The Definition of Translation

Intra-lingual, Inter-lingual, inter-semiotic translation

In literature translation, there are types of translation which have been stated by the experts. Some of those translations are classified by the symbolic systems which are involved, texts which are translated, and also by the process and the emphasis of the translations.

Roman Jacobson (1959:234) distinguishes translations into three types, which are intra-lingual translation, inter-lingual-translation, and inter-semiotic translation.

Intra-lingual translation is the process of transferring a text into another text in the same language based on a translator’s interpretation. Therefore, if we rewrite Aku, a poem by Chairil Anwar into a prose in Bahasa, it means that we are doing the intra-lingual translation.

The second type of translation is inter-lingual translation. This type of translation is a translation in the actual meaning. In this translation, translators rewrite the meaning or the source language text into the target language text.

The last type of translation is inter-semiotic translation. This type of translation covers the interpretation of the texts into other forms or symbolic systems. One of the examples of this translation is an interpretation of a novel into a film.