商标翻译的定性研究英语论文

发布时间：2018-09-20 01:59:31 来源：文档文库

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Qualitative Research on Trademark Translation

论文方向：翻译学

指导老师：

Submitted to English Department

Of Foreign Languages School of Shandong University

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement

For the Degree of Bachelor of Arts

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October 3, 2011

Abstract

This article is about the qualitative research on trademark translation with comparing English trademark and Chinese translation on advertisement. This article summarizes five characteristics of trademark translation, i.e., equivalence, brevity, attractiveness, association and creativity. This article also summarizes four principles of trademark translation including harmony principle, inductive principle, principle of effectiveness and aesthetic principle as well as four methods of trademark translation, which is composed of the method of Chinese Pinyin, the method of transliteration, the method of paraphrase, the combination of transliteration and paraphrase.

Key words: English trademark; translation; consumers

中文摘要

本文通过对比英文商标及其中文翻译，对商标的翻译作出定性分析。文章总结了商标翻译的五个特征，即等效性、简洁性、吸引性、联想性及创新性；概括出了商标翻译的四个原则，即协调性原则、归纳性原则、实效性原则、美感原则；归纳出了商标翻译的四种方法，即汉语拼音法、音译法、意译法和音义结合法。

关键词：英文商标；翻译；消费者

Introduction

The human society has entered the 21st century. The international trade is developing fast, causing the increasing commercial cooperation and the commodity import and export. The trademark is playing an important role in the matter whether the foreign product can occupy the market. The translated trademark is the second name of commodity in other countries. It is not only a logo but also a lure, which is to attract consumers and sell commodities. A good trademark translation may bring an enterprise huge wealth, whereas a bad one may let an enterprise suffer great loss. Therefore, an enterprise’s future is closely linked to trademark translation. Evidently, the trademark translation has become more and more practical and essential. This article will give us a qualitative study on the trademark translation.

Chapter Ⅰ. Brief Introduction of Trademark

Trademark is a symbol of goods. It is a product of the development of commodity economy. Commodity producer and operator take it as a significant mark to make their own goods distinguish from other commodities. It is the significant features of the concentration of goods as well as the core of culture of goods. Trademark is usually regarded as the simplified names of companies. It becomes the symbol of a company as long as it appears. As the bridge between producer and consumers, trademark has become a powerful weapon with which the company can participate in the international competition. A good trademark should be rich in content, and can reflect the characteristics of products; A good trademark should be easy to remember, easy to be read, easy to be understood, and vivid; A good trademark should be selling points of commodities, which can arouse the consumers’ desire to buy them. Trademark is one of the effective ways to help enterprises to publicize their company identity and better sell their commodities.

With the globalization of economic development, the international trade has become into a very critical power for promoting the economy development of the whole world. Now, the trademark translation is inevitable if the product is expected to enter international market.

Along with the acceleration of the economic globalization, especially with China's entry into the World Trade Organization, more and more Chinese have realized the importance of good trademark translations. A good translation of a trademark can bring millions of dollars’ difference in the product’s sells record. It cannot be denied that sells records and profits are important for the manufacturer. However, a more important significance for a good trademark translation lies in the fact that the name of the product is conducive to the promoting of the product, the enhancing of its fame and competitiveness as well as the cracking down of the counterfeits.

For one specific product, its trademark is of great importance. When various kinds of commodities go global, their names travel with them as well. As the trade of commodities expands, trademarks of certain products have become very famous and some successful ones gradually get recognized by the whole world. A foreign trademark, no matter how much fame they enjoy globally, will be difficult for Chinese consumers to accept if it does not have an impressive translation into Chinese.

The translation of trademark is a kind of intercultural communication, and it should cross the cultural boundary of the target language and conform to people's aesthetic psychology. A successful translation of the trademark should not only transfer its information concerning the commodity or service, but also transfer its cultural significance to the audience in the target culture. This applies particularly to culture-loaded trademarks that have different mental associations in different cultures. According to the principle of the functional equivalence, the translated trademark should achieve a perfect linguistic unity among pronunciation, form and meaning.

Chapter Ⅱ. The Characteristics of Trademark Translation

Compared with other translation, the trademark translation has its own characteristics, which is closely linked to the characteristics of trademark itself. In general, after being translated from English to Chinese, the trademark usually has the characteristics bellows.

2.1 Equivalence

The trademark must be translated in accordance with the aim that original context wants to be achieve both in form and content. The famous theorist of the US, Nida, who introduced the theory “the principle of equivalence”, pointed out that each language has its own characteristics. To take part in communication activities, we must respect the characteristics of language. A very fruitful translator is the man who not just imposes the language structure on another language simply, but the man who is ready to make adjustment for necessary change and reproduce the information. In his opinion, the aim of translated context must conform the original one especially in the information of content, form and express the style, the culture of language, and the customs of society. According to the theory, the pronunciation, the meaning, the form of translated trademark should correspond with that of the original trademark. In another word, the translated one must have the ability to produce the same or approximate functions of the original trademark.

2.2 Brevity

Generally speaking, a translated trademark is brief and to the point. A long trademark is not easy to remember. From the angle of psychology of consumption, a long trademark has bad influence on the buy of consumers to some extent. The translated trademark usually has four Chinese characters at most. Some syllables should be deleted if the original one has more than four syllables. Some trademarks don’t have too many syllables and are easy to pronounce. In that case, although we can translate every syllable of it, the Chinese after being translated is long. We also have to delete some of them. Taking “Metersbonwe” for example, we usually call it “美邦” instead of “美特斯邦威” because “美邦” is easier for us to remember and the consumers are more likely to buy it. American beer “Budweiser” is translated into “百威” instead of “百德威斯” because “百威” is attractive and brief. What makes “百威” popular is that it shows us that people will be energetic and powerful after drinking it. “Bausch & Lomb” was translated into “鲍蒂布龙”, but”博士伦” is more popular because it expresses the information that people with this glasses is like a doctor.

2.3 Attractiveness

The trademark is a special kind of languages. It is the concentration of commodities’ distinct characteristics, and the core of commodities’ culture. It is the lure to attract consumers and sell commodities. Therefore, attractiveness becomes another important characteristic of trademark translation. Whether a trademark translation is successful or not is conditional to the condition whether it has attracted consumers to buy commodities. If a translated trademark cannot promote the sales of commodities, the translation of trademark is a failure. Trademark translation is not just a process of translating trademark from one language to another language simply, but a process of expressing the culture of one commodity, and attracting consumers with its unique charm. For example, Colgate, named after the founder Colgate, has no attractiveness at all. But the translated trademark “高露洁” is good enough to draw the attention of consumers because “洁” presents the advantage of this product. Another, “Head & Shoulder” means “头发与肩膀”. The designer wants to show the clean hair after using this product. The translation “海飞丝” expresses the information rightly.

2.4 Association

Translators flexibly use Chinese characters according to the pronunciation and content of the original trademark, aiming to arouse endless associated sense. For example, “Coca Cola” is translated into “可口可乐”. In fact, the trademark “Coca Cola” doesn’t have any sense itself. But after being translated into Chinese, the consumers have known that it is a kind of drink with good taste. That is the application of association. Another example is “Pentium”. The trademark “Pentium” was chosen from 3300 suggestions. “Pent” means “five” in Greek and “ium” is the suffix of a chemical element. ”Pentium” expresses the extraordinary ability of the 5th generation of CPU. Seeing the translation “奔腾”, we naturally think of the fast horse. That is the right thing the trademark wants to show to consumers－the CPU can run as fast as the running horse.

2.5 Creativity

Trademark translation stands on the original context but not stick to it. Translators make an issue of selling point, making the translation have nothing in common. But the translators can usually justify themselves through the translation which looks absurd. That is the characteristic of creation. For example, “Mall Ball’ is translated into “顺牌” though there is by no means anything in common between them. “Ball” sounds like “波” and “Mall” like “殁”. “Ball Mall” is”波泊浪殁”is this way meaning the sea calms down, so the ships can run smoothly. That is what we called “一帆风顺”, thus coming the “顺牌”. “Kieldsens” of Denmark was not translated into “奇新” when introduced into Chinese market, but named after the package “蓝罐”, thus winning appreciation. This translation embodies the creativity of translator. Moreover, they regard the blue cans as the selling point aiming at the Chinese market of gifts, thus making great success.

Chapter Ⅲ. The Principles of Trademark Translation

A successful trademark translation both must retain the original text the essence and must conform to consumer's purchase psychology simultaneously. That is to say, the translated trademark must have same level effect with the original text and must give dual attention to the cultural difference of English and Chinese so as to satisfy the need of Chinese consumers.

3.1 Harmony Principle of Trademark Translation

As is mentioned in Chapter Ⅰ, equivalence is one of the most important characteristics in trademark translation. It is the core in the western translation theory. The equivalence character plays a decisive role in the process of forming the harmony principle. The influence which the translated works gives us should be identical with the influence which the original context gives its first audience. That is “Harmony Principle”. The principle of harmony is suitable for trademark best. According to the principle, the translated trademark should be read easily, pleasant to hear and good-looking. It must be the perfect unit of the tone, form and meaning. Cosmetic “Clean & Clear” means clean and fresh. The information of the original is that if you use this product, your skin will be clean and fresh. If it is translated into “干净清爽”,the comfortable feel which it gives us may disappear. However, “可伶可俐” is perfect because it makes consumers be associated with the clear and bright girls. In this example, we can easily see the harmonious relationship between the information of translated trademark and that of the original one.

3.2 Inductive Principle of Trademark Translation

The goal of trademark is drawing the attention of consumers, taking consumers’ demand, stimulating consumer's purchase desire, and finally serving with the purchase behavior. Inductive principle of trademark should be regarded as the soul of trademark translation. For example, “Pampers” is the product of P&G of America. It has the meaning of “娇养”. In another word, it expresses the love for babies. The translated trademark “帮宝适” completely gives us the information that this product is fit for babies and good for babies. “Polaroid” ,which is translated into “拍立得”, means that you can get the picture as long as you take pictures. “拍立得” also has this meaning, thus expressing the unique characteristic of the product. Another example is “Nike”, the famous sports shoes in America. The original meaning is always being successful. The translator translated it into “耐克” with the meaning of sturdy and durable and winning.