国外名牌商品的翻译.docx

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1、国外名牌商品的翻译本文结合大量的国内外品牌名称翻译的具体例子，指出商品品牌的翻译 在商业中的重要作用，同时探讨了国外知名品牌在进入中国市场时，英 译汉时所采用的翻译技巧，即音译，意译和音译结合的方法。同时品牌 名称在译成中文时要注意社会文化因素对品牌译名的影响，这些包括: 中国的传统思想和价值观取向，中国传统文学和典故，消费者性别等。 本文通过对具体的经典品牌名称翻译例子的分析，总结出结论：在翻译 商品品牌名称时要遵循忠于商品，简单又要有创造性以及忠于源语等原 那么。This paper pointed out the importance of brand name translationi

2、n in commerce with a large number of specific examples. And studied the translation skills used by the tanslators while a foreign brand came into the Chinese market These skills include phonetic translation, semantic translation and phonosemantic translation. Meanwhile, when doing the brand name tra

3、nslation, the translator must pay attention to the sociocultural factors which can affect the translation a lot.these facts mainly include Chinese traditional idea and value, traditional Chinese literature and literary allusions and consumer gender. Moreover, the paper also cited the brand name tran

4、slation examples to come to the conclution that theabout inductive principle. The translator did not transliterate the Rejoice or translate it literally to 欢乐，but adopt freetranslation boldly. 飘柔 was used to show the brilliance of it. At the same time, this translation also has the very strong induc

5、tive. Generally speaking, the shampoo7 s consumer group is almost female, and each woman vainly hoped for has mild-mannered sharp luxuriant. 飘柔 has held the dream of the groups, lured them to choose the productOne more instance, a kind of soap named Safeguard. According to the word Safeguard Jt is n

6、ot difficult to know it is a cleaner, whose duty is to keep people clean . That is to say z there is no virus with you if you use the soap. Whats more, it will make you feel clean forever. In this way, there is no name better than 舒服佳”.3.3 Phonosemantic translationPhonosemantic translation is the tr

7、anslation that has both phonetic and semantic relation to the original brand name. It selects characters that carry certain sounds and represent meanings that are associated the brand or the brands7 product category. But translation as a whole, each character in the brand name does not follow this r

8、ules. Thus, this needs to bedistinguished from straight phonosemantic translation, which identifies brand names meeting phonosemantic translation requirements for each of its characters.To a certain extent, the translation of the brand name is a kind of advertisement and also the translator7 s recre

9、ation. Because the translator should make the most of his imagination and creativity to find the common trait between the source language and target language, and get close to the target language to the maximum extent. Meanwhile, the new brand name cannot lose the verve and style of the old name. In

10、 this way, the translators always use phonosemantic translation to translate the brand name of foreign brand. This translation method has the advantages of both phonetic translation and semantic translation. Not only express the original meaning of the brand in source language, but also has the simi

11、lar pronunciation. So, the translated brand name always sounds vivid and unique and gives customers very deep impression. As it is known that English is typical phonography while Chinese is ideograph. The combination of meaning and sound may be the best way of brand name translation. Take the famous

12、 American sport brand Nike for example, Nike used to be the name of the goddess of victory in Greek mythology. According to the speech sound ofGreek, it should be translated into 奈基or 娜记or something else, it will be confusing for lots of Chinese because they do not know the original meaning. However

13、, the translator chose ”而寸克 to be its Chinese brand name, which not only imitated its pronunciation, but also considered the characteristic of enduring and wear well of Nike s products. 460 Not only had the similar pronunciation but also easy for customers to understand, it was really a divine inspi

14、ration.Another brand Mercedes-benz is also a good example. In December, 1900, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft( DMG Kompany gave one of their customers Emil Jellinek a car which was the first car named as Mercedes in the world and also named by EmilJellinek s daughter Mercedes Jellinek. The whole name M

15、ercedes-benz is too long for its Chinese translation, so the translator just uses half of the name. And there are different translation between Chian mainland, Taiwan district and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The translation of Benz in Taiwan and Hongkong is 宾士“ which I think is quite di

16、gnified and elegant but people could hardly associate it with a car. The translation of China mainland is ”奔驰 which means coursing can make the customers feel the car can move with lighting speed, and the pronunciation is quite similar with the English name Benz. This is a classical brand name trans

17、lation of the car in a lot of people s opinion.But straight phonosemantic translation is difficult to achieve because it is difficult for the whole brand name phonetically resembling the original brand and semantically related to the product nature or benefits. So the translator who can truly use th

18、is method freely should master a lot of translation skills.4 . Sociocultural Factors Affected Brand Name TranslationNida had indicated that language is a social phenomenon which is related closely to the social structure and social value system. 6116-120 So the translation of a language must conside

19、r about the effect of social structure and social value. A lot of scholars believe that culture language and the translation have very close relation with each other. Culture includes language and affects it; language is the important part of culture and also anindispensable tool to preserve culture

20、, to exchange culture and to reflect culture. And just because this relationship between language and culture, translation, the transformation of different culture messages by language, is restricted and affected by culture to some extent. In fact, no matter what kind of form of translation, it can

21、not be separated from social culture.As a difficult translation, the brand name translation also should use words to express. So the choose of words during the brand name translation also related to the national culture, affected by the national culture and reflect the orientation of the national cu

22、lture. Concretely speaking, because of the difference of history, region, culture background and customs, Chinese always have different opinion, sometimes great contrast, with foreigners on the same saying, product or event. Generally speaking, the brand name translation would affect by the social c

23、ulture factors as follow:4.1. Chinese traditional idea and valueWhile choosing the words that used as a brand name, the author always affected by the Chinese traditional ideas and the traditional value. For example, the foundation of Chinese core concept is the Confucianism; it is embodied in commer

24、cialculture and mainly focus on benevolence, righteousness, rites, intelligence, and fidelity. So the translation of foreign brand name also should be with humaneness, righteousness, and also should be implicit There is a good example for a cosmetic brand Kiss Me. Most of the western countries are d

25、irect and adventurous, and the word kiss is always used by the people in those countries. But Chinese are implicit and do not say kiss a lot in the daily life. What s more? Chinese cry up the connotation of Beauty. So, the translator mustn, t translate the brand namejust as 吻我 which cannot be accept

26、ed by lots of Chinese people. The Chinese name of this brand is ”奇土美 now, which includes the words of beauty and magic. The author think 奇士美is much better than 吻我for the product. 18842 Traditional Chinese literature and literary allusionsThe power of literature is usually stronger than it and affect

27、s other things, and the power of literature in commerce. While translating the brand name, if the translator can use our country s literary allusions and our traditional literary works to publicize, it could be highly effective. The American well-known cosmetic brand Relon s Chinese name is 露华浓 ,whi

28、ch was from the great romantic poet Li Bais poem of Tang Dynasty. The poem says that 云想衣裳花想容，春风拂暖露华浓，which means the cloud want the beautiful cloth and the flowers want the pretty face, in the warm spring winds, the flower seems much beautiful with dew. In this poem, the flower is a figure of speech

29、 to describe a famous Chinese beauty Yang Yuhuan, an imperial concubine of emperor of Tang Dynasty. The Chinese brand name 露华浓 do not only has a very similar pronunciation with the English version, but also a good description of traditional Chinese standard of beauty. It quotes the classics and full

30、 of Han culture to explain both the beautiful of the lady and the elegance of the cosmetics. 288 Japanese car manufacturer “Toyota” presents a kind of luxurious car named Lexus” . When the car began to market in china, the administrant of the company decided to translate Lexus“ into Chinese name ”凌志

31、 .The name may recall many mainland Chinese memories about Chairman Mao s majestic poem 久有凌云志，重上井冈山.So when we translate brand names, we can choose propitious names from the traditional literary allusions.In the traditional Chinese literature, the authors always describe an elegant lady as orchid, c

32、ardamom or lotus. Reflected in the cosmetic brand name translation, we can see that Lancome was translated as ”兰蔻，used both orchid and cardamom to showtheir products were elegant and exquisite. Another cosmetic brand Maybelline was named after the initiator7 s sister. The Chinese name ”美宝莲 includes

33、the word beautiful, baby and lotus. Using three graceful words to describe the brand, it is really a quintessence of cosmetic brand name translation. 12 These translations were the results of affecting by Chinese literature and only when the translators were very familiar with the Chinese culture, c

34、an they create such good translated brand name.4.3. Consumer genderIt is generally acknowledged that when the product is related to the female consumers, the product7 s translated brand name should reflect the gentle beauty of woman and should show the artistic conception of warm and fragrant, elega

35、nt, morbidezza, peaceful, harmonious and noble. So, just as mentioned, the translation of cosmetics always uses the words like orchid, cardamom, and lotus and so on. Except for the mentioned brands Lancome or Maybelline, the famous luxury brand Guerlain is also a very good example. Because for the C

36、hinese version 娇兰 ,the first word can mean lovable, tender and young, while the second word means orchid. The customers can easily identify the products are for ladies and the products can make woman more beautiful. Compared to these brands, the brands for man pay much attention to the masculinity o

37、f the name of the brand. So when the translators are translating these products brand, they will choose some certain words to show man7 s pursuit. The well-known brand of man7 s leather products and pens Mont Blanc was very popular among the gentlemen. It is named from the Europes highest mountain M

38、ont Blanc. The Chinese brand name 万宝龙is quite different from the mountain/ s name 勃朗峰”.万宝龙“includes the meaning of myriad, treasure, and dragon. From these words, we can easily know the brand mainly provides goods for man.5 . General Principles of Brand TranslationExquisite Examples of TranslationLo

39、ts of international brands were originated from very ordinary names. But the Chinese brand name must be very creative. If we compare marketing as a battle, then a successful brand name is just like an eternal flag. A international brand have to market in the global area and across a variety of cultu

40、re difficulties, such as language differences, consumption habit differences, religion differences and so on.As the culture of western countries are quite similar, one brand from a European country can easily accepted by Americans. But China is quite different from those western countries. So if the

41、se western brands want to market in China, the brand must be a very important element And the translators must consider carefully about the name. And the complicacy of commodity economy phenomenon makes the brand name translation beyond the linguistics concept, rise to the level of culture psycholog

42、y and market relocation.5.1.1 McDonalds: multiple meaningsMcDonalds is the English version of 麦当劳“fast food named by the possessive of its owner s name. Western people used to name one s company with his or her family name. Like the Edison Company, Walt Disney Company and Ford Company.translator nee

43、ds to comply with the general principles such as to be faithful to the products, to be simple but creative, complying with the culture of source language.Contents. Introduction 11 . Aim of Brand Translation 2. Methods of Foreign Brand Translation 31.1 Phonetic translation 3Semantic translation 31.2

44、Phonosemantic translation 5. Sociocultural Factors Affected Brand Name Translation 71.3 Chinese traditional idea and value 742 Traditional Chinese literature and literary allusions 84.3 Consumer gender 9However, Chinese like to name the shops with some happy, lucky and new words such as 百盛，全聚德，喜来登an

45、d so on. McDonald was neither Edison who was almost the most famous inventor in the world, nor Disney who made Disney synonym of cartoon. So if the brand name McDonald was translated as 麦克唐纳的店，it would be too dull. But the name 麦当劳“ which was used till now is a success. It showsconcretely as follows

46、:First, it keeps the basic pronunciation of McDonalds; second, the word 麦“ shows that the shop is related to food; thirdly, it implies that if you want to eat you have to work; last, the name is in combination with Chinese Culture and Western Culture. 95.1.2 Coca -Cola: perfect translationAmerican b

47、rand Coca-Cola is a world-renowned brand. This beverage was popular in Chinese market not only for its special recipe and omnipresent advertising, but also for its translated brand name. It is said that when Coca-Cola company wanted to access to the Chinese market, they invited Mr.Chiang Yee to desi

48、gn a Chinese name. 350 After a long time s thought a sudden inspiration came to his mind and he wrote four words“可口可乐 As a matter of fact, coca is a medicinal plant in southAmerica, while cola is a large genus of African tree. There is no more meaning of them. Mr.Chiang Yee s translation gave full p

49、lay to the charm of Chinese characters. The Chinese name was all good in pronunciation, form and meaning. The voice of overlapping double rhyme made the brand catchy and convenient to disseminate. Now, Coca cola has gained fame in China, even the word cola have been the substitute name of homogeneity beverage. It is clear that one of the key factors on making a great success of opening the market in China is the translation of its clear-ou