Issues in Translating Cultural Terms between English and Malay: A Comparative Analysis

This study aims to examine the challenges in translating Malay cultural terms into English, and to determine practical procedures to overcome these challenges. The translation challenges in translating Malay cultural terms into English raised due to some factors; sound, lexis, grammar, and style. Both English and Malay originate from different language families and systems. While the former is from a Germanic family, the latter is an Austronesian origin, therefore, this results in a wide gap between their grammatical systems which causes considerable problems for some learners. Thus, the researcher thoroughly introduces the issue and analyses the findings by collecting data from books, conversation and social media. The study targets English and Malay cultural terms, more specifically Bruneian Malay and to achieve these targets the study employes Mona Baker’s equivalence typology to fulfil the research objectives. Consequently, this research paper seeks to find practical solutions for translators who are facing the similar challenges in translation.