SUBTITLE TEXT OF “PATCH ADAMS” MOVIE: A CASE STUDY OF THE MAIN CHARACTER THESIS Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirement s for the… [606058]

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TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES USED IN
SUBTITLE TEXT OF “PATCH ADAMS” MOVIE: A CASE
STUDY OF THE MAIN CHARACTER

THESIS

Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirement s
for the completion of Strata 1 Program
of the English Language Department
specialized in Translation

by:
Nhia Ayu Primaningtyas Ismailia
C11.2007.00788

FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND LETTERS
DIAN NUSWANTORO UNIVERSITY
SEMARANG
2011

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Language is a way to be used as an interaction with other people. The
interaction is used in order to convey the message in spoken or even in written
way. Oxford Dictionary (2008:247) defines language as a communication sys tem
which is used in speech and written that is used by people in certain countries. It
means that every country has different languages to deal with the communication.
Communication is the activity that occurs between t wo people or more that
involves our five senses whether they are speaking, writing, reading, or listening.
According to the system of communication, one of th e most usable languages in
the world is English. English is used in many part of the world and is admitted as
an international language. Language may have the ap plication relating to the
knowledge. For instance, most information has been written in English book, like
science, technology, law or even health books. Conc erning on that, English
becomes one of the important aspects to master anot her language. To master
another language well, people will need translation of the English at first,
comprehend the meaning or even the intention of its elf. Then, we start to
comprehend another using English.
According to Newmark (1981:7), “Translation is a c raft consisting in the
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attempt to replace a written message and or stateme nt in one language by the
same message and/or statement in another language”. Translation can not be
separated from a language learning process which de als with the first and second
language. For instance, English is the first or sou rce language that may have been
translated into Indonesian as the second or target language that is structured by
the translator. Pinchuck (1977:38) also stated that “Translation is a process of
finding a Target Language (TL) equivalent for a Sou rce Language (SL)
utterance”. The equivalence in translation is the c losest target language with the
source language that is used by the translator in t he process of translation. Also,
the equivalence in translation can be reached by ma stering the language skill, in
this case to find an equivalence people need to stu dy some linguistics theories
related to the translation study before they do the translation work.
A translation is not an easy thing to do as it can be difficult to establish its
equivalence from English language to Indonesian lan guage since there are some
different system and structure between those langua ges. The system and structure
in SL and TL may become obstacles if the translator faces difficulties to discover
the equivalence of both languages. It is essential when a translator can find a
discourse text and how translator can classify whic h translation technique that
should be used. Newmark (1988:21), classified two a pproaches of translating: (1)
start translating sentence by sentence, for say par agraph or chapter, to get the feel
and the feeling tone of the text, and then delibera tely sit back, review the position,

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and read the rest of the SL text; (2) read the whol e text two or three times, and
find the intention, register, tone, mark the diffic ult words and passages and start
translating only when you have taken your bearings. In the second point, it can be
noticed that translator should read the whole text more than once and consider the
register and tone. According to the previous statem ent, the researcher tries to
correlate the understanding about register and tone with her research about the
translation techniques used in the subtitle text of “Patch Adams”.
The researcher is interested in subtitle because th e process of producing
subtitle text also relates to the translation proce ss. Subtitling process can create
the result of translating a script from a movie by transforming the language into
texts in order to show subtitling process as a tool that can help the audience in
following the story in movie screen at the same tim e when the scenes are being
played by the actors or actresses. It is likely des cribed, written language closed
captioning on the screen simultaneously with the au dio (Answers.com retrieved
on December 22, 2009). “Subtitle can either be a su bordinate or expalanatory
title, as in a book, play, or document; a book titl e repeated, as on top of the first
page of the text” ( Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary, 2003:1251). There is
also another opinion from Szarkowska, that subtitle is a translation of the spoken
source language dialogue into the target language i n the form of synchronized
captions, usually at the bottom of the screen, in t he form that alters the source text
to the least possible extent and enables the target audience to experience the

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foreign and be aware of its ‘foreignness’ at all ti mes.
Moreover, it is clear that translation may render t he utterances according
to the characteristics of a movie so that the movie can be simply understood by
the audience. In addition, people sometimes find th e difficulties in English
subtitle of western movie because there may be a ce rtain accent or slang words
which appeared in that movie’s characters. In its p erformance, subtitle is often
presented for some hearing impairment people. Subti tle for hearing impairment
people means subtitle for people who can not hear a ny sound. For instance, the
sound effect of dog barking and sigh is translated into words. The subtitle for
hearing impairment people usually appears on left, right, or in the middle of
movie scenes when the characters are talking and th e sound effect are happening.
Related to the previous statement about the connect ion between subtitle
and hearing impairment, the writer found an opinion from Brislin (1976:85):

Translation is the general term referring to the tr ansfer 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 stand ardization or whether
one or both languages is based on signs, as with si gn languages of the
deaf.

The researcher tries to get the same point about su btitle and translation to
be a bridge for impairment people in getting the op portunity to take the message
intensely. Nevertheless, in the way of delivering t he message, subtitle may adjust
some requirements before subtitle is put in order, they are: (1) maximum two

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lines of subtitle text in one frame, (2) showed in the bottom of screen in middle
position, (3) credit title¸ name of character, loca tion, or other language subtitle,
the position must be risen to get good order, (4) a line of subtitle consists of forty
or more characters, including the space and punctua tion, (5) the second line is
showed shorter than the first line, (6) the minimal duration is three seconds and
five seconds most (7) if there is a sentence that m ust be cut in a line, the fragment
should be understood by the audience even if it sta nds alone.
Based on the detail of subtitle text, the researche r chooses translation
technique to analyze the text because translation t echnique has the proper
category to structure and to recognize what kind of the techniques are commonly
used. Patch Adams is the title of the movie that the writer wants to discuss in this
thesis. Since the rendering of this movie is to tel l a unique story of Patch Adams
who has unconventional approach to medicine that du ring his time he has inspired
people to become a medical doctor then his story is able to create the translation
goal for conveying the message in language learning . In other word, it can be said
that translation and movie have the same correlatio n to convey the message in
different manner.

1.2 Statement of The Problem
1. What techniques of translation are used in the subt itle text of “Patch Adams”
movie?

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2. Why are those techniques applied?

1.3 Scope of The Study
This thesis analyzes translation techniques found i n the subtitle text of
“Patch Adams” movie. The researcher makes a limitat ion which is analyzing the
utterances of one character, Patch Adams’s. The res earcher used Lucia Molina
and Amparo Hutado Albir’s framework (2002:509-511) because the technique is
appropriate to the requirements when used in subtit ling.

1.4 Objective of The Study
According to the statement of the problem, the obje ctives of the study are:
1. To find translation techniques used in subtitle tex t of “Patch Adams” movie.
2. To explain why those techniques are applied.

1.5 Significance of The Study
This study is hopefully able to give contribution i n language learning,
concern on translation program as they are included to:
1. The researcher
The result of this study can improve researcher’s a bility in language learning
especially in translation field¸ whether it is book or in movie.

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2. Students of Dian Nuswantoro University
The result of this study can be used as a reference for the institution to
increase the students’ ability in translation, part icularly for the English
Department.
3. Readers
The result of this study can be used as additional information to everyone who
read this paper and make his knowledge wider.

1.6 Thesis Organization
This thesis is arranged into several chapters. In e very chapter the writer
tried to elaborate them into the order below:
Chapter I: Introduction. The first chapter consists of background of the
study, statement of the problem, scope of the study , objective of the study,
significance of the study and thesis organization.
Chapter II: Review of Related Literature. This chap ter is arranged to
support, to explain and to direct in analyzing the problem of the data. The theories
are used: theory of translation, process of transla tion, translation procedure,
translation techniques, translator, meaning and sub title.
Chapter III: Research Method. The third chapter con sists of research
design, unit of analysis, source of the data, techn ique of the data collection and
technique of data analysis.

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Chapter IV: Data Analysis. This chapter covers the analysis of the data
that presents the research findings and discussion.
Chapter V: Conclusion and Suggestion. It is the con clusion of the study
and suggestions related to the subject, which is an alyzed.

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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This thesis uses theory for the basic information a nd shows how it is
analyzed and arranged. The researcher uses translat ion techniques to analyze the
data, in order to get the idea of the translation g oal. This activity needs any related
literature such as the theory of translation, proce ss of translation, translation
procedure, translation techniques, translator, mean ing and subtitle.

2.1 Translation
“Translation is made possibly by an equivalence of thought that lies
behind its different verbal expressions.” (Savory,1 969:13). Nida has the other
opinion about translation (1969:12) “Translation co nsists in reproducing in the
receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message;
first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style.”
Based on some opinions, translation can be said tha t it is a change of form.
It is included to the actual words, phrases, clause s, sentences, paragraphs which
are spoken or written. Translation consists of stud ying lexicon, grammatical
structure, communication situation, and cultural co ntext of the source language
text which then it is being analyzed in order to de termine and to reconstruct its
meaning by using the appropriate lexicon and gramma tical structure from the
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cultural context in the target language.
Another opinion comes from Larson (1984:3) that tra nslation is basically a
change of form. When we speak of the form of a lang uage, we are referring to
actual words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragrap hs, etc., which are spoken or
written. In translation, the form of the source lan guage is replaced by the form of
the receptor (target) language.
Lvovskaya (2000:28) stated that “translation is an intercultural verbal
activity which is needed when there is a communicat ion gap between an author of
the source language text and readers of the target language.”

2.2 Process of Translation
It has described in the text before that translatio n is equivalence in SL and
TL about the conveying of the message in meaning. B efore we apply the
translation itself, we should know the process how the translation is made.
According to Newmark (1988:19), there are four proc esses of translation:
1. The textual level
It intuitively and automatically makes certain ‘con versions’; transposes the SL
grammar (clauses and groups) into their ‘ready’ TL equivalents and translates
the lexical units into the sense that appears immed iately appropriate in the
context of the sentence.

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2. The referential level
It is the level of object and events that is real o r imaginary, which
progressively has to be visualized and built up, an d being an essential part,
first of the comprehension then reproduction proces s.
3. The cohesive level
It is more general and grammatical, which traces th e train of thought, the
feeling tone (positive or negative) and the various presuppositions of the SL
text. This level encompasses both comprehension and reproduction: it
presents an overall picture, to which we may have t o adjust the language level.
4. The level of naturalness
It is appropriate to the writer or the speaker in a in certain situation of
common language. Natural depends on the relationshi p between the writer and
the readership and the topic or situation. It is on e situation may be unnatural
in another, but everyone has a natural, neutral lan guage where spoken and
informal written languages more or less coincide.
According Nida and Taber in Hoed (1993:57), the pro cess of translation
are:
1. Analysis
It is the first step in which the content and the p urpose in the source text is
entirely be read and be understood.

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2. Transfer
This second step is just the same like replacing th e substance of source
language with its equivalence substance of target l anguage. The message in
the source text is transferred into the target text . The message can be a content
idea or thought.
3. Restructure
Restructure means rearrange. In order word, after t ransferring the message
from source text into the target, a translator has to rearrange.
Larson (1984:46) has some steps in translation proj ect in his book
Meaning based-translation: A guide to cross-languag e Equivalence. It is written
that there is an overview of the main aspects of tr anslation, like the kinds of
translation, the relationship between grammar and s emantics which affect the
translation process. They are in order below:
1. Establishing the project
In establishing a translation project, there are fo ur matters need to be
considered. These can be summarized into text , target , team and tools . The text
refers to the source language which is to be transl ated. Source language texts are
translated for some certain reasons. It could be to deliver some information to
people that speaking in different language or it ma y be to share the enjoyment of
the source text.
The target refers to the receptor language or the audience. Th e form of the

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translation will be affected by question of dialect , educational level, age level,
bilingualism, and people’s attitudes towards their languages. Will it be used in
school, business, or read orally in church and at h ome? The question of alphabet
is also very important. The attitude of the target audience towards the proposed
alphabet should be determined before the translatio n begins. Some excellent
translations have been rejected because those who r ead them did not like, or could
not read the alphabet.
The team refers to people who will be involved in the proje ct. If a person
is a competent speaker of both the source language and the receptor language, it
may be that the project can be done completely by o ne person. But, there should
be others available for evaluation and consultation . Most translation project
requires a team, a number of people who are going t o contribute to the translation
at some stage in the project.
There are certain essentials meaning to any transla tion project. Not all of
these need to be found in one person. There are var ious kinds of programs which
may be set up depending on the abilities and backgr ounds of those who will be
involved. The team may consist of 1) co-translators , where one is specialist in the
source language and the other a specialist in the r eceptor language, or 2) a
translator which is capable to handle both SL and S L matters and an advisor or
consultant, or 3) a committee working together with specific responsibilities
delegated to each one.

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Tools refer to written source materials which will be used by the
translators as help. These include, in addition to the document to be translated,
any dictionaries, lexicons, grammar, cultural descr iptions of both SL and TL
which are available.
2. Exegesis
It refers to the process of discovering the meaning of the SL text which
has to be translated. It is the step which includes the preparation and analysis
which must be done before anything can be written i n the TL. The analysis of the
source text will include resolving ambiguity, ident ifying implicit information,
studying key words, interpreting figurative senses, recognizing when words are
being used in a secondary sense, when grammatical s tructure are being used in
secondary functions, etc.
3. Transfer and initial draft
After a careful analysis of the source language tex t, as indicated above, the
translator begins drafting piece by piece, section by section. The transfer results in
the initial draft. In preparing this draft, the tra nslator is transferring from the
source language into the receptor language.
Before any extensive drafting can be done, the key terms must be
determined. Every text has a set of words which are crucial to the content and
correct communication of the theme. These need to b e decided upon and may
need to be checked with other speakers of the recep tor language.

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4. Evaluation
The purpose of evaluation is threefold: accuracy, c learness and
naturalness. The questions to be answered are 1) Do es the translation
communicate the same meaning as the source language ? 2) Does the audience for
whom the translation is intended understand it clea rly? And, 3) is the form of the
translation easy to read and natural receptor langu age grammar and style? Those
helping with the evaluation should be the mother to ngue speakers of TL. There
are a number of kind evaluations which need to be d one.
5. Revised draft
After evaluation is done carefully, there will need to be a revised draft
made on the basis of the feedback received. Those w ith whom the translator has
checked may have suggested many rewordings, may hav e expressed
misunderstanding, etc. The translation team now wor ks through this material,
honestly accepting the evaluation, and rewording th e material accordingly. If any
key words are changed, the text will need to be che cked carefully for consistency
in the change made. If some parts were hard for peo ple to read, they may need to
be made easier by more redundancy (or less redundan cy in another language), by
adding more information to clarify participants or theme, or whatever. How much
re-drafting will be needed will vary depending on t he results of the evaluation.
6. Consultation
In many translation projects, there are advisors or consultants who are

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willing to help the translator. The translator(s) w ill expect that the consultant is
interested in three matters: 1) accuracy of content , 2) naturalness of style, and 3)
effect on the receptor language audience.
It is important that translators checked their mate rials with a trained
consultant after completing a section or two of a l ong document. If they continue,
and do large amounts of translation work without th is kind of check, they will
miss out on the training which a consultant can giv e as they go over the material
together.
7. Final draft
The translator incorporates into the translated tex t the suggestions made
by the consultant, checks them again with mother to ngue speakers to be sure they
are warranted, and makes any other minor changes wh ich have come to his
attention. However, before he prepares the final dr aft, decisions about format
need to be discussed with the whole translation tea m, the consultant, the potential
publisher and those who will promote distribution.

2.3 Translation Procedures
Newmark has fourteen procedures in translation. The researcher has tried
to combine Newmark’s translation method and procedu res to Pinchuck
(1977:188). They said that translation, in very bro ad sense of term, can be listed
in term of different levels of complexity. Translat ion procedures are technical

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devices used to transfer the meaning of a text in o ne language into a text in
another language. Thus procedures can be in the for m of:
1. Transcription
This means rendering the sounds of a SL into a TL f orm. It can be a form of
alphabetical changes in a word.
Example:
SL: Betawi; Orang hutan
TL: Batavia ; Orangutan
2. Transliteration
It is a process of rendering the letters of one alp habet into the letters of
another with a different alphabetical system. We ca n see the example in a
change of letter font in Microsoft word, e.g., My B ag (Times New Roman)
into µψ βαγ ( AIGDT), it is a change of symbol alike.
Example:
(Greek=English) Ένα = a; β= b
(Russian=English) я=I; вы =you
(The example is presented above)
3. Borrowing
It is often used when the TL has no equivalent for the SL unit is to adopt them
without change but sometimes with spelling or pronu nciation adjustments.

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Example:
SL: sampan; kampung; sandal; kapuk
TL: sampan; kampong; sandal; kapok
4. Literal
This is one-to-one structural and conceptual corres pondence. It can include
borrowings and word-for-word translation. This pres upposes a kind of
interlingual synonymy.
Example:
SL: a) 3 buku ; John sedang menyanyi
b) limas ; garuk ; keok ; peri
TL: a) 3 books; John is singing
b) pyramid; scratch; defeated; nymph
5. Transposition
This is one of the most common procedures used in t ranslation. It involves
replacing a grammatical structure in the SL with on e of a different type in the
TL in order to achieve the same effect.
Example:
SL: Perlu diketahui bahwa menulis modul itu menggunakan waktu.
(passive)
TL: You should know that module writing takes time. (active)

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6. Modulation
It entails a change in lexical elements, a shift in the point of view.
Transposition and modulation may take place at the same time.
Example:
SL: Time is money.
TL: Waktu itu sangat berharga.
7. Adaptation
This procedure is used when the others do not suffi ce. It involves modifying
the concept, or using a situation analogous to the SL situation though not
identical to it.

2.4 Translation Techniques
Molina and Albir (2002:509-511) said the notion of translation technique.
It is understood as an instrument of textual analys is that, in combination with
other instruments, allows us to study how translati on equivalence works in
relation to the original text.
They also categorized translation techniques into t wo parts. First, existing
definitions and classifications of translation tech niques are reviewed and
terminological, conceptual and classification confu sions are pointed out.
Secondly, translation techniques are redefined, dis tinguishing them from
translation method and translation strategies.

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Then translation technique is the result of a choic e made by a translator,
its validity will depend on various questions relat ed to the context, the purpose of
the translation, audience expectations, etc.
If a technique evaluated out of the context as just ified, unjustified or
erroneous, this denies the functional and dynamic n ature of translation. A
technique can only be judged meaningfully when it i s evaluated within a
particular context. Translation techniques are not good or bad in themselves, they
are used functionally and dynamically in terms of:
1. The genre of the text (letter of complaint, contrac t, tourist brochure, etc.)
2. The type of translation (technical, literary, etc.)
3. The mode of translation (written translation, sight translation, consecutive
interpreting, etc.)
4. The purpose of the translation and the characterist ics of the translation
audience
5. The method chosen (interpretative-communicative)
In the light of the above, translation techniques d efined as procedure to
analyze and classify how translation equivalence wo rks. They have five basic
characteristics:
1. They affect the result of the translation
2. They are classified by comparison with the original
3. They affect micro-units of text

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4. They are by nature discursive and contextual
5. They are functional
Molina and Albir’s (2002:509-511) classification of translation techniques
is based on the following criteria:
1. To isolate the concept of technique from other rela ted notions (translation
strategy, method and error)
2. To include only procedures that are characteristic of the translation texts and
not those related to the comparison of languages.
3. To maintain the notion that translation techniques are functional
4. In relation to the terminology, to maintain the mos t commonly used terms.
5. To formulate new techniques to explain mechanisms t hat had not yet been
described.
There are some techniques included in Molina and Al bir’s (2002:509-511)
classification:
1. Adaptation
A technique in process of translating that replaces the SL cultural element
with one which has the same situation or condition in the TL or culture. e.g.,
soccer (UK) /barb2right football (US).
2. Amplification
A technique in process of translating to introduce details that did not
formulate in the SL: information, explicative parap hrasing, e.g., when

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translating from Arabic to Indonesian to add the Mu slim month of fasting to
the noun “Ramadhan”.
3. Borrowing
It is the technique in process of translating to ta ke a word or expression in SL
straight from another language in TL. It can be pur e (without any change),
e.g., to use the English word “lobby, goal, meeting , performance” in
Indonesian, or it can be naturalized (to fit the sp elling rules in the TL) like
gol, miting,lobi, performa.
4. Calque
Literal translation of a foreign word or phrase; it can be lexical or structural,
e.g., the English Transceiver cable into Indonesian Kabel transceiver.
5. Compensation
It is the process of introducing the SL element of information or stylistic
effect in another place in the TL because it can no t be reflected in the same
place as in the SL, e.g., It’s me, Peter Parker, a friendly neighborhood into Ini
aku, Peter Parker, sahabat kalian.
6. Description
A technique in the process of translating in order to replace a term or
expression with a description of its form or/and fu nction, e.g., translating
traditional Javanese penghulu as God’s servant helping couple to marry .

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7. Discursive creation
A technique of translation process to establish a t emporary equivalence that is
totally unpredictable out of context, e.g., the Spa nish translation of the film
Rumble fish as Si Rumble.
8. Established equivalence
A technique of translation process to use a term or expression recognized (by
dictionaries or language in use) as an equivalent i n the TL, e.g., to translate
the English expression ; They are like as two peas in a pod as mereka bagai
pinang dibelah dua.
9. Generalization
A technique that uses a more general or neutral ter m, e.g., Desk, table – Meja.
10. Linguistic amplification
It is the technique of adding linguistic elements i n the TL. This is often used
in consecutive interpreting and dubbing, e.g., No way! –Maaf saja!.
11. Linguistic compression
It is the technique of synthesizing linguistic elem ents in the Target Text. This
is often used in simultaneous interpreting and in s ubtitling, e.g., Yes, so what?
– Apa maumu?.
12. Literal translation
It is the technique in process of translation to tr anslate a word or an expression
in word for word, it is the direct transfer of a SL text into a grammatically and

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idiomatically appropriate TL text in which the tran slators” task is limited to
observing the adherence to the linguistic servitude s of the TL, e.g., long
grass–rerumputan tinggi.
13. Modulation
A technique in translation process in order to chan ge the point of view in
order to focus or cognitive category in relation to the ST; it can be lexical or
structural, e.g., The stars went out–Pagi menjelang
14. Particularization
A technique in the process of translating, by using a more precise or concrete
term, e.g., Kursi – chair, sofa, bench
15. Reduction
A technique in the process of translating by suppre ssing a SL information in
the TL, e.g., Ikan Paus –Whale
16. Substitution
A technique which is used to change linguistic elem ents for paralinguistic
elements (intonation, gestures) or vice versa, e.g. , this techniques often used
in interpreting.
17. Transposition (To change grammatical category)
This technique shares the same idea with another de finition, which involves
replacing one word class with another without chang ing the meaning of the
message, e.g., A pair of shoes – Sepasang sepatu

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18. Variation
This technique changes linguistic or paralinguistic elements (intonation,
gestures) that affect aspects of linguistic variati on: changes of textual tone,
style, social dialect, geographical dialect, etc. T his technique shown in a
movie which the story tells about more than one cul ture and uses different
dialect.

2.5 Translator
Translator has an important duty to convey the mess ages of SL into TL.
Deal with subtitle, the techniques of translation i s usually used by the translator in
analyzing the document in SL. They are considered a ppropriate when it is related
to the requirements in arranging subtitle. It deals with why translator should have
some principles, which are (1) translator can bring his fellow country a true and
clear picture of the foreign author and foreign cir cumstances, keeping strictly to
the original (2) he can treat the foreign work as t he writer treats his material,
altering it after his own tastes and convictions, s o that it is brought closer to his
fellow. There are five principles to get a good tra nslation, they are:
1. The translator must fully understand the sense and the meaning of the original
author, although he is at a liberty to clarify obsc urities.
2. The translator should have a perfect knowledge of b oth source language and
target language.

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3. The translator should avoid word-for-word rendering .
4. The translator should use forms of speech in common use
5. The translator should choose and order words approp riately to produce the
correct tone.
According to Bassnett (1991:8), there are statement s correlate to ability
that translators should have:
1. Accept the untranslatability of the SL phrase in th e TL on the linguistic level
2. Accept the lack of a similar cultural convention in the TL
3. Consider the range of TL phrases available, having regard to the presentation
of class, status, age, sex of the speaker, his rela tionship to the listeners and the
context of their meeting in the SL.
4. Consider the significance of the phrase in its part icular context-i.e. as a
moment of high tension in the dramatic text.
5. Replace in the TL the invariant core of the SL phra se in its two referential
systems of culture out of which the text has sprung .
From the statement above, translator has an importa nt role in translating
SL into TL. It would be influential if the object o f translation is a literary works.
According to Robinson (1997:12-14), to be a transla tor he/she should do:
1. Attention to Detail
His attention to the contextual and collocational n uances of each word and
phrases he uses.

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2. Sensitivity to the user’s needs
It means that the translator should listen closely to the user’s special
instruction, it is important to adjust with the use r’s needs.
3. Research
The translator is expected to do careful research i n reference book and internet
databases, it includes the information about movie that he/she wants to
translate.
4. Checking
This criterion is done when a translator feel any d oubt, his/her work should be
checked by an expert.
5. Versatility
It is versatile enough to translate a text outside her area of specialization
(having such worked checked)
6. Promises
Translator should make realistic promises, in order to do his work
professionally.
7. Friendliness
Translator is expected to be friendly and helpful. It deals with its sensitivity to
the user’s needs which has been discussed before.
8. Hardware and software
A translator should know how to use technology well , it is essential because

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the translator faces various people who also use so phisticated technology, and
require them to use it.
Another skills and competences that translators sho uld have, in order to
perform the task effectively are:
1. Language competence
Translators should be competent in the source and t arget languages. They
should know the morphological, grammatical and lexi cal systems of two
languages. In addition, they should be aware of cha nges in lexical items
within the source and target languages generally re flected in dictionaries or
other references.
2. Textual competence
It is rarely found that translators work on isolate d sentences. In general, they
deal with texts of various types. Therefore, they s hould be familiar with how
sentences are combined into paragraphs, and paragra phs into a text.
Depending on the domains of discourse they are tran slating, translators should
be proficient in how the source and target language texts are structured.
3. Subject competence
Competency in linguistic systems of the source and target languages and
familiarity with the textual features of the source language text do not
guarantee the production of a quality translation. Familiarity with the subject
matter being translated is another important aspect . It should be noted,

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however, that being competent in the subject matter does not necessarily mean
that translators must have highly specialist knowle dge, “but they must know
the ways and the means of how to access this when t hey need it” (Neubert,
2000:9).
4. Cultural competence.
There is a misunderstanding among those outside of translation or even
novice translators that cultural competence is requ ired only in translation
literary texts. If we accept the idea that the prod uction process of the target
language text, whether it is academic, technical or literary, is culturally bound,
cultural competence is inevitably needed.

2.6 Meaning
Meaning can be form as the message in TL that trans lator should find.
Meaning has three types, those are:
1. The first step; meaning into contains of the form o f language.
2. The second step; meaning into contains of language.
3. The third step; meaning into contains of communicat ion can give the
information.
Larson states (1984:3) “translation is transferring meaning from the source
language (SL) into the target language (TL).” It is important to the activity of
translating. The source language constitutes symbol s of meaning, which must be

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transferred into symbols that refer to the same mea ning in the target language. As
Nida and Taber (1974:15) states that meaning holds an important role in any
translation effort. Based on the definition of the meaning above, Palmer
(1981:128) defines those four types of meaning into :
1. Cognitive meaning refers to the purpose; it is the component of a language
that is very closely related to the language outsid e.
2. Ideational Meaning. It is referring to the meaning that appears to cause the
using of the word which has the concept.
3. Denotational Meaning is the meaning of the group of words based on the
related to direct words and the language material o utside.
4. Prepositional Meaning which is the meaning that app ears if someone limits
the definition of something.

2.7 Subtitle
Subtitle is the last literature that the researcher discussed. In subtitle, the
audiences are presented the meaning of the TL well. The subtitle maker has done
some steps like they have been discussed before in the process of translation.
When, subtitle can be defined as the transcription of film or TV dialogue
presented simultaneously on the screen (Baker, 2001 :247). Subtitles are like a
means that can help audiences to catch the actor’s dialog. Matsumoto (2003:100)
says that “translation for film subtitles involves very unique and interesting

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procedures which do not exist in other works of tra nslation. In the aim of
translation, which is delivering the message to the receptor, subtitle also has the
same work”. In Indonesia for example, many Indonesi an people still don’t
understand the languages (foreign; English particul arly in most cases) about the
content of the film that they watched.
Many viewers still depend on subtitle when they enj oy the film frame by
frame. In that case, subtitle is very helpful. It i s able to deliver the message in
target text without leaving the purpose of translat ion works, which is delivering
message between source language into the target lan guage. We still can find the
English subtitle in English movie instead, that is caused by the slang words which
might be found in a movie. Then, translator should know various languages to get
the same idea.
Understanding various languages becomes one of requ irements that the
writer has been discussed before about becoming a t ranslator in the translation
process. First process, according to Newmark (1988: 19), translator or we call it
subtitle maker should find the appropriate translat ion in the context of the
sentences. Then, the translator should find the ref erential level, the object that has
to be visualized and built up, it is important espe cially in process of making
subtitle that should need adjustment between the su btitle text and the movie. The
next levels are used when producing the subtitle wh ether the subtitle has been
grammatical and natural enough. It will be influent ial to the decision whether the

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subtitle agreed to be displayed or not.
The second process according to Nida and Taber in H oed (1993:57) has
three steps, which are analysis, transfer, and rest ructure. The first thing that the
subtitle makers do is receiving the script of the m ovie he/she will be working on
then analyzing the content. Then, they will replace their analysis into the target
language, and rearrange it whether it is appropriat e to be displayed into subtitle.
The third process is establishing the project of a translation work (Larson,
1984:46) that has the similar understanding with te xtual level in Newmark
(1988:19) and analysis in Nida and Taber in Hoed (1 993:57).

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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHOD

3.1 Research Design
The study of this research used descriptive qualita tive method to describe
the subject or the object of the research based on the fact or reality. Isaac
(1981:46) stated: “it describe the population and t he evidence of the data
systematically, factually, and accurately.” Which i s on this case is the true story
of Patch Adams. It aims to analyze the translation techniques used in the subtitle
text of Patch Adams movie.

3.2 Unit of Analysis
The unit of analysis of this research was the utter ances from the original
SL movie script (English) and the TL (Indonesian) s ubtitle of the movie “Patch
Adams” as the data to be analyzed.

3.3 Source of Data
The data of this research was Patch Adams’s utteran ces which have taken
from Patch Adams movie transcript of Patch Adams movie, (address retrieved on
December 22, 2009). The movie was directed by Tom S hadyac, produced by
Mike Farrell, Bary Kemp, Marvin Minoff, Charles New irth, Marsha Garcess
33

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Williams, screenplay by Steve Oedekerk, distributed by Universal City Studios,
Inc. released on December 25, 1998. Published in In donesia by Media Line
Entertainment all rights reserved (3624/VCD/6.2005/ 2000).

3.4 Techniques of Data Collection
The data were collected by using documentation meth od in the form of
movie script that was retrieved from the internet a nd the subtitle that was taken
from the movie. The researcher used the following s teps to collect them:
1. Selecting the movie. (in Le’ stat VCD rental)
2. Getting the original source language movie script
3. Using windows movie maker software to pause every u tterance in every part
of movie containing Indonesian subtitle.
4. Writing down the Indonesian subtitle in a note.
5. Typing the Indonesian subtitle beside the original movie script.

3.5 Techniques of Data Analysis
The researcher used translation techniques to categ orize the results used
by the translator in the subtitle. After the data w ere collected, the writer used the
following steps to analyze them:
1. Reading the transcript and the subtitle of the movi e.
2. Identifying the translation techniques used in the movie subtitle.

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3. Classifying the translation techniques by Molina an d Albir.
4. Researching the reason of the application of the te chniques used.
5. Drawing the conclusion.