英文广告翻译过程中文化差异现象探析

1、-. zAbstractWith the development of economy and technology,advertising plays more and more important role in our daily life.Advertising language as a special kind of language is very different from mon language. It has its own features in morphology, synta*, and rhetorical devices. Based on that, we

2、 should choose proper words to e*press the advertising meaning when we translatethe four groups -Consumer Advertising, Business Advertising, Service Advertising, and Public Interest Advertising. This paper will be presented in four parts. The first part is the introduction and the last is conclusion

3、. The focus ofthis paper is laid on the middle parts which respectively approach to the features of advertisement language, the cultural difference in Chinese and English advertisement translation, the principle of advertisement translation.Key words: Translation;English Advertisements; Principle; C

4、ultural difference摘 要随着经济的开展，广告已经渗透到人们生活的各方面,而作为广告重要组成局部的广告语言文字，也脱颖而出，具有自己独特的风格和说明力。广告英语经过长期的开展，在用词、造句、修辞等方面具有一定的特点。根据不同的特点，在翻译消费广告、商业广告、效劳性广告及公益广告这四类主要广告时，也要同样注意使用恰当的词汇、修辞，来表现广告应有的含义。本文共分为四个方面着重探索广告的特征，以及广告翻译过程中的文化差异， 广告翻译的原则。Contents1 Introduction.12 Features of Advertising.1 2.1English Morphology

5、 in Advertising .1Simple and Informal.1Misspelling and Coin Words2Use of Adjectives.3 2.2 English Synta* in Advertising.32.2.1 More Simple Sentences, Less ple* Sentences. 32.2.2 Disjunctive Clause.43Cultural Differences in Chinese and English Advertisement.4 3.1Relationship Between Culture and Adver

6、tising Language.4 3.2Culture-Specific in Advertisement Translation6Differences in Related Cultural Background.63.2.2Differences in Cultural Values7 3.2.3 Differences in Numbers.74The Principle of English-Chinese Advertisement Translation.84.1 UnderstandingTarget Language Culture Adequately.8 4.2 Bal

7、ancing the Relationship Between Metaphase and Paraphrase94.3AdoptingTransliteration and Free Translation95 Conclusion.10References.11-. zIntroductionWe live in a world of advertising. As potential consumers, we are endlessly bombarded with all kinds of products or services information from various m

8、edia including newspapers, magazines, television, radio, posters and Internet, etc. Advertising provides a valuable service to society and its members, because it defines for consumers the meaning and the role of products, services, and institutions. Advertising also tells the consumer which a speci

9、fic product, brand or service tochoose when it is used and thus helps him or her understand and evaluate e*perience with the products and services that he or she uses. On the other hand, by making people be aware of products, service and ideas, advertising promotes sales and profits. Finally, advert

10、ising is one of the major forces that are helping improve the standard of living around the world. bined these entirely municational factor with marketing and social functions, advertising bees indispensable in the modern world when they are translated into Chinese, and some methods are adopted.2. F

11、eatures of AdvertisingThe wide use of advertising has created a special style of Englishadvertising English. Its unique features, simple language and immense attraction separate it from other kind of language. In the development of advertising English, advertising has formed its own features in seve

12、ral aspects. 2.1 English Morphology in AdvertisingAs a means to disseminate information, advertising English must be pact, vivid, visual, emotional and attractive. Therefore, morphology in advertising is quite different from mon English. 2.1.1 Simple and InformalThe function of advertising is to pro

13、vide information, attract consumer, e*ploit market, and promise the quality. Therefore, advertisement must pay attention to its impelling language, and the first step is to use popular and oral language to make it easy to understand and memorize. Zhu Jifang,2004) For e*ample:“I couldnt believe it, u

14、ntil I tried it!“Im impressed! Im really impressed!“Youve gotta try it!“I love it! This is an advertisement of a microwave oven. The words in it are very simple and oral. It uses the slang “gotta, which means “got to in American English, to give an impression that this advertisement es from the real

15、 life. We have another two e*amples to make it clear:A: Lose ounces,save pounds!(失去几盎司，省下几英镑B:My goodness! My Guinness! 我的天啊！Guinness 啤酒2.1.2 Misspelling and Coin WordsIn some advertisements, the advertising copywriter misspells some words on purpose, or adds some suffi* or prefi* to the mon words.

16、Although the new words still keep the original meanings, they are quite different from the original words in spelling, which will make the advertisement more vivid, interesting and attractive. (Zhu Jifang, 2004)e.g. We know eggsactlyhow to sell eggs.(我们知道如何分辨鸡蛋。In this advertisement, “eggsactly is t

17、he variation of “e*actly, and echo the word “eggs at the end of the sentence. Liao Ying&Mo Zaishu,2004) 2.1.3 Use of AdjectivesAdverting language must be visual and dramatic.So many adjectives must be used in adverting language. Adjectives are e*oteric words in English.It can describe and bedeck nou

18、ns to make the sentence more visual and dramatic.So most adjectives can do subjective plements and objective plements freely in a sentence.The most frequently used adjectives arenew, crisp, good/better/best, fine, free, big, fresh, great, delicious, real, full, sure, easy, bright, clean, e*tra, safe

19、, specialand rich.For e*amples:A: Romantics, Mysterious Italian.(浪漫与神秘，来自意大利。B: All you need is some good pany, good coffee, and vivid imagination. Only tasters choice is good enough.你所需要的无非是好的伴侣，好的咖啡和丰富的想象力，只有Taster才是唯一正确的选择。 2.2 English Synta* in Advertising 2.2.1 More Simple Sentences, Less ple*

20、SentencesIt will take better effect to use simple sentences than pound sentences, because the readers will get bored on reading ple* sentences. Another reason is to reduce the cost of advertising, and effectively stimulate the consumers. Here are two e*amples of hotel advertisement:ATake time, any t

21、ime.(无论何时，享受生活。Two time make the advertisement simple and easy remember.BThe colorful world doesnt stop when its nighttime.(夜晚时分，这里的世界依然五彩缤纷。Just several words make the advertisement vivid; it can attract the tourists in the hotel. 2.2.2 Disjunctive ClauseDisjunctive clause is unique for advertising

22、 English, which divide a long, ple* sentence into several simple sentences by using full stop, dash, semi-colon, hyphen, etc. Those sentences are independent in form, but are related in the content. The use of disjunctive clause could add more information and save more space and money. The separated

23、 parts are usually the features of the product, so that they could emphasize the good points of the product. There is an e*ample of Amtrak, which has successfully used the disjunctive clauses:Amtrak has created a new nationwide passenger rail system. Literally from the ground up., a system represent

24、ed a viable alternative for people who fly, for business or pleasure. 3. Cultural Differences in Chinese and English Advertisement Translation3.1 Relationship Between Culture and Advertising LanguageThere are various cultural types such as national culture and foreign culture, while they have mon fe

25、ature that almost each culture e*ists in a form of language. Although lots of factors result in the formation of culture, its spread relies on some certain forms. The practice indicates that language use is heavily tinted with its culture. We can infer that a language not only e*presses facts, ideal

26、s, or events which represent similar world knowledge by its people, but also reflects the peoples attitudes, beliefs, world outlooks etc. In a word, language e*presses cultural reality. Advertisement and culture have reciprocal and bidirectional relationship. From the macro level, advertisement indu

27、stry accelerates the development of social economy. From micro level, the advertisement is one of the agents which lead to the reform of culture. Contemporary culture contains the advertisement; meanwhile, it is also the disseminator and creator of the culture. While publicizing products or services

28、, the advertisement unconsciously outputs some cultural awareness and changes peoples thinking ways or values. Let us take Coca-Cola advertisement for e*ample. Its original message is “I cant catch that feeling. But Japanese version means “I enjoy Coca-Cola and Italian version means “The unique feel

29、ing. Therefore, it implies that only the advertisement information truly reflects local culture will it live up to the cultural e*pectation. Advertisement language is the core of an advertisement. Social culture influences even limits this kind of language and e*pression.Meanwhile, the advertisement

30、 language contains and reflects the social culture. The advertisement e*ists in a society which means philosophical concept, thinking mode, cultural psychology, moral caliber and cultural habits of a nation certainly have a great effect on the advertisement language. In fact, people tend to accept s

31、uch messages that arouse their sense of identity. For instance, the publicity of a product or service closely related to se*y life sometimes in English advertisement. In order to increase its allure, we can find such words as condoms or se* in it. Although western people are accustomed to it, these

32、kinds of advertisements have definitely surpassed the cultural psychological endurance of mon people in China. So apprehension of the advertisement language should be based on local culture.3.2Culture-Specific in Advertisement TranslationThe target of advertisement writer is the native reader who ha

33、s same values, thinking ways and living habits, while, the advertisement translator needs to face the people whose cultural background, tradition and social values are utterly different. Therefore, as an intercultural activity, advertisement translation requires the translator to put acceptance degr

34、ee of target people in the first place and adequately consider culture-specific in advertisement. Otherwise, it is impossible to put publicity into effect. Ultimately, the pany fails to achieve its market value. 3.2.1Differences in Related Cultural Background Let us start from the headline of a famo

35、us American wines advertisementSouthern fortThe spirit of New Orleans since 1860. Actually, the success of this advertisement relies on peoples understanding of American traditional culture. Southern fort wine, as well as American Jazz all es from New Orleans. Based on cultural identity, we can easi

36、ly find out its pun meaning. That is Southern fort wine has bee widely familiar in America from middle period of 19th century when people began to create Jazz music, and it presents spirit of New Orleanse*ploitation, innovation and optimism. However, due to the lack of related cultural background, i

37、t is hard for Chinese reader to perceive cultural connotation in the original te*t. So, the translation should be based on target audiences point of view and focus on cultural apprehension.3.2.2. Differences in Cultural ValuesThe following sentence is e*cerpted from an advertisement of an American m

38、agazine.He is his own man. An individualist.Individualist is always translated into 个人主义者 or 利己主义者. Meanwhile, it could not be considered as equivalent because of the differences in cultural values. The word individualist in English contains positive and mendatory meaning. It is used to describe a k

39、ind of people who prize personal right and are willing to show his or her personality. However, 个人主义者 in Chinese is a derogatory term which means self-concern. They seek benefits for themselves at the e*pense of others. Consequently, the translator must readjust the original te*t on the basis of app

40、rehending cultural values.Otherwise, it is impossible to realize intended function of the advertisement. 一个有主见的人，一个有个性的人。is a better version in terms of both understanding and psychological effects on the target people.3.2.3. Differences in NumbersThe differences in numbers reflect typical culture-s

41、pecific in advertisement translation. First, lets take a beverage brand7-up as a e*ample. The number seven implies positive meaning in AmericanEuropean countries. It is equal to the number eight in China which stands for a good luck. Meanwhile, 7 is just an ordinary number in China. In order to conv

42、ey the happy feeling of this brand, 七喜 bees an appropriate Chinese version. Then, the following e*ample is 三枪 brand underwear which is produced in Shanghai. Its English brand is Three Guns. The reason why it is well received by consumers in Japan, Colombia and North Africa area is that three is rega

43、rded as a lucky number in these countries. Whats more, 9 is often used for e*pressing the meaning for a long time, especially as a blessing for the elder in China. There is 999 medicine in the market. However, it will not take same effect on the English-speaking people due to the distinction of figu

44、re between English and Chinese culture. 4 The Principle of English-Chinese Advertisement TranslationWhen we translate advertisement, it is necessary for us to consider such factors as language, culture and politics. If we just transfer the literal meaning into target language, the products are impos

45、sibly approved in international market. One of the most significant aspects of advertisement translation is to appropriately grasp the relationship between translation and cultural effect. So in this chapter, the author introduces several methods of translating international advertisement better.Und

46、erstandingTarget Language Culture AdequatelyThe translator needs to probe into the target language culture. It includes not only the characteristic of target language but also the religion, belief, principle, social structure, social role, spatial relation, cosmology, observance and etc. However, if

47、 the translator fails to be aware of them, it will lead to negative effect. For instance, there is a famous brand of battery named 白象, and it is translated as White Elephant in English. Few foreigners in western countries buy the product because white elephant presents the goods which are unpractica

48、l but e*pensive. Therefore, it has been proved that one thing which has a profound respect in this culture may not has the same resonance in the other culture.4.2 Balancing the Relationship Between Metaphase and ParaphraseSince translation is a process that recreates the language information by the

49、most suitable and natural equivalent.How to deal with the relationship between most suitable and natural words and equivalent bees quite important. From aspect of information theory, the transmission process of advertisement has three stages, i.e. coding(advertiser)advertisementdecoding(consumer). I

50、t also means that advertisement translation is the process of recreation other than simple duplication.The following is an advertisement of British airline pany .Together, we cover the world.The Chinese version is 维系你和我，世上乐事多. Although the meaning of translation seems a little far away from the lite

51、ral meaning 我们共同飞跃这一世界, it reflects the core of advertisement and has good effect among the target people.Another e*ample: Good to the last dropThe Chinese version is 滴滴香浓，意犹未尽. It is an advertisement for a brand of coffee. The translator shakes off the restriction of original language and conveys c

52、onnotation of the advertisement by paraphrasing the original te*t. However, the point is that we should readjust the original advertisement on the basis of analyzing and understanding connotation of the advertisement.4.3 Adopt Transliteration and Free TranslationThe translator can adopt two differen

53、t translation modestransliteration and free translation to translate advertisement trademark according to principle of target culture. Actually, it is quite difficult to accurately translate a trademark and to the point. The practice proves that good advertisement translation can integrate translite

54、ration and free translation based on ingenious bination of two cultures. There are some successful e*amples, such as 百事可乐(Pepsi-cola), 可口可乐(Coca-cola), 金利来(Gold lion). Absolutely, on one hand, we may directly transliterate the trademark under the premise if not violating target culture. For e*ample,

55、 Chinese 功夫 is translated as Kung Fu. On the other hand, if there is contradiction between the target culture and transliteration or free translation, we should choose to adopt the later mode or other ways. Someone regards the translation of these words as artistic recreation, otherwise, the concept

56、 of recreation should be precisely defined as parison of two kind of culture. Let us take American General Motors Corporation as e*ample. It used to public a new automobile brand Chevrolet Nova. But pronunciation of Nova sounds similar to a word in Spanish which means it doesnt go. So the pany had t

57、o change it instantly in order to not impede its business development abroad. Therefore, the more the translator knows about target culture, the better the advertisement translation is. Actually, the most important function of advertisement is vocative function which aims to call on consumers to accept its products and services. Only the advertisement has artistic charm could it attract the majority of peoples interests and stimulate their desire. A good advertisement translator will