Translation of Britain
Translation of Britain
Throughout my several years of residence in Indonesia, I feel I have tolerated the translation of "Britain" and "United Kingdom" into the Indonesian word Inggeris for just about long enough. The final straw came when a young woman recently asked me where she could find the Embassy of Scotland. Being English and, therefore, British, this question came as more than just a surprise to me.
I am now getting weary of hearing TVRI and RRI newsreaders refer to John Major as Perdana Menteri Inggeris which he is certainly not. Just as Soeharto would definitely not be pleased if referred to as Presiden Jawa.
Even Inggeris Raya (Great England) would not, I feel, be an appropriate translation of the word "Britain." If a Glaswegian were to be referred to as English, the speaker would probably finish up with his whole set of teeth dangling from his tonsils.
How many more times am I going to hear the Union Jack being called bendera Inggeris, which it certainly is not.
How is "Wales" to be translated into Indonesian language? Can the "British Isle" be translated to become Kepulauan Inggeris with or without the addition of Raya when it includes the Republic of Ireland, which is a totally independent nation now.
What must Indonesian people be thinking when they are informed that Great Britain consists of three countries and that the United Kingdom consists of four?
If England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are to be regarded as an individual countries, then what's Britain called? A nation? And the United Kingdom? A kingdom? And what about those teeny-weeny places like the Orkney Islands, the Isle of Wight, the Western Isles, the Isle of Man? What country, nation, kingdom do and don't they belong to? Perhaps we could agree that the Scilly Isles be translated into Indonesian as kepulauan konyol (Foolish Archipelago).
I seriously believe that it is the responsibility of the British Embassy which, by the way, is inappropriately called Kedutaan Kerajaan Inggeris, to officially and publicly clear up this misunderstanding and misinterpretation so that a large percentage of the population do not remain in ignorance of this for too much longer.
JEREMY D.R. GIBBONS
Jakarta