论英文广告中双关语的翻译.docx

论英文广告中双关语的翻译.docx

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论英文广告中双关语的翻译

摘要

广告英语作为一种应用语言，有着自己独特的语言特点和风格。

广告英语用词优美，句法简洁却内涵丰富，修辞变化多端，耐人寻味，以最简单的语言表达最复杂的意义，语言的魅力在广告中得以充分的展示。

广告旨在于打动人心，激发人们的购买欲，一字一句都需要充分发挥它的魅力和产品所要表达的商业目的。

因此，广告商挖空心思地追求新的创意，在广告中运用丰富的双关语。

巧妙的双关能使语言含蓄、幽默、生动、机智，起到旁敲侧击、借题发挥的作用，能很好的突出广告的特点，因而在广告中得到大量应用。

本文从同音双关、谐音双关、一词异义双关、一词多义双关几个方面对双关语在英语广告中的运用作了阐述；同时也运用契合译法、分别表义法、套译法、侧重翻译法和补偿法等对英语广告双关语的翻译作了些探讨。

关键词：

英语广告；双关语；翻译技巧

ABSTRACT

Asanappliedlanguage,advertisingEnglishhasitsownspecificlanguagestyleandfeatures.Withappealingdictions,succinctsentencestructures,richconnotationandvarieduseofrhetoricdevices,advertisementssurprisinglygivefullplaytothecharmoflanguage,usingthesimplestlanguagetoexpressthemostcomplexmeanings.Advertisementsaimtostimulatepeople’sdesireforshopping.Therefore,manufacturerswracktheirbrainstobecreativewiththeuseofrichpuns.Theartfuluseofsuchrhetoricaldevicesmakesadvertisementsconnotative,humorous,vividandwitty—impressiveinaroundaboutway.Thuspunbecomeswidelyandfrequentlyusedtoachievepurposedeffectsofadvertisements.Thisarticleaimstoelaborateonthevariousformsofpunssuchashomophonicpun,paronomasia,antalaclasisandsyllepsis,andtoprobeintosomecommontechniquesoftranslatingEnglishpunsinadvertisementssuchasfittranslation,semantictranslation,setstranslation,prioritytranslation,andcompensationtranslation.

Keywords：

Englishadvertisements;pun;translationtechniques

Contents

1．Introductionofpun1

1.1Thedefinitionandfeaturesofpun1

1.2Classificationofpun2

2.FunctionofpunsinEnglishadvertisement3

2.1Rhetoricfunction3

2.2Pragmaticfunction4

3.TranslationofpunsinEnglishadvertisement4

3.1TheimportanceofpuntranslationinEnglishadvertisement4

3.2Delabastita'stheoryfortranslatingpuns5

3.2.1ThecommentonDelabastita'smethodfortranslatingpuns5

3.2.2TranslationmethodsofpunsonbasisofDelabastita'stheory6

3.3TranslatingtechniquesofpunsinEnglishadvertisement6

3.3.1Fittranslation（契合译法）7

3.3.2Semanticdifference（分别表义法）7

3.3.3Setstranslation（套译法）8

3.3.4Prioritytranslation（侧重译法）9

3.3.5Compensationtranslation（补偿译法）10

4．Conclusion11

Acknowledgements12

References13

1．Introductionofpun

Punisoneoftheancienttrope,whichisnowwidelyusedasarhetoricalmeansinadvertisements,literatureanddrama.Itisdefinedas"thehumoroususeofawordorwordsthatareformedorsoundedalikebuthavedifferentmeaningsinsuchawayastoplayontwoormoreofthepossibleapplications"[1].Sincepuncontainscomicandrakishlanguagestylewhichputtheadvertisementintothemostsuitablelanguageenvironment,manyadvertiserswouldliketochoosethepunasthemostimportantwayofexpressioninadvertisementssothattheycanbemorepersuasiveandtouching.However,somediscrepancybetweendifferentcultureandlanguagessometimesmakespununtranslatable.Forallthesereasons,punbecomesthemostcharmingbuthardnuttocrack.

1.1Thedefinitionandfeaturesofpun

PunisdefinedinLongmanDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguageas"awitticism,involvingtheuseofawordwithmorethanonemeaning,orofwordshavingthesame,ornearlythesamesoundbutdifferentmeaning"[2].InthebookADetailedStudyofFiguresofSpeechinEnglish,ProfessorLiXinhuahasconcludedthatpunhastwoessentialfeatures.Thefirstessentialfeatureofpunisambiguity."Nomatterwiththesamesoundorthesamespelling,whatapunwantstoconveyisthedifferenceinsteadofthesamenessinmeaning"[3].Indailycommunication,peoplearetryingtoavoidthepresenceofambiguity.However,punattachesmuchimportancetoambiguity.Itexpressesaddressers’intendedmeaningwithliterarymeaningtogether.Anothercharacteristicisthatapuncontainsadoublecontext.Itiseasytounderstandthatapunisaformofwordgameinwhichawordorphraseunexpectedlyandsimultaneouslycombinestwounrelatedmeanings.Ofcourse,everymeaninghasitsowncontext.ProfessorArchibaldA.Hillpointsoutthat"therearethreeelementsinanalyzingandcomposingapun:

adoublecontext,ahingeandatrigger"[4].Ahingeisthepunitself,andatriggerreferstotheintentionandbackgroundthatliesbehindthepuns.

1.2Classificationofpun

AsXuZhongbing（China）statesinTheVarietiesandTranslationofEnglishPuns:

"puncanberoughlydividedintotwoparts.Theyarenamedparonomasiaandantalaclasis[5]".Paronomasiaalwaysinvolvestwowords,whicharesimilarinpronunciationbutdifferentinmeaning.Asforantalaclasis,itreferstothesamewordwhichisusedtwiceormore,buteachtimeitcontainsdifferentmeaning,accordingtoEnglishWritingandRhetoricwrittenbyProf.WenJun,amorespecificapproachofclassificationisconcluded..Itclassifiesfourcategoriesofpun,thatis,homophonicpun,paronomasia,antalaclasisandsyllepticpun.

Homophonicpunistheuseofwords,whichareidenticalinpronunciationbutdifferentinspellingsandmeanings.Forexample,

（1）"Makeyoureveryhelloarealgood-buy"（telephoneadvertisement）.Here"buy"remindspeopletheimageof"buy"and"good-bye".Theadvertisertriestocatchthecustomerseyesandassurethatthepurchaseoftheirtelephoneissensible..

Paronomasiainvolvestwowordswhichhavesimilarpronunciationbutdifferentmeanings.Asthebeneficialadvertisementsaysthat

（2）"Drunkdriversoftenputthequartbeforethehearse".Here"quart"hassimilarpronunciationas"cart",while"hearse"hassimilarpronunciationas"horse"."quart"isavesselforalcoholand"hearse"isacarriagespeciallyusedforconveyingthedeadtothegrave.Thispunisusedtowarnthedriversthatdrunkdrivingisdangerousandtoremindthemoftheimportanceofsafedriving.

Antalaclasisreferstoawordusedtwiceormore,buteachtimewithadifferentmeaning.Forexample,（3）"Youneedthestrongestlineofdefenseagainstgumdisease"（advertisementofJNJdentalfloss）.It'sacommonsensethatdentalflosscankeepteethcleanandhealthybydefendingagainstgumdisease.Here"line"referstoboththematerialofdentalflossandthedefensivelineagainstgumdisease.

Syllepticpunissimilartoantalaclasis,butthewordisusedasapunonlyoncewithtwoormoredifferentmeanings.Withsyllepticpuns,theadvertisementcanconveytheinformationinfewerwords.Forexample,（4）"moneycannotbegrownontreesbutitblossomsatourbranches".ThisistheadvertisementforLloydBankinBritain."Branch"isapunandhastwomeanings:

oneisinagreementwith"trees"inthefirstsentence,meaning"thearmofatree";theothermeaningis"divisionandsubsidiarybank".ThebanksmartlywarnsconsumersthatmoneycannotbegainedfromtreesbutcanbeincreasedcontinuouslyoncetheysavemoneyinLloydBank.

2.FunctionofpunsinEnglishadvertisement

Whilethequalitiesofadvertisementsareevaluated,thefollowingvaluesareusuallytakenintoconsideration:

informationvalue,attentionvalue,aestheticvalueandmemoryvalue[6].Informationvalueisthemostimportantofthefour.Onlywhenanadvertisementinformsreadersofthedetailsofproducts,suchasquality,packageandusecanmakeconsumersremembertheproductsorbewillingtobuythem.Otherwise,thepotentialconsumersareeasytobeattractedbyotherproductswithsimilartopicsandcontents.Aestheticvaluecancreatethesenseofbeauty,whichcansometimedeterminewhethertheadvertisementwillsucceed.Theabovethreevaluesturnthememoryvalueintoreality:

toattracttheconsumers'eyes,tofulfillthepurposeoftheadvertisement,andabovealltopersuadeconsumerstobuytheproducts.AdvertisersputpuninEnglishadvertisementbecausepunplaysanimportantroleinrhetoricandpragmaticareas.

2.1Rhetoricfunction

Fromtherhetoricpointofview,apunis"afigureofspeechwhichconsistsofsimilarwordsorphrasesforrhetoricaleffect,whetherhumorousorserious"[7].Thepunisbasicallyoneoftherhetoricdevicesthatcanfulfillthispurposeofattractingtheattentionofreaders.Apunissoimplicativethatitleavesreaderssomuchspaceforthoughtandassociation.Theconnectionbetweenthetworespectivewordsortheseveralrelevantmeaningconveyedbythesamewordisabletoenrichboththecontentandtheinfluenceoftheadvertisements.Oncethecontentofadvertisementisdistinctivewithhisownbrand,itwillbeeasyfortheconsumertoacceptandtrusttheproductstheadvertisementpromotes.Asforanadvertisement,onceattentionhasbeendrawnonit,itwillmerelybeamatteroftimeforconsumerstofallinlovewithit.Astheproverbsays:

“Abitinthemorningisbetterthannothingallday”.Punisirreplaceabletocatchthefirsteyeinadvertisements.Forexample:

（5）"Cockrefreshesyoulikenoothercan".Theword"can"maybecomprehendedliterallyas"aluminumtinusedtocontainliquid"whileitcanalsobeconsideredasamodalverb.Therefore,theadvertisementcanbeinterpretedintwoways:

"Cockrefreshesyousogreatlythatnootherdrinkscanrefreshyou"or"Cockisabletoprovideyouthenumberonerefreshmentthandoingotherthingscanachieve.Aboveall,thisadvertisementaimstostatethefunctionofcock—tobringpeoplethefeelingofdelightandrefreshment.

2.2Pragmaticfunction

Fromthepragmaticpointofview,theadvertisementwithpuncanprovideinformationsothattheaudiencecancometoknowthedetailsofproducts.Becausetheuseofpunscanstrengththeattentionvalueanddirectfunctionoftheadvertisinglanguage,theadvertisementwithpunsinspirestheaudiences'interestinreading.AccordingtoTanaka,thereasonwhyapuncancausetheinterestisthatitcancreateambi