Color Similes and the Choice of Translation Strategy from English into Indonesian

Abstract

Color similes are widely used in English to describe the actual meaning of color or to depict it figuratively. This study investigates how native Indonesian speakers perceive color similes when they are translated from English into Indonesian. It also aims to identify the most effective or the most acceptable translation strategies for translating color similes. The study was conducted by administering a questionnaire to 50 native Indonesian speakers regarding the translation of color similes. For each simile, the questionnaire presented three translation versions: retention of the same image, replacement of the image with a different image, and reduction of the simile, if idiomatic, to its sense. The participants were asked to choose the translated version based on three levels of acceptability: acceptable, fairly acceptable, and unacceptable. The questionnaire consisted of 25 similes containing the basic colors of black, white, brown, green, and red. The results of the study show that most of the basic colors in English and Indonesian share the same metaphorical meaning. However, the images used in the English similes are not all acceptable in Indonesian. The translation strategy that is considered most effective is the reduction of the simile, if idiomatic, to its sense. The factors that affect the acceptability of color simile translations are exposure to English in daily activities, media exposure about popular culture, religious beliefs, general knowledge of ecology, culture-specific phenomena, educational backgrounds, and the uniqueness of languages.

Keywords

• color simile
• figurative language
• simile translation
• translation acceptability
• translation strategy

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