LYRICS TRANSLATION STRATEGIES OF “TERLALU MANIS” TRANSLATED INTO “TOO SWEET TO FORGET”

A THESIS

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Sarjana Sastra (S.S.) in English language

By: WINNY R. MAULANA

C11.2011.01278

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES DIAN NUSWANTORO UNIVERSITY

SEMARANG 2016

ABSTRACT

Winny Rizka Maulana. 2015. Lyrics Translation Strategies of “Terlalu Manis” Translated into “Too Sweet to Forget”. English Study Program, Dian Nuswantoro University. Advisor: R. Arief Nugroho Keywords: Translation strategies, song lyrics, Slank, Terlalu Manis, Too Sweet to

Forget, Indonesian and English This thesis entitled Translation Lyrics Translation Strategies of “Terlalu Manis” Translated into “Too Sweet to Forget” is conducted to identify what translation strategies are used to translate the song lyrics. There were several steps in doing this study. Under the qualitative research, the data collection started from copying and pasting the song lyrics from internet, reading the lyrics, and categorizing each translation strategy from line to line with Åkerström’s translation strategies framework (2009). After every line had been categorized, then the researcher explained every translation strategies within the excerpts. The result of this study reveals that the use of paraphrase translation strategy is higher than the other strategies. From the findings above, it can be seen that the translator prefers to translate the lyrics by paraphrase (42,03%) than word-for-word. It is because the ideal translation uses paraphrase strategy in order to smoothen the translated text. Also, the strategy is able to translate the culture and different structure between Indonesian and English as well. Introduction

Human and language are two things that cannot be separated. Language is a tool for human to interact to each other. According to its function, language has three spheres; they are ideational, interpersonal, and textual function (Halliday, 1994:184). Focusing on the ideational function, language is used for soul expression, as the example is in literature which has many interpretations. Poetry, is an example of literary work that contains many different interpretations. Pradopo (2002:7) states that “poetry has elements such as emotion, imagination, thought, idea, tone, rhythm, sensory impression, phrase, figurative language, the density and feelings of the author, those all are explained in media language”.

As the times, poetry has been appreciated into song lyrics in music. Moreover, the language of lyrics is nearly as the same as poetry, which is also suitable with the understanding of the lyrics of song. This is in line with Semi’s thought (1988:106) “lyric is a short poem that expresses an emotion”.

Nowadays, there are many translations of song lyrics. Many different definitions of translation have been proposed by different scholars. According to Newmark, “translation is the process of changing written message in the source language for another written message in the target language”, (Newmark 1981:7). However, with the focus on the translation of song lyrics, Munday’s

statement is suitable to deal with. It is said, “the translation process is the translator changing an original written message into original verbal language and then transfers the original verbal version into different verbal languages” (Munday 2001:05).

The research needs to be done, due to in order to figure out how the meaning of the song Terlalu Manis & Too Sweet to Forget by Slank can be delivered to the hearers or not.

“Terlalu Manis”, an evergreen song by Indonesian blues-rock music band which was released in 1991, was an everlasting rock-song intergenerational. The band named Slank was created by Bimbim in Cikini Stone Complex in early 1980s. Since its inception, Slank’s members had changed frequently. However, that was not a big deal for Slank to keep playing music. Slank had more than fifteen albums sold, and they had proved to go international. Slank decided to travel to USA to record their first English-speaking album, Anthem for the Broken-Hearted. Blues Saraceno was chosen to be their producer of this album. They recorded and mixed the album in only twenty-two days. That album, which contained the best popular songs ever by Slank, included the best one, “Terlalu Manis” which become “Too Sweet to Forget”.

The theory of translation of song lyrics, Music-linked translation might be a common term for translating song in order to produce a harmonic tone and rhythm of a song. In fact, Slank has been able to give their contribution in translation field through translating his works in that album which released in 2008.

Lyrics translation is important because it is the mediation of two cultures aesthetically. Translation and culture are related to each other, and according to Snell-Hornby, “language is an expression of culture and individuality of the speakers, who perceives the world through language”, (Snell-Hornby 1988:40). Besides, culture has much uniqueness; also the same culture must have different terms. That is the reason of translators should be able to understand the culture of the target language or as proposed by Hornby (1988:42), “the translators need not only proficiency in two languages. They must be also at home in two cultures since language is an integral part of culture”. The translators will also need some strategies and techniques. In translating cultural terms of one language to another language, there is a need to produce a comprehensive text for the target readers, and then they will understand the culture.

In this study, the researcher analyzes the translation strategies that are used in Slank’s song, Terlalu Manis into Too Sweet to Forget, which the source language is Indonesian and the target language is English. The translation phenomenon of music lyrics becomes the focus of study because translation is not merely seen as the activity which emphasizes the transfer of language. It is also inseparable from the concept of mediating two different cultures aesthetically. The relation between Source Language and Target Language in song lyrics depends on the background knowledge of culture itself.

The example of the problem that often occurs in translating song lyrics is the syllables of the word in the translated song must be suitable with the tone and the rhythm. However, it is not that easy to put translated words in the translated song to make the same sound as the original. The next problem is the grammatical structure in both languages must be different. Moreover, the significant problem is culture. Because every language has its own culture. That is why this study tries to solve the problem by analyzing the lyrics using Åkerström’s translation strategies framework (2009)

Research Method Data and subject The data of this study were “Terlalu Manis” – “Too Sweet to Forget” by Slank Unit of analysis

Unit of analysis is the major entity that is being analyzed in a study. Those two lyrics of the song were being analyzed by every single line of the whole song lyrics in order to know what translation strategies were applied to solve the problem occurred.

Technique of Data Collection The qualitative data collection of this study was on these following steps: 1. Sorting the songs in Slank’s album named Anthem for the Broken-Hearted,

then decides to apply one song titled Too Sweet to Forget (English version) which the original song (Indonesian version) titled Terlalu Manis

2. Having the original and English songs within lyrics from Slank's album, "I Slank U", which was a repackage album from the most popular songs.

3. Using some secondary sources which related to translation theory and translation strategies from the internet are used as well to support this research

FINDING AND DISCUSSION

“Translation is the general term referring to the transfer of thoughts and ideas from one language (source) to another (target), whether the languages are in written or oral form; whether the languages have established orthographies or do not have such standardization or whether one or both languages is based on signs, as with sign languages of the deaf.” (Brislin, 1976, p.1).

Discussion Finding out the translation strategies of the song lyrics and solving the

problem that occur while the song lyrics were translated. Finding the strategies or making a table to count the frequency of occurrence. Explaining about the strategies that been applied to the song lyrics

The discussion of findings is focused in the lyrics translation of “Terlalu Manis” to “Too Sweet to Forget” by Slank. This sub-chapter shows how the data are examined and elaborated.

Two findings have been found and categorized;they are Non-Strategic Translation Strategies and Strategic Translation Strategies. Non-Strategic Translation Strategies is a different form of the lyrics. They only include Word Count and Syllables vs. Words of the Original or Indonesian and the English one.

Non-Strategic Translation Strategies are applied to analyze the general elements of the original and translated song lyrics. The analysis aims to depict the global difference between the original and translated song lyrics. Thus the researcher only compares the total number of words between the Indonesian and the English lyrics as well as the total syllables versus words of both languages.

Meanwhile, deeper analysis uses Strategic Translation Strategies. Such as word for word translation, addition and omission of words, paraphrase, uses of metaphor, reorganizations of words, and rhymes. They deal with literal elements to find the use of translation strategies to overcome translation problems.

Below is the table which depicts the non-strategic translation strategies used in the translation of “Terlalu Manis” lyrics.

Table Non - Strategic Translation Strategies used in Terlalu Manis into

“Too Sweet To Forget” by Slank Elements Findings

Word count 82 words (Indonesian)

129 words (English)

Syllables 183 (Syllables of Indonesian) 164 (Syllables of English)

The table above shows the result of Non-Strategic Translation Strategies.

Word count elements show that the words in Indonesian or the source lyrics are less than English. It can be seen that Indonesian lyrics have 82 words and English ones have 129 words.

Here the researcher compares the words with the syllables of both lyrics. It can be seen that the translated lyrics have less syllables than the original one. The original lyrics contain 181 syllables and the translated ones have 164.

The findings of non-strategic translation strategies above rises an inference. In the account of word calculation, The researcher claims that there is no one-to-one correspondence between English and Indonesian, or in other words, one English word cannot function to describe one Indonesian word perfectly. This is in line with Raffel’s finding (1967:10) as described from his statement “...it takes seven words, in English translation, to render three Indonesian ones.” However, in the account of Syllables, Indonesian syllables outnumber English ones. As suggested by Pellegrino, et al. (2011), a language that has more syllables is spoken faster. This means that the English lyrics are sung slower than the Indonesian ones.

Below are the findings of Strategic Translation Strategies found in this study.

Table Strategic Translation Strategies used in Terlalu Manis into

“Too Sweet To Forget” by Slank Elements Findings Percentage (%)

Additions of words 3 15,78

Use of metaphors 2 10,05

Reorganization of words and lines of text

1 5,02

Use of paraphrases 10 52,63 rhymes 3 15,78

Total 19 100

Table shows the result of translation strategies used in “Terlalu Manis”

into “Too Sweet to Forget” by Slank. The mostly found strategy is “the use of paraphrases”. This is in line with the finding above which remarks the unavailability of one-to-one correspondence between English and Indonesian. The use of word-for-words translation in the translated lyrics is found. Moreover, the use of omission and rhyme is also used in making English lyrics of the song. Furthermore, the translator does not keep the use of Indonesian words in the translated lyrics.

Word Count In this section, the researcher discusses about word count. The result of

the word count is applied to produce surface explanation of the translation phenomena. For the final stage of Non-Strategic Translation Strategies, Syllables Counts represents the final discussion.

In this case, the researcher finds that in the original lyric there are 82 words, while in the translated lyrics there are 130 words. The following excerpt below illustrates the analysis of Word Counts in the study. Here are some excerpts of word count, including the explanations: Excerpt 1 Indonesian lyrics:

Kuambil gitar dan mulai memainkan (5 words) English translation:

I took my guitar and I began to play (9 words)

For the beginning, the first excerpt is taken from the first line of the song lyrics, both in Indonesian and English. It can be seen on the excerpt 1 above.

As explained before, the whole translated lyrics have more words than the original. It can be seen from phrase excerpt above, that the the Indonesian has less words, which are five words and the English has nine words. It suggests that the translator obeys the rule of English syntax by adding “I” right after the conjunction “and”. This construction cannot be seen in the Indonesian version.

Excerpt 2 Indonesian lyrics:

Terlalu manis untuk dilupakan... (4 words) English translation:

Oh you’re so sweet, too sweet to forget... (8 words)

The second excerpt of Word Count, it is taken from the refrain of the song. The lyrics come from line 11 of the song lyrics. With both Indonesian and English lyrics are placed in line 11, it suggests that there is no additional translation.

Same with the first excerpt 1 above, the words of Indonesian original have more words than the English translation. It can be seen from the lyrics above that the translated words have doubled, the Indonesian has four words and the English has eight ones. It suggests that the translator obeys the rule of English syntax by adding “You’re” to form a grammatically formed sentence. This construction cannot be seen in the Indonesian version.

Excerpt 3 Indonesian lyrics:

Di malam yang dingin dan gelap sepi (7 words) English translation:

In inside of cold dark lonely night (7 words) The third excerpt of Word Count above is taken from line 9 of both

versions. The excerpt above, at this time, is quite different than before. As the researcher sees from the excerpts before, the amount of the

words between both lyrics is different. Usually, Indonesian version has more words than English one, but at this time the words of both lyrics are the same. Both of them have the total of seven words in the lyrics.

Based on the majority of the excerpts above, it can be proven that the Indonesian version does have more words of the whole lyrics than the English translation. And it suggests that the word addition indicates translator’s hesistance to avoid improper grammar construction. Although the words in English are more than the original version, but the song does not make any difference. Still, the singer sings it in a good way and still sounds beautiful.

Syllables Count

Syllables Count is not much different as compared to Word Count. Based on the table 4.1 above, even though the words of English translation are more than the Indonesian ones, but the syllables of the Indonesian are more than the English ones. Here the researcher compares the amount of syllables of both lyrics. Apart from comparing the syllables, the researcher also compares the Word Count as to see a deeper illustration about the difference between the original and translated versions. It can be seen on the following excerpts below.

Excerpt 4 Indonesian version:

Kuambil gitar dan mulai memainkan (5 words) Ku-am-bil/ gi-tar/ dan/ mu-lai/ me-ma-in-kan// (12 syllables)

English version: I took my guitar and I began to play (9 words) I/ took/ my/ gui-tar/ and/ I be-gan/ to play (11 syllables)

Excerpt 4 above is the first excerpt of Syllables Count. It is taken from a

phrase of the first line of both lyrics. It can be seen on the excerpt above that the amount of words of

Indonesian original is more than English version. Even though the words of English are more than the Indonesian ones, however the syllables of English are less than the Indonesian. However, in this case, the syllables of both lyrics are close enough, only one syllable put them apart. This means that the English lyrics are sung slower than the Indonesian ones. Excerpt 5 Indonesian Original:

Terlalu manis untuk dilupakan (4 words) Ter-la-lu/ma-nis/un-tuk/di-lu-pa-kan (11 syllables)

English translated: Oh you’re so sweet, too sweet to forget (8 words) Oh/you’re/so/sweet/too/sweet/to/for-get (9 syllables)

Excerpt 5 above is taken from line 11 of both lyrics. Those lyrics are the

refrain part of the song. With both Indonesian and English lyrics are placed in line 11, it suggests that there is no additional translation.

Same with excerpt 4 before, the Indonesian version has less words than the English one, but the syllables count indicate the other way around. It can be seen from excerpt 4 and 5, the syllables of the original and the translated ones are different, with the English version has less syllables than the Indonesian one. This means that the English lyrics are sung slower than the Indonesian ones.

It can be concluded that the syllables of English version is less than the Indonesian one, the song becomes better to sung and even it sounds better than before. Since the original lyrics have more syllables, the lyrics are sung slower than the Indonesian version.

Strategic Translation Strategies

Contrast with the Non-Strategic Translation Strategies, this strategy is focusing on literal objects of the song lyrics. This strategy contains Word-for-word translation, Additions of words, Omissions, use of metaphors, Reorganization of words and lines of text, Use of paraphrases, rhymes, and the use of English words. However, the strategy of the use of English words is not

used for this study. Here is the explanation and excerpts of each Strategic Translation Strategies.

Word-for-word Translation Strategy

Word-for-word Translation Strategy is a process of translation to another language that uses exactly the same words.However there is no examples of Word-for word Translation Strategy found in this song lyrics. It is because the use of word-for-word translation strategy is minimized. If the translated version had more word-for-word translation strategy, the researcher is sure that the lyrics would turn to be awkward and sound bad.

Addition word in Translated Text

This translation strategy focuses on any addition of words that is found after the source has been translated. One or some words are added to the translated text, although they do not exist in the source language. The purpose of addition of word to be done is in order to filling the blank, or completing a phrase or sentence, that aim to make the translated text become clear to pronounce. Excerpt 6 Indonesian version :

Ku ambil gitar English translation :

I took my guitar Excerpt 7 above is the same case as seen in excerpt 6 before. The lyrics

are taken from first line from the song, and it is related to the addition of word. It is clear to understand that Addition of Words in Translated Text means

that one word or more shows up while the song lyrics are being translated. In this case, it can be seen on excerpt 7 above that the addition of the word “my” is found (*bold italic word), where as no possessive word is found from the original lyrics.

The researcher deduces that the reason why the translated lyrics have an addition word “my” is to liken the syllables between both lyrics. The original lyrics have five syllables. In case if the translated lyrics are translated as the same as the original, they only have four syllables. Of course it affects to the harmonization of the song. Besides, word “my” has a function to claim that the guitar is owned, to make it specific. That is why the translator puts a possessive word “my” to the translated lyrics.

Omission word in Translated Text

In contrast to addition of word, omission of word erases one or some words from the original text. However, there is no omissions found in this study.

Use of Metaphor Metaphor is a figure of speech which makes an implicit, implied or hidden

comparison between two things that are unrelated but share some common characteristics (source: literarydevices.net/metaphor/). The types of metaphor in common are personification, simile, hyperbole, metaphor, idiom, irony, etc.

What types of metaphor contain in the song lyrics will be defined to the next chapter.

Excerpt 7 Indonesian original :

Hanya ingatan yang ada di kepala English translated :

Those old memories came flowing through my head Excerpt 9 above is the example of metaphor in the lyrics.It is taken from

line 4 of both song lyrics. The use of metaphor can be seen on the bold words memories came

flowing through my head. In the reality, memories cannot flow, even through head. This metaphor makes an object becomes alive.

Based on excerpt above, the structure of the phrase has changed, it has been paraphrased by the translator, but it still stands on the same meaning. It shows more impression with an additional metaphor in it.

The original lyrics do not contain any metaphors, but the translated lyrics have. Again, the reason is to keep the distance of the syllables between both lyrics (Indonesian original version has twelve syllables and English version has eleven syllables).

Excerpt 8 Indonesian original : Di malam yang dingin dan gelap sepi English translated : In inside of cold dark lonely night

Different from excerpt 9 before, in this case, the phrase of excerpt 10

above is metaphor of personification, which is taken from line 9 of both song lyrics.

It can be seen on the bold words, lonely night. As we know, night is not a living thing. It cannot feel anything, thus night cannot feel lonely. However the translated lyrics put an adjective word, “lonely” which makes that part becomes metaphor of personification.

In common, the translated text which contains metaphor is paraphrased by the translator. As we can see from excerpt above, the structure has been changed but it still stands to the same meaning.

Reorganization of words and lines of text Reorganization of words and lines of text means that the words in the

song lyrics have changed the structure or might have switched into the other line or the other position in one line. In this research, the researcher only finds one example of reorganization of words and lines of text.

Excerpt 9 Indonesian original : Di malam yang dingin dan gelap sepi English translated : In inside of cold dark lonely night

The excerpt above is the same example as seen from excerpt 10above.

One line of song lyrics can contain one or more translation strategies. However, in this case it will be explained as reorganization of words and lines.

As we can see that the structure of words of the English version has been changed. Both of them still have the same head words, which is malam (night). However the translated text contains a noun phrase (*bold text), so the meaning of sepi (alone) becomes different, which becomes lonely (kesepian).

The reason is still the same as before, it is all about syllables which affect to how the song sounds. Besides, Indonesian and English have different structure; other reason is to keep the distance of the syllables. If the original word, sepi, is translated like the way it is, which is “quiet”, the translated song will be awkward, different distance of the syllables, and it sounds bad.

Use of paraphrases

Paraphrase is a restatement of a text or passage giving the meaning in another form, as for clearness; rewording. (Source by: dictionary.reference.com/browse/paraphrase). In translating song or poetry, paraphrase is more used than word-for-word. It is more flexible and the text does not turn be awkward. As the same as this research, the translated song lyrics use more paraphrases.

Excerpt 10 Indonesian original : Lagu lama yang biasa kita nyanyikan English translated :

Those old familiar songs from our yesterday

The first excerpt of paraphrase of the song will be started with excerpt 12 above. The phrase of excerpt 12 above is taken from the second line of both versions.

The researcher can identify that there is a lot of different structure between the original and translated version above, and it is still in the same meaning. The translated text is paraphrased by the translator way. Some of the

words are missing and being replaced with other words, but they still stand for the same meaning. The keyword is the word song (lagu) as the head of the phrase.

However, the paraphrased text does not affect to the song. The translator always keeps the distance between the syllables, in order to the song still is sung like the way it is before.

Excerpt 11 Indonesian original :

Tapi tak sepatah kata yang bisa terucap A B English translated :

But only half way through think I should have said A B

The second example of paraphrase is on excerpt 13 above. The example

is taken from line 3 of both song lyrics. As we can see from the underlined words above, the underlined part A is

being represented to the part A in the English version. Also the underlined part Bis represented to the underlined part B in the English version as well. Part A and B are translated and paraphrased by the translator. The keywords are laid with the marker A and B from the excerpt above.

Even though the phrase is totally paraphrased, but the meaning is still the same. The translated phrase can deliver the meaning as the same as the original. The syllables between original and translated versions have a distance; the translated version has 3 syllables less than the original one. However, it does not make any significant change of how the song sounds.

Excerpt 12 Indonesian Original:

Hari berganti angin tetap berhembus English Original:

Days are passing by the wind begins to blow The excerpt thirteen above is like a combination between Addition of

Words and Omission of Words Translation Strategy, but it is a paraphrase translation strategy. The phrase of excerpt above is taken from line 5 of both song lyrics.

If we see the excerpt for a while, it is like word-for-word translation strategy because the structure is the same between both of Indonesian and English. However it is one of paraphrase translation strategy because the phrase has already occurred a changing grammatical structure. Hari berganti is translated become Days are passing by, and angin tetap berhembus is translated become the wind begins to blow.

The English translated has different structure from the original, so it is categorized as paraphrase translation strategy.

Rhymes

Rhyme is an important element in poems or song, and a beauty is created through this element. The definition of rhyme is repetition of similar sounding words occurring at the end of lines in poems or songs. In this case, the song lyrics are analyzed to find flat rhymes which are assonance and alliteration rhymes.

Excerpt 13 Indonesian original :

Berjalan dengan apa adanya English translated :

Wherever I may go whatever I may do The first excerpt of rhymes above is taken from line 8 of both song lyrics.

The excerpt above is categorized as rhyme because there is a repetition vocal in that line.

The rhyme above is assonance rhyme in which there is a repetition of vocal word ‘o’ in the word ‘go’ and ‘do’. Even though the phonology of vocal ‘o’ is different between ‘go’ and ‘do’, but it is still called a rhyme.

Excerpt 14 Indonesian original :

Terlalu Manis untuk Dilupakan English translated :

You just so sweet too sweet to forget Excerpt 15 above is the second excerpt of rhymes. The phrase of excerpt

above is a part of refrain which is taken from line 11 of the song lyrics. The excerpt above is categorized as alliteration rhyme. Alliteration rhyme

of excerpt above is shown from consonant ‘t’ of word sweet and forget. Actually there are two a literation rhymes from three flat rhymes found in the song lyrics. However, the last one is the same as the last excerpt (14) because it is one part of the refrain, and it is just another repetition

Conclusion The data of this study were taken from Terlalu Manis song by Slank (1991)

and it was translated to English version titled Too Sweet to Forget (2008). The aim of this study is to analyze the translation strategies used to translate the song Terlalu Manis to Too Sweet to Forget by Slank. The findings show that translation strategies used in the song lyrics are word count and syllables, addition of words, reorganization of words, use of paraphrase, use of metaphor, and rhymes. However, the most strategy used in the song lyrics is paraphrase . A

good translated poem or song commonly uses paraphrase translation strategy, it is because paraphrase translation strategy can be more impressive and it can deliver the meaning clearly. Besides paraphrase, addition of words translation strategy is also used more than others. Sometimes sentence or phrase between song lyrics have the same structure, thus the translated song lyrics just give one or more addition of words to make it clearer and more impressive.

In conclusion, the English translated is more impressive than the Indonesian original in delivering the meaning. In order to give more poetical sense, some of metaphors are added to the translated song lyrics. Even though the English translated have more words than Indonesian, but the syllables of English is less than Indonesian. Thus, the English version of the song is easier to be sung and fine to be heard. In other word, the beat and the rhymist of the English version is smooth and soft

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