” untuk dibandingkan. Data yang ditemukan mengandung berbagai konektor PW seperti in which, on which, at which, of which, to which, from which, by which, for which, under which, with which, without which, during which, dan beyond which. Lalu, terjemahan versi “kreatif” dianalisis dan didiskusikan untuk menghasilkan seperangkat strategi penerjemahan konstruksi PW yang terdiri atas enam “strategi umum” dan setidaknya sepuluh “strategi khusus” yang dapat diterapkan dan dikombinasikan untuk menghasilkan terjemahan yang akurat, lazim, dan lebih gramatikal. Temuan-temuan itu diharapkan dapat menyingkap kompleksitas penerjemahan konstruksi PW dan nantinya membantu para penerjemah ketika menghadapi TSu-TSu berciri sama.

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