Ari Natarina S.

Pd - Post-Graduate Study Linguistics Department

Udayana University - 2008

THE SYNTAX ANALYSIS OF INTERROGATIVE

SENTENCE IN INDONESIAN AND ENGLISH
VERSION OF HARRY POTTER AND THE
DEATHLY HALLOWS

By:
Ari Natarina, S.Pd

Translation Studies
Linguistics Department
Udayana University
2008

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Ari Natarina S.Pd - Post-Graduate Study Linguistics Department
Udayana University - 2008

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Translation typically has been used to transfer written or spoken SL texts to

equivalent written or spoken TL texts. In general, the purpose of translation is to
reproduce various kinds of texts—including religious, literary, scientific, and
philosophical texts—in another language. Therefore, the texts would be available to
wider readers.
It is well known that linguistic variation and diversity are the very nature of
human language. If language were just a classification for a set of general or universal
concepts, it would be easy to translate from an SL to a TL. The concepts of one
language may differ radically from the other is true, since each language articulates or
organizes their words differently. One of the troublesome problems of translation is
the disparity among languages. The bigger the gap between the SL and the TL, the
more difficult it will be to transfer the message from the SL to the TL.
The degree of variation allowed by the human linguistic capacity can only be
understood through the comparison of different grammatical systems. The study of
the syntactic diversity offered by dialects of a language helps us to better understand
the limits of variation in the structuring of sentences. It is for this reason that the study
of variation is necessary.
In the framework of transformational-generative grammar (of which
government and binding theory and minimalism are recent developments), the
structure of a sentence is represented by phrase structure trees, otherwise known as
phrase markers or tree diagrams. Such trees provide information about the sentences
they represent by showing the hierarchical relations between their component parts.
This paper is focused on explicating the grammatical structure of interrogative
sentences in English and compared it with the interrogative grammatical structure of
Indonesian language.
The data are taken from chapter I and II of an English novel Harry Potter and
the Deathly Hallows, which is written by J.K.Rowling. The data that is being taken is
the interrogative sentences; both direct and indirect speech. It is then analyzed
semantically and syntactically by using tree diagrams.

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Udayana University - 2008

CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW

2.1 Theory of Translation

There are several definitions about translation. According to Bell (1991)
“Translation is the replacement of a representation of a text in one language by a
representation of an equivalent text in a second language.” Further, he discussed about
how texts in different languages can be equivalent in different degrees. It can be fully
equivalent or partially equivalent based on the different levels of presentation (in
respect of context, semantics, grammar, lexis, etc.).
Larson (1998) explained that translation consists of transferring the meaning
of the source language into the target language. Transferring the meaning can be done
by changing the form of the first language to the form of second language by way of
semantic meaning. Although the form is changed, the meaning must be held constant.
Nida and Taber believe that a translation should be aimed at reproducing the
message instead of the similarity between the source language and the target language
messages.
Although there are so many differences in the ways the translation expert
define the word “translation”, they agreed on the basic principles which focus on
meaning as the most important consideration.
Larson (1998) described a translation continuum ranging from very literal, to
literal, to modified literal, to near idiomatic, to idiomatic, and then to unduly free. If a
text is translated word-per-word the result will be literal. Whereas a translated text can
be called idiomatic if it considers the context of the text and the culture of the source
language and the target language, not only focusing on the dictionary meaning of the
words, during the translation process. Unduly free translation occurs when the
translator modify the text too much, without regarding the structure of the source
language text. The mapping of a translation continuum can be seen below.

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Udayana University - 2008

very literal Modified Inconsistent Near Idiomatic Unduly

literal literal mixture idiomatic free

Figure 1. Translation continuum

The structure of sentence plays an important role in translation. The source
language might have similar or different structure with the target language. A
translator should be knowledgeable with the structure of both languages in order to be
able to produce an idiomatic translation; otherwise it will be resulted in an unduly free
translation if he does not put the structure of sentences in both languages into
consideration.
Sentences can be classified into four different moods, that is the basic reason
for their utterance. The types of sentence based on its mood are statements, questions,
imperatives, and exclamations. Questions are sometimes said to be in the interrogative
mood. There are two kinds of question, namely real question and rhetorical question.
Both real and rhetorical have the same interrogative grammatical form, which consist
of question mark, question words, and a rise of intonation in the last pitch. However,
each serves different purpose. The purpose of a real question is to ask for information
(Larson, 1998: p. 259). It requires answer. The intention of a rhetorical question is to
give command or to make statement in a more polite way. An example of
rhetorical question can be seen below:
• “I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for
you?” (14)

Although the sentence above may look like real question, it is not a
question that requires answer. It implies threat to whom the
question is intended.
In translation, problems usually occur in translating rhetorical question as it
might be needed to be translated into another form of sentence such as imperative or
statement. As for the real question, the translator could find the appropriate form of
asking for the same information in the receptor language.

2.2 The Structure of Interrogative Sentences in English

2.2.1 Yes/No Questions

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Udayana University - 2008
Yes/no questions are questions that can be answered simply by yes or no. To
turn a core sentence into a yes/no question, you have to move a part of the main
verb to the front of the sentence (Morenberg, 1997: p.97). If the main verb
contains a modal, HAVE, or BE, then it should be moved to the front. If the
sentence has no modal, HAVE, or BE, then DO should be added in the front of
the sentence, in order to make a yes/no question. According to Morenberg
(1997) the disjunction, or the movement of the modal, HAVE, or BE, does not
change any functional relationship. For example:
• “Is my return, my rise to power, not the very thing they
professed to desire for so many years?” (17)

• Does Skeeter really feel that four short weeks have been enough to gain
a full picture of Dumbledore’s long and extraordinary life?(29)
If we change the sentence back into the core sentence, we can see that the
subject, the predicate, the direct object, and the object complement remain in
exactly the same relationship.
• My return, my rise to power, is not the very thing they
professed to desire for so many years.
• Skeeter really feels that four short weeks have been enough to gain a full
picture of Dumbledore’s long and extraordinary life.

2.2.2 Wh-Questions
To make a core sentence into a Wh-questions, a noun phrase has to be replaced
by an interrogative pronoun (what, who, or whom) or an adverb phrase has to be
replaced by an interrogative pro-adverb (when, why, how, how often). And
sometimes a determiner is replaced by whose, which, or what.
Generally, after a noun phrase, determiner, or adverb phrase has been replaced,
the replacement should be put in the beginning of the sentence. The disjunction
also requires the movement of modal, HAVE, or BE. If the core sentence does
not contain auxiliary element, the auxiliary DO can be added to the sentence to
make it into a Wh-question. An illustration of making interrogative sentence
from core sentence can be seen below:
• You see this when you look in the mirror.
 “What do you see when you look in the mirror?” (25)

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Udayana University - 2008
‘This’ is a noun phrase, therefore it should be replaced by an interrogative
pronoun ‘what’. The main verb ‘see’ does not contain auxiliary element,
therefore ‘do’ must be added after the interrogative pronoun.
• The man tipped to be the Minister of Magic was content to remain a
mere headmaster because of this.
 Why was the man tipped to be the Minister of Magic content to remain a
mere headmaster? (26)
The adverbial phrase ‘because of this’ is replaced by a pro-adverb ‘why’ because
it is asking for a reason. The verb BE (was) is moved to follow the pro-adverb
‘why’.

2.3 The Structure of Interrogative Sentences in Indonesian

2.3.1 Yes/No Questions
The grammatical structure of yes/no questions has no difference with the
grammatical structure of statements. However, it is spoken with interrogative
intonation, marked by a rise in the final pitch, and written with a final question
mark (Sneddon, 1996). Sometimes, it can be made overtly interrogative by
placing apa or apakah before it. The word apa and apakah in this sense do not
have lexical function but it only act as a signal that what follows is a question.
Therefore it can be omitted without changing the meaning of the sentence.
These words are called a question marker. It is different with interrogative
pronoun apa. For example:
- Apa kamu bekerja?
What you work? (Are you working?)
- Kamu kerja apa?
You work what? (What do you do?)
The word apa in the first sentence can be omitted, whereas in the second
sentence it can not be omitted, as it will change the meaning of the sentence,
because it is the object of the verb.
If question marker does not occur, -kah can be attached to another word, usually
the predicate center, to indicate the construction is question. The word that –kah
is being attached to is usually placed first in the sentence. If the predicate centre
is a phrase, for instance an adjective or locative phrase, or if the phrase contains

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Udayana University - 2008
time marker, modal or negative, -kah can attach to the final word of the phrase,
the whole phrase then placed in the beginning of the question.
i.e. Bekerjakah kamu?
Work you? (Are you working?)
Sangat pintarkah dia?
Really clever he? (Is he really clever?)
Bukan can be also attached to a statement to turn it into a question. It
corresponds to a sentence tag with BE, HAVE, or DO in English. Bukan is
placed in the beginning of the sentence if –kah is being attached to it.
e.g. Bukankah itu ayahmu?
Isn’t that your father? or That is your father, isn’t it?

2.3.2 Specific Questions

Specific questions require specific information. It contains a question word or
interrogative, corresponding to one of the ‘wh-‘ words in English (Sneddon,
1996).
INDONESIAN ENGLISH
apa what
Siapa who
(di/ke/dari) mana where (at / to / from)
(yang) mana which
kapan when
bagaimana how
berapa How much/many
kenapa, mengapa why
Siapa and apa are interrogative pronouns. Apa can modifies a noun, meaning
‘what’. Siapa is an independent phrase if it does not follow a noun and it is a
possessive, meaning ‘whose’, if it follows a noun. Both words can follow
preposition and it can not be separated from a preceding preposition. Apa and
siapa cannot occur as subject of a passive clause. The construction will be
changed to an identifying clause where the question word, followed by yang,
becomes the predicate.
Mana means ‘where’ when it follows a locative preposition and it can not be
separated from preposition. It means ‘which’, if it follows ‘yang’.

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Udayana University - 2008
Berapa precedes a noun as an indefinite number meaning ‘how many’. It means
‘which, what’ if it follows a noun that refers to something belonging to a series
in which the members are distinguished by a number.
Question words of time, reason and manner usually like kapan, bagaimana,
mengapa, occur first in the clause.
In specific question –kah attaches to the question word, which comes first in the
cluse. If the question word is part of a phrase, the whole phrase occur first, with
–kah attached to the last word of the phrase. If siapa or apa occur as object of
an active verb, -kah can not be attached to it, unless the question word occur
first in an identifying clause.

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Udayana University - 2008

CHAPTER III
THE ANALYSIS OF INTERROGATIVE SENTENCE
STRUCTURE IN ENGLISH AND INDONESIAN

The data is taken from chapter 1 and 2 of Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows which is translated into Indonesian. There are 34
interrogative sentences in all (see Appendix), however only some
will be analyzed. The structure of the sentence of both languages
will be discussed in this chapter. It will be compared to see the
similarity and difference between English and Indonesian language
structure and also to figure out whether there are any lost or gain of
meaning during the translation process.
Some of the sentences do not have the structure of an
interrogative sentence, as it is in form of informal conversation, e.g:
Sentence 13.
“Give you my wand, Lucius? My wand?”
"Kau pikir aku akan memberikan tongkatku, Lucius? Tongkatku?"
The structure of this sentence in English is a statement structure,
however the intonation rise at the final of the sentence which
indicates a questions. It is a rhetorical question where the speaker
showed his cynicism toward the hearer by asking question that does
not need an answer. In Indonesian, the structure of the sentence is
question structure, as the structure of a statement and question in
Indonesian is similar.

Other sentences have the structure of an interrogative

sentence. For examples:
Sentence 5.
“Where are they going to hide the boy next?”
"Dimana anak itu akan disembunyikan nantinya?”
There is no structure difference of this sentence in both languages. The sentence can
be translated literally and still make sense. The question word ‘where’ is translated
into ‘di mana’. Mana is always preceded by a preposition. ‘Di’ is chosen to precede

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Udayana University - 2008
‘mana’ in this sentence because it is asking about the place where the boy will be
hidden at. ‘Going to’ here indicates future, therefore it is translated into the
conjunction ‘akan’ which indicates future in Indonesian.

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Udayana University - 2008
S

NP: Subj VP:Pred

AdvManner
MV VP PrepP
BE NP:DObj
Noun Verb Verb Det Noun Adv
ARE
Where are they going to hide the boy next?

NP:Subj VP:Pred

NP
NP MV
Prep N
N Det Conj V:Passive Adv.Time
di mana
Di mana anak itu akan disembunyikan nantinya?

Sentence 8.
“Have I not spoken to you about keeping our prisoner
quiet?”
"Bukankah aku sudah menyuruhmu untuk membuat tawanan kita tetap diam?"
This is a kind of rhetorical question. The speaker real intention is to give order to the
hearer, not to ask for information. There is loss and gain in the process of translating
this sentence into Indonesian. The word ‘bukankah’ is added to indicate that it is a
negative sentence in replacement of ‘tidak’ (the equivalent of ‘not’). The word
‘bukan’ is used as a sentence tag, which is used to seek confirmation. The question

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marker ‘apa’ is not added in this sentence because –kah is already attached to the
word ‘bukan’.
S

NP:Subj VP: Pred

NP

PP
VP

AdjP
MV
V NP
Aux
N neg PastPart ProN Prep PresPart PossP N Adj
have
Have I not spoken to you about keeping our prisoners quiet?

VP:Pred

NP:DObj

PP:Comp

VP
N MV
NP

Neg NP AdjP

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ProN Adv V N Prep V N PossN
Adv Adj
Bukankah

Bukankah aku sudah menyuruhmu untuk membuat tahanan

kita tetap diam?

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Sentence 20.
“Will you babysit the cubs?”
“Apakah kau akan merawat anaknya itu?”
S

NP:Subj VP:Pred

MV:Future
NP: DObj
modal
N V Det N
WILL
Will you babysit the cubs?

NP: Subj VP: Pred

MV NP

QuesMarker ProN Conj V N PossP Det

Apakah kau akan merawat anak nya itu?

The word ‘will’ indicates future. In Indonesian it is translated to

‘akan’. However, in Indonesian the word ‘akan’ is part of the main
verb. The word ‘will’ is replaced by question marker ‘apakah’
instead. The word ‘akan’ can actually be placed in the beginning of
the sentence if ‘–kah’ is attached to it.
The direct object ‘the cubs’ is translated into ‘anaknya itu’. Cub
means the baby of animal from the cat family. However Indonesian

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Udayana University - 2008
language does not have specific word like that. ‘Anak’ can be used
to refer to any baby, either animals or human. ‘The’ is a determiner
that points at a particular thing that they already know which. There
is no such kind of determiner in Indonesian, therefore possessive
pronoun ‘nya’ and demonstrative ‘itu’ need to be added to show
which one they are talking about.

Sentence 22.
“Do you recognize our guest, Severus?” asked Voldemort.
"Apa kau mengenali tamu kita, Severus?” tanya Voldemort.
S

NP:Subj VP: Pred

MV NP:DObj

Aux
Noun Verb PossP Noun PropN
DO
Do you recognize our guest, Severus?

NP:Subj VP:Pred

Question MV NP:DObj
Marker
ProN V N ProN

Apa kau mengenali tamu kita, Severus?

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This is a yes/no question. It can be seen from the structure where DO is added in the
beginning of the sentence. In the Indonesian translation, a question marker ‘apa’ is
also added. The word ‘apa’ is not an interrogative pronoun because it has no lexical
function and can be omitted without changing the meaning of the sentence. There is
no loss or gain in the meaning of the sentence as it can be translated literally.

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Udayana University - 2008
Sentence 28.
How did Dumbledore really meet his end?
Bagaimana Dumbledore meninggal?
S

NP:Subj VP:Pred

MV NP: DObj AdvManner

PropN Adv Aux V PossP N

DO
How did Dumbledore really meet his end?

NP:Subj VP:Pred

PropN V adv.manner

Bagaimana Dumbledore meninggal?

This is a specific question. There are many losses in translating this sentence as it can
not be translated literally into Indonesian. The meaning of ‘meet his end’ in this
sentence is death. Therefore the verb ‘meet’ which is a transitive verb and the noun
phrase ‘his end’ is translated into one intransitive verb in Indonesia that is
‘meninggal’. So the sentence in Indonesian consist only the subject and the predicate,
but it does not have an object.

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CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION

Translation has always been an interesting subject to study. It requires vast

knowledge in the source language and target language, either in its meaning
(semantics), structure (syntax), and culture. This paper is focused on the analysis of
interrogative sentence structure in English and Indonesian.
From the comparative analysis done in the previous chapter about
interrogative sentences in English and Indonesian, it can be seen that both languages
have similarity and differences in its grammatical structure. The similarities are both
languages have two types of interrogative sentence, namely yes/no questions and
specific questions (wh-questions), it has rise in the final pitch, and it uses question
marker. While the difference is that in Indonesian yes/no questions, the grammatical
structure of an interrogative sentence is not different with the grammatical structure of
a statement. Whereas in English, the modal, HAVE, or BE should be moved to the
beginning of the sentence.
By knowing the similarities and differences in the grammatical structure of
interrogative sentences, it is hoped that an idiomatic translation can be produced.

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REFERENCES

Larson, M.L. (1998). Meaning-based translation: a guide to cross-language

equivalence (2nd edition). Maryland: University Press of America
Morenberg, Max. (1997). Doing Grammar (2nd edition). New York: Oxford University
Press
Sneddon, J.N. (1996). Indonesian Reference: Grammar. New South Wales: Allen &
Unwin Pty Ltd.

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