AN OVERVIEW OF THE CHALLENGES IN TRANSLATING MANDARIN COMPOUND SENTENCE INTO INDONESIAN AND VICE VERSA

Abstract

This study examines the difficulties in translating complex phrases between Mandarin and Indonesian. The primary emphasis is on the utilization of conjunctions included in HSK Level 1 to 6 resources. Compound sentences in Mandarin frequently exhibit structures and meanings that diverge from those in Indonesian, necessitating meticulous consideration of context, semantics, and colloquial language throughout the translation process. This study assessed 25 complex phrases, each including frequent conjunctions included in the HSK test. Google Translate (GT) was employed as the translation tool, as it is deemed indicative of the frequently utilized resources by learners and is recognized for generating translation outputs that are generally like to those of native speakers, especially in the context of basic sentences. The analysis identified seven categories of translation errors: (1) No Errors, (2) Misinterpretation of Conjunctions, (3) Ambiguity in Syntactic Structure, (4) Reduction of Subtlety in Significance, (5) Modification in Linguistic Style, (6) Alteration in Significance / Lexicon and  (7) Absence of Formal/Logical Conjunctions. Each category represents distinct challenges in the language transmission process. The primary obstacles in translating Mandarin compound phrases into Indonesian are adapting formal and informal language usage, comprehending sentence structure, and properly conveying meaning in quotidian circumstances. This work significantly contributes to translation studies and serves as a resource for educators, students, and language professionals to enhance the quality of translation between the two languages.