A Study of Brand Name Translation in China中国品牌名称的翻译研究.docx
- 文档编号:27758541
- 上传时间:2023-07-04
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:12
- 大小:28.17KB
A Study of Brand Name Translation in China中国品牌名称的翻译研究.docx
《A Study of Brand Name Translation in China中国品牌名称的翻译研究.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《A Study of Brand Name Translation in China中国品牌名称的翻译研究.docx(12页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
AStudyofBrandNameTranslationinChina中国品牌名称的翻译研究
AStudyofBrandNameTranslationinChina
1.Introduction
WiththeaccelerationofeconomicglobalizationandChina’sentryintoWTO,moreandmoreChineseproductsarebeinglaunchedintotheinternationalmarket.Consequently,translatingChinesebrandnamessuccessfullyintoEnglishhasneverbeenmoreimperativeandvitalthantoday.ThetranslationofChinesebrandnamesisakindofinterculturalcommunication.Itinvolvessuchfactorsaslinguisticlaws,culturalpsychology,andaestheticvalues.Asuccessfultranslationofthebrandnameshouldnotonlytransfertheinformationconcerningthecommodityorservice,butalsotransferitsculturalsignificancetotheaudienceinthetargetculture.Thisappliesparticularlytoculture-loadedbrandnamesthathavedifferentmentalassociationsindifferentcultures.Accordingtotheprincipleoffunctionalequivalence,thetranslatedbrandnamesshouldachieveaperfectlinguisticunityamongsound,formandmeaning.Thispaper,takingNida'sfunctionalequivalenceasitsframework,attemptstostudytheproblemsthatareoftenencounteredintranslatingbrandnamesintoEnglishandsuggestwaystosolvethem.
2.Brandnamesandthetranslation
Brandname,anessentialcomponentofadvertising,isthepartofabrandthatcanbevocalized.Itis“anamegivenbyaproducertoaparticularproduct,bywhichitmayberecognizedfromamongalikeproductsmadebyotherproducers.”(LongmanContemporaryEnglish-ChineseDictionaryEnglish,1988)
Aimingtobuild,reinforce,and/orrepositionconsumers’perceptionofacertainbrand,brandnameshavethefollowingfourfunctions:
distinguishingproducts,providinginformation,ensuringguaranteeandstimulatingconsumption.Inordertobuildupagoodimageinthemarketandarousefavorableassociationsaswellaspurchasingdesireinthemindsoftheconsumers,brandnamesshouldhavethefollowingmajorcharacteristics:
shortinlengthandsweetness,sonorousanddistinct,elegantandapt,originalandnovel.
Translationisamorecomplexcommunicationthanthatwithinasinglelanguagebecauseitinvolvestwolanguages.(Jin&Nida,1984:
31)
Giventheuniquenessofbrandnamestranslation,thetranslatormustbefullyawareoftheculturalawareness,aestheticstandards,andconsumptionmodesofbothSLandTLreaders,andshouldkeepinthemindtheintentionoftheoriginalsoastotransferitsmessage(bothlinguisticandcultural)maximally,otherwise,“afailuretoreflectthespiritanddynamicsofthesourcedocumentisa‘mortalsin’”(Nida,1993)
Thetranslatorofbrandnamesshouldstriveforthefollowingtwoeffects:
(a)thetranslatedbrandnameshouldreflectthesemanticfeaturesoftheoriginalone;(b)thetranslatedbrandnameshouldhavethesameorsimilarfunctionastheoriginalone.
Thetranslatedbrandnameshouldbedelightfultotheeye,pleasanttotheear,easytoremember,aswellasbeaperfectunityofsound,form,andmeaning.Thatistoarousethesameinterestandpsychologicalempathyofthetargetconsumers,stimulatetheiraestheticenjoymentandconsumingdesire.Towardtheend,thetranslatorsmustserveasreceptorofthemessageintendedbythesourcesignandbethesourceofthemessageinthetargetlanguage.(Jin&Nida,1984:
31-50)
3.PrinciplesfortranslatingChinesebrandnames
Varioustranslationprincipleshavebeenproposed,suchastheinfluentialbutcontroversialcriterionof“faithfulness”,“expressiveness”and“elegance”(“信”,“达”,“雅”)asputforwardbyYanFuandtheprincipleoffunctionalequivalenceproposedbyNida.Consideringthefeaturesofbrandnames,particularlythefactthattheyaremostlycreatedtoperformsuchfunctionsasinformative,aestheticandvocativefunctions,thepresentpaperwillchieflydrawuponNida’sprinciple.
3.1Functionalequivalence
Aminimal,realisticdefinitionoffunctionalequivalenceisstatedas:
“Thereadersofatranslatedtextshouldbeabletocomprehendittothepointthattheycanconceiveofhowtheoriginalreadersofthetextmusthaveunderstoodandappreciatedit.”(Nida,1993:
118)
Anythinglessthanthisdegreeofequivalenceshouldbeunacceptable.Amaximal,idealdefinitioncouldbedefinedas“thereadersofatranslatedtextshouldbeabletounderstandandappreciateitinessentiallythesamemannerastheoriginalreadersdid.”(Nida,1993:
119)However,thisequivalenceisrarelyachievedinpractice.
ThisprincipleisobviouslyapplicabletoChinesebrandnamestranslation.Languagehassixbasicfunctions:
informative,vocative,aesthetic,expressive,phaticandmetalingual(Newmark,1988:
39).Theformerthreearemorecloselyrelatedtobrandnames.AsfarasChinesebrandnamesareconcerned,functionalequivalencemeansthattheEnglishrenderingsmustperformthesethreefunctionstothesame,oratleasttosimilarextentastheChinesebrandnamesdo.Forinformativeandvocativetexts,Newmark(1988:
47)proposescommunicativetranslation,which“attemptstoproduceonitsreadersaneffectascloseaspossibletothatobtainedonthereadersoftheoriginal.”(Newmark,1982:
39)
Moreover,anytranslationwithoutconsideringthefunctionmayleadtofailureincommunication.Boththemeaningandfunctionsofthesourcetextsshouldbetransferredintranslation.Consequently,Nidaclaims,“Judgingthevalidityofatranslationcannotstopwithacomparisonofcorrespondinglexicalmeanings,grammaticalclasses,andrhetoricaldevices.Whatisimportantistheextenttowhichreceptorscorrectlyunderstandandappreciatethetranslatedtext.”(Nida,1993:
116).
3.2Requirementsoffunctionalequivalence
Firstly,equivalenceininformativefunctionisrequired.Thisrequiresthattherenderingsmustbeabletoinformpeopleofthefunctions,characteristicsandvaluesoftheproductsastheoriginalbrandnamesdo.Forexample,“钻石”(watch)shouldbetranslatedinto“Diamond”ratherthan“Zuanshi”since“Diamond”hintstoEnglish-speakingpeoplethevalueofthiskindofwatchas“钻石”doestoChinesepeople,while“Zuanshi”doesnotperformthisinformativefunction.
Secondly,therenderingsshouldcreateasenseofbeautyeitherinformorincontexttothesameorsimilarextenttotheoriginalonessoastoachieveequivalenceinaestheticfunction.Toachievethispurpose,therenderingsshouldbeasbriefandsweetastheoriginal.Forinstance,theliteraltranslationof“报春花”into“SpringReportingFlower”isnotterseenough.Itwouldbebettertorenderas“SpringFlower”tokeepthesameaestheticfunction.SincemostChinesebrandnamesarepleasantinsoundandimage,theirEnglishrenderingshouldalsoachievethesameorsimilareffect.Take“康王”forexample,Itispronouncedas“KangWang”inChinese,whichcreatescertainphoneticbeautybyrhyming.ItsEnglishrendering“Kangking”soundssweetandagreestothementalityofthetargetaudience.Cultural-specificitemsandisthuscarriersofthesourceculture.“Wordsonlyhavemeaningsintermsoftheculturesinwhichtheyfunction”(Nida,1993:
110).Thecoreofthevocativefunctionisthereadership.Thevocativefunctionofbrandnamesmeansthattheycancalluponthereadershiptoact,thinkorfeel,infactto“react”inthewayintendedbythetext.(Newmark,1988:
41)TheChinesebrandname“芳芳”(lipstick),forexample,suggeststotheChinesereadershipabeautifulgirl.However,whenitistransliteratedinto“FangFang”,anunfavorableassociationwillariseonthepartofthetargetaudience,because“Fang”referstothepoisonoustoothofaserpent.Inthiscase,thevocativefunctionisnotrealized.
4.Culturalassociationsofbrandnamesandtranslatingproblems
4.1Culturalassociations
ThefamousBritishanthropologistE.B.Taylor(1871)definescultureas“acomplexwholethatincludesknowledge,belief,art,law,morals,customsandothercapabilitiesandhabitsacquiredbymanasamemberofsociety.”(Danesi&Perron,1999:
3)ThelateGermansociologistR.Fletcherdefinescultureinmoredetail:
The‘socialheritage’ofacommunity:
thetotalbodyofmaterialartifacts…,ofcollectivementalandspiritual‘artifacts’(systemsofsymbols,ideas,beliefs,aestheticperceptions,values,etc.)andofdistinctiveformsofbehaviorcreatedbyapeople…intheirongoingactivitieswithintheirparticularlife-conditions…transmittedfromgenerationtogeneration.”(SeeBullock&Trombley,1999:
191)
Sincecultureisoftencreatedbyapeopleintheirongoingactivitieswithintheirparticularlife-conditions,brandnames,whichobviouslyarepartofthecultureofapeople(inthissenserefersto“spiritual‘artifacts’”),frequentlytriggerdifferentaestheticperceptions(orassociations)andvaluesindifferentcultures.
Fromtheviewpointoflexicology,associativemeaningisthesecondarymeaningsupplementedtotheconceptualmeaning.Itdiffersfromtheconceptualmeaninginthatitisopen-endedandindeterminate.Itisliabletotheinfluenceofsuchfactorsasculture,experience,religion,geographicalregion,classbackground,education,etc.Incontrasttodenotativemeaning,connotativemeaning(ofwhichassociativemeaningisanessentialpart)referstotheovertonesorassociationssuggestedbytheconceptualmeaning.Forexample,mother,denotinga“femaleparent”,isoftenassociatedwith“love”,“care”,“tenderness”,“forgiving”,etc.Theseconnotationsarenotgiveninthedictionary,butassociatedwiththewordinactualcontexttoparticularreadersorspeakers.(张维友,1999:
87-88)
Translationmeansnotonlytranslatingliterally,butalsoconveyingthesameculturalassociations.ThustranslatorsshouldtranslatewithregardtotheTLcultureandtheSLculture.Fail
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- Study of Brand Name Translation in China中国品牌名称的翻译研究 China 中国 品牌 名称 翻译 研究
链接地址:https://www.bdocx.com/doc/27758541.html