Shifts (Translation Shifts)

Definition of Translation Shifts

Translation shifts is a changing of form when it is translated from the source language into target language. Catford, in his book entitled A Linguistic Theory of Translation (1965) explained the definition and concept of translation shifts. He stated that:

By ‘shifts’ we mean departures from formal correspondence in the process of going from the SL to the TL (Catford, 1965: 73).

            Further, Catford stated about the relationship between translation shifts and formal correspondence. He also divided translation shifts into two major types. He stated that two major types of shift occur; they are level shifts and category shifts (Catford, 1965: 73).

I. Level Shifts

            In A Linguistic Theory of Translation, Catford stated that:

By shift of level we mean that a SL item at one linguistic level has a TL translation equivalent at a different level (Catford, 1965: 73).

            Then, he stated that by level shift means a shift from grammar to lexis; and here are the examples.

Examples:

1)      SL: I am working hard.

TL: Saya sedang bekerja keras (Margono, 1999: 21).

2)      SL: I have worked hard.

TL: Saya sudah bekerja keras (Margono, 1999: 21).

From the text in the source language above, it is found that the grammatical item tobe + -ing (pattern of Present Continuous Tense in English) in the source language is translated into sedang in the target language. So the level shift in the translation is indicated by grammar in the source language  which is translated into lexis in the target language.

Level shift also happens in the example (2) because the form have + Perfect Tense marker (pattern of Present Perfect Tense in English) in the source language is translated into target language by using the lexis sudah.

II. Category Shifts

            According to Catford, the second type of translation shifts is category shift. Catford defined that:

Category shifts are departures from formal correspondence in translation (Catford, 1965: 76).

            It means that category shifts are related with formal correspondence and Catford also stated about this formal correspondence as follows:

A formal correspondence is any Target Language (TL) category which may be said to 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). (Catford, 1965: 32)

            He explained that in grammar, for example: structure-shifts can occur at all ranks. It has a large part in the translation shifts that may happen.

            In order to understand more about category shifts, it should be discussed about the classification of category shifts. The category shift is divided into four, they are: structure shift, class shift, unit shift and intra system shift (Catford, 1965: 76). Further explanation about them will be given on next subs.

 1. Structure Shifts

            The most frequent category shift that occurs in translation is structure shift. It occurs at all rank in translation. It occurs in phonological and graphological translation as well as in total translation. (Catford, 1965: 6)

            According to Catford’s concept about structure, it is said that:

A structure is an arrangement of elements (subject, predicator, object, complement, adjunct) (Catford, 1965: 6).

            Structure shifts is indicated by a situation when there are two languages which have different element of structure. Besides, the source language and target language should have formal correspondence.

Examples:

1)      SL: I wash myself.

        S    V        O

TL: Saya mandi                                       (Margono, 1999: 20).

           S       P

2)      SL:  The book is on the table.

           M H

TL: Buku itu ada di atas meja                (Erhans, 2007: 154).

           H M

            In the example above, it can be found that the source language has different structure of sentence level and phrase level with the target language. In the example (1) the source language has sentence structure I (S), wash (V) and myself (O). Its translation has different sentence structure in the target language, that is saya (S) and mandi (P). From its translation, it can be seen that one element that is object myself in the source language is not translated in target language.

            In example number (2) it is found that the translation has different structure of phrase from the the book into buku itu. The phrase the book in the source language consists of Modifier-Head (MH) pattern, modifier the and head book. It is translated into buku itu, which consists of Head-Modifier (HM) pattern; head buku and modifier itu.

2. Class Shifts

            Class shift, as explained by Catford, is a shift that occurs when the translation equivalent of a SL item is a member of a different class from the original item. It means that SL has different class with TL (Catford, 1965: 78).

            A shift of class can happen from a noun into adjective, verbs into adjectives etc. To simplify the illustration of each word classes, we may explore the explanations of word classes by Quirk in his book entitle A University Grammar of English as follow.

            Classes of word in English are adjective, adverb, noun, pronoun, and verb. Adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. We can identify a word is an adjective by considering what inflections or affixes it will allow. Adjective can be modified by the intensifier very, as in The children are very happy (Quirk, 1973: 114). Adjective also shows comparative and superlative form, The children are happier now as an example (Quirk, 1973: 115). Adjective functions as attributive, as shown in The beautiful painting (Quirk, 1973: 115). Adjective functions as object complement, for example: He pulled his belt tight (Quirk, 1973: 115). And adjective also functions as head of noun phrase, as like in the following example The extremely old need a great deal of attention (Quirk, 1973: 118).

            Adverb is a word or group of words that describes or adds to the meaning of a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a whole sentence. The most characteristic of the adverb is morphological; the majority of the adverbs have the derivational suffix -ly. Adverb has two characteristics (functions); those are adverbs functions as adverbial, can be seen from He spoke to me about it briefly. The second function is adverb as modifier of adjective and adverb, which can be seen from She has a really beautiful face, and They are smoking very heavily (adverb as intensifier) (Quirk, 1973: 125-127).

            Noun is a word or group of words that refers to a person, a place, a thing or activity, or a quality or an idea. Noun can be divided into two subclasses; they are Count Noun and Non-Count Noun. Count noun means the noun which must be seen as individual countable entities and cannot be viewed as an undifferentiated mass (such as: chair, word, finger, remark). And Non-Count Noun means the noun which must be seen group of things as an undifferentiated mass or continuum (such as: grass, warmth, humor). Basically, the noun is also as the noun phrase that functions as subject, object, complement of the sentence, and as complement in prepositional phrase. In The girl is Mary Smith (Quirk, 1973: 59), the girl functions as a subject.

            Pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun or noun phrase. Pronoun constitutes a heterogeneous class of items with numerous subclasses, like: they, we, I, you, he, she, it, etc.

            Verb is the element of sentence that expresses or describes an action, an event, experience, or a state which is performed by the subject and it stands before object. One example of verb is grew in His brother grew happier gradually (Quirk, 1973: 12). The word grew in the example above is a verb; the word here can be said as a verb because it states an action of the subject.

And here are the examples of class shift:

1) SL: Mereka bekerja dengan lambat.

TL: They are working slowly.                     (Sneddon, 1996: 336).

2) SL: Mereka melawan teroris dengan gigih.

TL: They opposed the terrorists resolutely.   (Sneddon, 1996: 336).

From the example above, the source language is Indonesian and the target language is English. In the example (1), the word lambat in the source language functions as an adjective; and the word slowly in the target language functions as an adverb. So, the translation equivalent of the adjective lambat in the source language is the adverb slowly in the target language.

Class shift also occurs in the example (2). It happens from an adjective into an adverb. The word gigih in the source language is an adjective and it is translated into resolutely which is categorized as an adverb in the target language.

3. Unit/rank Shifts

            Catford defined unit shift as a change of rank, departures from formal correspondence in which the translation equivalent of a unit at one rank in the SL is a unit at a different rank in the TL (Catford, 1965: 79).

            Unit shift as a change of rank may happen from word to phrase, phrase to word or phrase to clause. Oxford dictionary defined word as a sound or group of sounds that expresses a meaning and forms an independent unit of a language (Oxford Dictionary: 1374). Whereas Longman Dictionary defined it as the smallest unit of spoken language which has meaning and can stand alone, such as: good, goodness (Longman Dictionary: 1213).

            Phrase by Oxford dictionary was defined as a group of words without a verb, especially one that forms part of sentence: The green car and a half past four are phrases (Oxford dictionary: 868). Both phrases in examples above have a higher position (unit/rank) than word.

            A shift of unit can happen from word to phrase, phrase to word or phrase to clause. Here are examples of unit shifts:

Examples:

1)      SL: Your watch is very sophisticated.

TL: Jam tangan anda sangat canggih (Margono, 1999: 6).

2)      SL: There is an exhibition.

TL: Ada pertunjukan (Margono, 1999:15).

            In the example (1), it is found that a unit shift in translation shows a change of rank. As we see, the word watch (in lower rank) in the source language is translated into a phrase jam tangan (in higher rank) in the target language.

            Unit shift is also found in the second example, the noun phrase an exhibition (higher rank) in source language is translated into a word pertunjukan which is a part of the lower rank in the target language.

4. Intra-system Shifts

            Intra-system shift is the shift occurs internally, within a system: that is, for those cases where the source language (SL) and the target language (TL) possess systems which approximately correspond formally as to their constitution, but it does not occurs when translation involves the selection of a non-corresponding term in the TL system (Catford, 1965: 80). Moreover, in each language, the system is one of two terms, they are singular and plural and these terms are also regarded as formally corresponding. Below are the examples of intra-system shift:

Examples:

1)      SL: Balinese people go to the exhibition.

TL: Orang Bali menonton pertunjukan itu. (Margono, 1999: 15)

2)      SL: Tourists pay attention to the exhibition.

TL: Wisatawan menaruh perhatian kepada pertunjukan itu.

(Margono, 1999: 15)

            From both examples, it can be found that there are departures from the source language into target language. There is a corresponding plural form for people through a repetition of the word orang (orang-orang) in Indonesian, but the Indonesian language system shows it in a singular form orang. It also has a corresponding plural form for tourists through a repetition of the word wisatawan (wisatawan-wisatawan) or using additional word para + wisatawan in Indonesian, but  the system of Indonesian language still shows it in a singular form wisatawan.