从目的论看英汉商标翻译.docx

从目的论看英汉商标翻译.docx

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从目的论看英汉商标翻译

成绩

研究生

张姝

评卷人

学号

201010901028

三峡大学外国语学院

研究生课程论文

论文题目StudyonE-CtranslationofBrandnamesfromtheperspectiveofSkopostheory

完成时间2011-08-03

课程名称英汉对比与翻译

专业英语语言文学

年级2010级

StudyonE-CtranslationofBrandnamesfromtheperspectiveofSkopostheorie

Abstract:

Withthedevelopmentoftheeconomicglobalizationandincreasinginternationalcontact,brandnamesbecomemoreandmoreimportant.BasedontheprinciplesofSkopostheory,thispapermainlydiscussestheE-Ctranslationonbrandnamesinaccordancewithitsuniquefeaturesandpointsoutthattheculturaldifferencesbetweenthesourceandtargettextsaresupposedtobegivenmuchattention.Meanwhile,someusefultranslationtechniquesareusedtoachievethebestbusinesseffect.

摘要：

经济全球化以及日益增张的国际贸易往来使得商标的翻译日趋重要。

本文以翻译目的论为理论框架，从商标特征的独特角度探讨英汉商标翻译，指出英汉商标翻译应注重原语与目的语之间的文化差异,并灵活运用各种翻译技巧以达到最佳商业效果。

KeyWords:

skopostheory;theuniquefeaturesofbrandnames;translationtechniques

关键词：

目的论；商标特征；翻译的技巧

1.Introduction

WithChina'sentryintoWTOandthefrequentinternationalcommunicationswiththeoutsideworld，agreatdealofChineseproductssurgeintoforeignmarketwhichleadstofiercecompetitionintheprocessofinternationaltrade.Inthiscompetition,moreandmoreenterpriseshavereachedtothecommonsensethatoneoftheirmostvaluableassetsisthebrandnamesassociatedwithrelativeproducts.Agoodbrandnamecanensuregreatproductqualityfordifferentcustomers,differentiatetheproductfrommillionsofcompetitivebrands,orstimulusthepurchaseofvariouscustomers.Thebrandnameisofvitalimportancetoacompany,whichrepresentstheimageandreputationoftheenterpriseitself.Therefore,muchattentionhasbeenpaidtothestudyofthebrandnametranslation.

Asaspecialtypeofpracticalwritingandculture,brandnameshavetheirownfeatures,whicharemainlymanifestedintofouraspects:

principles,functions,motivationsandculturalcharacteristics.Thefunctionsareinformative,aestheticandvocativeinnature.Theinventionofbrandnamesisbasedonthreebasicprinciples:

brevity,noveltyandreadability.Toperformthesefunctionsandobservethebasicprinciples,brandnamesareculturallymotivatedandproducedpsychologically,commercially,andsociologically.

AsforthebrandnamestranslationfromforeignlanguagesintoChinese,thefollowingdistinctiveproblemsshouldnotbeignoredoroverlooked.

1.1ApplicationofmonosyllabicpronunciationsinChinesecharacters.

Becauseofthelimitationnumberinmonosyllables,manyChinesecharactershavetosharethesamepronunciationwhichcauseduncertaintyfortranslatorstochooseChinesecharacters.Psoralesisacaseinpoint,itisthebrandnameforadrug,whichwasrenderedinto“破故纸”whenitwasfirstlybroughttoChina.Obviously,fewChinesepeoplearewillingtobuysuchuselessthingandthusthisdrugsoldratherslowlyinChina.

1.2Differentculturefromdifferentcountries

Somebrandnamesareloadedwithculturalinformation,itisanissueofhowtoconveypropermeaningsandexpressforeignculturesintranslatingsuchbrandnames.Forexample,thebrandnameofalipstick,Kissme,whichshouldbetranslatedas“吻我”literally.ButsuchliteraltranslationwillnotbeacceptedgenerallybymostChinesewhoareinclinedtobeimplicitortraditionalbynature.

1.3Differentpsychologicaldemandsindifferentcountries

ThetranslationofforeignbrandnamesshouldsatisfyormeetpsychologicalneedforChinesepeople.Forinstance,CaterpillarTractorCompanyinAmericachooses“Caterpillar”asitsbrandname.IfitisputdirectlyintoChinese,itwillbe“毛毛虫”,whichwoulddefinitelycauseconfusionforChinesepeopleatthefirstsightofthename.

2.BasicRulesofSkopostheory

Skopostheoryholdsthattranslationistoproduceatextinatargetsettingforatargetpurpose.Itholdsthattranslationisaformoftranslationalactionbasedonasourcetext,andtheprimeprincipledetermininganytranslationprocessisthepurpose（orskopos）oftheoveralltranslationalaction.ThistheoryisputforwardbyHansJ.VermeerwhooncestatedhisgeneralpositioninhisFrameworkforaGeneralTranslationTheoryin1978,andexplainedSkopostheoryindetailinthebookGroundworkforaGeneralTheoryofTranslationco-authoredwithhisteacherReissin1984.

Asthesuperficialmeaningoffunctionalismindicates,functionisthefoundationonwhichtheoveralltheoryisstructured.Infunctionalisttheory,themostimportantruleforanytranslationisthe“functionrule”,orthe"Skoposrule"determinedbyVermeer,whichcanbeexplainedinthefollowingway.

Eachtextisproducedforagivenpurposeandshouldservethispurposeaswell.Theskoposrulethuscanberegardedas:

theperfecttargettextshouldbetranslatedinawaythatenablesthetexttofunctionsinthespecificsituationandwiththepeoplewhowanttouseitandpreciselyinthewaytheywantittofunction.（Vermeer,1989:

20;Nord,2001:

29）

Thisruleispartlyintendedtosolvethecontroversybetweenfreeandfaithfultranslationwhichhasbeendebatedforalongtime.Inthetranslationprocess,thetranslatorhastomakehischoicefromatleasttwoaspects,thepurposeforwhichthetranslationisindicatedandskopostobeapplied.AccordingtotheSkoposrule,thetranslatormusttranslateinaccordancewithsomeprinciplesrelatedtothetargettext.Thisdoesnotmeanthatthetranslatorsshouldalwaysreproducethefunctionalelementssolelyfromthesourcetextortargettext,buttoadapttheaddressee'sprofessionalknowledge,responsibilities,andcommunicativeneedstothetranslation,becauseitisthereaderortheaddressee,thattakesthetoprankanddeterminetheSkopos.

Skopostheoryisrelativelyanewapproachfortranslationstudiesthatconsiderstranslationasapurposefulactivity,andemphasizesthesignificanceofpredictedresultsoftranslating.Therefore,itprovidesuswithanewperspectivefortranslationresearch.

3.IntroductionofBrandName

3.1DefinitionofBrandName

Brandnameisapartofthebrandthatcanbevocalizedforthecompany.Itisthemostimportantelementofbrandbecauseitoftencapturesthekeyassociationsofproductsinaverycompactandeconomicalfashion.

AnauthoritativepublicationbytheTrademarkAdministrationBureauofChinagivesadefinitionthatabrandcombinationisamarkoftypicalfeatures,consistingofcharacters,words,ordesignsofproductsadoptedbytheparticulargoodsmanufacturerproduced,selected,sold,orbytheproviderofcertainservices,todifferentiatethesourceofthegoodsorservices.（LiangJianhua,2002:

2）

3.2Generalfeatures

Asaspecialkindoftext,brandnamehassomegeneralfeaturessuchasbrevity,sonorityandnoveltywhichwillbediscussedinthefollowingpart.Consumers,infact,arenotfullyinformedofthequalityofthegoodstheybought,therefore,theiraimlesslyvalueofbrandnames,whichstandforcompanyreputation,willleadtouncertaintyofthegoods.What’smore,theyevenpaymoretothoseproductswhoseproducerhasabetterreputationforconsistentquality.

3.2.1BrevityandSonority

Firstofall,brevityisthemostimportantfactorforagoodbrandname.Brevityismanifestedinmanyaspectssuchasspellingsandpronunciations,becausebrandnameswillshowadeepimpressiontoconsumersanditmakesthemmucheasiertoberemembered.Generallyspeaking,Englishbrandnamescontainlessthanthreewords.Therearesomeclothingbrandnameswhichcouldperfectlyillustratethisfeature,suchas“渔”,“播”,whicharebrief，striking,andeasytobecarvedinthememoryofconsumers.

Secondly,sonorityisanotherimportantfeatureofbrandnames.Sonorityreferstothedistinctsyllablesandpleasingpoeticsyllablesofwords,whichmayaddtothememorabilityforbrandname.Therefore,oddandcomplexwordsshouldbetotallyavoidedinthetranslationofbrandnames.Moreover,wordswhichremindpeopleofgoodmemoriesandfeelingsthatshouldbeusedmorefrequently.Forinstance,"CocaCola"（可口可乐）,“Contac”（康泰克）,etc.

3.2.2NoveltyandMemorability

Asuccessfulbrandnameshouldenableconsumerstodifferentiatetheproducteasilybyitsnamefromtheirdreamingoneinmind.Asuccessfulcommercialnameoritstranslationshouldbeinstantlyrecognized,andpossessthepowertocommandadmirations.Intheprocessoftranslatingabrandname,weshouldmakesurethatitiseasytoberecognized,spelled,read,memorized,andorallyspread.Anexcellentbrandnameshouldbeattractiveandeasytoberememberedinspelling,pronunciationandmeaning.Usually,thebrandnameshouldhaveacreativestructure,whichcanbeachievedbydifferentways,suchasacronym,abbreviations,initials,numbers,andparallelism.

4.StrategiesandexamplesundertheGuidanceofSkopostheory

Thispaperbrieflygoesoverskopostheoryandthefeaturesofbrandnames.ThenitanalysesthecharacteristicsandfunctionsofEnglishandChinesebrandnames.Inthischapter,itwilldiscussesfourapproachestothetranslationofbrandnames:

non-translation,transliteration,literaltranslation,combinationoftransliteration,literaltranslationandcreativetranslation.

4.1Non-translation

Accordingtoskopostheory,thetranslationmethodisdeterminedbythepurposeofthetargettext.Inotherwords,thismightbeunderstoodas“theendjustifiesthemeans”.Sothejudgmentofatranslatedbrandnameistheeffectinthetargetmarketthatachieved.Iftheproductssellwellafterusingthetranslatedbrandnames,thenthetranslationhasmadeagreatcommunicativeeffect.

Asforthetranslationstrategies,itisclear