The Stylistic Features and Translation Strategy of English Advertisements 广告的文体特征及其翻译策略.doc

英文广告的文体特征及其翻译策the stylistic features and translation strategy of english advertisementscontentsabstract in chineseiabstract in englishii1. introduction.12. description of advertising.22.1 definitions of advertising.22.2 main functions of advertising32.2.1 marketing function.32.2.2 education function.32.2.3 communication function.32.2.4 social function.33. analysis on the features of english advertising53.1 lexical features.5 3.1.1 colloquial and common words.5 3.1.2 verbs6 3.1.3 adjectives7 3.1.4 abbreviations and compounds.7 3.1.5 loan words.7 3.1.6 abnormal spelling.8 3.2 syntactic features of english advertising.8 3.2.1 simple sentences.9 3.2.2 interrogative sentences.9 3.2.3 elliptical sentences.103.2.4 imperative sentences10 3.2.5 disjunctive clauses.11 3.3 rhetorical features of english advertising.11 3.3.1 simile11 3.3.2 metaphor.11 3.3.3 personification.12 3.3.4 repetition.12 3.3.5 hyperbole.13 3.3.6 pun13 3.3.7 contrast.14 3.3.8 parody.14 3.3.9 metonymy.144. cross-cultural communication in advertising.16 4.1 language in cross-cultural advertising.16 4.2 communication styles in cross-cultural advertising.17 4.3 cultural values in cross-cultural advertising.175. techniques of advertising translation.18 5.1 literal translation18 5.2 transliteration.18 5.3 interpretation.19 5.4 free translation19 5.5 loan translation.20 5.6 omission.21conclusion.22bibliography.23acknowledgements.24摘要在激烈的商品市场竞争中，广告成为日益重要的竞争手段。研究广告的文体特征及其翻译的基本原则有一定的现实意义。本文基于对部分英文广告实例的研究，从词汇、句法和修辞等方面对广告英语的文体特征做出了细致而详实的阐述。此外，本文基于广告英语的文体特征，初步探索了广告英语的翻译问题。从而得出英文广告的翻译应采用适合其文体特征的翻译原则，并充分实现广告翻译商业目的和宣传功能的结论。关键字：英文广告；特征；跨文化交流；翻译策略abstractadvertising has become an increasingly important means of competition in this fierce competitive commercial market. therefore, it is of certain realistic value to study the features and translating strategies of english advertisements. based upon a host of data related to adverting, especially advertising english, this paper explores the main features of advertising english in terms of three aspects: lexicon level, syntax level and figures of rhetoric. based on the examination of the linguistic features of advertising english, this thesis also probes into relevant approaches to advertising english translation. in the end, it comes to the conclusion that appropriate translating strategies which are suitable for the features of the advertisements should adopted and the commercial aims and publicity function of the advertisements should be fully realized.key words: english advertisements; features; cross-cultural communication; translation strategies231. introductionwith the rapid development of the national economy, advertisement has found its way to a11 walks of life particularly to almost all aspects of modern life. no matter whether one likes it or not, the advertisement has in a sense increasingly become an indispensable part of peoples daily life. for instance，a typical american family is estimated to be exposed to averagely l,500 advertisements per day. even this figure can be considered as conservative. in china, advertisement has been a flourishing trade and plays an immeasurable role in promoting sales of commodities and services and making economy prosperous. therefore, with charms of trade, advertisement receives more and more attention from the whole world.however, with the growing need for efficient international advertising communication and translation, advertisement translation is still an underexplored field which has not yet been adequately studied in the discipline of translation. as a branch of tradition study, advertisements translation has its own precipices and demands a systematic study in multiple angles.this thesis is composed of six chapters. the first chapter is a brief introduction to the whole content, provides the reasons for the thesis and points out the significance of this research. the second chapter of the thesis is devoted to advertising. under that topic, the essay first tells what adverting is, its definition. coming next are its main functions. in the third chapter, the essay elaborates on the features of advertising english, exploring the subject from lexical, syntactic and rhetorical aspects respectively. chapter four is devoted to a brief discussion of the cross-cultural communication in advertising english. chapter five, the practical translation and applicable strategies are introduced accompanied with examples, according to the unique features and purposes of advertising. chapter six gives a conclusion to this essay.2. description of advertisingadvertising is around us all the time and everywhere. it exists in all market systems and it is considered as inseparable part of the human society and peoples daily life. its not only an economical activity used by the advertiser to promote the selling of the products or services to yield economic profits, but also a cultural exchange activity to influence the target audiences life style and consumption habits and to convey a new type of culture to the target audience at the same time. in order to have a better understanding of the basic knowledge about advertising, we need to start our study from advertings definition and functions. 2.1 definition of advertising“advertising” originates from a latin word “advertere” that means “to inform somebody of something”, namely to attract the publics attention to a certain object or a thing. generally speaking, advertising is a means to transfer information with an aim to propaganda and promote the selling of the products or services or affect the publics opinion. different scholars and researchers have developed remarkably different kinds of definitions about advertising.albert lasker, the father of modern advertising, gives the definition as follows: “advertising is salesmanship in print, driven by a reason why”. because this definition was given long before the advent of radio and television, the nature and scope of advertising were considerably restricted. but it is obviously indicated that the fundamental goal of advertising is to promote the selling.in longman contemporary english-chinese dictionary（1988:18 modern publishing house), “advertising is the business which concerns itself with making known to the public what is for sale and encouraging them to buy, especially by means of pictures in magazines, notices in newspapers and messages on television”.among all the definitions given by different scholars, the one by american marketing association (ama) is universally accepted and regarded as the most standard one: advertising is the non-personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media(zhao jing, 1992:1)all in all, no matter what kind of definition is given, it is commonly indicated in all the definitions that english advertising is a kind of communication in which information is offered in english language and various means to persuade or influence the consumer to purchase.2.2 main functions of advertisingadvertising is used by the advertiser to propaganda a certain product or service, to impose enough influence on the potential consumers to persuade them of the rightness of purchasing the product or service. by means of advertising, the advertiser can achieve the final goal of promoting sales of the product or popularize the use of the service. generally speaking, these functions could be grouped and categorized as marketing and education functions, as well as communication and social functions.2.2.1 marketing functionalong with sales promotion, public relations and personal selling, advertising is one of the vehicles employed by a business or an organization to communicate its customers. although advertising is only one element in a companys overall promotional program, it is the most visible. (wells, 1995: 9)2.2.2 education functionfrom advertising, people can learn about the products or services that are available to them and what they learn can help them live a better life. advertising, as an educator, speeds the adoption of the new and untried and, in so doing, accelerates technological advances in industry and hastens the realization of a fuller life for all. but advertising must be more than educational to be successful. it must also be persuasive to move people to action, whether that action is the purchase of a different brand of breakfast cereal or regular attendance at church. this persuasiveness usually has little in common with the impartiality of education.2.2.3 communication functionadvertising is a form of mass communication. it transmits different types of information of products, services and ideas to consumers in the marketplace. it plays a role of connecting sellers with consumers to achieve communication between them in the marketplace. advertising both informs and transforms the product by creating an image that goes beyond straightforward facts.2.3.4 social functionwith regard to advertisements social function, it generally lies in the following aspect.firstly, by publicizing the material, social, and cultural opportunities of a free enterprise consumer society, advertising helps improve the standard of living and encourages increased productivity by both management and labor. secondly, advertising motivates consumers to purchase by giving them an attractive picture of the products available to them. it helps them compare products and make their purchase decisions. thirdly, the press, such as newspapers, magazines, radio and television, all receive their primary income from advertising, which facilitates its freedom. public services by advertising organizations also foster growth and understanding of important social causes. lots of non-commercial organizations receive continuous financial support and volunteer assistance. finally, advertising also reflects fashion and design trend in a certain society, imposes effects on the society to result in important social and legal changes.3. analysis on the features of english advertisingthe ultimate purpose of all advertisements is to present the information about the product or the services and persuade the prospective consumer to buy them. the advertising language is only a means to achieve this purpose. advertising language forms direct communication between the addresser (producer) and the target text reader (consumers), and the content it conveys is not only informative, but must also persuasive; it tries to impress audience and get them into buying action. in order to achieve the persuasive effect advertising agents use special lexical, syntactic and rhetorical methods to attract attention. both the form and content are subordinate to the persuasive effect that the advertisement is designed to reach. advertising is not only concerned with the language, but also a reflection of the culture. it is necessary for us to know the linguistic cultural features of advertising english.3.1 lexical featuresthe lexicon choices are closely related to the style of the text, just as said by jonathan swift (1721) that “proper words in proper places make the true definition of a style”. the fowler brothers (1908) mentioned five principles of lexicon choices in the kings english. they said “using similar words to replace farfetched words, concrete words to abstract words, single words multiple words, simple words to long words and anglo-saxon words to latin words”. although these principles are too strict and absolute, they have somewhat instructive significance for english beginners in writing english texts. english stylistics put much stress on the very important factor of “register” in lexicon choices, which refers to the range of the language use and points out that different contents of styles demand different words to express their exact meanings.according to what is mentioned above, this part conducts an analysis on the lexicon features of advertising english with typical examples, covering the following aspects of oral words, verbs, adjectives, compound words and abbreviations, loan words, and use of abnormal spelling.3.1.1 simple and colloquial wordssimple words make advertising succinct, simple and easy to be followed and remembered. philip wand burton and scotte purvis (1991:5) remark that “an advertisement should be presented with easy-to-grasp language-simple, convincing prose backed up by a layout that ties in and is equally easy to follow”. those commonly-used words in advertising are monosyllables and midget words. look at the following example:(1) only carvers can do a job like this. because only carvers have the new supa-drive electric power-pack ordinary power-tools have ordinary motors but carvers have a power pack and it is power that packs a punch see how they can saw. power saw. and drill power drill. and sand power sand carvers power pack power tools lend more power to your elbow carvers. see them now. at your local power pack stockiest.there are seventy-one words in the above advertising, of which forty-one words with no more than four letters, making up fifty-eight percent and there are fifty-three monosyllables making up seventy-four, which shows that monosyllables and midget words enjoy great frequency in advertising. by using these words one can kill two birds with one stone: on one hand, making advertising language more concise and expressive, and on the other hand, saving more space or time, as a result, more money will be saved.3.1.2. verbsadvertising english demands the predicate verbs simple and clear-cut to make its language brief and easily understood. the result of research on advertising effect shows the frequently used verbs in advertising english, which include: bring, choose, enjoy, feel, get, give, have, keep, like, love, make, need, save, serve, take, try, use, watch, etc.(jiang yifeng: 1995). for examples:(2) give this special gift to your good friend.(3) getting places in the business world is easier if your banker is there to meetyou.(4) making life is a little sweeter.(5) kone gives you more in material handling. (6) use these coupons on your next two purchases for cascades virtually spotless cleaning performance.in advertising english, the word “buy” is rarely selected. “buy” means obtaining something by giving money, which may bring an unpleasant feeling to consumers. thereby, in many cases, “buy” is seldom used and usually substituted by “serve”, “afford”, “give somebody something”, or other indirect words or expressions.3.1.3 adjectivesadjectives, especially the positive ones, play an essential role in advertising english for describing the characters or qualities of products. statistics shows the extensively employed adjectives are: beautiful, best, better, easy, fine, fresh, good, great, natural, new, real, rich, safe, special, etc. see the following example:(7) gold rings in perfect proportion,where each diamond is cradled in platinum to reflect its purest brilliance. our newest classic.this gold ring advertisement uses not only original adjectives as modifier to describe the product, but also the superlative and comparative degree to show its super character. see more examples:(8) what a good time for a good taste of kent?(9) in just a few drops, this mans skin is going to feel better.(10) whats on the best-seller list in ibm personal computer software?3.1.4 abbreviations and compoundsan abbreviation refers to a shortened form of a word. abbreviations have the advantage of shortening the length of an ad, saving advertising cost, and making an ad brief and clear-cut. a compound is a combination of two or more parts in a fixed order. in advertising english, compounds have found wide use in describing the intrinsic qualities and technological connotations of products. therefore, it is by no means contradictory for some advertising executives to use abbreviations extensively and for others to use compounds frequently. for example:(11) give a timex to all, to all a good time. (timex watch)in the example , timex=time+excellent. super- is the often used prefix while suffix -ex frequently appears in brand names. -ex comes from the word “excellent”, indicating the fair quality of products. “good time” here has a double meaning: it may mean “pleasant time” or “showing time exactly”.3.1.5 loan wordsenglish has absorbed abund