The Laws of Translation: The Translation of Coinages in Children’s Literature into Malay

Objectives: Translators tend to gravitate towards one of two options when rendering coinages: replacing them with existing vocabulary in the target language or retaining the coinages in their original form. Therefore, this study aims to identify the prevalent strategy used by translators to render coinages in English children’s literature into Malay. Theoretical Framework: The Law of Translation theory by Toury (1995/2012) hypothesises that due to its unique position as a mediatory activity, all translations reflect a certain degree of adequacy (relationship with the source text) and acceptability (relationship with the target context), depending on various contextual factors. Method: This study employs a quantitative method by analysing and comparing the frequencies of normalisation and retention to render creative formations from English source texts into Malay target texts. Results and Discussion: The findings from the study show that the laws of translation manifest at different levels for the three texts in the corpus of the study, which could be represented in the form of a cline. The findings also suggest correlations between the types of texts and the prevalent strategy to render coinages in children’s literature. Research Implications: Further studies based on the empirical findings from this study would allow for a more comprehensive overview of the Malaysian children’s book industry, which is directly related to the sustainability of quality education for Malaysian children. Originality/Value: This study provides relevant information regarding the translation of children’s literature in Malaysia, which is often neglected despite its role in pioneering the children’s book industry in the country.