广告英语中双关语的语用功能及其翻译.docx

广告英语中双关语的语用功能及其翻译.docx

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广告英语中双关语的语用功能及其翻译

广告英语中双关语的语用功能及其翻译

摘要:

广告英语的独特性在于其新颖、灵活的语及其形式多样化，除了在词汇和句法方面别具一格外，修辞手法也被广泛地运用来润色广告语言。

双关，一种集幽默与智慧于一身的语言表达形式，因其独特的语言魅力而倍受广告商的青睐。

结合大量的实例分析，本文详细地探讨了双关语在英文广告中所起的作用及其分类。

通过分析与归纳，作者提出了广告双关语翻译的五种策略：

保留、再造、补偿、解释说明以及省略不译。

译者在翻译过程中可以选择一种或者多种策略以达到译文的最佳关联。

关键词：

广告；双关语；语用功能；翻译

PragmaticFunctionandTranslationofPuninEnglishAdvertisement

Abstract:

AdvertisingEnglishischaracterizedbyitsoriginality,flexibilityoflanguageusageandthediversityoftheforms.Apartfromthedistinguishingfeaturesatlexicalandsyntacticlevels,rhetoricalvehicles,asdecorativedevicesoflanguage,arefrequentlyemployedinadvertisingEnglish.Punning,aconcisewaytoexpresshumorandwit,isparticularlyfavoredbyadvertiserstoenhancetheappealoflanguage.Drawingonexistingstudiesinthefield,theauthoroffersfivestrategiesinthetranslationofpunsinadvertisement,i.e.preservation,creation,compensation,explicationandomission.Theauthorarguesthateachofthefivestrategiesisnotalwaysappliedonitsown,andsometimestwoormorestratrgiesarejointlyemployedinadvertisementtranslationinaccordancewiththeprincipleofoptimalrelevancedependingonthesituation.

Keywords:

Advertisement;Pun;PragmaticFunction;Translation

Contents

Introduction

1Definitionandclassificationofpuninadvertisement

1.1Definitionofpun

1.2Typesofpuninadvertisement

1.2.1PunonPolysemy

1.2.2PunonHomonym

1.2.3PunonParody

1.2.4PunonGrammar

1.2.5PunonIllustrationandWords

2Thepragmaticfunctionofpuninadvertisement

2.1Witandhumor

2.2Creativenessandoriginality

2.3 Satisfyingpeople’srequirementofbeauty

2.4Satisfyingtherequirementofsociety—Economy

2.5ImplyingWarning

2.6Markingproductmoreprofitableandcompetive

3FivestrategiesoftranslationofpunsinEnglishadvertisement

3.1Preservation

3.2Creation

3.3Compensation

3.4Explication

3.5Omission

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Introduction

ThedefinitionofadvertisementbyAMA（AmericanMarketingAssociation）:

Advertisingisthenonpersonalcommunicationusuallypaidforandusuallypersuasiveinnatureaboutproducts,servicesofideasbyidentifiedsponsorsthroughthevariousmedia.Itisadevicetoarouseconsumers’attentiontoacommodityandinducethemtouseit.Inmodernage,peoplefindthemselvessurroundedbyvariousadvertisementseachday.AnAmericanwriterwrites:

“wefindadvertisementofallkindseverywhere,forexample,glitteringneonsignsontopofhighbuildingsandalongmainstreets,colorfulpicturespaintedonbusespamphletssenttoveryhouse,advertisementjammedbetweenTVprogramsvariousadvertisementglutting,newspaperandradiobroadcast;etc.”Facingsomanyadvertisement,howtomaketheadvertisementimpressiveisthemainpurposeoftheadvertisers.Inordertoenhancetheappealofanadvertisement,advertiserspaymuchattentionnotonlytosuchexpressivedevicesasplates,colorandthelayoutofaprintedpage,butalsotothechoiceofwordsorphrases,tomakeanadvertisementbeautifulandattractive.

InthepracticeoftheadvertisingEnglish,peoplepaymoreattentiontopuntomaketheadvertisementsuccinct,accurateandvividandtoproviderichimaginationandplentifulassociationsforreaderssoastostimulatetheirdesire.ThefrequentandwideuseoffiguresofspeechisanimportantcharacteristicofadvertisingEnglish,whichisaneffectivewaytomaketheadvertisementattractive.Amongthefigures,punisloveddeeply.OxfordAdvancedDictionarydefinespunas“humoroususeofawordthathastwomeaningsorofdifferentwordsthatsoundthesame”[1].Apun（alsoknownasparonomasia）canbeunderstoodlikethatitisadeliberateconfusionofsimilar-soundingwordsofphrasesforrhetoricaleffect,whetherhumorousorserious.Itleavesadeepimpressiononreadersbyitsreadability,witandhumor.Itcansatisfytherequirementofadvertisementcharacteristics—sellingpower,memoryvalue,attentionvalue,andreadability.Sopunisverypopularinadvertisement.Thearticlejustwantstopresentthepragmaticfunctionandtranslatabilityofpuninadvertisement.

1Definitionandclassificationofpuninadvertisement

1.1Definitionofpun

Lookingatthesameissuefromdifferentperspectives,wemayoftencomeupwithdifferentdefinitionsofthethingunderdiscussion.And,notsurprisingly,puncanbethusdefinedinmanyways.Thereissuchahumorousexplanationaboutpun:

“punning–totortureonepoorwordtenthousandways（JohnDryden）”.InLongmanDictionaryofContemporaryEnglish,punisdefinedas“Anamusinguseofawordorphrasethathastwomeanings,orwordswiththesamesoundbutdifferentmeanings”.AccordingtoTheOxfordEnglishDictionary,punisdefinedas“theuseofwordinsuchawayastosuggesttwoormoremeaningsordifferentassociations,ortheuseoftwoormorewordsofthesameornearlythesamesoundwithdifferentmeanings,soastoproduceahumorouseffect”.InPrincetonEncyclopediaofPoetryandPoetics,punisdefinedas“Afigureofspeechdependinguponasimilarityofsoundandadisparityofmeaning”.Fromtheabovedefinitions,wecanseethathomonyms,homophones,andhomographsallareavailabletoconstructpunswith.

1.2Typesofpuninadvertisement

1.2.1PunonPolysemy

“Whiledifferentwordsmayhavethesameofsimilarmeaning,thesameonewordmayhavemorethanonemeaning.Thisiswhatwecallpolysemy,andsuchawordiscalledpolysemicword.Historicallyspeaking,polysemycanbeunderstoodasthegrowthanddevelopmentoforchangeinthemeaningofwords.”Punonpolysemyisusedwidely,especiallywiththenameoftheproductsuchasthefollowingexamples:

“Fromsharpminds.Comesharpproducts.”

TheexampleisanadvertisementfortheSharpcopier.Theword“sharp”praisestheconsumers’brightness,butalsoreferstotheSharpproduct.Theadvertisementpraisestheconsumerswhoaresharptobuytheproductwhichissharp.Thevanityoftheaudiencesisarousedandtheywanttouseittoshowtheirwise,andalsotheybelievetheproductisreallysharp.

“Moneydoesn’tgrowonthetrees.Butitblossomsatourbranches.LioydBank.”

ItisthesloganofLioydBank.“branch”means“partofatreegrowingoutfromthetrunk”,buthereitimpliesthedivisionofbank”.ThesloganencouragespeopletostoretheirmoneyinLioydBank,andtheirmoneywillbelikethebloomingflowers,yieldingbetterfruits.Afterunderstandingitsmeaning,readerswillfigureitoutinmindthattheirmoneywillbecomemoreandmoredailyanddaily,justliketheleavesinspring.

1.2.2PunonHomonym

“Homonymyreferstothephenomenonthatwordswithdifferentmeaningshavethesameform,i.e,differentwordsareidenticalinsoundorspelling,orinboth.Whentwowordsareidenticalinsound,theyarehomophones.Whenthewordsareidenticalinspelling,theyarehomographs.Whentwowordsareidenticalinbothspellingandsound,theyarecompletehomonyms.”Thefollowinstanceswillexplainthat:

“‘VIPs’anatomicalcomfort.VariableImpactPressureSole”

Theadvertisementofsportshoesusesthehomophonicword“VIPs”.Asweknow,VIPusuallystandsfor“veryimportantpersons”,while,here,itstandsfor“VariableImpactPressureSole”.ItimpliesifyouuseVIPs,youwillbeaVIP.Theword“VIPs’motivatestheaudiences’vanityandinducesthemtobuytheproduct.

“Trustus.Over5000earsofexperience.”

Itisanadvertisementforaudiphone.Theliteralmeaningisthattheproducthasexperiencedalotoftexts.While“ears”and“years”areapairofhomophone.Soitimpliesthattheproducthasalonghistoryandhashighquality.

“GoodbuyWinter!

100%cottonknitwear$40”

Itisanadvertisementforthesaleofwinterclothes.Theadvertisementseemstopeoplethatitsagoodandcheaptobuycottonknitwear.Butwhentheaudiencesread“goodbuywinter”together,theywillunderstandthegooduseofpun.“Goodbuywinter”soundsthesameas“goodbyewinter”.Theadvertisementusehomophonetoshowtwomeanings:

itisagoodbusinesstobuythecottonknitwearnow,andwinterhaspassedaway.Naturally,peoplewillassociatethesituationhappeningeveryyearthatwhentheysaygoodbyetowinter,theclotheswillhaveagreatdiscountanditisgoodtimetobuythem.

“Moresunandairforyoursunandheir.”

Theadvertisementisforabathingbeach.Theadvertiseruseshomophoneskilfully,sunvs.son,andairvs.heir.Theadvertiserencouragespeopletobringtheirsonandheirtothebathingbeachtogetsunandairtokeepfit.Eachcouplehopestheirsonandheirwillbehealthyalltheirlife.Punmakestheadvertisinglanguagesoundsweet,fluentandpersuasive.

1.2.3PunonParody

“Parodyisapieceofspeech,writingofmusicthatimitatesthestyleofanauthor,composer,etcinanamusingandoftenexaggerateway”[2].Punonparodyusestheoutfitofsaying,apothegm,proverboridiomtoformnewmeanings.Englishhasalotofwell-knownphrases,idiomsandsayings.TheyareimportantpartofeverydaylanguagespokenbytheEnglishspeakers,andhavebecomeoneoftheaspectsoftheEnglishculture.Theadvertisementdesignersaresharp-mindedandimaginative.Theychangeapartoftheexpressionsandputtheirideasintothemtoachievesensationaleffect.Andmostofthemachievearemarkablesuccess.Thetransformationsarenotonlyeyecatching,butalsoeasytobeacceptedbythecommon,whowilldoaccordingtothetradition.Asthesayingsofidiomshavebeenonepartofthetradition,thepeoplewillbeeasilypersuadedbytheadvertisementworksofthiskind.Sopunonparodyispopularinadvertisement.

“AMarsadayhelpsyo