Maintaining Culture-Specific Items in the English Translation of Asal Usul Nama Cirebon: A Comparison Between ChatGPT and Human Translation

Fedro Iswandi; Yunita Widiyantari; Libri Rizka Puri Windarta

doi:10.58421/gehu.v5i3.1791

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58421/gehu.v5i3.1791

Authors

Fedro Iswandi Institute of Prima Bangsa
Yunita Widiyantari University of Surakarta
Libri Rizka Puri Windarta Universitas Islam Negeri Siber Syekh Nurjati Cirebon

Keywords:

Culture Specific Items, ChatGPT, Human Translation, Legend Folklore, Translation Strategies

Abstract

This study investigates the maintenance of Culture-Specific Items (CSIs), translation strategies, cultural meanings, and contextual nuances in Indonesian folklore Asal Usul Nama Cirebon, by comparing translations generated by ChatGPT and a human translation. Employing a qualitative descriptive approach with comparative translation analysis, the study examined CSIs using Newmark’s (1999) classification and Baker’s (1992) translation strategies. The research data consisted of clauses containing CSIs derived from the literacy e-book of six legends in Cirebon. Data were collected through documentation and analyzed using Miles et al (2014), such as encompassing data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification. The findings identified 11 CSI categories into material culture, social organization and social culture, with material culture emerging as the dominant category. Both ChatGPT and human translation predominantly employ translation by a more neutral word, a loan word, and a paraphrase unrelated word. Although both translations generally preserved denotative meanings, the human translation more effectively conveyed contextual and cultural nuances. In contrast, ChatGPT occasionally encountered difficulties in rendering culturally loaded expressions. The study concludes that ChatGPT serves as a valuable supplementary tool; however, human intervention remains essential to preserve cultural identity and contextual meaning in literary translation practices across diverse cultural contexts.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

I. I. J. Rifka Alkhilyatul Ma’rifat, I Made Suraharta, “Inovasi Penerjemahan Digital Berbasis Kecerdasan Buatan: Studi Komparatif antara ChatGPT, Google Translate, dan Penerjemah Manusia dalam Teks Sastra dan Ilmiah,” Soc. Humanit. Educ. Stud., vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 306–312, 2024.

P. Newmark, A textbook of translation. New York and London: Prentice Hall, 1999.

M. Kuleli, “Culture specific items in literary texts and their translation based on ‘foreignization’ and ‘domestication’ strategies,” RumeliDE Dil ve Edeb. Araştırmaları Derg., vol. 7, no. Ö7, pp. 617–653, 2020, doi: 10.29000/rumelide.811038.

M. D. F. Abadi and M. S. Miri, “The Analysis of Newmark’s Translation Strategies in the Persian Translation of Burnett’s ‘the Secret Garden,’” Appl. Lang. Stud., vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 152–170, 2024, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.22034/jals.2024.712778

S. L. R. Adawiyah, E. Andriyanti, A. Ashadi, and S. Anwar, “the Translation of Culture-Specific Items in Ngeri-Ngeri Sedap Movie,” Ling. J. Ilmu Bhs. dan Sastra, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 1–14, 2023, doi: 10.18860/ling.v18i1.19351.

A. R. Tsani, E. Junining, and S. Hariyanto, “Subtitling cultural-specific items ( CSIs ): Strategies and quality in Induk Gajah,” vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 341–360, 2026.

R. A. I. L, A. Salsabila, N. Fitrian, T. Angela, and A. Syahid, “Comparative Analysis of Culture-Specific Item Translation in Harry Potter and t he Sorcerer ’ s Stone,” vol. 9, no. 2022, pp. 14932–14936, 2025.

M. Suva and G. Bhatia, “Artificial Intelligence in Addiction: Challenges and Opportunities,” Indian J. Psychol. Med., vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 62–70, 2024, doi: 10.1177/02537176241274148.

Z. Manapbayeva, G. Zaurbekova, K. Ayazbekova, A. Kazezova, and K. Pirmanova, “AI in Literary Translation: ChatGPT-4 vs. Professional Human Translation of Abai’s Poem ‘Spring’’,’” Procedia Comput. Sci., vol. 251, no. 2023, pp. 526–531, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.procs.2024.11.143.

E. Mehassouel and N. Djeha, “Translating Culture Specific Items: A Comparative Analysis of Human and Artificial Intelligence Translations,” vol. 23, no. 12, pp. 771–781, 2024, [Online]. Available: http://ymerdigital.com

D. Mohsan, Memoona & Nayab, “Estimating and Comparing Translation Skills: A Comparative Study of ChatGPT and Human Translation,” J. Dev. Soc. Sci., vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 75–86, 2024, doi: 10.47205/jdss.2024(5-iii)08.

N. Adiyani and N. Hidayati, “ChatGPT vs. Human Translators: Can AI Replace Language Experts?,” vol. 9, pp. 13528–13537, 2025.

S. A. Nabih, “Machine vs. Human Translation: The Traduction of Cultural Issues in Children’s Literature as Represented in H.C. Anderson and J.K. Rowling,” CDELT Occas. Pap. Dev. English Educ., vol. 90, no. 1, pp. 309–326, 2025, doi: 10.21608/opde.2025.445071.

A. Arjmandpour, “Human versus AI in Literary Translation : Rendition of Cultural Nuances in Shahnameh,” 2025.

A. F. Albalawi and A.-Q. K. Abdul-Ghafour, “An investigation into human vs AI English translations of Qur’anic euphemisms,” Soc. Sci. Humanit. Open, vol. 13, no. May 2025, p. 102249, 2026, doi: 10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.102249.

B. Budimir, “The Challenge of Translating Culture-Specific Items: Evaluating MT and LLMs Compared to Human Translators,” Proc. Mach. Transl. Summit XX Vol. 1, vol. 1, pp. 455–467, 2025, [Online]. Available: https://aclanthology.org/2025.mtsummit-1.36/

B. S. Oni, “Cultural Nuances in Translation: AI vs Human Translators Author: Oni Samuel Boluwatife Publication Date: April, 2025,” 2025.

R. Al Rousan, R. Jaradat, and M. Malkawi, “ChatGPT translation vs. human translation: an examination of a literary text,” Cogent Soc. Sci., vol. 11, no. 1, p., 2025, doi: 10.1080/23311886.2025.2472916.

W. Yang and M. Yang, “models : a multidimensional quality assessment of,” pp. 1–11, 2026.

S. Dahlan, S. Dollah, S. Weda, L. Sunra, and ..., “AI and Human Interaction in Translation Education,” Celeb. J. …, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 221–236, 2025, [Online]. Available: https://harpressid.com/CJLS/article/view/259%0Ahttps://harpressid.com/CJLS/article/download/259/204

F. Cui, D. Li, and C. Zhuang, “Introduction: transforming translation education through Artificial Intelligence,” Interpret. Transl. Train., vol. 19, no. 3–4, pp. 227–233, 2025, doi: 10.1080/1750399X.2025.2561258.

K. Y. Lim and R. Darvin, “Critical digital literacies, generative AI, and the negotiation of agency in human-AI interactions,” System, vol. 136, no. October 2025, p. 103904, 2026, doi: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103904.

M. Abdullah, K. Alouzi, D. Ibrahim, M. Masuwd, and H. Albshkar, “Exploring Students ’ Perceptions of Literary Translation through ChatGPT : A Case Study at the Faculty of Languages and Translation , University of Zawia , Libya,” vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 11–18, 2026.

R. Aeni, L. Jaswadi Putera, and B. Zulandha Melani, “The accuracy of chatgpt in translating linguistics text in scientific journals,” Didakt. J. Ilm. PGSD FFKIP Univ. Mandiri, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 59–68, 2024, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.36989/didaktik.v10i1.2559

C. B. Sørensen, A. Gram-Hanssen, J. Rosenberg, and J. J. Baker, “Comparing ChatGPT-4 and Human Translation of an Outcome Questionnaire: A Randomized, Double-Blinded Non-inferiority Study,” Cureus, vol. 17, no. November 2022, pp. 1–12, 2025, doi: 10.7759/cureus.82525.

K. S. Tang, “AI-textuality: Expanding intertextuality to theorize human-AI interaction with generative artificial intelligence,” Appl. Linguist., no. April, pp. 1–19, 2025, doi: 10.1093/applin/amaf016.

M. Baker, In Other Words A coursebook on translation. Routledge, 1992.

C. R. Kothari, Research Methodology: Method and Techniques, Second Edi. Jaipur, India: New Age International Publishers, 2004.

T. N. Fitria, “Translation Technique of English to Indonesian Subtitle in ‘Crazy Rich Asian’ Movie,” ELS J. Interdiscip. Stud. Humanit., vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 51–65, 2020.

S. & M. B. Miles, Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook. Thousand Oaks: CA Sage, 2014.