Characteristics and Translation Strategies of Advertisements1.doc

characteristics and translation strategies of advertisements广告的特征及翻译策略characteristics and translation strategies of advertisementsabstract: nowadays, advertisement plays a more important role in everyday life, especially after chinas entering the wto and opening up to the outside world. a lot of advertisements can be found on tv shows, radios, in newspaper, magazines and so on. as a result, ads translation is distinctive important. meanwhile advertisement is an strong-aimed style(usually its main purpose is to draw the customers attention to buy the goods and it has its own special characteristics so that it is necessary for us to grasp quite a lot of knowledge of ads. in this paper, firstly, the author would like to look back to the history and development of ads. it is also necessary to know the definition and classification of ads. furthermore, one had better know the characteristics of ads (from words, sentences and rhetoric means to its size).in the practice of translating ads, there is no doubt that certain translation standards and techniques are very helpful for people. in the final chapter, the author will talk about two basic translation strategies: literal translation and free translation .there is no doubt that the translation of advertising is no easy job. by virtue of advertisement introduction and translation techniques of advertisements, it is hoped that the advertisements translation will be better and finer.key words: advertisement; translation; characteristic; literal translation; free translation摘要：如今，特别是改革开放和中国入世后，广告在人们的日常生活中起着越来越重要的作用。在电视上，收音机里，报纸上，杂志里，人们都可是发现大量的广告。由此，广告的重要性十分突出。同时广告是一种目的性很强的文体（他的主要目的是吸引顾客来购买他们的商品），广告有自己的独特之处，很有必要了解大量的广告知识。在这篇论文中，笔者会首先回顾一下广告的历史和发展。当然，知道广告的定义以及其大体分类也是有必要的。读者需要进一步了解广告的特点（从单词、句子、以及修辞等方面来分析）。在翻译广告的实践过程中，遵循一定的翻译原则，掌握一定的翻译技巧对广告翻译是很有帮助的。在最后的章节中，笔者将从直译与意译两个方面来简单地讨论一下广告的翻译策略。当然广告的翻译并不是件易事，但通过努力可以把它做得更好。关键词：广告；翻译；特点；直译；意译contentsabstractkey words. definition and classifications of advertising.1a. development of advertising.1b. definition of advertising.1 c. classifications of advertisements.2 ii. features of advertising syntax. .2a. simple and colloquial language. 2b. more use of simple and shortened sentences, less of complex sentences.3 c. the use of interrogative sentence.3 d. the use of imperative sentences. .4. rhetoric features of advertising.4a. parallelism.4 b. personification.5 . translation strategies of advertisements.5a. how to use literal translation in advertising translation? .61. literal translation.6 2. literal translation is not word-for-word translation.7 b. how to use free translation in advertising translation? .91. if there is some trouble to understand a sentence in using literal translation, use free translation.92. don not adds personal emotion to the original works.10. conclusion.11works cited i. definition and classifications of advertisinga. development of advertising people have deeply depended on advertisements since its born on the earth. it is said that in the 17th commercial advertising have begun to appear on british newspapers. in the west, the real power to promote advertisements modernization is the moveable type of printing technology, which was invented by johann gutenberg in 1440. another significant technical progress is the invention of photography in the early 1800s. this invention promoted advertisements which were read-only gradually becomes advertisements which could appreciate and realize visualization.in 1841, volney b.palmer, who began his business in philadelphia, became the first advertisement agent of america. in 1890, another advertisement firmn.w.ayerson, which made plans, did creations and propaganda for its customers, became the first advertisement agency company with significant meaning of modernization. during 1920s, namely after the first world war, the “era of salesmanship” has come; meanwhile, advertisement began its “salesmanship on newspapers” in real sense. during 1950s, rosser reeves, the pioneer of american advertising, proposed usp (unique selling proposition), a sale idea, which meant every advertisement must point out the products uspunique selling proposition those basic features that differentiated it from competitive products, and must constantly do so. in the second half of 20th century, advertising experienced the image era in the 1960s, positioning era in the 1976s, me decade in the 1980s, and integration period in the 1990s successively. today, as a selling means, advertisements have got rid of simplexes and directness to become mature and powerful. it has even regulated the products quality function and the buyers personalities. (crystal and dary 87)b. definition of advertisementsit should be admitted that the definition of advertisement is evolving as the time changes. the word “advertisement” comes from the latin word “advertere” in the early time, which means to call the peoples attention to something. in chinese, the word “advertisement” means to tell something to the public. it is evident that there are some similarities on the definition of advertisements between latin and chinese.there were many different definitions above advertisements in history, among these, one definition is commonly accepted, and it is defined by american marketing association: “adverting is the non-personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, service or ideas by identified sponsors through various media.”（liu 3）however, this definition is some what unilateral. it lopsidedly emphasized that the characteristics of advertisement are means of information spreading and payable. in my opinion, the definition of modern advertisement which defined by chen peiai, who is a professor in xiamen university, in his advertising theory is more complex, appropriate and accurate by contrast with other definitions. he thought: “advertisement is the information which paid by the advertisement owner through artificial process to achieve the purpose of activity by different media.”(chen 10)c. classifications of advertisingthe classification of advertising is various in different points of view. distinguishing these classifications can help a translator not only have a proper choice but also master the usage of advertisement translation.modern advertising can be mainly classified into three aspects:1. classification by target audience 2. classification by geographic area coveredin a word, the forms of advertisements are various; we should try to find a perfect translation means according to different types of advertisements. features of advertising syntaxadvertising language requires being concise and interesting. thus, advertising styles than other styles has its own characteristics in syntax. a. simple and colloquial languageadvertising literature simplicity and colloquial features actually concord with some practical application needs because the simple sentence can be easily understood and remembered by people in a short time, and colloquial advertising is easier to be accepted. here are two advertisements:1. is her skin really this beautiful?not without a little help, it isnt.max factor foundations are too sheer, too light, to be seen. but the results cant be missed.choose from velvet balanced made-up-a ph balanced, oil-free liquid to maintain your skins natural acid balance.velvet touch. a gossamer light, basic foundation to give your ski a fresh radiant look.ultra moist. a creamy, richly moisturized thats especially kind to drier skins.use one of these foundations from max factor and they could be asking it of you .is her skin really that beautiful?dont you love being a woman?2. frescanow theres a taseful alternative no caffeine. virtually no calories. just a unique, sparking citrus taste. frescathe body of example 2 only has 9 sentences, 91 words, with an average of 10 words per sentence. the shortest sentence only has two words, the longest sentence 17 words. the body of simple 2) only has three sentences, eleven words, and an average of 4 words, the longest sentence only has six sentences. it is very short compared with other styles.b. more use of simple and shortened sentences, less of complex sentencesadvertising needs space and cost to achieve the best publicity in a limited amount of time. thus, the sentence of advertisements must be simple, easy to understand and remember for readers, so that they will be more concentrated in the commodities, rather than the understanding of advertising. long and complex sentences would distract readers attention and the advertising will be difficult to achieve the desired results. much good advertising is known for strong and simple sentences. c. the use of interrogative sentenceinterrogative sentence in advertising accounts for an important position. according to statistics, there is an interrogative sentence in every 30 sentences. this is because the interrogative sentence can make some response from people, and arouse their reaction. for example, example a has a interrogative as title. it aroused the curiosity of readers, make readers continue to read the text, in order to open doubt in their heart; in the end of advertising, interrogative can suggest the readers take action immediately. for example:1. could anything ever replace the taste of good old grape or apple juice? how about raspberry?2. whats so special about lurpak danish butter? well, can you remember what butter used to taste like-real fresh from house butter? do you remember you used to enjoy it when you were young? d. the use of imperative sentencesimperative sentence have the meaning of request or orders somebody to do something and the purpose of it is to persuade and urge people to take some action (such as the purchase of commodities). therefore, a large number of imperative sentences are used in advertisements. the common verbs used in advertisements often appear in imperative sentence. for examples:1. look for top shelf on your grocers shelf in the new microwave entre section, and go places wit it. -hormel food2. get ready to encounter the new trend in timepieces.watch that are indicators of tastes and moods that express you. - citizen watch. rhetoric features of advertising today, advertisements as many as forests, in order to make their own advertisings special with others, and cause attention, the authors often use some figures speech in advertisements. those figures include: parallelism, personification, pun, repetition.a. parallelismparallelism sentence could expressing strong feelings, highlighting emphasized content, and strengthen language momentum. at the same time, way neat, clear rhythm. this marked with advertisements nature persuade initiatives consistent. lets see tow examples:1. i have seen history unfold before me.i have seen the enduring strength of the human spirit.i have seen freedom triumph over oppression,i would like to see peace. james nachtwey, photojournalist what would you like to see?see your world more clearly and comfortably with 1-day acuvue, the ultimate contact lens. precision-crafted for exceptional vision. and you change them every day, so theyre healthier and more comfortable for your eyes.2. for dreamers, its paradise. for romantics, its true bliss. for $ 199 a night, its absolutely irresistible. to learn more about the principality of monaco, call 800-753-9696.b. personification personification in advertising is to personify the goods, and give feeling and emotion as person. it can make us feel better when we see the advertisement. lets see some examples:1. the first bra to understand the facts of life. an bra advertisement 2. we are proud of the birthplaces of our children, the grapes of almaden.on our classic varietal wines, you will find the birthplaces of our children. almaden wine1975, the company -matex in u.s. produced a quality corrosion resistant agents, in order to keep the public informed about the products, the company decided to advertising. they named their products “rusty jones” to distinguish it from other similar products, and make it seems like a person. then rusty jones turned into a tall, has brown hair red, wearing work trousers and labor shirt, hard-working person. it gives people the impression of lovely and kind.in the advertisement of matex company, rusty jones gives people that message:3. “hi, im rusty jones. im the one new car option you can buy that will actually appreciate in value. ill stay with you ,winter and summer, today and night, no vocations, no even a coffee breaksaving your car from rust. and a rust free car is always worth more.”(zhao 73)because of rusty jones, becoming known and accepted by the public, people have purchased to buy matexs corrosion resistant agents. the sales of matex have risen to 100 million u.s dollars in 1980 from 2.5 million u.s dollars in 1974. translation strategies of advertisementsliteral translation and free translation are two basic skills of translation. literal translation refers to translate a sentence originally, keep the original message form, including construction of sentence, meaning of the original words, and metaphor of the original and so on. translation would be fluent and easy to comprehend by target language readers. (he 57)free translation refers to, according to the meaning of the original, without paying attention to the details and translation would also be fluent and natural. free translation need not pay attention to the form of the original, including construction of the original sentences, meaning of the original works, and metaphor of the original and so on. but free translation does not mean to delete or add content to the original and translators must consider the original carefully, know its stress, translate it naturally, and express the meaning of the original. free translation is a skill which translators must know the culture of both source language and target language, and must have extensive knowledge. (he 60)when translating, it should not use literal translation completely or use free translation completely. according to the passage which you are translating, you should use literal translation frequently and use free translation when necessary. for example:1. quality never goes out of style. literal translation:质量永远也不能离开款式。free translation:质量永与质量为伴。2. every time we race, you win. (beneficiary always is consumer.)literal translation:每次我们竞赛，你总赢。free translation:顾客总是胜过我们。form the example 1, free translation is better than literal translation. from the example 2, literal translation is better than free translation. but how to use literal translation and free translation? there is a sentence: “translate literally, if possible, or appeal to free translation.”a. how to use literal translation in advertising translation?1. literal translation why translation is possible? what is the advantage of literal translation? generally, rhetoric is often used in a passage to make the passage lively. literal translation retains the rhetoric of the original, so it is as lively as the original. but free translation only expresses the general idea of original, lively rhetoric of the original disappeared. so generally speaking, literal translation is a good choice in translation.for example:a. 30 years experiences of textiles garment export. quality the best reputation and friendship the foremost. always abide by contract and credibility.literal translation:三十年纺织品和服装出口经验。质量第一，信誉第一，友情第一。重合同，守信用，始终一贯。(he 45)free translation:丰富的经验。完美的质量和信誉，值得信赖。b. there should be a better way to start a day than waking up every morning.literal translation : 应该有更好的方式开始新的一天，而不是千篇一律的在每个早上都醒来。 free translation: 让每个早上变的更好。free translation of examples a and b, only express the general idea of the original sentences. it is too simple. metaphor and description of the original sentences have disappeared. after all free translation is inferior and dull and thus is undesirable. but the literal translation of example a and b is clearer than the free translation. actually, literal translation is the chief way of translation. it is close to the original, lively and natural. it is acceptable is very important in translation. from theory of translation angle, translation is a theory which uses target language to express the idea, content and style of source language. it should accord with the culture and customs of the target language. translation not only does express the idea and style of the original message, but also need to accord with the culture and customs of the target language, so that the translation can easy be accepted by target language readers. because the differences of two languages, sometimes it is difficult to retain the idea and style of the source language. the advantage of literal translation is that almost retain the idea and style of the original. so most of translators like to use literal translation.from all above, that is the reason of “translation literally, if possible.” 2. literal translation is not word-for-word translationat first, which kind of translation