The Translation Techniques and Principles of Business English Advertisement.doc

毕业(设计)The Translation Techniques andPrinciples of Business English Advertisement1. IntroductionSince China has been a member of WTO, more and more Chinese companies and commodities have entered into the international market, meanwhile, an increasing number of foreign enterprises and products have poured into Chinese domestic market. In the war of fighting for the market, the most powerful weapon is the commercial advertisement. In each country and company, a huge sum of money will be used to reshape its own corporate image and promote all kinds of its products. In the 21st century, an era of economic globalization, advertising internationalization is becoming more obvious and cutthroat. No matter it is a domestic company or a foreign company, the problem of advertising internationalization and globalization exists, in other words, the problem of commercial advertisement translation. This thesis is to do some research about the advertising English translation.Advertisement, as a practical language, it has a special effect, which has developed into a special language form general English. Currently, advertisement has been extremely prevailing as the marketing communication tool and now more than ever before it is vital that correct translation accompanies advertisements when they cross cultural and linguistic borders. Acquiring the techniques and principles of translating advertisements, the translator can make the advertisement readable and influential on persuading readers to buy as well. 2. Business English advertisement and its translation2.1 Advertisement-culture relationshipAccording to Nida (2001:78), “Language is the totality of beliefs and practices of a society, nothing is of great strategic importance than the language through which its beliefs are expressed and transmitted and by which most interaction of its members takes place”. From this statement, it indicates that language and culture are closely related to each other and cannot be separated from media of culture.Advertising is the outcome of language. Therefore, there bound to be cultural elements embodied in it. Advertisers combine their advertised targets with peoples way of life and joys of life, and create a special set of symbolic systems to pass on information, so that the promoted products are endowed with cultural images as well.Leiss(1986:7) holds that advertising is an essential factor of modern culture. Most advertisements are stamped with cultural background or sub-cultural background, reflecting peoples behavior, traits, customs, religious belief and moral principles within that culture system. For this reason, in the course of translating an advertisement into another language, the translator, in order to have a profound understanding of the original text, is expected to not only study its main idea, but to deliberate on the culture orientation and culture niche of the addressee in the original culture as well.Further than that, every country has its own unique culture which determines the consumption habits of this country. Not knowing that, a translator may make devastating mistakes. Nova-brand cars made by Chevrolet in the U.S.A. once tried to advertising slogan. The word “Nova” means “it does not go” in Spanish. One can well imagine no customer wants to purchase a car that does not work. However, if a translator had made some investigation into the language and culture of the target country, the mistake would have been avoided and the result would have been completely different.2.2 The translation of business English advertisementThe business advertisement can be divided into several types. From the angle of producing method and style, it can be divided into two forms: soft advertisement and hard advertisement. When translating the advertisement, first of all, distinguish the style. Hard advertisement emphases on conveying information by way of introducing the characteristics and advantages of the product to persuade customers and to promote the product. Its language is exact and clear, plain and objective. Its tone is calm and attractive. The soft advertisement is touching, which establishes the emotional connect with the consumers so as to arouse their desire to buy their products. Its style is familiar with literature, its language is colorful and vivid, its tone is exaggerate and powerful. The following are some examples:(1) SINGERPresses out the Iron AgeThe Magic Steam Press reduces ironing time by as much as 50%. The Singer Magic Steam Press will give your garments an instant, fresh-flow-the-cleaners look.An innovation in household ironing, it has a pressing surface ten times the size of most hand held irons and pressure over 100 lbs. The magic Steam Press provides exactly what you want ease, speed and professional results.l Burst of Steam features for stubborn wrinkles.l Easy onehand operation, either sitting or standing.l Variable temperature centre adjusts temperature according to fabric selected.l Portable and easy to stone.l Protects fine fabric.l Huge ironing pad surface.l Non-stick ironing pad surface.l 100 bls, of even ironing pressure.l Automatic safety shut-off. 140 Years of InnovationSINGERSingers worldwide retail and distribution system covers 100 countries. 家熨斗，开创熨斗新时代 神奇的蒸汽熨斗可节省一般熨烫时间。 神奇的蒸汽熨斗使您的衣服笔挺，犹如刚从洗衣店取回。 这是家用熨斗的一次创新。它的熨烫面比多数家用熨斗大10倍，100余磅压力。神奇的蒸汽熨斗恰恰遂您心愿，方便快捷，奇效。 喷出的水蒸气可烫平任何顽固的皱褶； 单手操作。 设有温度控制器，可根据不同的衣料调整温度； 携带、存放两便 不伤精细面料 熨烫板表面不粘连 熨烫压力为100磅，压力均匀； 自动安全开关。胜家公司140年的创新历史批发零售网点遍及100多个国家和地区Another example of Soft advertisement.(2) Come, Listen to the MusicListen to the laughter of Kookaburras in primeval forests. To the pulsing hum of Aboriginal music at ancient ceremonies which reenact the creation of the world. To tell tales in outback pubs. Listen to the muffled thunder of our surf. Listen, finally, to the kind of music. People say you can hear even when its absolutely quiet.音像协奏曲看一眼，您就会心满意足。这就是富有创意的革新。在此感受与体验融合在音乐的海洋中，似清澈的声波，似美丽的风光，美妙动人，任君欣赏。现在，请注意听。开始，您就像是在爵士乐俱乐部里，而后又像是在教堂内，又像是在电影院中，随后又到了？弹指之间，按UD-90遥控器上的六个按钮，音乐画面立刻跃然眼前。3General principles of translating business English advertisement3.1 FaithfulnessOne of the main functions of advertising is to provide product information, including brand name, prize, size, performance, characteristics and so on. Therefore, it becomes extremely important for consumers to be able to understand all the information. When there is a divergence between the advertised product and its counterparts, how to transform its unique features into the selling point becomes a vital issue. In particular, those advertisements containing a large amount of information require clear and relative explanation. From a dialectical perspective, an international advertisement can be viewed as an entity, which is composed of form and content. The first translating principle, faithfulness, is just proposed from the point of advertising content. That is to say, the translated copy should provide as much necessary information as possible. The product information in the original copy should be transmitted into the target copy completely and thoroughly. A translator cannot delete or omit any messages at his will, he should be sure that the information in the original copy contains no such message. In short, faithfulness is the life of a translation. For example:(3) Zhonghua pencil: Smooth and beautiful, Zhonghua high quality pencils.中华牌铅笔：品质优良，书写润滑，美观大方。 (4) Your body is beautiful. Its your jeans that are out of proportion.Even the most beautiful body can get lost under the wrong pair of jeans. Thats why its important to wear jeans that let you look your best, jeans that make the most of what youve got. Like our Relaxed Riders. When we make Relaxed Riders, we cut our material on a curve to conform to the natural contours of your body. So where your proportions change, the proportions of your Lees Relaxed Riders Jeans change. If youve been thinking that something is wrong with you just because your jeans dont fit, try Relaxed Riders. Youll see its not a better body you need. Its better jeans.你身材美妙，但不合体的牛仔裤会使美的身材黯然失色。李氏休闲牛仔裤剪裁得体，自然流畅，随身所欲，调整体形。好牛仔赛过好身材。 3.2 AttractivenessThis principle of translating advertising English is suggested from the point of advertising form. Few advertisements are actually real. Consumers often have a look at the stories and advertisements in the newspaper, but with limited concentration. Less than half of all advertisements are paid attention to notice the “thinking” level. Therefore, one of the biggest challenges for advertisers is to get consumers to notice the information. To achieve it, advertising must break through a cluttered environment and catch consumers attention in a positive way. In fact, how to make advertisements appear enchanting is not only advertisers task but also the task of translators. If the original copy of an international advertisement is quite eye-catching, but translated copy is not, then the translation can be judged as a failure.In fact, the principle of attractiveness covers three levels. The first level if naturalness. It means that the translated copy should appear smooth and readable to the target language readers. As different languages vary in word formation, syntax and grammar, a suitable alteration in sentence structure is very important. To put it in other words, the translation should not be a word-for-word or mechanical process, but a flexible one. For example, English advertisement usually contain various and flexible sentence types and structures, whereas Chinese advertisement like to adopt the four-character structure. When encountering such a situation, a translator should strive to make them adapt to the target language structures. In other words, he should make them natural so that the advertisements appear as if written by the target language advertiser.The second level is conciseness. As all advertisements must follow the rule of conciseness, their translated copy must be easy to understand. To fulfill such a purpose, a translator should eliminate wordy expressions, include only relevant material and avoid unnecessary repetition. For example: The factory can produce various new types of buttons in thousands of different designs for coats, suits, fashions, shirts and sweaters.In this example, the translator does not give the English version of the three consecutive four-character structures, but translates it as “various new types”. This is because “various” and “ different” in the sentence are the same in meaning.Last but not least, the third level is novelty. On this level, creativeness highlighted on the front stage. A translator should strive to make the translated copy appear eye-catching. Of course, this creativeness is not the same with creativeness of the original copy. The translator should bear in mind that if the original copy is attractive, he should follow the style. If the original copy is as a diamond, do not make the translated appear to be a common stone.Novelty is also embodied in the sentence translation. To achieve such an effect, different rhetorical devices are employed here. For example:(5) 乐百氏矿泉水，“净”在不言中。Robust mineral water, as clear as crystal.The original phrase is “尽在不言中”. The substitution of “尽” with “净” is quite impressive and indicates the purity of this mineral water. The rhetoric of alliteration is used in the English translation. The English version not only conveys the information of source advertisement, as well as its persuasive function and aesthetic feeling.3.3 AcceptabilityThe principle of acceptability is proposed from the point of trans-cultural communication. Scholars generally agree that when it comes to communication, there are few truths applicable to all human beings. One of the few, however, is the truth that the interpretation of any message depends on the perception of the person receiving it. The wider the gap in backgrounds and experience between communicators, the greater the chance. The receivers interpretation will differ from the senders intent.(1994:12) These cultural values influence consumer behavior. Consumers buy products as a way to acquire cultural meanings to use in establishing their self-identities. Therefore, when translating an international advertisement, a translator has to consider how to make the advertisement applicable and acceptable to the target culture. 4. Application of the principles in the translation of business advertisement4.1 Translating identification marks1) Selecting positive words to satisfy the consumer psychologyWhen consumers first get in touch with a product, they first notice its identification mark. The identification mark shoulders the task of indicating its merits. For example, “Goldlion” (tie) is translated as “金利来” to indicate that it can bring large sum of luck and wealth. 2) Implying commodity information for a proper positioning Each kind of products definitely have respective target consumers and the level of their consumption according to their quality, type, usage, performance, price and etc. This is called the product positioning in a market. And identification marks can always reflect their product positioning and also the consumption group they face, the translated names therefore have the duty to indicate the product information and cater for that group. For example, “Golgate” (toothpaste) is translated as “高露洁” which is not only similar in sound not also highlights the products performance by one character“洁”.3)Making the name concise and vividIdentification marks need to be concise and easy to memorize. As the Chinese people get used to two-syllable and three-syllable words, the translated identification marks should try to cater for this tradition. For example, “Rolls Royce”(car) is translated into “劳斯莱斯”; “MC-Donalds”(fast food restaurant) is translated into “麦当劳”.4)Taking trans-cultural factors into considerationThe commodities manufactured by one country will be influenced by social factors such as politics, economy, cultural development and so on. The task of international advertisement is to successfully connect the person in one environment with the product in another environment. However, different cultures vary greatly in various aspects from laws, religions, traditions and customs, ideology, to educational level and so on. The translator cannot view translation as merely a change of form without considering the diversity of cultures. For example, “Revlon”(cosmetics) is translated as “露华浓” in China, which comes from a classic poem. As such a name not only indicates the pretty face of women but also implies the elegance of the product, it is quite appropriate for the exquisite cosmetics.4.2 Translating headlines and slogansHeadlines and slogans are usually the core of the advertisements. They shoulder the task of attracting peoples attention and making a hit. When translating headlines and slogans, we must bear in mind that the core message contained in them must be faithfully transmitted and translated. They should be fascinating and easy for target consumers to understand and admit. Literal translation and free translation are the most common methods are employed here. For example:(6) Fashion lives here. 激情在这里燃烧。(7) A Mars a day keeps you work, rest and play. 每一颗火星让你万事称心。(chocolate)Besides faithfulness, headlines and slogans should also be attractive and interesting. In order to obtain such an effect, we can employ some rhetorical methods such as rhyme, repetition, pun, personification, imitating the famous sayings and proverbs, and etc. For example:(8) Spoil yourself not your figure. 尽情享受，美丽无穷。(ice cream)4.3 Translating body copiesA good body copy should be the extension of headline. It usually contains the clarification of headline claim, proof of claim, other competitive advantages of the commodity and the action desired. As the advertising theme is fully manifested through body copy, it is undoubtedly the most important part of an advertisement. Body copy can satisfy consumers curiosity and prompt them to purchase. Therefore, whether an advertisement will be success or a failure depends on whether its body copy is well written. For example:(9) If youre looking for a smooth, easy ride, nothing in the world beats a balloon. And if youre looking for the same smoothness in your cigarette, nothing beats a Lark. Lark has smoothness you can taste, from your first cigarette in the morning to your last one at nightTogether they smooth the smoke, and give you a taste thats richly rewarding, uncommonly smooth. Lark, it has smoothness you can taste pack after pack.This example can faithfully transmit the original meaning the comfortable taste of the cigarette. 5. Suggested tactics for translating English advertisement5.1 AdditionArising from the natural barriers between the English and Chinese language, the rules of lexical and syntactic structures are abundantly different. In consequence of this discrepancy, the facility in the use of language is that a translator must often make additions. In Peter Newmarks mind, expansion is a rather imprecise translation procedure, yet he admits that it is a procedure“which you practice intuitively in some cases” (Newmark, 2001:90). The necessity of addition is determined by the context.In order to expose the implied meaning to the public, a translator has to tap the potential meaning of some key words. On these occasions, the meaning of Chinese version will be more explicit than that of the original. Here are some examples:(10) Elegance is and attitude.优雅态度，自我性格。（浪琴表）(11) Any shape and size to Europe.不同大小，各种形状， 火速