"Translation is the activity of transferring the meaning of the source language into the target language. Transferring is done by going from the form of the source language into the form of the target language by way of semantic structure. It is the meaning which is being transferred and must held constant, but it is the form which is changed.
One of the translation activities is to translate the modal expressions of English into Indonesian. The meaning which is carried in the modal expressions of English is transferred into Indonesian. The meaning should be constant. The form may change.
Analyzing translation concentrates on the textual equivalent and formal correspondence. If the translation is not equivalent and does not correspond formally and is equivalent but does not correspond formally, there will be shifts. Shifts are the result of translation procedures: transposition and modulation. Transposition will make grammatical shifts such as unit, word-class, structure and intra-system, and modulation will make semantic shills such as point of view and scope of meaning.
Modality is the speaker's attitude toward the proposition of his utterance and the event of proposition which is ex-pressed in lexical forms such as words, phrases, or clauses. One of the modalities is epistemic which consists of epistemic possibility and epistemic necessity. Epistemic possibility is expressed in lexical forms such as may, can, perhaps, maybe, it is possible that (English), and mungkin, barangkali, bisa-jadi(Indonesian). Epistemic necessity is expressed in lexical forms such must, should, it is necessary that (English), and harus, mesti, tentu saja, saya yakin (Indonesian). Deontic is another modality. It contains of obligation and permission. Obligation is expressed in lexical forms such as must, should (English), and wajib, mesti, jangan (Indonesian). Permission is expressed in lexical forms such as might, can, could (English), and boleh, dapat, bisa (Indonesian). The other modality is dynamic, that is ability. It is expressed in lexical forms such as can, could, be able to, be capable of (Englsih), and bisa, dapat, ma?npu, sanggup (indonesian).
In translation of English modal expressions which are in The Old Man and the Sea into Lelaki Tua darn Laut, there are some problems. The ones that are found are the differences of unit and word-class of modal expressions, and subcategory of modality. The differences of unit and word-classes will make grammatical shifts unit and word-class shifts, and those of subcategory will make semantic shifts: shifts of point of view and shifts of scope of meaning.
The differences of unit between source text and target text cause unit shifts. For example, can as word is translated into boleh jadi as phrase. In other case, the unit differences will also cause semantic shifts : shift of scope of meaning and shift of point of view. Can mean 'bisa' whose scope of meaning is broader than masih bisa because bisa is emphasized by masih. Must which means 'kepastian' is translated into akan masih which means 'Keteramalan'. Kepastian and keteramalan have different point of view.
The shifts which occur in translation The Old Man and the Sea into Lelaki Tua dan Laut can be caused by the different systems of English and Indonesian or by the translator. From the number of shifts which are found, especially those which are caused by translator can be concluded that the translation of modal expressions in The Old Man and the Sea into Lelaki Tua dan Laut is not good enough."
Depok: Fakultas Ilmu Pengetahuan dan Budaya Universitas Indonesia, 2000
