功能对等理论视角下的商标翻译研究毕业论文

功能对等理论视角下的商标翻译研究毕业论文Contents摘要 (i)Abstract………………………………………………………….……. .i i Introduction……………………………………………………………1Chapter 1 Overview of Brand Names (2)1.1D e f i n i t i o n o f B r a n d N a m e s (2)1.2F o r m a t i o n o f B r a n d N a m e s (2)1.2.1P r o p e r N a m e s (3)1.2.2 Common Words (3)1.2.3C o i n e d W o r d s (4)1.3C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f B r a n dN a m e s (5)1.3. 1 Brevity (5)1.3. 2 Elegance (6)1.3. 3 Originality (7)1.4F u n c t i o n s o f B r a n d N a m e s (7)1.4.1I n f o r m a t i v eF u n c t i o n (8)1.4.2A e s t h e t i cF u n c t i o n (8)1.4.3E v o c a t i v eF u n c t i o n (10)Chapter 2 Functional Equivalence Theory and Brand Name Translation……………………………………...……… (12)2.1F u n c t i o n a lE q u i v a l e n c e (12)2.2C o n s i d e r a t i o n o f F a c t o r s i n B r a n d N a m e T r a n s l a t i o n……………1 32.2.1C o n s u m e r P s y c h o l o g y (13)2.2.2C u l t u r a lF a c t o r s (14)2.2.3A e s t h e t i cF a c t o r s (16)2.3 Application of Functional Equivalence in Brand NameTranslation (16)2.3.1E q u i v a l e n c e o f I n f o r m a t i v eF u n c t i o n…………………………1 62.3.2E q u i v a l e n c e o f A e s t h e t i cF u n c t i o n (17)2.3.3E q u i v a l e n c e o f E v o c a t i v eF u n c t i o n (18)Chapter 3 Methods Employed in Brand Name Translation (20)3.1L i t e r a l T ra ns la ti on (20)3. 2 Transliteration (21)3.3C o m b i n a t i o n o f L i t e r a l T r a n s l a t i o n a n d T r a n s l i t e r a t i o n…………2 3 3.4C r e a t i v eT r a n s l a t i o n (24)3.4.1A d d i t i o n o rD e l e t i o n (24)3.4.2 Blending (25)3.4.3 Acronym (26)3.4.4P u r p o s i v e M i s s p e l l i n g (26)Conclusion (27)Bibliography (28)AcknowledgementsIntroductionA brand name is a sign representing cultural characteristics of different nations, societies and times. It serves not only its expected functions of communication; it is also employed in a symbolic manner to identify a brand and its cultural origin. Today, well-known brand names have become cultural icons, and enjoy powerful advantages in the fierce competition. Brand names, as part of language, reflect the features of a certain nation, including the historical and cultural background, their attitudes towards life, and their life style and thinking pattern.Brand name translation is influenced by cultural elements which differentiate it from general translation. Brand name translation is of significance in the competitive market. Brand names mirror the culture of different countries, so cultural elements must not be ignored in the translating process. At present, with economic development and increasing international contact, the exchanges between different countries become more and more frequent. And trade surplus becomes an important part of our national economy. Propertranslation of brand names also becomes more and more important so as to promote the sales of goods and cultivate foreign markets.Chapter 1Overview of Brand Names1.1 Definition of Brand NamesA brand name refers to a specific name employed by a corporation to identify uniquely a product or its manufacturer, or a and its provider. （Li Guisheng，1996） It is quite often used interchangeably within “brand name”, although it is more correctly used to specifically denote written or spoken linguistic elements of any product. A legally protected brand name is called a proprietary name. A powerful brand name embodies a unique set of values and hence personality. A successfully designed brand name can bring about enormous value in a real sense, which is invisible wealth of a company. Therefore, brand name is of more and more importance in “gl obal village” and the right and suitable meaning of a brand can be an enduring advantage.1.2 Formation of Brand NamesFrom the perspective of the linguistic structures, brand names can be mainly divided into proper name brand names, thecommon word brand names and the coined word brand names.(He Chuansheng,1997) However, there are some similarities and differences in the formation of Chinese and English cosmetic brand names.1.2.1 Proper NamesUsing a proper name especially a person’s name can c reate a sense of amicability between the product and the consumers.A good name will inspire the consumers to think about the image under that name. Take some brand names for example, “Charlie” in English has the long-standing image of being a confident but warm little girl; “大宝”in Chinese is an adorable nickname for a male who is the family members’ darling. When personal names are used as brand names, distance between the commodities and the consumers could be shortened while the sense of intimacy could be established. In such a delightful and cheerful state, consumers would be inspired to be better informed about the products, if interested and satisfied, they will purchase. Thus, a very successful sale could be fulfilled as the brand name fully performs its fundamental function.1.2.2 Common WordsCommon words will add more amicability and friendliness in the products and names provide the denominators and translatorsmore choices. Usually, the common words used in Chinese and English brand names include adjective and noun.The brand names formed by common nouns have symbolic and metaphor functions. Products with these names possess the characteristics of these words or objects, for example, “Ivory” can make you skin smooth and white. The cosmetic bra nd names formed by adjectives or adjective plus noun can show a very direct description of the main characters of the product.1.2.3 Coined WordsWhen certain qualities, characteristics and functions are taken into consideration, coined words can be created. Since they are coined, they are unique and novel as there is not much possibility that another similar one will appear. Many English brand names are created by means of lexical methods, such as shortening, compounding, blending, affixation, etc while the Chinese brand names tend to use word group.Shortening is the simplified form of the original words. For example, “SR”, a brand name of toothpaste, is formed by acronym, that is, to use the initials of the ingredients of the product (Sodium, Ricinoleate).Compounding is a popular and crucial way of forming English and Chinese cosmetic brand names. By compounding, two or morewords are together to show the feature, quality and function of the product, so compound brand names can illustrate the characteristics of the products from multi-perspectives. Examples are:“Body Flower” stresses its function of making the body full of the fragrance of flowers.“Head& Shoulders” stresses its function of moistening the hair and making it soft and easy to comb.Different from English, Chinese is the ideograph language. So word groups can be formed by putting characters together. Usually, certain words have good connotations are frequently used.Names of plants and animals are often used as brand names. Chinese cosmetic brand names have a preference of the pretty images of some of them which can arouse the interest and bring good association, such as“蜂花”(cosmetic),“紫罗兰”(cosmetic)and “佰草集” (cosmetic).The above-mentioned have attached great importance to the point that they are pure, natural and environmentally safe products by using the raw material from the outside world and the consumers can get the essence of the flowers and herbal extract by using them.1.3 Characteristics of Brand NamesA brand name is the name of a product, which is a mark or a symbol that can be used to define a certain product. The goal of a brand name should aim at setting up a good image in the market, a rousing consumers’favorable association and purchasing desire. Thus the language used in brand names must have some features of its own.1.3.1 BrevityBrevity is a basic requirement of a good brand name, which means brand names should concise in spellings and pronunciations to make them eye-catching and easy to remember. According to an investigation, Chinese brand names consist of mainly two or three characters, and 70% of them (including Chinese versions of foreign ones) are two-character construction, 29% are three-character construction, only about 1% are more than five characters. Name a few as examples, “立白”(washing powder), “碧浪” (washing powder), “汰渍”(washing powder), “雕牌”(washing powder), “奥妙”(washing powder), “海尔”(electric appliance), “双星”(sports product).Whereas most English brand names are made up of one to four syllables on most occasions. Brand names such as “Benz” and “Ford”(cars) consist of one syllable; Brandnames like “Sony”(electric appliance) and “Kodak”(film) are composed of two syllables; those like “Accustom”(watch) and “Adidas”(clothing)are made up of three syllables; “Electrolux”(appl iance) comprises four syllables. In addition, most of these syllables consist of sonorous vowels and consonants with less friction, making the brand name easy to pronounce and remember.1.3.2 EleganceAs far as elegance is concerned, it means that both brand names and their rendered versions should have favorable association but avoid unpleasant connotation that may offend customers to arouse consumers’purchasing desire. For example, the Chinese version “金利来” for the English brand name “Goldlion” is better than “金狮”, for “金利来” not only presents consumers the good quality of the tie but indicates the profit or good luck it can bring. While on the other hand, brand names such as “交际花”, “舞女” are forbidden to register in our country according to our Interim Regulations of Brand Name Registration because of their vulgar tastes.1.3.3 OriginalityA brand name should be as novel and unconventional as possible in wording, pronunciation, meaning and other aspects,so as to arouse the interest of the consumers and leave a deep impression on them.There are a variety of methods that can be used to achieve this effect. Word formation such as abbreviation, initials, numbers, and parallelism is one way to create originality. The brand name “TCL”(TV set) is special and new in home-made TV sets. Appealing sound is another way to obtain this effect. “Yahoo”and its Chinese version “雅虎”have a very peculiar and strong phonological effect and thus cause a pleasant psycho-acoustic impact on its hearers. Still unusually combination of common words, or coined words in English brand names, such as “7-up” (beverage), “0M0” (powder)and so on, leave a fresh yet deep impression on costumers because of their unique form and pronunciation.1.4 Functions of Brand NamesThe brand name is intended to appeal to the target consumers favorable meaning so as to spread ideas or information about persuade symbolic, or convince consumers. The basic functions of brand with pleasant sound and the products that will names are informative, evocative and aesthetic.1.4.1 Informative FunctionIt is well known that high-information is an important value of advertisement, to say nothing of its core, brand name. Brand name should firstly be informative to provide the consumers with information about the uses, characters, values and the target consumers.For example, brand names such as “Benz” (car), “Mary Kay” (cosmetics), “蒙牛”(milk)，“小泉”(scissors)，“”(beer) provide consumers with product makers, materials and producing areas. Those like “Microsoft” (computer), “H20” (cosmetics), “立白” (washing powder), “舒肤佳”(soap) provide us with the information about basic uses of products. Brand names such as “钻石”(watch) imply the characteristics and the value of the products. Brand names can also indicate who the potential consumers are, such as “兰贵人”(cosmetics), “劲霸”(app arel), “淑女屋”(apparel), etc.1.4.2 Aesthetic FunctionIn order to appeal to consumers, a good brand name should also have an aesthetic effect on them. Information alone supplied by brand names is far from enough to attract consumers and they should also bring consumers pleasant feelings, which can be manifested in the following three aspects — sound,form and meaning.To begin with, sound is not only an indispensable element of a brand name, but also an essential way to attract consumers, i.e. a means of accomplishing advertising effect. So on TV advertisements, brand names are always articulated. Brand names with beautiful sound are preferred by consumers as well as brand name designers. For example, “Kodak”(camera) simulates the sound when we push the shutter of a camera, while “Pepsi” reminds us of the sudden sound “si-” when we open up a bottle of soda drink and “Coca-Cola” is rhythmic and harmonious, easily pronounced and remembered.Then, form is closely related with psychology, and could arouse consumers’psychological and visual reaction. A brand name with aesthetic features in form is more outstanding. For instance, “S” reminds people of lady’s curvilinear figure. That’s why many female articles are named with “S” ad ded, such as, “Aeress” (underwear), “Finess”(cosmetics), “Simples” (cosmetics), etc.Last but not least, semantic aesthetics should also be taken into consideration. Favorite Chinese characters in brand names include “诚”（honesty）, “梦”（dream）, “爱”（love）, “美”（beauty）etc. It is the same case with “淑女屋”(apparel), which attracts girls who desire to be gentlewomen.1.4.3 Evocative FunctionA brand name has evocative function, which means the brand names must interest consumers and stimulate them to make a purchase. According to Newmark, a typical example of evocative texts is advertisement. As the essential part of the advertisement, the brand name has the evocative as its basic function, which is based on its informative and aesthetic functions.In order to realize its evocative function, many brand names tend to choose words with favorable meanings. They offer consumers a kind of aesthetic feeling and arouse their purchasing desire. It turns out that brand names with exotic flavor can arouse people’s intere st and persuade them to give it a try. For instance, the “Safeguard” (soap) implies that the soap can protect your skin and you more beautiful. And the Chinese brand name “皇冠”(automobile), which means crown, hints the quality of being superior and noble. Such kind of brand names will certainly appeal to consumers and result in their purchasing.Brand names can also succeed in persuading people bycatering to their psychological needs. Brand names with romantic connotation can always attract the young customers and stir their enthusiasm of making a purchase. That’s why most costume brand names are common words full of imaginary or romantic connotation so as to meet the purchasing psychology of those young ladies and thus catch their attention. “Kiss-Me” (lips tic k) is a call of love and “Youngor” (clothing) tells you that you will be younger than before if you are wearing this kind of clothes. “旺旺”(food) exactly exp resses people’s best wishes of being healthy, wealthy and outstanding.Chapter 2Functional Equivalence Theory and Brand NameTranslation2.1 Functional EquivalenceTranslation equivalence is one of the central topics of translation research. Realizing that no translation is able to attain complete equivalence to the original, Nida advocates the ide a of “functional equivalence”. According to Eugene A. Nida, a minimal, realistic definition of functional equivalence could be stated as “the readers of a t ranslated text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how the original readers of the text must have understood and appreciate it” (1993:118).In addition, a maximal, ideal definition could be stated as “the readers of a tr anslated text should be able to understand and appreciate it in essentially the same manner as the o riginal readers did” (1993:118). However, this maximal level of equivalence is rarely achieved in practice. In fact the idea “equivalence” is approached on the basis of degrees of closeness from minimal to maximal effectiveness.To put it more specific, a minimal adequacy of translation is that the target readers can conceive of how the source readers must have understood and appreciated the source text;a maximal adequacy of translation might be that the target readers can understand and appreciate the translated text in essentially the same manner as the source readers understand and appreciate the source text. Nida suggests that when literal translation fails to attain satisfactory equivalence, adjustments in form are necessary (1993:125).Furthermore, in order to produce functionally equivalent translation, he proposes “the great the differences in the source and target cultures, the greater the need for adjustments; the greater the differences between the source and target languages, the greater the ne ed for adjustments” (1993:129).2.2 Consideration of Factors in Brand Name Translation2.2.1 Consumer PsychologyConsumer psychology in a narrow sense refers to the mental state of a consumer and in a broad sense; it means the science of consumer psyc hology. It can be defined as “the mental or psychological activities of consumers in their realization,adjustment, and control of purchasing and consuming actions according to their own needs and abilities under the influence of the general social environment of consumption and economy”.(Gu Wenjun, 2002: 7)The majority of consumers are the intended reactors of marketing activities. Brand name translation, an indispensable procurer of such activities, is consumer-oriented. Consumers in the target market play the roles as the reader, the addressee, and eventually the reactor of a translated brand name. And the translator of a brand name can be regarded as a target-market brand name producer expressing a source-market brand name producer’s intentions.Information about the target-text addressee is of crucial importance for the translator of the brand name, and the goal of sales promotion is to stimulate immediate consumer purchasing. Therefore, the translator should enable a brand name to attract the attention, to arouse the curiosity and interest of the consumers, to satisfy their psychological needs and further stimulate their motives to purchase the particular commodity.2.2.2 Cultural FactorsCulture has its certain underlying characteristics whichcan be associated with brand names. Culture exists to satisfy the needs of the people within a society. It offers order, direction and guidance in all phases of human problem solving by providing “tried-and-true” methods of satisfying physiological, personal, and social needs.（Jiang Lei，2003）For example, culture provides standards and “rules” about when to eat, where to eat, and what is appropriate to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, and what to present your parent and the aged. Soft-drink companies would suggest that the consumers should choose their products containing more vitamins and minerals since health is the first priority in modern society. In china, we used to have porridge or soy bean milk for breakfast. So, the manufacturer would produce the household mixer whose slogan might be “soy bean milk is your best choice”.Besides company image strategies, many well-known brands spotlight their cultural connotation. They emphasize what they sell is not a product, but a certain culture, a national spirit. In this regard, “Haier” means aiming higher and being sincere. So, cultural meaning can move from the culturally constituted world to consumer goods and from there to the individual consumer by means of various consumption-related vehicles,including brand names of course.Since culture is considered as the totality of beliefs and practices of a society, nothing is more important and effective than language through which the beliefs are expressed and transmitted and by which the cultures are conveyed and transferred. It is believed that where there is language, there is culture hidden behind. Language is a kind of institutional culture in some sense. It is not grasped by individuals but shared by a certain society. It is influenced by certain culture and in turn mirrors the culture. Brand names, as part of language, are of no exception. They are influenced by culture and in turn reflect culture. Therefore, culture has its underlying characteristics which can be associated with brand names.2.2.3 Aesthetic FactorsAs has been discussed in the first chapter, brand names possess the aesthetic function. In the process of translation, it is vital to reproduce the original aesthetic features of the brand names to the addressees. Brand name translation is demanded to be practical and aesthetic and translators will not only have to reserve the essence of the original brand name butalso conform to the aesthetic psychology of consumers. Xu Yuanchong (2006:73) argues that translation is an art to transfer one language into another. His theory regarding to aesthetics in poetry translation goes like this: “beauty in sound, beauty in form and beauty in image”. Consequently, aesthetic factors should be taken into great account in the translation of brand names.2.3 Application of Functional Equivalence in Brand NameTranslationAs Nida’s functional equivalence the equivalent function indicates, an effective translation version should be able to produce or in other words the most proximal function to both the target and the original receptors. A translator must be clear about the functions of the source language, which is the prerequisite for a translator to achieve functional equivalence. Thus, brand name translation should take the functions of original brand name into full consideration in order to achieve functional equivalence.2.3.1 Equivalence of Informative FunctionFirst of all, brand name translation is usually informative. Equivalence in informative function is required. This requiresthat the renderings must be able to inform people of the functions, characteristics and values of the products as the original brand names do. To achieve the informative requirement, brand name should contain as much information as possible, readable to give the receptors strong impression. Some kinds of brand names inform the consumers of the basic functions of certain products. An English brand name “Goodyear” (tyre), which consists of “good” and “year” (two common words), meaning that if you use this tyre you will be smooth and happy through the whole year because the tyre lasts long in use. And the Chinese translation “固特异” is as good as the original one. “固”implies “lasting long” and“特异”means “extraordinary”. So we can see from the translated name that the life of this tyre will last extraordinarily long. It suggests the function of the tyre.2.3.2 Equivalence of Aesthetic FunctionThe aesthetic function refers to that brand names can provide the audience with aesthetic feeling. No matter how faithful it is to its original in meaning, any slight failure to aesthetic function may render the name to the state of being rejected by consumers. The renderings should create a sense of beauty either in form or in context to the same or similar extentto the original ones so as to achieve equivalence in aesthetic function. It is of no doubt that a brand name must not only provide information about the product, but also please people and help them to bring aesthetic feeling. Most brand names are carefully selected to perform their aesthetic function, which is mainly realized by creating phonetic beauty, semantic beauty and imaginary beauty. “Coca-Cola” (beverage) is a distinguished example. It is translated to “可口可乐” in Chinese. The version not only imitates alliteration like the original one, but also helps to arouse favorable associations of customers and also consider the phonetic beauty.2.3.3 Equivalence of Vocative FunctionS imply speaking, the vocative function means that brand name can arouse people’s interest and persuad e them to make purchases. Brand name translation should not only inform people of the value of products, but also cater to the customers’ psychological need to achieve equivalence in vocative function. One example is “Mr. Muscle” (a detergent brand name). If it is translated as “肌肉先生”，Chinese people are likely to associate it with a person who merely has a simple brain and strong limbs without intelligence. Of course, such a translated version in Chinese will attract few people’s interest and itsvocative function would be impossible. A revised version of “威猛先生” can fulfill its vocative function of inducing housewives to do some cleaning with this detergent.Besides the above-mentioned equivalence in functions of brand names, a translator must also take into consideration simultaneously such elements as linguistic and cultural factors in order to achieve functional equivalence in brand name translation.Chapter 3Methods Employed in Brand Name TranslationAs discussed above, the successful observance of the principle of “functional equivalence” in translating source brand names into target ones depends on many factors, among which the most important is the flexible employment of translation techniques in practice. There are four kinds of translation techniques: literal translation, transliteration, combination of literal translation and transliteration and creative translation.3.1 Literal TranslationLiteral translation means translating meanings literally, namely, keeping both the original form and the original sense. It is often used when the brand names can find corresponding expressions in target language. As Chinese and English cultures share many similarities, many brand names can be translated into target language by literal translation, especially those brand names invented after the names of plants, animals, birds or precious things like gem, diamond and gold. （Murphy, 1987）For example, “梅花”(recorder) is translated as “Plum Blossom”; “小天鹅”(washing-machine) as “Little Swan”; “钻石”(watch) as “Diamond”; “金杯”(sports shoes) as “Golden Cup”. Some Brand names which indicate the mater ial, the quality, the usage and the peculiarity of certain products can be translated into English by this technique as well.Literal translation is often adopted in many cases as an effective technique for achieving functional equivalence in translating brand names. Nevertheless, translators must make sure first that versions produced by this technique are acceptable in other culture and are not negative in the target market. And this is of great importance, for we may fail to reproduce the same vocative function of the brand names if we do something opposite. For ex ample, “白翎”(White Feather) are well accepted in domestic market; while in American and British market, the product was rejected, because its English rendering White Feather does not meet the psychology of the potential customers. In their culture, to show the white feather is a means of insulting, equivalent to abuse the person for being coward.3.2 TransliterationTransliteration refers to the way of translating brand names by taking the sounds of words instead of their verbal meanings into account. It is frequently used when the brand names created by culture-specific notions, for these names can hardly find any correspondences in English.（Murphy, 1987） For example, “厚朴” is a famous Chinese brand name for toothpaste. We Chinese know quite well about the traditional herb named magnolia officin al. But if we translate it as “Magnolia Officinal”, the foreigners may not have the same acknowledgement as we do. And this rendering seems to be something bizarre to English people. In order to solve this problem, we can use transliteration. Hence we get the brand name “Hope” which sounds similar to Chinese word “厚朴” and conveys a favorable meaning in English.One of transliteration methods is to translate the brand names by Chinese Pinyin. Take the famous Chinese bran d name “鸭鸭”(down-filled coat) for example. Although “鸭鸭” has its literal substitutions “Duck” and “Ducky” in English, it is not translated so, but transliterated into “Ya Ya” by Chinese Pinyin. The reason is that either “Duck” or “Ducky” often indicates something silly and clumsy in English language culture, which may lead to an unpleasant feeling. However, “Ya。