广告英语中双关语的语用功能及翻译

PAGEiii渭南师范学院本科毕业论文题目：广告英语中双关语的语用功能及翻译学院名称：外国语学院专业班级：毕业年份：姓名：学号：指导教师：职称：渭南师范学院教务处制广告英语中双关语的语用功能及翻译摘要:广告英语的独特性在于其新颖、灵活的语言及其形式的多样化。除了在词汇和句法方面别具一格外，修辞手法也被广泛地运用来润色广告语言。双关，一种集幽默与智慧于一身的言简意赅的语言表达形式，深受广告商的喜爱,以提高广告语言的魅力。本文中，作者首先列举了四种广泛应用于广告英语中的双关，即谐音双关、词义双关、语义双关和习惯双关。然后，作者从语用学角度论述了双关语在广告英语中是如何通过实现广告的各种语用功能来达到广告的效果。最后，作者通过分析双关语的可译性，试探性地提出了广告英语中双关语的五中翻译策略：保留、再造、补偿、解释说明以及省略。每个策略并不总是单独使用的,译者在翻译过程中根据译文的最佳关联原则,有时可依情形选择一种或者多种策略融合。关键词：广告；双关语；语用功能；翻译ThePragmaticFunctionofPunsandItsTranslationinAdvertisingEnglishAbstract:AdvertisingEnglishischaracterizedbyitsoriginality,flexibilityoflanguageusageandthediversityoftheforms.Apartfromthedistinguishingfeaturesatlexicalandsyntacticlevels,rhetoricalvehicles,asdecorativedevicesoflanguage,arefrequentlyemployedinadvertisingEnglish.Pun,aconcisewaytoexpresshumorandwit,isparticularlyfavoredbyadvertiserstoenhancetheappealoflanguage.Inthisthesis,firstly,theauthorlistsfourkindsofpunsfrequentlyusedinadvertisingEnglish,thatis,homonymicpuns,homographicpuns,semanticpunsandidiomaticpuns.Then,theauthorillustrateshowpunsareappliedtoachieveadvertisingeffectsinrealizingsomecertainfunctionsfrompragmaticperspectives.Lastly,theauthoranalysesthetranslatabilityofpunsinadvertisingEnglishandtentativelyproposesfivestrategiestothetranslationofpunsinadvertisingEnglish,i.e.preservation,creation,compensation,explicationandomission.Eachofthefivestrategiesisnotalwaysappliedonitsown,andsometimestwoormorestrategiesarejointlyemployedinadvertisementtranslationinaccordancewiththeprincipleofoptimalrelevancedependingonthesituation.Keywords:Advertisement;Pun;PragmaticFunction;TranslationTableofContentsI.Introduction 1II.TheApplicationofPunsinAdvertisingEnglish 1A.Definitionofpun 1B.TypesofPunsinAdvertisingEnglish 21.Homonymicpuns 22.Homographicpuns 23.Semanticpuns 34.Idiomaticpuns 3III.TheanalysistothefunctionsofPunsinAdvertisingEnglishfromPragmaticPerspectives 3A.InformationFunction 3B.DemandCreationFunction 4C.PersuasiveFunction 4D.Get-actionFunction 5E.GoodwillEstablishmentFunction 5IV.FivestrategiestothetranslationofpunsinadvertisingEnglish 5A.Preservation 6B.Creation 7C.Compensation 8D.Explication 9E.Omission 9V.Conclusion 11PAGE13I.IntroductionWhatisadvertising?Advertisingisthenon-personalcommunicationofinformationusuallypaidforandusuallypersuasiveinnatureaboutproducts,servicesorideabyidentifiedsponsorsthroughthevariousmedia.Inmodernage,peoplefindthemselvessurroundedbyvariousadvertisementseachday.Facingsomanyadvertisements,howtomaketheadvertisementimpressiveisthemainpurposeoftheadvertisers.Inordertoenhancetheappealofanadvertisement,advertiserspaymuchattentionnotonlytosuchexpressivedevicesasplates,colorandthelayoutofaprintedpage,butalsotothechoiceofwordsorphrases,tomakeanadvertisementbeautifulandattractive.Whetheritisgoodsadvertisementorpublicserviceadvertisement,thecreationoftheadvertisementisacomprehensiveart.Theskillsneededinthisartaremorethanotherformsofwriting.Itshowsthevividandinterestingcharactersbytheprincipleofsalesmanship.Advertisersbecometobeawareofthattheusingofprecisionandappropriateinadvertisingliterarylanguagewillmaketheinfluenceofadvertisinglanguagefarbeyondtheadvertisementitself.Asaresult,thefiguresofspeecharefrequentlyandwidelyusedasanimportantcharacteristicofadvertisingEnglishincreatingadvertisements,amongwhichpunisloveddeeply.Therhetoricalofpunisacommonskillincreatingadvertisement.Websterdefinedpunas“theuseofwordinsuchawayastosuggesttwoormoremeaningsordifferentassociations,ortheuseoftwoormorewordsofthesameornearlythesamesoundwithdifferentmeanings,soastoproduceahumorouseffect”.Asagameofwords,punleavesadeepimpressiononreadersbyitsreadability,witandhumor.Itcansatisfytherequirementofadvertisementcharacteristics—informationfunction,demandcreationfunction,persuasivefunction,getactionfunction,andgoodwillestablishmentfunction.Sopunisverypopularinadvertisement.ThisarticlewillfocusonanalyzingthepragmaticfunctionofpunstoillustratehowpunsachieveadvertisingeffectsandthetranslatabilityofpuninadvertisingEnglish.II.TheApplicationofPunsinAdvertisingEnglishA.DefinitionofpunLookingatthesameissuefromdifferentperspectives,wemayoftencomeupwithdifferentdefinitionsofthethingunderdiscussion.And,notsurprisingly,puncanbethusdefinedinmanyways.Inthispaper,IwilladaptaclearoneformOxfordEnglishDictionary,inwhichpunisdefinedas“thehumoroususeofaword,orofwordswhichareformedorsoundedalikebuthavedifferentmeanings,insuchawayastoplayontwoormoreofthepossibleapplication;aplayonwordstoproduceahumorouseffect.”B.TypesofPunsinAdvertisingEnglishAsarhetoricaldevice,theapplicationofpunsinadvertisingEnglishreflectsitsuniquefeaturesmainlyinpronunciation,wordsandsentencestructures.Thepresentauthorholdsthatpunsareusuallyusedinthefollowingfourways.1.HomonymicpunsHomonymicpuns,mainlybasedontheuseofhomophones,arequitepopularinalllanguages.InmodernEnglish,therearealotofwordsofsimilarformsbutabsolutelydifferentmeaningssharingthesimilarpronunciation,whichtosomecertainextentcausesasenseofhumor.Examples:Moresunandairforyoursonandheir.我们这里有充足的阳光，清新的空气，这对您的儿子——您事业和财产的继承人——大有裨益。Inanimpressiveway,thissentencemakescustomersbeawareofthegreatsignificanceoflivinginacleanenvironmentandkeepingagoodhealth.Withoutanydoubt,itisasuccess,forsmartusingoftwogroupsofwordswithsimilarsoundsandforms,i.e."sun"and"son";"air“and"heir",whichmakestheadvertisementeasytoreadandrememberforcustomers.2.HomographicpunsHomographicpuns,whichtakeseffectsunderthecertainsituationwheremulti-meaningwordsareused,correspondentstotheapplicationofhomonymicpuns.Examples:Moneydoesn'tgrowontrees,butblossomsatourbranches.钱不能长在树上，在我们“行”就能。ThisisanadvertisementofLloydBankinGreatBritain,inwhichtheword"branch"hasmorethanonesinglemeaning."Trees"inthefrontpartcanbeunderstoodas"branches",andthefurthermeaningofwhichis"branchesofbanks".Readersofthisadvertisementareexpectedtobelievethattodepositone'smoneyinLloydBankmeanstoenjoyanincrementofhismoney.Itisobviousthathomographicpunscontributealotinaddingasenseofhumorinadvertising.3.SemanticpunsTheapplicationofsemanticpunsinadvertisingEnglishismuchmoreflexiblethantheaboveones,inwhichattentionisattachedtotheoverallmeaningofthesentence.Besides,itmakestheadvertisementmeaningfulandthought-provoking.Examples:Spoilyourselfandnotyourfigure.尽情大吃，不增体重。Thisisanadvertisementfor"Weight-Watcher"ice-creamwhichisproducedspeciallyforonesondiet.Therearepunsnotonlyinthebrandnamebutinthesloganofthegood."Spoiloneself"means"enjoyoneself";while"spoilone'sfigure"hasthemeaningofmakingsomeonegettingfatter.Thesuccessofthisadvertisementliesinthefulluseofthepsychologicalactivityofthosewhowanttokeepfitinahumorouswaybyproperuseofthesemanticpuns.4.IdiomaticpunsTheflexibleapplicationofidiomaticpunsinadvertisingEnglishisfullofdifficultiesforwhicharedeeplyrootedinthelocalculturebytheuseoffamousidiomsandphrases.Besides,theapplicationofidiomaticpuninadvertisingEnglish,tosomeextent,canbeunderstoodasameansofarts.Examples:AnAppleeverybodykeepsworriesaway.Whenread,thisslogancanbeeasilyassociatedwithapopularsaying,"Anappleadaykeepsthedoctoraway".Itisdeeplyrootedinpeople'smindthat"Apple"isnotonlythebrandnameofacomputer,butwhatkeepspeoplefit.Judgingfromthisadvertisement,itisobviousthattheenterprisewantstotelltheircustomersthattheirproductsarenoharmtopeople'shealthinanimpressiveway.III.TheAnalysistotheFunctionsofPunsinAdvertisingEnglishfromPragmaticPerspectivesWithabetterunderstandofpunsandfunctionsofadvertisement,Iwillgiveananalysisofhowpunsachievemajorfunctionsofadvertisementinpragmaticways.Inordertogiveamorespecificstudyofthisquestion,Ihavechosentenadvertisementsformdifferenttextsaboutpuns,includingabook,adissertation,anarticleinChinaandanarticleinforeigncountry,tomakesurethevarietyofmydata.A.InformationFunctionAnadvertisementshouldcontaineffective,trueinformationaboutcommodityorservice,soconsumerscanlearnifsuchthingsareneededforthemselves.Generally,inrealizingthisfunction,anadvertisementshouldbeeasytounderstand.However,asthedefinitionofpuns,theyhavemorethanonemeaningortheyaredifferentwordsthatsoundthesame.It’snoteasytocatchalltheirimplicitmeanings,especiallythehomographicpuns.Forexample:Lessbread,Nojam.—LondonUnderground“Bread”means“money”inslangEnglishand“jam”canreferto“trafficjam.”SoitmeansthereisnotrafficjaminLondonundergroundwhichcouldhelptravelerscostlessmoneyintrafficfee.Ifpeopledonotrealizetheimplicitmeaningof“bread”and“jam”,theconfusionoftheirrhetoricaleffectsmaygetinthewayofourunderstandingoftheadvertising.AccordingtoPaulGrice’sCooperativePrinciple,punsinadvertisementviolatethemaximofmanner:avoidobscurityofexpression;avoidambiguity.(DaiWeidong,HeZhaoxiong,2002:92)Oncethisprincipleisviolated,thecommunicationisnotanaturaloneanymore,butaspecial,unconventionalone.Obviously,thisistheeffectthatadvertisersareseekingfor.Sinceinthesociety,peoplewilleasilyomitsomeordinarythingsbutrememberunusualthings.Fromthisperspective,punsmakeadvertisementmorecreativesoastocatchmorepeople’sattentiontotheinformation.Suchas“bread”and“jam”areeye-catching,especiallyfortiredpeoplewhogooffworkorschoolinthisbusybigcity.NativeEnglishspeakerswillunderstandthemafterafewsecondsofthought.Then,theadvertisingworks.B.DemandCreationFunctionWhenthefirstfunctionworks,thedemandcreationfunctiongetsachance.Whenpeopleenterthecontextofpuns,theywillsoonfindtheirattractiveness.Forexample:There’snopresentlikethetime.—ZenithwatchInthisadvertisement,“present”meansboththepresenttimeandgift,“implyingthattheZenithwatchmakesthebestpresentandisthemostaccurateintellingthepresenttime.”(WangZhiwei,2007)Afterpeoplegetthisinformation,theywillfindthiswatchisattractiveandisreallyagoodgiftfortheirfriendsandbelovedpeople,whichmayraisetheirdesiretobuyone.Allthepunsintenadvertisementshaveobviousdemandcreationfunctionsoncetheyareunderstoodbyconsumers.C.PersuasiveFunctionAdvertisementwillprovidepersuasivereasonsofconsumingforpeoplewhoareinterestedinthem.Suchreasonswillbeimpressedbythehumorouseffectcreatedbypuns.Forinstance:Spoilyourselfandnotyourfigure.—Weigh-WatcherIce-creamHere,“spoilyourself”means“enjoyoneselftoone’sheart’scontent.”(WangYanxi,2004)Atthesametime,“spoilone’sfigure”meansdoharmtoone’sfigure,suchasgainingweight.Nottospoilfigureistokeepfit.Thepunpersuadespeoplethatthisbrandofice-creamisnotonlydeliciousbutalsohealthy.It’spersuasiveandstimulatingbothconsumers’heartandpalate.AccordingtoSearle’sclassificationofspeechacts,suchpersuasivepunsbelongto,whichare“attemptsbyspeakertogetthehearertodosomething.”(DaiWeidong,HeZhaoxiong,2002:90)Certainly,asdirectives,punsdoagoodjobinachievingthepersuasivefunction.D.Get-actionFunctionAfterbeingpersuaded,theconsumerswillbuythecommodityorenjoytheservice.Punswillpromotepeopletogetactioninordertosatisfytheirdesireofconsuming.Let’spayattentiontothefollowingadvertisement:Whatonearthisgoingon…?Timewilltell.—Timemagazine“Time”herebothreferstotherealtimeandthemagazineTime.Punsolvesthequestioninthisadvertisement.Thatis,timewilltellpeoplewhathappenandTimemagazinewillprovideyousuchnewsmorecontinentlyanddirectly.Onlypeoplebuythismagazine,cantheynowwhatTimeisabout.E.GoodwillEstablishmentFunctionPunsalsopromotetheviewofvalueandconnotationofacompany,abrand.e.g.FromSharpmindscomeSharpproducts.—SharpCompanyWhat’safootintheworldoffashion?—MansfieldShoesInthefirstexample,SharpCompanyestablishesasharpimagebypuns.Inthesecondexample,“beafoot”bothmeans“happening”and“beonfoot.”ThispunshowsusthatMansfieldShoesisfashionable.IftheSharpproductsandMansfieldshoesarereallygood,theircommercialimagescreatedbypunswillestablishedandgetgooddevelopment.IV.FivestrategiestothetranslationofpunsinEnglishadvertisementOnthebasisofpreviousstudiesontranslationofpuns,theauthortentativelyproposesfivepotentialstrategiesfortranslationofpunsinEnglishadvertisements,someofwhichhavealreadybeentoucheduponintheprevioussection.Theyincludepreservation,creation,compensation,explicationandomission[3].Ihopethesestrategieswillprovetobeeffectiveinrealwork.Itshouldbepointedoutthateachofthefivestrategiesisnotalwaysappliedonitsown;sometimestwoormorestrategiesarejointlyemployedinanadvertisementdependingonthesituation.Whenthereismorethanonepuninanadvertisement,differentstrategiescanbeappliedtodifferentpundependingonthesituation.Forinstance,somecanbepreserved,someexplicated,andsomeomitted.Inthefollowingsections,thesefivestrategieswillbeexplained.A.PreservationForthoseadvertisementsthatmainlyappealtoemotions,e.g.textsabundantwithrhetoricaldevicessuchas,pun,thepersuasivepowerliesinthesuccessfulconveyanceoftherichmeaningintheserhetoricaldevices.Preservationisoneoftheeffectivewaystorepresentthestrengthoftheoriginal,anditisalsooneoftheoften-employedapproachesavailabletothetranslator,butitshouldbeadoptedontheconditionthatthereisalargedegreeofoverlapinboththesourcelanguageandthetargetlanguageintermsoflinguisticfeaturesandthecognitiveenvironmentofthesourcelanguageandthetargetlanguagereaderonthesubjecttobetranslated,sothatbydoingsoitneithercausesclashinthetargetlanguageculturenormisleadsthereaderwhenhe/sheprocessesitandthereforetheoriginalandthetranslatedcloselyresembleeachother,andifpossiblehavethesameeffectsonthereader.Suchlinguisticfeaturesmaybemorphologic,phonetic,syntacticandsemantic,etc.,whichstillpreserve(asmuchaspossible)thecommunicativecluesoftheoriginal,orresemblanceinlinguisticproperties.E.g.CocaCola可口可乐Punalsoappearsinbrands，forinstance,“CocaCola”,abrandofsoftdrink.AccordingtoAmericanHeritageDictionary,“cola”originallyrefersto“Africanevergreenplantshavingreddish，fragrant,nutlikeseedsyieldingallextractthatcontainscaffeineandthebromines”，butnowadays，itusuallyrefersto“acarbonatedsoftdrinkcontaininganextractofthecolanutandotherflavorings”.WhenitwasintroducedintoChina,thetranslatorborrowedthenameandhenceanameforthisnewtypeofsoftdrinkcameintobeing.“可乐”inChinesealsomeans“somethingthatdeservestobehappyabout”;therefore“可口可乐”hasmorethanoneinterpretation:ontheonehand,itisthenameofthebrand,ausageofalliterationwhichsoundsverypleasant;ontheotherhand,itmeans“bothtastyanddeservestobehappyabout”,referringtoitssuperbtasteanditsqualityofbeingabletobringhappinessorevengoodluck,andthisreallycaterstoChinesereader’sinterests.Whatisimportantisthat,obviously,thetranslatorhasgivenfullconsiderationtoboththeadvertiser’sintentionsandthereader’sexpectations,makingthemmeeteachotherperfectly.Sonotonlytheoriginalpunissuccessfullypreservedbutalsonewvaluesareadded.Thus,it’sanidealtranslation;bothitsqualityandfunctionareincludedinthetranslation.B.CreationIncasethecognitiveenvironmentofthetargettextreaderdifferssignificantlyfromthatofthesourcetextreaderorthesourcetexttouchesonsomesocialtaboosorsensitivetopics,preservationoftheoriginalmaycausenegativeresponseormisunderstanding,whileotherapproachesprovetobeineffective,thetranslatorcanchoosetointroducenewpuninthetargettext.Bycreation,wemeanthetranslatorcanintroducenewpunonthesubjects(relatedbutnotnecessarilythesameastheoriginal)inthetargettext.Forinstance,byreproducingthepunwithastandardtargetlanguagepuninthetargettext,orbyturningnon-punexpressioninthesourcetexttopunexpressioninthetargettext,orzerotototallynewpunexpressioninthetargettext,thetranslatorcanproducethesimilarcontextualeffectsinthetargettext.Bakersays:“Onemayeitheromitorplaydownafeaturesuchasidiomaticityatthepointwhereitoccursinthesourcetextandintroduceitelsewhereinthetargettext…itmaybeusedtomakeupforanylossofmeaning,emotionalforce,orstylisticeffectwhichmaynotbepossibletoreproducedirectlyatagivenpointinthetargettext.”Ifotherthingsbeingequal,sometimesbycreationitispossibletoachievealowerdegreeofresemblancebutroughlythesamelevelofoverallrelevanceasitcanbringinadequatecontextualeffectsifthetranslator’sassumptionsaboutthecognitiveenvironmentoftargetlanguagereaderareaccurate.Here,creatingsimilarcontextualeffectsactsasthecriterion.Nevertheless,thecreatednewpunshouldbeacceptableinthecognitiveenvironmentofthereader.E.g.Betterlatethanthelate.VersionA:迟到总比丧命好!VersionB:晚了总比完了好![4]Thispublicadvertisementof“safedriving”remindsoneofawellknownidiom“betterlatethannever”,whosetranslationis“迟做总比不做好”.Intheadvertisement,thefirst“late”means“comingoroccurringafterthecorrect,usual,orexpectedtime;delayed”,whilethephrase“thelate”means“thedead,especiallyrecentlydeceased”.Soconsideringthedifferenceinthetwolanguages,weknowthattheoriginalpuncannotbepreservedasthetwomeaningsintheoriginalcan’tbekeptintactinaChinesewordorphrase.Thismaybethereasonwhysomeonethinksthatan“establishedtranslation”shouldbeadoptedinsteadofmorerelevantapproaches.Forinstance,theywouldthinkthatasthereisalready“anestablishedtranslation”there，whynotborrowitsstructure?Hence,“VersionA”comesintobeing.However,inorderthatthetranslatedandtheoriginalresemblecloselyenoughinrelevantaspects,thetranslatorhasto，ifpossible，retainthelinguisticfeaturesintheoriginal.InChinese,weknowthat“late”canberenderedas“晚了”,itsclosematchinsoundbeing“完了”，whichliterallymeans“overorfinished",soputtogether,theycanmakeupanewpun．In“VersionB”,wecanseethatthetwowords“晚了/完了”(/wǎn/and/wán/)soundalmostthesame,therefore,itisanewpunthatbetterconveysthefeaturesoftheoriginal.Besides,consideringthereader’scognitiveenvironment,weknowthatthistranslationalsomakesperfectsense.Itwarnspeopleofthedangeroffastorunsafedriving:itisbettertobelatethankilledinatrafficaccident.Sothereadercangetadequatecontextualeffectswithoutspendinghis/herunnecessaryprocessingeffort，andoptimalrelevanceisachieved.C.CompensationBycompensation,wemeanthatthetranslatorcanmakeupforthelossofmeaning,emotionalforce,orstylisticeffectbyusingsomeotherdevicesinthetargettext.Forinstance,byintroducingarhymednon-puninthetargettext,thelossofpunningcanbecompensatedtoacertaindegree.Besides,usingdifferentmodesofrepresentation(e.g.replacingwordswithpictures)alsoprovidesatranslatorwithpossiblemeanstorealizethefunctionofpersuasioninthetargettext.However,thismustbeontheconditionthatthesenewdevicesshouldbeequallyrelevanttothetargettextreader,namely,itcanproduceenoughpositivecontextualeffectswithoutexpendinghis/hergratuitousprocessingeffort.Examples:Wherethereisaway,thereisToyota.(Toyota)车到山前必有路，有路必有丰田车.（Cheng,2007:260）Bymimickingthepopularsaying"wherethereisawill,thereisaway",theadvertisementtriestoconvincetheircustomersthattheToyotamobileshavefullconfidenceinreachingawidermarketandtheneedsoftheircustomers.AsapopularChinesesaying，“车到山前必有路”issupplementedbythetranslator.Asaresult,theformsofthetwosmallsentencesareparalleled.What'smore,anotherrhetoricaldeviceofChineseisimplementedinthistranslationversion,i.e.Dingzhen,whichmakesthetargettextpleasanttoeyesandsmoothtoread.D.ExplicationOnsomeoccasions,theunderlyingmeaningintheoriginalismadeexplicitonsomegrounds,forinstance,grammaticalorcultural,i.e.eithergrammaticallyorculturallyitisnotfeasibleforthetranslatorto“transfer”theoriginallinguisticfeatures.Inthiscase,duetothedifferenceinlinguisticdevicesandtheculturalcontext,thetranslatorhastousethisstrategytosupplythecontextualassumptionsforthereader.Furthermore,inorderfortheeaseofcomprehensionforthereader,i.e.toaidthecomprehensionbyreducingthelevelofdifficultyinvolvedindecoding,andhencelessprocessingeffort,thetranslatormaydeliberatelychoosetomakethetranslatedmoreexplicitthantheoriginal,forinstance,spellingouttheunderlyingmeaningofthepunoraddingsomemoreinformationthatisnotpresentbutimplicatedintheoriginal,sothatsomeoftheassumptionsaremademoremanifesttothereader.Amongthewaystoachieveexplication,twothatreadilycometothetranslator’smindarefreetranslationandparaphrase,throughwhichthemainideatheoriginalcontainscanbeconveyedtothereader.E.g.TheuniquespiritofCanada.Translation:独一无二的加拿大酒，独一无二的加拿大精神。Intheaboveadvertisementofwhiskey,theword“spirit”referstotwodifferentthings:“essentialnatureofapersonorgroup”and“alcoholicbeverage,especiallydistilledliquor”.InChinese,itgenerallyrefersto“精神”or“灵魂.”Forthetranslator,his/herfirstattemptisalwaystoreproducethepunwithawordcontainingthetwomeanings.Yet,consideringthelanguagedifference,weknowthetranslatorcan’tpreservebothoftheminonewordinChinese.However,he/shehastokeepitinmindthattheadvertiserintendstocommunicatebothofthesetwointerpretations,forthefirstimpliesthebeverage’suniquequalityorflavor,whilethesecondservesasacomplimenttothebeverage,suggestingthatitrepresentsthecharacteristicofCanada,andhenceitssuperiorityoverothers.Here,explicationcomestoplay:toexplicatethetwomeaningsseparately.InChinese,“unique”means“唯一的”,“独一无二”,etc..Wecanseethatthroughrepetitionof“独一无二的”and“加拿大”,theuniquenessofthebeverageishighlyemphasized,givingthereaderanimpressionthatthebeverageisindeed“uniqueandsuperb”.Accordingly,thoughunabletopreservetheoriginalpun,thetranslatorhassuccessfullyreproducedthestrengthoftheoriginaladvertisement.E.OmissionThetranslator’slastresortisperhapsomission,orcalleddeletion,whichcanbeadoptedifexplicationofpunmayleadtoredundancyorforsomeotherreasons(e.g.stylisticreason).Nevertheless,itshouldbeemphasizedthatgenerallyspeakingbeforethetranslatortriestoomittheoriginal,he/shehastobecarefulastowhetherbydoingsohe/shewilldeviatefromtheadvertiser’sintention.Insomecasesthepuninthesourcetext,ifpossible,hadbetterberepresentedinthetargettext,otherwisetheeffectoftheadvertisementbeing“playful”or“witty”conveyedbysuchvehiclesmaygetlost.E.g.Cokerefreshesyoulikenoothercan.VersionA:没有什么能像可乐那样令您神清气爽。VersionB:清新可口，别无所求。InthisadvertisementforsoftdrinkCoke,theword“can”hastwomeanings;onerefersto“themetalcontainerforliquids”,andtheother“themodalverb”.Sotheadvertisementcanhavetwointerpretations:“Cokerefreshesyoulikenoothercan(tin,drink)canrefreshyou”.Thepuncan’tbepreserved,asthetranslatorisunlikelytofindaChinesewordorphrasethatcancoverthetwomeaningsoftheoriginal.Sounderthecircumstance,thetranslatorcanchooseotherstrategylikecompensation,explicationoromissiontorendertheadvertisement.“VersionA”isacaseofexplication,inwhichthemainideaoftheoriginalisconveyed.However,wecanseethatthistranslationseemstobealittleclumsy,sothereaderdeservesabettertranslation.Asweknowthepurposeofanadvertisementistoattractthereader’sattention,interest,toappealtothereader,soinasense,atfirstsightithastobereadableandmemorable.However,“VersionA”seemstobeincapableofachievingthispurpose.Tomakeit“sweetandshort”,thetranslatorcanusethewell-establishedfour-characterphrasesintheChineseversion,asshownin“VersionB”.Theoriginalpunisomittedinthistranslationforthesakeofstylisticeffect;otherwisetheversionwillbelongerandhencelessforceful.Comparedwith“VersionA”,thisonebeingconciseandimpressive,thoughimperfec