浅谈品牌翻译(Translation of Brand Names)

ON TRANSLA TION OF BRAND NAMES浅谈品牌翻译A thesis paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirementsFor the degree ofBachelor of Arts in EnglishABSTRACTThe 21st century is the age of economic globalization. The export and import of domestic and overseas products become much more frequent. Therefore the translation of brand names shows its great importance in helping the transnational companies to open new markets on foreign lands. A successful version will, to a large extent, improve the brand image among customers. Though many companies have realized the significance of brand name translation, some problems still exist today like abusing pinyin, over-complexity and neglecting cultural association. To avoid these mistakes, translators are required to get familiar with the basic theories in translating brand names. Generally speaking, there hasn’t been systematic study on translation of brand names. But some scholars like Nida and Newmark have ever established their theories in this area. On the basis of their theories, some main translating methods are introduced in this article. They are transliteration, literal translation, free translation, combining transliteration and free translation, and transference. All of them have their own advantages and disadvantages, so translators should make cautious use of them when translating brand names. To reflect the best effect of advertising, the translation should stick to principles of concision, equivalence and association. At last, the conclusion is reached that the standard of how good the translation is lies in how successfully the version achieves the advertising function. So with the purpose of attracting customers, translators should produce the most suitable versions by studying customers’ psychology and aesthetic appreciation.Key Words: Globalization, functionalism, problems, practical translation, equivalence摘要二十一世纪是全球经济一体化的时代，国内外商品的进出口日益频繁。

因此，对于跨国公司而言，品牌翻译在开发国外新市场上起着举足轻重的作用。

而一个成功的翻译可以在很大程度上帮助公司提升其在消费者心目中的品牌形象。

虽然许多公司已经意识到了品牌翻译的重要性，但是如今的品牌翻译还是存在着很多问题，比如说过分依赖拼音翻译，过于复杂拗口以及忽略文化联想。

为了避免出现这些错误，译者因当先熟悉一些基础的翻译理论。

总体而言，迄今为止还未有针对品牌翻译的系统研究。

但一些象奈达和纽马克的学者曾提出过相关的理论。

从而在他们的理论基础上，本文将介绍五种主要的品牌翻译方法。

这些方法有其各自的优势与缺点，所以译者因当谨慎选择适当的翻译方法。

而为了充分发挥品牌的广告效应，译文应当遵循简洁，等价以及联想。

最后得出结论，品牌翻译优劣取决于译文是否充分发挥了品牌的广告功能。

因此，本着吸引顾客的目的，译者应当通过研究顾客的心理与审美来制定最佳的译本。

关键词：全球一体化，问题,功能论，实用翻译，等价TABLE OF CONTENTS1. Introduction (1)2. The Existing Problems in Translation of Brand Names (1)2.1 Excessive Dependence on Pinyin (1)2.2 Over-complexity (2)2.3 Neglecting Cultural Association (2)3.Basic theories (3).4. Methods of Translating Brand names (4)4.1 Transliteration (4)4.2 Literal Translation (5)4.3 Free Translation (6)4.4 Combining Transliteration and Free Translation (6)4.5 Transference (7)5. Conclusion (8)Bibliography (9)1. Introduction:With the globalization of economy, the bilateral trades between countries in the fields of service and products become even more frequent in the 21st century. So on the one hand, more and more foreign products are swarming into our country; on the other hand, more and more domestic products are making efforts to enter the international market. To gain a high reputation among foreign customers, transnational corporations must try their best to establish a good image first. There are many ways to admire this goal. Apart from the ways of intensifying advertising, improving quality and perfecting service system, introducing a good brand image into a foreign market is of great significance. Nowadays, brand not only stands for the image of company but also for the quality of products. So for a transnational company, how successful the translation of brand names is directly determines whether their products will survive the heated competition in a foreign market.A successful translation of brand names will draw potential customers’interest in products and inspire their desire of buying. In other words, it should have the same advertising effect or at least the closest effect on target customers as the original brand names do. Here I will mainly discuss about how to produce the good translation of brand names.2. The existing problems in translation of brand namesThe translation of brand names is satisfactory by and large, but there still exist some problems.2.1 Excessive dependence on pinyinThis problem mainly exists in the translation of Chinese brand names. Since pinyin can be applied to all the Chinese characters, many Chinese companies simply adopt pinyin as the English brand names for their products. But pinyin is often composed of individual English letters, which neither match western habit of pronunciation nor convey exact information. As a result, foreign customers will fell confused about the brand and then suspect the quality of the product. Unfortunately, many of our famous brand names are translated in this way. For example, our well-known toothpaste “中华”is simply translated into “Zhong Hua”. Few western customers like the brand name starting with“Z”for it’s hard to pronounce. What’s worse, with no idea of pinyin, they will be totally confused. So Chinese companies should make cautious use of pinyin in translation of brand names.2.2 Over-complexityThis problem appears more in the translation of English brand names. Many English brands are named after their founders, and there are no exact meanings themselves, so many of them are translated into Chinese according to their English pronunciation. Then the problem of over-complexity arises. Take the translation of “McDonald’s” for example, the previous version was “麦克唐纳”, which seemed too complex for Chinese customers. Owing to the phonological preference, Chinese people admire brand names with two or three characters. That’s the reason why the latest translation of “麦当劳” is more popular than that of “麦克唐纳”. So generally speaking, the brand names with more than three characters really challenge Chinese customers’memory and preference. Translator must keep the principle of concision in mind.2.3 Neglecting cultural associationTranslation of brand names is one of the important branches of inter-cultural translation, which demands a great amount of attention on the two different kinds of cultures. That means when two cultures conflict, the translation must be in accordance with the target culture. But many companies just neglect this point. There is a famous Chinese battery called “白象”, which enjoys high reputation in the Chinese market for the “象” stands for power and stamina. So according to its meaning, “白象” is translated into “white elephant”. It proves to be a big mistake for in western culture white elephant means useless encumbrance. Thus the western customers will easily associate this battery with uselessness and low quality. It can be imagined how poor the sales of this battery will be in the foreign market.All of these problems indicate that translation of brand names is really a tough task, which asks for the study on every kind of related subject including Linguistics, Psycholinguistics, Economics, Consumer Psychology and Aesthetics etc. To produce thesuccessful version, translators should follow the principles of brand name translation.3. Basic TheoriesStrictly speaking, there hasn’t been a systematic study on translation of brand names up to now. But in view of the features of brand name translation, it can be classified into pragmatic translation also called practical translation. This kind of translation covers almost all the fields in our life except literature. And the widely recognized theory is the functionalism. “Functionalism means focusing on function or functions of texts and translation (Nord, 2001: 33).”According to the main features of language, Newmark (1998: 152) classifies texts into three types, expressive text, informative text and vocative text. “Among them, vocative text centers on the readership and aims at calling upon readers to act, to think to feel and finally to react in the way intended by the text.”The texts like notices, direction booklets, advertisements and brand names are all this type.To translate this text-type, Nida develops the theory of dynamic equivalence, which is later called functional equivalence. In his theory Nida speaks highly of the closest natural equivalence.Dynamic equivalence is therefore to be defined in terms of the degree to which the reporters of the message in the receptor language respond to it in substantially the same manner as the receptors in the source language. This response can never been identical, for the cultural and historical settings are too different, but there should be a high degree of equivalence of response, or the translation will have failed to accomplish its purpose (Nida, 1969: 56).That means once the cultural equivalence in form can’t be achieved for the cultural gaps between two languages, the closest natural equivalence must be guaranteed to carry out the function of text. So in the course of translating brand names, we should apply these theories into practice.4. Methods of translating brand namesBefore the introduction of commonly used ways to translate brand names, let’s firsttake a brief look at the main kinds of brand names. The first kind is proper words that usually come from the names of people or places like “V ersace”and “Columbia”. The second one is common words including adjectives or verbs, etc. like “Comfort”and “General”. The third one is coined words that are especially like “Lenovo”and “Panasonic”. As to the commonly used methods of translating brand names, there are five kinds: transliteration, literal translation, free translation, combining transliteration and free translation, and transference. Generally speaking, the strategies of translation vary with the different types of brand names. But to achieve the advertising function, translators can determine the most effective way of translation. Here I will make a detailed analysis of these 5 methods.4.1 TransliterationMartell 马爹利Haagen-Dazs 哈根达斯Rolls Royce 劳斯莱斯Adidas 阿迪达斯Swarovski 施华骆世奇海尔Haier容声Rongsheng 春兰Chunlan长虹Changhong 爱国者AigoTransliteration means translate the brand names according to their pronunciation and this method is usually used in translating the brands names which are composed of proper or coined words. Since these two kinds of brand names have no exact meanings, the purpose of translation is not to convey the specific information to customers but to keep the original image of brands. So one of the advantages of this method is that customers can easily feel some exotic elements. Then their curiosity and interest will be aroused. The brand of women’s dress “Lashebell”is translated into “拉莎贝尔”. This version fully displays an exotic image of brand to the Chinese customers. And another important advantage is helping to reflect a sense of high taste and quality. Take the famous brand of crystal “Swarovski” for example, it is translated into “施华骆世奇”. Though it seems too complicated for Chinese customers to remember, this version successfully conveys a sense of luxury. Thus its customers can easily perceive the fashionable and luxurious elements through thetranslation.Though transliteration can maintain the original imagine of brand, translator still should make cautious use of this method, because misuse of it will result in over-complexity. For instance, the British medicine brand “Astra Zenela”is even translated into “阿斯特拉捷利安”. Obviously, this complex version is rather beyond people’s ability to remember. As for the translation of Chinese brand names, over-dependence on pinyin must be avoided.4.2 Literal translationTiger 虎牌Jaguar 美洲虎Shell 壳牌Play Boy 花花公子Mercury 水星蜂花Bee & Flower 小护士MiniNurse小天鹅Little Swan 长城Great Wall诺亚舟NoahLiteral translation means translate the brand names according to their literal meanings. So this method is usually used in translating the brand names composed of common words which have exact meanings. In most cases, the source brand names have already indicated the integrated information about the products, including their functions and features. So the biggest advantage of literal translation is conveying the products’ information to the target customers in a direct and intelligible way. For example, the Chinese wine “皇朝”is directly translated into “Dynasty”. Since in both Chinese and western culture, dynasty indicate an idea of glory and authority, customers will associate this wine with high quality. Thus the translation successfully conveys this favorable association to the target customers.Generally speaking, as long as there are corresponding words in both languages, literal translation can be adopted. However, special attention must be paid to analyzing whether the two kinds of culture have something in common. Otherwise, the translation will prove to be a failure. The brand of bicycle “凤凰”is directly translated into “phoenix”. Though in China “凤凰”means luck and happiness, phoenix stands for evil and violence in western countries. The western customerswill surely reject this brand. In a word, literal translation is not always feasib le for translating brand names in common word. When the two culture conflicts with each other, translators should alter their ways of translating flexibly.4.3 Free translationRejoice 飘柔Spark 雪佛兰Avon 雅芳Olay 玉兰油神舟Hasee 千岛湖Evian 明基BenQ 宏基AccerFree translation means translating brand names neither phonetically nor literally. This method is adopted to foster favorable association once the original brand names cannot fully reflex the functions and features of products. To this extent, this kind of translation is so-called renaming original brand in the target language. So free translation features creation and innovation. For example, the original name of “飘柔”is “rejoice”. In fact, “rejoice”is a common adjective, which has the corresponding word in Chinese language. However, in hope of indicating the function of product, the translator abandons the literal translation, but tries to rename the brand instead. The version of “飘柔”succeeds in leaving the first impression onto the customers that this product will make their hair soft and silky.But before determining to use this method, translators should take some risks into consideration. Since the original brand names have already enjo yed a high reputation in the market, the renaming of them will probably unfamiliarize the original brands. Thus translators really run the risk of losing established brand effect.4.4 Combing transliteration and free translationLock Lock 乐扣乐扣Homemaker 好美家Tide 汰渍Pampers 帮宝适捷安特Giant真维斯Jeanswest 昂立Only美佳净MaxamRevlon 露华浓海信Hisens This method is the combination of transliteration and free translation, so it also the combines the advantages of these two methods. And the primary advantage of this method is connecting the exotic style of pronunciation with the favorable association perfectly. Therefore it has become the most widely used method in brand name translation. Usually, this method can produce a perfect effect of advertising. Take the famous brand of baby’s products “Johnson”for example, its Chinese version is “强生” rather than “约翰森”. The translation of “强生”not only keeps the original pronunciation but also produces a favorable association for Chinese customers who will subconsciously connect its products with vigor and vitality. But the version of “约翰森” fails to produce such effect.Then, translators should also give priority to the cultural settings in target language. That means on the basis of correspondence in pronunciation, the choice of words should match with the target customers’ aesthetic appreciation. For example, Chinese customers prefer commendatory terms like “美”,“佳”, “吉” or “富” etc. so it’s crucial for translators to choose appropriate words not only phonetically but also culturally proper. For example, a famous brand of toffee “Candbury”is translated into “吉百利”. This version high accords with Chinese customers’aesthetic appreciation, because “吉” “百”and “利”in Chinese stand for fortunateness, satisfaction and propitiousness.4.5 Transference (Zero Translation):LV = Louis VuittonIBM = International Business MachineA&F = Abercrombie & FitchGE = General ElectricDEC = Digital Equipment CompanyNEC = Nippon Electric CompanyTransference also called zero translation means transplanting the original brand names into the target language without translating. This method is mostly used in translating abbreviated brand names. This kind of brand names has already been in the abbreviated form, which is composed of the first letters of the full name. Forexample, “LV”is the abbreviated name of “Louis Vuitton”. Thus in order to keep the concise of original brand names, the strategy of zero translation is quite feasible.Then the problem of this translating method lies in that some target customers with little related knowledge in the source language will find difficulty in cognizing and accepting the brands. For instance, our last generation who never received the education in language learning will probably fail to remember the brand names like IBM, SKII or AMD, etc. The direct transference of source brand names will, to some extent, block the popularity of products in a foreign market. So to produce the best effect of advertising, translators must deal with the problem of how to make proper use of this translating method.5. ConclusionNowadays, the economic globalization is proceeding at an unprecedented speed while the amount of exports and imports is increasing year after year. In this situation, the significance of brand name translation becomes even greater. A successful translation will be of great help for a company to open a new market. And as an important branch of practical translation, the translation of brand names aims at attracting target customer s’ attention, arousing their buying desire and finally promoting sales. To achieve the advertising function of brand names, it is required that the version should stick to the principles of concision, equivalence and association. Then according to these principles, translations are supposed to choose the most suitable translating methods. But it’s really a difficult process for translators must compare different versions before making the final decision. However, there is no exact standard of best translation. Maybe, the best standard is how successfully the version helps to draw target customers’attention. So translators are required to make particular analysis of target customers’psychology and aesthetic appreciation.BIBLIOGRAPHYNewmark, P. 1998. A Textbook of Translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Teaching Press.Nida, E. 1969. The Theory and Practice of Translation. Leiden: E. J. Brill.Nord, C. 2001. Translating as a Purposeful of Translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Teaching Press.包惠南(Bao, Huinan), 2003, 《文化语境与语言翻译》，北京：中国对外翻译出版公司。