CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURES, CONCEPTS, AND THEORETICAL

FRAMEWORK

1.1 Review of Literatures

Studies on the translation of English language preposition have been done

by some students of English Department. These studies give much contribution to

this study. The literary reviews about English language preposition are briefly

described as follows:

The first study was written by Yasa (2010) entitled “Preposition In, On, At

and Their Translation into Indonesian in the Novel Entitled ‘Revolt in Paradise’

by K’tut Tantri”. His study aims to find out the translation, the function, and the

meaning of preposition in, on, and at, classified in accordance with kinds of

preposition indicates time, place, instrument, condition, and goal or target and

their translation in Indonesian. Yasa’s study was using Quirk’s University

Grammar of English Language and Larson’s Meaning based translation. In his

study, he found that many cases of preposition in, on, and at indicates time, place,

instrument, condition, goal, and target have several meanings and functions. It

means the translation of preposition in, on, and at can result in some different

translation forms. He also found that preposition in is translated into di, dengan,

dalam and ke. Preposition on is translated into di, di atas, pada, dengan, dari, and

ke. Preposition at is translated into di, dengan, ke and dalam. From the result

above, Yasa’ s study was very clear and detailed in analyzing the preposition on,

in and at since it has three problems. However, those make this study more

complicated that it should be.

The second study was written by Suhartatik (2010) entitled “The

Translation of Preposition By into Indonesian”. Her study is mainly aimed at

classifying the function of proposition by and its equivalences into Indonesian. In

order to classify the data, she used the theory from Larson (1984) and Quirk

(1985). Results showed that there are seven functions of preposition by in the

novel If Tomorrow Comes, such as: denoting space, denoting time, denoting

agentive, denoting stimulus, denoting means, denoting cause and reason, and

denoting manner. There are also found various equivalences of preposition by into

Indonesian, such as: di, ke, menjelang, ketika, sampai, terhadap, akan, melalui,

dengan, oleh, hanya, karena, and tentang. In her study, there is interesting thing

that eventually become the strengths of this study, such as: there are various

numbers of the functions and equivalences of the preposition by into Indonesian

that may be in other study do not have. Those are giving new knowledge to those

who do not know that the English preposition by can have many translation in

Indonesian besides the preposition dengan, oleh and melalui. Meanwhile, since

this study only focused on preposition by, it makes this study lack of variation of

prepositions while we know that there are a lot of English prepositions besides the

preposition by.

The third study was written by Primayanti (2007) entitled “An Analysis of

Preposition In, On, At and Their Equivalence in Indonesian in the Novel “The

adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain”. Her study is aimed at describing the

translation equivalence of preposition in, on, and at into Indonesian and finding

the variation of translation of proposition in, on, and at. In her study, she used the

theory from Larson (1998) to find and analyze the data and results showed that the

preposition in is translated into di, dengan, dalam, di dalam, ke, zero

(equivalence), untuk. The preposition on is translated into di, di atas, zero

(equivalence), pada, dengan, dari, ke. Meanwhile, the preposition at is translated

into di, dengan, ke, dari, dalam, zero (equivalence). Besides, she also explained

that there are variations of translation of English preposition into Indonesian. This

study has more variation of English preposition. It makes this study more

interesting to read and gives some new information to those who want to learn and

understand especially about the prepositional meaning and the translation

equivalences of preposition at, in, and on. However, this study only used one

theory while the other studies that have same topic usually used two theories to

solve each problem.

Besides those studies, some scientific journals also give contribution to

this study. The first article of journal is written by Al Yaari (2013) entitled “The

Problem of Translating the Prepositions at, in and on into Arabic: An Applied

Linguistic Approach”. His study aims to explore the difficulties Saudi EFL

students face during the process of translating the English prepositions at, in and

on into Arabic. It also aims at identifying which gender type is better in

translating these prepositions in particular. The findings revealed that Saudi EFL

students face problems related to use and usage when transferring simple

prepositions from English into Arabic. Significant differences related to the

performances of both males and females where females scored higher marks than

those scored by the males. These findings suggest that acquired skills and abilities

involved in translation appear to be more strongly activated in the English-Arabic

tasks in women as compared to men.

This study gives much contribution to those who want to learn and

understand about statistical in translation, such as: how to measure the amount of

total number of the correct and incorrect of students’ answer related to use and

usage when transferring simple prepositions from English into Arabic. However,

in this study the writer only selected the test items into both time and place cases.

The last but not least is an article of journal written by Humeid (2013)

entitled “Compound Prepositions Used by Iraqi EFL University Students”. The

study is aimed at identifying and analyzing the errors which Iraqi EFL university

students are liable to make in using compound prepositions also giving a clearer

rationale for the possible causes for such errors. In his study, he focused on

Hornby’s theories (2006). Meanwhile, the results of his study can be concluded

that the majority of Iraqi EFL university students fail to recognize and produce

such propositions. Moreover, they do not realize the function of such prepositions

because they do not discern their meanings and most books of grammar do not list

their meanings or uses.

In his study, there are some points to be noticed; he is very detailed in

explaining compound prepositions and the results of his study are very clear.

However, there is no recommendation to the students so that their students’

abilities are not improved.

Those above-mentioned studies give the writer a lot of ideas and new

knowledge to do this study since all the studies have the same topic about the

English language preposition.

1.2 Concepts

1.2.1 Translation

Translation consists of transferring the meaning of the source language

into receptor language (Larson, 1998:3). The meaning, which is being transferred,

must be constant and only the form changes. The form, which the translation is

made called source language (SL) and the form into, which it is to be changed

called receptor language (RL) or target language (TL).

Meanwhile, Catford (1965: 20) stated translation process is the

replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual

material in another language (TL). The term ‘textual material’ underlines the fact

that in normal conditions it is not entire of a source language (SL) text is

translated, that is, replaced by target language (TL) equivalents. At one or more

levels of language, there may be no replacement at all but simple transference of

source language (SL) text. Besides, he also stated that translation is an operation

performed on languages: a process of substituting a text in one language for a text

in another.

According to Nida (1982:12) translation consists in producing in the

receptor language the closest natural equivalent to the message of the source

language, first in meaning and secondly in style. She also states that, by ‘natural’

we mean that the equivalent forms should not be ‘foreign’ either in form (except

of course for such inevitable matters as proper names) or meaning.

2.2.2 The Process of Translation

According to Larson (1998: 4) the process of translation can be shown by the

following diagram:

SOURCE LANGUAGE RECEPTOR LANGUAGE

1.

Discover the meaning Re-express the meaning

Based on the diagram above, it can be described that a translator must

discover the meaning of Source Language that is being translated into Receptor

Language. Then the translator arranges as natural as possible the meaning of SL

based on appropriate word choices and grammatical structure of TL. For

Example:

SL : Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was

depressed (Green, 2012: 3)

Text to be

translated

MEANING

Translation

TL: Di penghujung musim dingin usia ketujuh belasku, Mom menyimpulkan aku

depresi (Nimpoeno, 2014: 9).

1.2.3 Kinds of Translation

As has been mentioned previously, translation consists of transferring the

meaning of the source language to another language (Larson, 1998: 3). To do

effective translation one must discover the meaning of the source language and

use receptor language forms which express this meaning in a natural way.

Translation can be divided into four there are literal translation, modified literal

translation, idiomatic translation, and unduly free translation.

1.2.3.1 Literal Translation

Literal translation is a form-based translation that attempt to follow the

form of the source language. Literal translation can be very effective for purposes

related to the study of the source language, for some purposes, it is desirable to

reproduce the linguistic features of the source text.

For example:

SL : Mom arrived at the curb (Green, 2012: 20)

TL : Mom tiba di pinggir jalan (Nimpoeno, 2014: 32)

From the example above, it can be described that the element of the TL

has the same position and translated appropriate on the form-based in the SL.

1.2.3.2 Modified Literal Translation

This modified literal translation is kind of translation that still has relation

and it needs a modification of the literal translation. The modification could be

word order or adjustment, by using acceptable sentence structure in the target

language. Yet, the lexical items are translated literally but still sound unnatural.

For example:

SL : So when I got home I went out into the backyard (Green, 2012: 53)

TL : Jadi, setibanya di rumah, aku keluar ke pekarangan belakang

(Nimpoeno, 2014: 76)

The example above shows that the translator modifies word per word.

The word “I” in the sentence only translated one time but it does not change the

message which wants to be conveyed.

1.2.3.3 Idiomatic Translation

Idiomatic translation is meaning-based translation and makes every effort

to communicate the meaning of the source language text in the natural forms of

the receptor language. Idiomatic translation uses the natural forms of the receptor

language both in grammatical construction and in the choice of lexical item. For

example:

SL: Isaac turned and run up the stairs, taking them two at a time (Green, 2012:16)

TL: Isaac berbalik dan berlari menaiki tangga, dua anak tangga sekaligus setiap

kalinya (Nimpoeno, 2014: 26)

The example above is idiomatic translation since at a time in the SL text is

translated into setiap kalinya in the TL text. The form of TL text is different from

the form SL text and it needs to adapt the form in the TL text as natural as

possible.

1.2.3.4 Unduly Free Translation

This kind of translation is not considered acceptable translations for most

purposes since it can change the meaning. The message of the TL may not transfer

correctly in the TL but when once this kind of translation is needed, it is more to

tell a humor or to bring a special response from the receptor language speaker.

For example:

SL: I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they

have supplied what was lacking from you. For they refreshed my spirit and yours

also. Such men deserve recognition. (Larson, 1998: 19)

TL: It sure is good to see Steve, Lucky and ‘Big Bam’. They sorta make up for

your not being here. They’re a big boost to both me and you all. Let’s give them a

big hand. (Larson, 1998: 19)

The sentence above has a purpose to make anxiety text seem

contemporary, but the final result is an unduly translation.

1.2.4 Translation Equivalence

Translation equivalence is the translation process in order to transfer the

same meaning by using the natural form from the source into target language.

Catford (1965:27) makes distinction between ‘textual equivalent’ and ‘formal

correspondence’.

1.2.4.1 Textual Translation

A textual equivalence is any TL form (text or portion of text), which is

observed to be the equivalent of a given SL form (text or portion) or that portion

of TL text which is changed when and only when a given portion of the SL text is

changed.

2.2.4.2 Formal Correspondence

A formal correspondence is any target language (TL) category which may

be said occupy, as nearly as possible, the same place in the economy of the target

language (TL) as the given source language (SL) category occupies in the source

language (SL).

1.2.5 Preposition

Preposition is a particle (word or word-equivalent use with noun or

pronoun land usually placed before it) to form a phrase. Preposition is very

important in a sentence. It usually used to introduce information to the readers.

This information includes where something takes place such as; 'at' school, when

or why something takes place such as; 'after' lunch, or general descriptive

information such as; the boy 'with' black eyeglasses.

1.2.6 Simple and Complex Preposition

Quirk (1973: 144) divided two types of preposition such as simple and

complex preposition. According to him, what is meant by simple preposition

consists of a single word, such as at, in and for. Meanwhile, complex preposition

consists more than one word, such as along with, as for, away from, out of, up

to, etc.

1.3 Theoretical Framework

Theoretical framework is one of the aspects that support a validity of a

scientific study. It is formulated to describe and explain the previous theory as

reference to the existing phenomena. Thus, this study also has to have a

theoretical framework.

Meaning

To denote

Prepositions

Functions Translations

Equivalences

Place Time Instru-

ment

Cause

As has been mentioned previously, this study discussed about function and

translation equivalences of preposition at, on and by. To support in analyzing and

identifying the data, the theories that were used in this study were theories that

proposed by Quirk in his book A comprehensive Grammar of the English

Language (1985).

Quirk (1985: 657) stated:

In the most general terms, a preposition expresses a relation between two

entities, one being that represented by the prepositional complement, the

other by another part of the sentence.

Although there are four general functions of prepositions, those place and

time are the most prominent and easy to identify of the various types of relational

meaning. Other relationship such as instrument and cause may also be recognized

but they are more difficult to describe.

In relation to the translation this study used theories that proposed by

Larson in his book Meaning-Based Translation (1998) in order to get the

translation equivalences from SL text into TL text.

Larson (1998, 3) stated:

Translation is basically a change of form. When we speak of the form of a

language, we are referring to the actual words, phrases, clauses, sentences,

paragraphs, etc., which are spoken or written.

Translation, here, consists of transferring the meaning of the source language

into receptor language. This is carried out the form of the first language to the

form of a second language.

1.3.1 Functions of Preposition

There are four general functions of preposition, such as: place, time,

instrument, and cause (Quirk, 1973; 143). For Example:

1. The preposition as a marker of Place or Position

Examples: My books are in the bookshelf.

2. The preposition as a marker of Time

Examples: She is not here in three days

3. The preposition as a marker of Means/Instrument

Examples: I usually go to campus by motorcycle.

4. The preposition as a marker of Cause

Examples: Because of the drought, the price of bread was high year.

1.3.1.1 The Function of Preposition: Place

a. Dimension

When we use a preposition to indicate place, we do so in relation to the

dimensional properties, whether subjectively or objectively conceived, of the

location concerned. For examples:

Our cottage is on the road

There are only two beds in the cottage

b. Positive Position and Destination

Between the notions of simple position (or static location) and direction

(movement with respect to a destination) a cause and effect relationship obtains:

DESTINATION POSITION

Ann went to Oxford as the result Ann was at Oxford

Ann climbed onto the roof as the result Ann was on the roof

Ann dived into the water as the result Ann was in the water

c. Source or Negative Position: away, from, off, out of

There is a cause and effect relation with negative destination and position

parallel to that of positive destination and position.

Example;

Tom got out of the water -Tom is out of the water

d. Relative Position

Apart from simple position, preposition may express the relative position

of two object of group of object.

Example:

We placed the skis on top of the car.

e. Space

Other prepositions denoting space are by, beside, with, near, between

among, around.

Example:

He was standing beside the door (at the side of)

f. Relative Destination: over, under, behind

As well as relative position, the preposition that have function as relative

position can also express relative destination.

Example: He threw a blanket over here.

g. Passage: over, behind, under

With verbs of motion, preposition may express the idea of passage

(movement toward and then away from a place), as well as destination.

Example:

He jumped over a ditch

Someone ran behind the goalposts.

h. Passage: across, through, past

The sense of ‘passage’ is the primary locative function attached to across

(dimension type 1 or 2), through (dimension type 2 or 3) and past (the passage

equivalent to by which may also, however, be substituted for past in a ‘passage’

sense).

i. Movement with reference to a Directional Path: up, down, along

The prepositions above with verb of motion make up a group of

preposition expressing movement with reference to an axis or directional path.

j. Orientation: beyond, over, past, up, across

Most prepositions which express relative destination, passage and

movement with reference to a directional path can be used in a static sense of

orientation

Example:

The live across the moors

k. Resultative Meaning: from, out of, over, past

Preposition which have the meaning of motion can usually have also a

static resultative meaning when combined with be, indicating the state of having

reached the destination.

Example:

Te horses are over the fence (‘have now jumped over’)

l. Pervasive Meaning: over, throughout, with.

Over (Dimension type 1 or 2) and through (dimension type 2 or 3,

especially when preceded by all, have pervasive meaning (either static or

motional).

Example:

The child was running (all) over the flower border.

m. Metaphorical or Abstract Use of Place Preposition

Many place prepositions have abstract meanings which are clearly related,

through metaphorical connection, to their locative uses. Very often prepositions so

used keep the grouping (in terms of similarity or contrast of meaning) that they

have when used in literal reference to place. One may perceive a stage by stage

extension of metaphorical usage in such a series as:

In shallow water (purely literal)

In deep water (also metaphorical = ‘in truble’)

In difficulties (the preposition is used metaphorically)

In a tough spot (= ‘in a difficult situation’: both the preposition and the

noun are metaphorical since literally spot would require

at.

1.3.1.2 The Function of Preposition: Time

a. Time Position: at, on, in

At, on, and in as prepositions of time when are to some extent parallel to

the same items as positive prepositions of position, although in the time sphere

there are only two ‘dimension types’, ‘point of time’ and ‘period of time’.

Example:

At ten o’clock

On New Year’s day

In August

b. Measurement into the future : in

To denote measurement from the present time, the post posed adverb ago is

used for a span back to a point of time in the past, and in for a similar span ahead

into the future.

Example:

We met three months ago.

We will meet in three months time

We will meet in three months from now

c. Duration: for, during, over, (all) through, throughout.

Preparation phrases of duration answer the how long?

Example:

How long did you camp in Scotland?

We camped there for the summer.

d. Duration: from…to, until, up to

From…to (till) is another pair of preposition whose locative function is

transferred to duration.

Example:

We camped there from June till September

1.3.1.3 The Cause/ Purpose Spectrum

a. Cause, reason, motive: because of, on account of, for, from.

At one end of the cause/purpose spectrum, we have prepositions expressing

either the material cause or the psychological cause (motive) for a happening.

Phrase of cause, reason, and motive answer the question why…?

Example:

We had to drive slowly because of the heavy rain.

On account of his wide experience, he was made chairman.

b. Purpose, intended destination: for

Phrases of purpose or destination answer the questions Why…?, What…for?,

Where…for?, or Who…for?.

Example:

He will do anything for money.

Everyone ran for shelter.

c. Recipient, goal, target: for, to, at

When for is followed by noun phrases denoting persons or animals, the

meaning is rather one of intended recipient. In contrast to the nation of intended

recipient expressed by for, the preposition to is expressed actual recipient. At, in

combinations such as aims at (where the prepositional phrase is complementary to

the verb), express intended goal or target.

Example:

He laid a trap for his enemies.

She made a beautiful doll for her daughter.

He cooked a dinner for her.

d. Source, origin: from

From is used with reference to ‘place of origin’.

Example:

He comes from Scotland/Glasgow. (He is a Scot/ a Glaswegian).

1.3.1.4 The Means/ Agentive Spectrum

a. Manner: in…manner, like, with.

Manner can be expressed by in…manner, and with. With transitive and

intransitive verb, like can also have the function of ‘in a manner resembling’; with

copular verbs, its meaning is purely that of ‘resemblance’.

Example:

The job was done in a workmanlike manner.

We were received with the utmost courtesy.

The army swept through the city like a pestilence

b. Means and Instrument

Phrases of means and instrument answer the question how.

Example:

I usually go to work by buss

He caught the ball with his left hand

c. Instrument and agentive: with, by

Example:

Someone had broken the window with a stone.

The window had been broken with a stone by someone.

d. Stimulus: at

The relation between an emotion and its stimulus (normally an abstract

stimulus) can be expressed by at or by the instrumental by.

Example:

I was alarmed at his behaviors.

e. Accompaniment: with

Especially when followed by an animate complement, with has meaning in

company with or together with (communitative function).

Example:

With all the noise, she was finding it hard to concentrate/

f. Support and opposition: for, with, against

For coveys the idea of support ( in favour of) and with that of solidarity or

movement is sympathy.

Example:

Are you for or against the plan? (Do you support or opposite the plan)