Abstract:
This context analysis research studied and categorized the nonstandard characteristics
of Black English (Early 20th Century Afro-American English), including the translation
techniques used in translating nonstandard language into Thai. The data for the study has been
obtained from Alice Walker’s novel, “The Color Purple” and from the film adaptation by Steven
Spielberg.
The characteristics of Black English compared with modern Standard English were
categorized into two groups. For the first group, grammatical characteristics contained the
uncommon use of 1.1) Subject and predicate. 1.2) Negative expression in sentences 1.3) Tense
of verb 1.4) Objective pronoun. 1.5) “Be” and the omission of the verb “be” and 1.6) Other
nonstandard grammatical features, such as missing apostrophe, missing of preposition and wrong
use of personal pronouns. The other Black English characteristics found were the phonetics
system, which consisted of 2.1) The loss of phoneme /-d/. 2.2) The phoneme /-th/. 2.3)
Transliteration 2.4) The loss of the syllable pronunciation.
Translation techniques were highly framed because of the nonequivalent linguistics between Black
English and Thai. Therefore, the translator only kept the meaning, but was not concerned about the
nonstandard characteristics in the translated version. In order to produce a better translation, some techniques
are proposed, including deliberate mispronunciation of some letters under certain circumstances, other
suggestions are the concise pronunciation of written words and the omission of syllable pronunciation.