Er Redet Mich mit "Inang" An

Bahasa Indonesia     English

Mein Kursteilnehmer Aldo (nicht der richtige Name), der im September 2012 an der Universitaet Duisburg Essen (UDE) weiter studieren moechte, ist ein hoeflicher Junge.

Nach unserer Tradition des Batak / Tapanuli Volksstamms wuerde sich man nach dem Stammbaum fragen, wenn man sich kennen lernt. Auf unserer Sprache (Batak Toba Sprache) heisst es "martarombo".

Als Aldo erfuhr, dass ich Sihombing heisse, teilte er mir gleich mit, dass seine Grossmutter (die Mutter seiner Mutter) auch Sihombing heisst. Das war nett. :-) Weiter fragte mich Aldo, was er mich anreden sollte. Es gibt einige Moeglichkeiten. Er meinte aber, dass er mich mit "nantulang" anreden kann. (Gleich wie Tante; es gibt viele Anreden auf Bataksprache, die sich auf die Stufe "Tante" beziehen, die  man nur "auntie" ins Englische und "Tante" ins Deutsche uebersetzen kann)

Ich fuehlte mich durch Aldos Hoeflichkeit geehrt. Ich denke aber, dass wir nicht an der Tradition festhalten muessen, weil wir nur mit dem Deutschkurs zu tun haben. Also, wir machen es wie die Deutschen: kein "tarombo" / keinen Stammbaum.

Ein Deutsche, der Diedrich heisst und in Hamburg lebt, wuerde nicht so sicher sein, ob er und Herr Diedrich, der in Stuttgart lebt, verwandt sind. Aber ich (lebe in Jakarta seit jahrelang) und Aldo (der aus Palembang, Sued Sumatera kommt und erst einige Jahre in Jakarta wohnt), wir koennen sagen, dass wir verwandt sind.

Trotzdem findet Aldo es nicht hoeflich, wenn er mich ohne irgendeine Anredeform anreden wuerde. Dann redet er mich mit "inang" an. (ibu auf Indonesisch, madame auf Englisch, leider gibt es solche Form nicht auf Deutsch. Sie koennen eine Deutsche nicht mit nur "Frau" anreden. Das muss man mit dem Nachnamen / Familiennamen ergaenzen: "Frau Diedrich!")

Das ist nett. :-)

Sie haben den 14. Text gelesen.
Bitte lesen Sie den 15. Text: Oh, Nein, Ich Habe Das Unnuetze Woerterbuch Gekauft

Zurueck zum 13. Text: Translation Into Indonesian

Dia Memanggilku "Inang"

 Deutsch     English

Murid saya Aldo (bukan nama sesungguhnya) yang berencana melanjutkan kuliah di Universitas Duisburg Essen (UDE) pada September 2012 adalah seorang pemuda Batak yang sopan.

Dalam tradisi kami suku Batak atau Tapanuli ada kebiasaan untuk menjelaskan silsilah masing-masing apabila baru berkenalan dengan seseorang. Istilahnya dalam bahasa Batak (Batak Toba) ialah "martarombo".

Pada saat berkenalan Aldo langsung "martarombo" dengan saya. Ia ceritakan bahwa neneknya (ibu dari ibu Aldo) juga bermarga Sihombing atau istilah Bataknya untuk menyebut marga seorang perempuan ialah Boru Hombing. Sungguh taat Aldo dalam memegang adat Batak :-) Kemudian Aldo bertanya ia harus memanggil apa pada saya, sebab ada beberapa kemungkinan. Tetapi Aldo melanjutkan bahwa ia dapat memanggil saya "nantulang". (Setingkat dengan tante. Ada beberapa sebutan dalam bahasa Batak yang setingkat dengan tante. Oleh karena bahasa Inggris dan bahasa Jerman tidak mengenal banyak sebutan tante, maka hanya bisa diterjemahkan dengan auntie (bahasa Inggris) dan Tante (bahasa Jerman))

Saya salut pada Aldo. Tetapi saya pikir kami tidak perlu ketat dalam memegang adat karena kami hanya berkepentingan dalam belajar dan mengajar bahasa Jerman. Jadi tiru saja orang Jerman yang tidak mengenal tarombo.

Seorang Jerman yang bermarga Diedrich yang tinggal di Hamburg belum tentu yakin apakah ia bersaudara dengan orang Jerman yang juga bermarga Diedrich, namun tinggal di Stuttgart. Tetapi saya (yang sejak dulu tinggal di Jakarta) dan Aldo (yang berasal dari Palembang dan baru beberapa tahun ini tinggal di Jakarta) dapat berkata, bahwa kami bersaudara.

Walaupun sudah saya katakan tidak perlu ikuti tarombo, namun Aldo merasa kurang sopan jika ia tidak memanggil saya dengan sebutan yang sepantasnya. Maka ia memanggil saya dengan sebutan "inang" (artinya ibu dalam bahasa Indonesia, dalam bahasa Inggris dapat dipakai sebutan madame, sayangnya tidak ada sebutan yang sepadan dalam bahasa Jerman. Saudara tidak dapat memanggil seorang wanita Jerman hanya dengan sebutan "Frau". Sebutan itu harus diikuti marganya. Contoh: "Frau Diedrich!")

Salut pada Aldo.:-)

Saudara telah membaca teks ke 14.

Silakan baca teks ke 15: Ya, Ampun, Aku Membeli Kamus yang Tidak Berguna
Kembali ke teks ke 13: Translation Into Indonesian

He Calls Me "Inang"

Bahasa Indonesia     Deutsch

My student Aldo (not his real name), who plans to study at the University of Duisburg Essen (UDE) in September 2012, is a polite Batak young man.

In our tradition as Batak or Tapanuli people it is common that we check the genealogical tree if we meet someone for the first time. In our language (Batak Toba language) we call it "martarombo".

As Aldo knew that I am Sihombing, he immediately told me that his grandmother (the mother of his mother) is also Sihombing. It is nice. :-) Further, he asked me what he should call me. There are some possibilities. However he told me also that he can call me "nantulang" (a kind of auntie, there are many kinds of auntie in Batak language, which we just can translate as "auntie" in English or "Tante" in German).

I appreciate Aldo for his politeness. But I think we don't need to apply our tradition. As we concentrate on German, then we do like the Germans: no "tarombo" / no genealogical tree.

A German names Diedrich who lives in Hamburg won't be sure whether he and Mr Diedrich who lives in Stuttgart are relatives. But I (Jakarta resident) and Aldo (who comes from Palembang, South Sumatera, and now lives in Jakarta), we can say that we are relatives.

However Aldo thought it not good if he just calls me without any kind of salutation. Then he calls me "inang" (ibu in Indonesian, madame in English, no term in German, since you cannot call a woman in German only "Frau!". It must be complete with her family name: "Frau Diedrich!").

It is nice. :-)

You have read text 14.

Please read text 15: Oh, No, I Have Bought A Useless Dictionary
Back to text 13: Translation into Indonesian

Translation Into Indonesian

I was student at the Faculty of Letters (since 2002 its name changed: Faculty of Humanities), University of Indonesia, as Prof. Christiane Nord from the University of Heidelberg held the translation workshop from 15th - 18th February 1993 in our campus. I understand from her that a translator should be diligent. A translator should make an effort to research the meaning of a word or a term in the source language and then try to find the best translation from the target language, which is her or his mother tongue. If need be, a translator should also make a further research in regard to find the best translation. A translator should not translate a word or a term according to her or his own perspective or ideology.

Source Language and Target Language

I learned from that workshop that the ideal translation should be done by the native speaker of the target language, not the native speaker of the source language.

For example, I am Indonesian, therefore I should translate a book which is written in a foreign language (e.g. in German) into Indonesian. It is not suggested that I translate a book which is written in Indonesian into a foreign language. (e.g. into German. The Germans should do that.)

In that workshop we were given an Indonesian translation which was done by a German as one example and what happened? We understood the German text better than the Indonesian translation. Maybe you still remember my experience with my German colleague. Please see Frau Sihombing Doesn't Always Mean Nyonya Sihombing.

So, I am Indonesian and should translate a book which is written in German, for example, into Indonesian, not the other way. The book is called source text (in German: der Ausgangstext) and German is called source language (in German: die Ausgangssprache). My Indonesian translation is called target text (in German: der Zieltext) and Indonesian is called target language (in German: die Zielsprache).

Several Findings

As written above that Indonesians should do the translation into Indonesian, however I often found Indonesian translation which were translated by Indonesian translators according to the own perspective of the translator. This is what I learned from Prof. Nord that a translator should make an effort in regard to find the best translation, not just translating according to her or his own knowledge. An additional research should be done.

I found some words and term, which were translated from Christian terms, but these words and term were translated in Moslem perspective or just translated without researching the most correct term. An Indonesian translator who is not a Christian, should know that between the Indonesien Christians themselves there are also some differences.

Frau Sihombing Doesn't Always Mean Nyonya Sihombing

A German colleague who took care of working agreement as I worked in a German organisation didn't want to hear me as I complained her translation in Indonesian. In the German version of the working agreement I was mentioned as Frau Sihombing, which is correct. But in the Indonesian version I was mentioned as Nyonya Sihombing (in English: Mrs Sihombing), which is completely wrong.

I complained because I am still single. Sihombing is my family name. I am also not a widow, who maybe still uses the family name of her husband or ex husband.

The German colleague only told me that it is already the fixed term. I was disappointed, because I am the Indonesian, the person who knows her language. I would have been happier if I would have been mentioned as Nona Sihombing (in English: Miss Sihombing) rather than Nyonya Sihombing (in English: Mrs Sihombing) on that agreement.

Like "Fraeulein" in German "nona" in Indonesian is also used only for little or young girls. For adult women we can say "ibu", which doesn't show the marital status. You can call an adult woman "ibu" without asking her marital status.

The term "Saudari" (Sdri.) which refers to young women can also replace the term "nyonya" (in English: Mrs). This supposed to be neutral. It doesn't show the marital status either. However this term is rarely used in oral language or daily conversation. It is used more often in written language. So, it is better to use the term "Saudari (Sdri.)" on that agreement.

You have read text 12.

Please read text 13: Translation Into Indonesian

Back to text 11: Ms Sihombing Is Not Fraeulein Sihombing

Ms Sihombing Is Not Fraeulein Sihombing

As I worked in German companies I always put (Ms.) behind my name in my email signature, so that the readers know that I am female and therefore they would reply my email with "Dear Ms Sihombing", not Mr Sihombing.

Someday one of our big boss from Germany came to our office in Jakarta. As we had a chance to chat, he asked me why I put Ms, because Ms means Fraeulein. In German "Fraeulein" is used for little or young girls. For adult woman should be "Frau". However "Frau" doesn't only mean "Mrs" in English. It can also mean "Ms". I told our big boss that Ms doesn't mean Miss (which means Fraeulein in German) in English.

According to my information in the USA there is a new additional title in gender differentiation besides Mrs and Mr. It is Ms. This "Ms" refers to adult women and doesn't show the marital status, which is not important. Just like Mr, it also doesn't show the marital status. This should be an idea from the feminists in the USA.

You have read text 11.
Please read text 12: Frau Sihombing Doesn't Always Mean Nyonya Sihombing

Back to text 10: Germans Can Not Understand Our Pronunciation

Germans Can Not Understand Our Pronunciation

Ah, Calvin!

I and Dr. Haug were in a streetcar in Stuttgart (see Interesting Experience in Germany Part 2). We discussed about the church reformation. I was confused why Dr. Haug didn't know whom I was talking about. I spoke about Johannes Calvin, the church reformer from Switzerland. Dr. Haug is theologian, he must know who Johannes Calvin is. I tried to describe more clearly. Then Dr. Haug understood. He said: "ah, Calvin!" The pronunciation is [kalvin] like the English words "very", "verb", "value". Do you know how I pronounced the reformer's name before? I pronounced it in Indonesian way [kalfin], like the English words "full", "father". That was why Dr. Haug didn't understand at the beginning, whom I was talking about. :-(

Garuda's German Speaking Announcer

I was on a Garuda Indonesia plane, on my way back from Germany to Indonesia. As the plane stopped in Bangkok there were new passengers, who want to go to Jakarta. Two German women sat beside me.

During the flight we heard several announcements which were spoken in three languages: Indonesian, English and German. Every time the announcement was spoken I asked the German women how the German announcement was. I hope they would be proud of it. I was surprised as they said that they didn't understand the German. According to them the announcer's pronunciation was not so clear. The announcer was an Indonesian woman. Those two German women told me that they understood the English announcement better.

Tip: Please practice the right German pronunciation well.

You have read text 10.
Please read text 11: Ms Sihombing Is Not Fraeulein Sihombing
Back to text 9: Germans Misunderstand German