Vulgar Language Translation from Cantik Itu Luka Novel
Tristy Kartika Fi’aunillah
Universitas Gadjah Mada, Bratang Wetan 1B/3 Wonokromo, Surabaya, Indonesia 60245
Keywords: Translation, Translation Strategy, Vulgar Language Translation.
Abstract: This paper analyzes vulgar language translation strategies from an Indonesian novel Cantik Itu Luka by Eka
Kurniawan that is translated to English by Annie Tucker to be “Beauty is A Wound”. The research aims to
observe the methods and techniques used to translate the vulgar language continued with implying the
translation ideology. The vulgar language was filtered by criteria that were self-established. The data were
classified according to the techniques and methods then analyzed using descriptive comparative method to
describe the equivalence of profanities from Indonesian as the source language (SL) to English as the target
language (TL). The results show various translation techniques varied from single techniques such as
modulation, amplification, and literal translation with the total of 73 techniques, to combinations of double
and triple techniques with the total of 17 and 3 technique combinations. The translation methods are
dominated by semantic, free, and adaptation translation methods. Furthermore, such methods selection
implies that domestication dominates the ideologies with the main purpose of reaching dynamic equivalence
to adjust the cultures of TL, this can be seen by the fact that not all translated vulgar language maintained to
be vulgar in TL text.
1 INTRODUCTION
Indonesia’s background as one of eastern cultured
countries that are well-known by their modest
societies leads to the limitation use of vulgar
language in media such as literary works. Whereas
vulgar language is inseparable from language
phenomena used by humans to mediate their
thoughts in portraying the world. The word vulgar in
the Great Indonesian Dictionary 2017 means rude
(behavior, deed, etc) and impolite. Briefly, vulgar
language is defined as language that is uncovered
and it tends to be avoided due to the society
presuming it as having rude, filthy, impolite, and
inappropriate meaning. Because of such definition,
vulgar language is also identified to be mostly
spoken by uneducated or low-class society.
Indonesian literary works which contain vulgar
language often receive criticisms, yet many of them
are high in quality and then translated to other
languages to promote them to other countries. One
of those literary works is the novel entitled Cantik
Itu Luka by Eka Kurniawan that is translated to
English to be “Beauty Is A Wound” by a non-
Indonesian native speaker Annie Tucker.
Translation is rendering the meaning of a text in
one language into another language, or what we call
as source (SL) into target language (TL) (Newmark,
1998). Nida and Taber (1982) explained that a good
translator should prioritize the equivalence in
meaning, and it should be the closest natural
equivalence in TL. Furthermore, Hatim (2004)
stated that translation areas include three elements,
which are the process of transferring a written
discourse from SL to TL in a specific sociocultural
context, the translation product that must be
acceptable in sociocultural way of the target
language’s speaker societies, and the aspects of
cognitive, linguistics, visual, cultural, and
ideological phenomena. Therefore, to produce a
good translation, a translator should have a
comprehended knowledge about the source and
target language and also the cultures of both of the
language’s speakers. This is necessary because
language and culture are very associated, differences
in cultures would make differences in languages,
and it often affects the alterations of vocabularies
(Nida, 2001)
Additionally, this research aims to know if the
vulgar language in SL is translated to be vulgar
language as well in TL, or they lose the vulgar
aspects. This research identifies the translation
strategy used by the translator of the novel Cantik itu
Luka who is not an Indonesian. this research is to
describe the methods and techniques used in
226
Fi’aunillah, T.
Vulgar Language Translation from Cantik Itu Luka Novel.
In Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities (ANCOSH 2018) - Revitalization of Local Wisdom in Global and Competitive Era, pages 226-232
ISBN: 978-989-758-343-8
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

translating the vulgar language from the novel
Cantik Itu Luka to “Beauty Is A Wound” and to
identify the ideology in translating the vulgar
language.
Vulgar language in Indonesian is similar to taboo
words or swear words in English. Yet this research
chose to use the term vulgar language since the
definition of “taboo” or tabu in Indonesian is things
that are forbidden to touch, do, or say because of
dangerous supernatural reasons. Taboo words in
English consists of lexicons that are emotionally
offensive, are restricted to be spoken because it is
assumed to be possibly harmful (Jay, 2009). The list
below contains the criteria of vulgar language to
filter the data from the novel Cantik Itu Luka:
1. The analyzed vulgar language is from various
linguistic units from word to clause, and they can
be in form of every parts of speech.
2. The analyzed vulgar language aims to swear or
curse thus there is a hateful emotion or offensive
purposes while speaking it.
3. The analyzed vulgar language is a form of
pejoration that specifically aims to lower the
condition and social status of a person.
4. The analyzed vulgar language is considered as
impolite because it tends to be spoken by lower
class society with low education.
Therefore, the types of vulgar language found in
the novel are sexual references that are pejorative
(ngentot), specific limbs that are usually particularly
functioned in sexual activities, (buah pelir, lubang
anus), scatological references (e.g.: tai), insulting
references to psychological, physical, economic, or
social conditions (e.g.: bodoh, cacat), swear words
to express anger or hatred (e.g.: sialan, brengsek),
animal references that are considered as filthy (e.g.:
anjing), entities references that are believed as
malicious (e.g.: setan, iblis).
2 RESEARCH DESIGN
The research used descriptive qualitative approach
to observe the data which are the vulgar language
classified by the previously explained criteria. A
purposive sampling collecting method is applied
thus only a few samples were taken for similar
vulgar language with similar translation strategy.
Descriptive comparative approach is used to analyze
the data, since the analyzing is done by comparing
the data in two languages.
3 TRANSLATION METHODS,
TECHNIQUES AND
IDEOLOGIES
Translation strategy includes particular methods and
techniques in rendering the meaning of a text from
SL to TL. The strategies are the solutions for
translators to solve the problem in finding the closest
equivalent reference in TL, both in meaning and
form. Translation methods are the systematic ways
on how to proceed a translation, while the
techniques concern on particular ways in translating
the micro-units in the SL text. Newmark (1998)
constructed a V diagram of translation methods. The
diagram is presented below.
Table 1: Newmark’s V diagram of translation methods.
SL Emphasis
TL Emphasis
Word-to-word Trans.
Adaptation
Literal Trans.
Free Trans.
Faithful Trans.
Idiomatic Trans.
Semantic Trans.
Communicative Trans.
The methods on the left are applied when the
translator aims to render the meaning and the form
to be likely similar as the SL text including the
cultural elements found in the SL text. Thus, by
applying the methods, the translator introduces
foreign cultures as well as the language to the
readers which are TL speakers. On the other hand,
the methods on the right intend to adapt the SL text
to suit the TL speakers more in terms of culture and
language. Translation methods determine the
translation product’s ideology, or whether the
translator wants to foreignize or domesticate the
translation’s product.
Foreignization translation practice signifies the
linguistic and cultural differences of the foreign text;
thus, it sends the reader abroad. Meanwhile
domestication translation practice reduces the
linguistic and cultural differences from the foreign
text to minimize strangeness in TL (Venuti, 2008).
Foreignization preserves the linguistic and cultural
aspects from the SL text, while domestication
produces a TL text that is easy for the readers, who
are TL speakers, to understand. Domestication
ideology is traditionally applied in translation
process in order to reach a more natural TL text.
Furthermore, Nida and Taber (1982) stated that the
best translation does not sound like a translation, and
equivalence in meaning, or what Nida and Taber
mentioned as dynamic equivalence, is more
important than the correspondence in grammar and
lexis, or the formal correspondence.
Vulgar Language Translation from Cantik Itu Luka Novel
227

For translation techniques, Molina and Albir
(2002) proposed 18 techniques, or the procedures to
analyze and classify how translation equivalence
works. The techniques are adaptation, amplification,
borrowing, calque, compensation, description,
discursive creation, established equivalent,
generalization, linguistic amplification, linguistic
compression, literal translation, modulation,
particularization, reduction, substitution,
transposition, and variation. In translation process,
more than one technique can be applied to obtain the
equivalence, thus there are couplet, triplet, or
quadruplet techniques that show the number of
techniques applied in the translation.
4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
There are 93 data of the analyzed vulgar language,
which is not the total number of all vulgar language
in the novel because the research used sampling data
collecting technique, hence one sample was taken
from several similar vulgar expression with similar
translation strategy.
The table below contains the types of vulgar
language found in the novel Cantik Itu Luka.
Table 2: Types of vulgar language.
Types
Total
Sexual references
22
Specific limbs that are usually
particularly functioned in sexual
activities
4
Scatological references
4
Insulting references to
psychological, physical, economic,
or social conditions
25
Swear words to express anger or
hatred
20
Animal references
2
Entities references that are believed
as malicious
8
Total
93
4.1 Translation Methods and Techniques
The next table lists the translation methods used in
translating the vulgar language in the novel.
Translation methods will determine the translation
ideology.
Table 3: List of the translation methods used in translating
the vulgar language.
Language
Emphasize
Methods
Total
SL Emphasize
(Foreignization
Ideology)
Word-to-Word
Translation
1
Literal Translation
12
Faithful Translation
2
Semantic
Translation
18
Total
33
TL Emphasize
(Domestication
Ideology)
Communicative
Translation
3
Idiomatic
Translation
3
Free Translation
28
Adaptation
26
Total
60
The result shows that the translator applied
methods from both language emphasize, yet
domestication ideology dominates, indicating that
the translator aims to reduce the linguistic and
cultural differences from the foreign text, making
the TL text to be more natural by adapting the vulgar
language in TL and using different terms that are
more recognizable in English (Venuti, 2008). By
using this ideology, TL might have inequivalent
literal meaning and language structure, yet there is
minimal significant changing in the whole context,
which will be explained in the usage of translation
techniques. Meanwhile, the fact that the translator is
a TL native speaker also supports the notion of
domestication practice.
The next results are the translation techniques in
translating the vulgar language in the novel. Single,
couplet, and triplet techniques were found.
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Table 4: List of single translation techniques used in
translating the vulgar language.
Techniques
Total
Literal Translation
2
Linguistic Amplification
8
Linguistic Compression
2
Established Equivalent
22
Calque
3
Adaptation
1
Modulation
15
Transposition
4
Variation
6
Borrowing
1
Discursive Creation
1
Particularization
2
Deletion
7
Total
73
The table 4 shows that techniques that dominate
the vulgar language translation process are
established equivalence and modulation. Most of the
vulgar expressions in SL text have their equivalent
expressions both in meaning and form and those
expressions are available in TL, thus established
equivalence technique, which is translating by using
an expression recognized in TL because it is
available in the dictionary or in the language in use
as the equivalent in TL text (Molina and Albir,
2002), is preferable. The next table shows an
example of established equivalence technique
application to translate the vulgar language in from
the SL text.
Table 5: Example of Established Equivalence
Translation Technique.
Data Number:
5
SL:
”Pelacur ini mati?”
(Kurniawan, 2002)
TL:
“That whore is dead?”
(Kurniawan, 2015)
The word pelacur in Indonesian as the SL has
the same meaning with “whore” in English as the
TL, which is a female prostitute. Due to the
availability of a word with equivalent meaning,
established equivalence technique is applied.
Furthermore, modulation technique functions to
change the point of view or cognitive category in
lexical or structural to make the SL text sound more
natural and acceptable (Molina and Albir, 2002). For
example is the table 6.
Table 6: Example of modulation technique.
The noun betina refers to the female gender of
animals. The writer chose betina to describe
Alamanda to symbolize her behavior to be as low as
animals’. The translator changed the lexical point of
view of it and translate it to be “slut” which means a
woman who has sexual relationship with a lot of
men without involving any emotion. The context of
both SL and TL text imply that Alamanda likes to
have relationships with many men without truly
loving them, thus the translator changes the point of
view or the cognitive category without fully change
the whole context and meaning in TL, besides
aiming to make the expression to sound more natural
in TL. The word betina is literally translated as
“female” in English, but “female” is used for both
animals and humans, thus it would decrease the
vulgar aspects and the specific purpose of the
language to lower Alamanda’s status.
The next table shows the amount of couplet
translation techniques to translate the vulgar
language in the novel. Couplet technique means
there are two techniques involved in the translation
process.
Table 7: List of Couplet Translation Techniques Used
in Translating the Vulgar Language.
Techniques
Total
Established Equivalence + Transposition
2
Literal Translation + Borrowing
1
Linguistic Amplification + Variation
1
Linguistic Amplification + Transposition
2
Linguistic Amplification + Modulation
2
Modulation + Particularization
1
Transposition + Variation
5
Transposition + Particularization
1
Borrowing + Discursive Creation
1
Modulation + Variation
1
Total
17
Data Number:
39
SL:
Tapi Alamanda akan menyumpal telinganya
jika Adinda mengatakan bahwa kau betina
murahan yang doyan menyakiti hati lelaki
(Kurniawan, 2002)
TL:
But Alamanda would shove her fingers in her
ears when Adinda said you are a cheap slut
who likes to break men’s hearts (Kurniawan,
2015)
Vulgar Language Translation from Cantik Itu Luka Novel
229

The total of each couplet techniques is almost
similar one from another, yet transposition technique
dominates the technique combinations, such as
linguistic amplification and transposition. Linguistic
amplification is done by adding linguistic element,
while transposition is done by changing grammatical
category in SL text (Molina and Albir, 2002). Both
techniques were used by the translator with an aim
to make TL text to be structurally accepted by TL
speakers due to the different structures between SL
and TL. The table below is an example of linguistic
amplification technique in the novel.
Table 8: Example of linguistic amplification and
transposition techniques.
Data Number:
49 and 50
SL:
”Shodancho setan, iblis,
brengsek, terkutuk”
(Kurniawan, 2002)
TL:
“Shodanco, you accursed
satan, you devil, you
asshole” (Kurniawan, 2015)
Both of the vulgar nouns setan and iblis became
whole sentences with auxiliary omission in the TL
text, the additional linguistic elements which are the
subjects “you” indicates the application of linguistic
amplification technique. The changing in
grammatical category from word to sentence is also
the application of transposition technique. These
techniques combination intend to reach structural
naturalness in TL text since SL and TL have
different sentence structure.
Variation technique, which is a changing of
linguistic elements that affect aspects of linguistic
variation (Molina and Albir, 2002) is also used quite
a lot, for example is as follows:
Table 9: Example of transposition and variation
techniques.
Data Number:
26
SL:
”Brengsek, apa yang kau
lakukan dengan
selangkanganmu?”
(Kurniawan, 2002)
TL:
“Damn it! What have you
done to your crotch?”
(Kurniawan, 2015)
The word brengsek in the Great Indonesian
Dictionary means unsettled, incapable, or
troublesome, yet this word can also act as a swear
word to express anger. The word is trans positioned
to the phrase “damn it” which is one of the most
used swear words in TL, defining variations in
English language style. The vulgar expression in TL
and SL are not equivalent in meaning, yet in they
have similarity to be used as one of the basic swear
words in each language use.
The next is the list of triplet techniques in
translating the vulgar language.
Table 10: List of triplet translation techniques used in
translating the vulgar language.
Techniques
Total
Linguistic Amplification +
Transposition + Variation
1
Linguistic Amplification +
Modulation + Transposition
2
Total
3
The triplet translation techniques are dominated
by the combinations of techniques that were
explained previously. Apparently, couplet and triplet
techniques that produce vulgar language translations
with innovated forms yet are equivalent in meaning
and context form of translation are preferable.
Additionally, many of the vulgar language in SL text
also have their equivalent meaning and form, thus
established equivalence technique is preferable for
the single translation technique.
4.2 Vulgarity Omission
Finally, from all 93 data of vulgar language in SL
text, 21 of them were not translated into vulgar
language or taboo words in English as TL. This is
possibly caused by culture or language phenomenon
difference.
Table 11: Example of vulgar aspect omission in TL text.
Data Number:
64
SL:
“Berapa kali pun
kulakukan itu terhadapmu,
kau tak akan pernah
bunting.” (Kurniawan,
2002)
TL:
“No matter how many
times I do this to you, you
will never get pregnant.”
(Kurniawan, 2015)
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The word bunting means pregnant but it is used
specifically for animals. It is considered as rude to
use this word for pregnant women in Indonesia,
instead they use the term hamil or mengandung
which are the amelioration terms for pregnant
women. Such culture is not found in English;
therefore, the translator adjusted this term to be a
non-taboo word to make it sounds more natural in
TL to fit the cultures.
The vulgarity omission is the major matter of
translation shifts in the vulgar language translation.
According to Catford (1965), translation shift is the
departure from formal correspondence or the parallel
of linguistic level and category from SL to TL, while
Simatupang (2000) added another type of translation
shift that happens in semantics area. There are two
categories of semantic shifts in translation, which
are shifts from specific meaning to generic meaning
or vice versa, and the meaning shift due to cultural
and point of view differences between TL and SL,
and the vulgarity omission is caused by the latter.
Intended translation reductions to remove parts
of vulgar language in SL text is also found in TL
text, for example is below.
Table 12: Another example of vulgar aspect omission in
TL text.
Data Number:
26
SL:
“Aku harus
menempeleng bocah
pengantar koran itu
karena
keterlambatannya
yang kurang ajar.”
(Kurniawan, 2002)
TL:
“I should box that
newspaper boy’s
ears” (Kurniawan,
2015)
The term kurang ajar means impolite or bad
mannered, and this is removed in TL text. This can
be included to Catford’s formal correspondence shift
because the complex sentence shifted to one
independent sentence. While cultural differences
probably are irrelevant, various factors could affect
this, for instance the editor and the publisher’s
decisions for sales purposes.
5 CONCLUSIONS
Domestication practice is still preferable to use
including to the vulgar language translation in the
novel Cantik Itu Luka, and it is affected by several
factors. The main reason is because of different
language structure and cultures of SL and TL; thus,
a structure and culture adjustment are necessary. The
next one is probably the demand of the editor of the
TL text in order to make the translation product
acceptable by the readers, affecting the sales of the
product. To domesticate the TL text, the translator
searched for equivalence in meaning without
changing the context of TL text from SL text, thus
the TL text would sound more natural despite
neglecting the correspondence in structure. The
adjustment in structure and cultures is presented
more clearly in the translation techniques where the
translator used many techniques that change the
structure in TL such as linguistic amplification and
transposition, and the cultural aspects by using
techniques that alter the vulgar language in SL to
sound more natural in TL such as modulation and
variation. Lastly, not all the vulgar language in SL
text maintain their vulgarity or taboo contexts,
which is caused by various possible factors such as
the cultures differences and the editor and the
publisher’s decisions.
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Kurniawan, E., 2015. Beauty Is A Wound. Translated by
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