Another Merit of Back-Translations for Text Reconstructions

Back-translation method in translation studies is basically applied to assess translation quality. This method requires further development when the source language undergoes significant changes. This research explores text reconstructions as consequences of language change. Deploying theories of back-translation and language change, it focuses on another merit of back-translation method to reconstruct old texts. The research involves Indonesian novels written decades ago in old Indonesian as the original texts and their English translations as the source texts for back-translation process. The research process includes translating the translated texts back into Indonesian using contemporary Indonesian, comparing the results of back-translation with the original texts, and reconstructing texts using present-day Indonesian. The text reconstructions are carried out when the differences of word choices and forms between the original and back-translation texts are not in terms of meanings and the texts show language change. This research reveals that text reconstructions of old Indonesian texts can be carried out by substitution, reduction, amplification, and transposition methods. The methods of text reconstruction are in accordance with their respective language changes. Substitution method is applicable when the texts show lexical or semantic change, reduction method when the texts show morphological or syntactic change, amplification method when the texts show morphological change, and transposition method when the texts show syntactic change.