功能对等理论视角下的商标翻译分析.docx

功能对等理论视角下的商标翻译分析.docx

《功能对等理论视角下的商标翻译分析.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《功能对等理论视角下的商标翻译分析.docx（22页珍藏版）》请在冰点文库上搜索。

功能对等理论视角下的商标翻译分析

摘要

商标名称是指商标中可以用语言称呼的部分，是产品的标记，是产品形象的重要内容之一。

本文从商标名称的相关知识入手，介绍了商标名称的概念、特征及功能。

商标名称是一种文化现象，我们在商标名称翻译时需要注意它的可行性，以奈达的”功能对等”理论作为商标名称翻译的基本原则及翻译的方法，这是一种可行的方法。

商标名称具有特有的文化特点，与文化有着密切联系，我们需要从不同国家的特性、习俗和习惯、语义联想等不同角度分析商标名称翻译过程中的文化障碍。

尽管在商标名称互译中存在文化障碍，但它们并不是不可以跨越的。

译者应灵活运用具体的翻译方法，跨越文化障碍，力求达到功能对等和最佳翻译效果。

关键词：

功能对等；商标；翻译

Abstract

Abrandnameisthepartofbrandthatcanbevocalized,andthesignofaproduct.Thispaperstartswiththeinformationofbrandnamestointroducethedefinition,characteristicsandthefunctionsofbrandnames.Thebrandnameisaphenomenonofculture.Weshouldpaymoreattentiontothepossibilityofbrandnametranslation,andtaketheNada’s“FunctionalEquivalence”asacardinalprincipleandmethodsemployedinbrandnametranslation，thisisaviableway.Brandnamespossesspeculiarculturalcharacteristicsandhaveintimaterelationwithculture，thenweneedanalyzetheculturalbarriersofthebrandnametranslationfromdifferentnationaltraits,differentcustomsandhabits,differentsemanticassociative.Althoughthereareculturalbarriersinthebrandnametranslation,wecanstillovercomethem.Translatorsshouldusethetechniquesflexiblysoastoovercometheculturalbarriersinbrandnametranslationandtrytotranslatebrandnamesperfectly.

Keywords:

functionalequivalence;brandname;translation

Contents

摘要…………………………………………………………..……..…i

Abstract………………………………………………………….……..ii

Introduction……………………………………………………………1

Chapter1OverviewofBrandNames……………………………..…2

1.1DefinitionofBrandNames…………………………………………2

1.2FormationofBrandNames…………………………………………2

1.2.1ProperNames……………………………………………………3

1.2.2CommonWords…………………………………………….……3

1.2.3CoinedWords………………………………………………….…4

1.3CharacteristicsofBrandNames…………………………………..…5

1.3.1Brevity………………………………………………………...…5

1.3.2Elegance………………………………………………….…..…6

1.3.3Originality…………………………………………….……..…7

1.4FunctionsofBrandNames……………………………………..…7

1.4.1InformativeFunction………………………………….……..…8

1.4.2AestheticFunction…………………………………………..…8

1.4.3EvocativeFunction……………………………………...……10

Chapter2FunctionalEquivalenceTheoryandBrandNameTranslation……………………………………...…………12

2.1FunctionalEquivalence……………………………………………12

2.2ConsiderationofFactorsinBrandNameTranslation……………13

2.2.1ConsumerPsychology…………………………………………13

2.2.2CulturalFactors…………………………………………………14

2.2.3AestheticFactors………………………………………………16

2.3ApplicationofFunctionalEquivalenceinBrandNameTranslation…16

2.3.1EquivalenceofInformativeFunction…………………………16

2.3.2EquivalenceofAestheticFunction……………………………17

2.3.3EquivalenceofEvocativeFunction……………………………18

Chapter3MethodsEmployedinBrandNameTranslation……….20

3.1LiteralTranslation…………………………………………………20

3.2Transliteration……………………………………………………21

3.3CombinationofLiteralTranslationandTransliteration…………23

3.4CreativeTranslation………………………………………………24

3.4.1AdditionorDeletion……………………………………………24

3.4.2Blending………………………………………………………25

3.4.3Acronym……………………………………………………26

3.4.4PurposiveMisspelling………………………………………26

Conclusion……………………………………………………………27

Bibliography…………………………………………………………28

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Abrandnameisasignrepresentingculturalcharacteristicsofdifferentnations,societiesandtimes.Itservesnotonlyitsexpectedfunctionsofcommunication;itisalsoemployedinasymbolicmannertoidentifyabrandanditsculturalorigin.Today,well-knownbrandnameshavebecomeculturalicons,andenjoypowerfuladvantagesinthefiercecompetition.Brandnames,aspartoflanguage,reflectthefeaturesofacertainnation,includingthehistoricalandculturalbackground,theirattitudestowardslife,andtheirlifestyleandthinkingpattern.

Brandnametranslationisinfluencedbyculturalelementswhichdifferentiateitfromgeneraltranslation.Brandnametranslationisofsignificanceinthecompetitivemarket.Brandnamesmirrorthecultureofdifferentcountries,soculturalelementsmustnotbeignoredinthetranslatingprocess.Atpresent,witheconomicdevelopmentandincreasinginternationalcontact,theexchangesbetweendifferentcountriesbecomemoreandmorefrequent.Andtradesurplusbecomesanimportantpartofournationaleconomy.Propertranslationofbrandnamesalsobecomesmoreandmoreimportantsoastopromotethesalesofgoodsandcultivateforeignmarkets.

Chapter1

OverviewofBrandNames

1.1DefinitionofBrandNames

Abrandnamereferstoaspecificnameemployedbyacorporationtoidentifyuniquelyaproductoritsmanufacturer,oraserviceanditsprovider.（LiGuisheng，1996）Itisquiteoftenusedinterchangeablywithin“brandname”,althoughitismorecorrectlyusedtospecificallydenotewrittenorspokenlinguisticelementsofanyproduct.Alegallyprotectedbrandnameiscalledaproprietaryname.Apowerfulbrandnameembodiesauniquesetofvaluesandhencepersonality.Asuccessfullydesignedbrandnamecanbringaboutenormousvalueinarealsense,whichisinvisiblewealthofacompany.Therefore,brandnameisofmoreandmoreimportancein“globalvillage”andtherightandsuitablemeaningofabrandcanbeanenduringadvantage.

1.2FormationofBrandNames

Fromtheperspectiveofthelinguisticstructures,brandnamescanbemainlydividedintopropernamebrandnames,thecommonwordbrandnamesandthecoinedwordbrandnames.（HeChuansheng,1997）However,therearesomesimilaritiesanddifferencesintheformationofChineseandEnglishcosmeticbrandnames.

1.2.1ProperNames

Usingapropernameespeciallyaperson’snamecancreateasenseofamicabilitybetweentheproductandtheconsumers.Agoodnamewillinspiretheconsumerstothinkabouttheimageunderthatname.Takesomebrandnamesforexample,“Charlie”inEnglishhasthelong-standingimageofbeingaconfidentbutwarmlittlegirl;“大宝”inChineseisanadorablenicknameforamalewhoisthefamilymembers’darling.Whenpersonalnamesareusedasbrandnames,distancebetweenthecommoditiesandtheconsumerscouldbeshortenedwhilethesenseofintimacycouldbeestablished.Insuchadelightfulandcheerfulstate,consumerswouldbeinspiredtobebetterinformedabouttheproducts,ifinterestedandsatisfied,theywillpurchase.Thus,averysuccessfulsalecouldbefulfilledasthebrandnamefullyperformsitsfundamentalfunction.

1.2.2CommonWords

Commonwordswilladdmoreamicabilityandfriendlinessintheproductsandnamesprovidethedenominatorsandtranslatorsmorechoices.Usually,thecommonwordsusedinChineseandEnglishbrandnamesincludeadjectiveandnoun.

Thebrandnamesformedbycommonnounshavesymbolicandmetaphorfunctions.Productswiththesenamespossessthecharacteristicsofthesewordsorobjects,forexample,“Ivory”canmakeyouskinsmoothandwhite.Thecosmeticbrandnamesformedbyadjectivesoradjectiveplusnouncanshowaverydirectdescriptionofthemaincharactersoftheproduct.

1.2.3CoinedWords

Whencertainqualities,characteristicsandfunctionsaretakenintoconsideration,coinedwordscanbecreated.Sincetheyarecoined,theyareuniqueandnovelasthereisnotmuchpossibilitythatanothersimilaronewillappear.ManyEnglishbrandnamesarecreatedbymeansoflexicalmethods,suchasshortening,compounding,blending,affixation,etcwhiletheChinesebrandnamestendtousewordgroup.

Shorteningisthesimplifiedformoftheoriginalwords.Forexample,“SR”,abrandnameoftoothpaste,isformedbyacronym,thatis,tousetheinitialsoftheingredientsoftheproduct（Sodium,Ricinoleate）.

CompoundingisapopularandcrucialwayofformingEnglishandChinesecosmeticbrandnames.Bycompounding,twoormorewordsaretogethertoshowthefeature,qualityandfunctionoftheproduct,socompoundbrandnamescanillustratethecharacteristicsoftheproductsfrommulti-perspectives.Examplesare:

“BodyFlower”stressesitsfunctionofmakingthebodyfullofthefragranceofflowers.

“Head&Shoulders”stressesitsfunctionofmoisteningthehairandmakingitsoftandeasytocomb.

DifferentfromEnglish,Chineseistheideographlanguage.Sowordgroupscanbeformedbyputtingcharacterstogether.Usually,certainwordshavegoodconnotationsarefrequentlyused.

Namesofplantsandanimalsareoftenusedasbrandnames.Chinesecosmeticbrandnameshaveapreferenceoftheprettyimagesofsomeofthemwhichcanarousetheinterestandbringgoodassociation,suchas“蜂花”（cosmetic）,“紫罗兰”（cosmetic）and“佰草集”（cosmetic）.Theabove-mentionedhaveattachedgreatimportancetothepointthattheyarepure,naturalandenvironmentallysafeproductsbyusingtherawmaterialfromtheoutsideworldandtheconsumerscangettheessenceoftheflowersandherbalextractbyusingthem.

1.3CharacteristicsofBrandNames

Abrandnameisthenameofaproduct,whichisamarkorasymbolthatcanbeusedtodefineacertainproduct.Thegoalofabrandnameshouldaimatsettingupagoodimageinthemarket,arousingconsumers’favorableassociationandpurchasingdesire.Thusthelanguageusedinbrandnamesmusthavesomefeaturesofitsown.

1.3.1Brevity

Brevityisabasicrequirementofagoodbrandname,whichmeansbrandnamesshouldconciseinspellingsandpronunciationstomakethemeye-catchingandeasytoremember.Accordingtoaninvestigation,Chinesebrandnamesconsistofmainlytwoorthreecharacters,and70%ofthem（includingChineseversionsofforeignones）aretwo-characterconstruction,29%arethree-characterconstruction,onlyabout1%aremorethanfivecharacters.Nameafewasexamples,“立白”（washingpowder）,“碧浪”（washingpowder）,“汰渍”（washingpowder）,“雕牌”（washingpowder）,“奥妙”（washingpowder）,“海尔”（electricapplia