On pragmatic equivalence in advertisement translation

On Pragmatic Equivalence inAdvertisement TranslationChapter one IntroductionWith the rapid development of reform and opening up to the outside world as well as China’s entering WTO，the intensification of international business communication and promotion become increasingly important．The companies not only care much for domestic markets，but also endeavor to expand international market. This phenomenon, in turn, promotes the importance of advertising and advertising translation．Advertising，as a fundamental ingredient of market economy and the free enterprise system，will go deep into many aspects of people’s lives．However, the study of advertising translation is still in its infancy . As the spread of information，there is more exchange and integration between eastern and western cultures，to which translation is indispensable. Language is the carrier of culture and closely-interrelated with culture. Thus，both aspects must be considered for advertising translation．The significance of the study mainly lies in：firstly，the writer advocates the theory should combine with practice and guide practice instead of just talking about the theory or only listing many successful examples；secondly，the writer introduces Nida’s functional equivalence theory and analyzes the feasibility of applying this theory to advertising translation，according translation strategies such as direct transfer and adaptive transfer are suggested; thirdly, functional equivalence theory applied to advertising translation serves as a break from the traditional equivalence—based theory and opens up a newperspective to advertising translation studies．Chapter two The Application of Functional Equivalence toAdvertisement TranslationThis chapter mainly focuses on the analysis of the feasibilities of functional equivalence theory and the application of functional equivalence in advertising translation by employing different strategies. To a great extent，the key to successful translation is mainly dependent on correct application of translation strategy．2.1Feasibility of Applying Functional Equivalence Theory2.1.1 Classification of Functions of LanguageAccording to Nida，the functions of language are of two basic types：psychological and sociological The former may be described as the means by which people negotiate with reNity,and latter can be said to be those ways by which people negotiate with other persons．The primary psychological functions of language are naming，stating，modeling of reality,expression，and cognition．The primary sociological functions of language are of the following types：interpersonal，informative，imperative,and emotive(Nida，1993：8-9)．The most obvious function of language is informative．the use of speech or writing to influence the cognitive content or state of other people；the imperative function of language involves an attempt to influence the behavior ofreceptors；the emotive function oflanguage involves altering the emotive state of receptors，and for this purpose it must depend heavily upon the associative or connotative meanings of words．Therefore，in order to fulfill functional equivalence in advertising translation,a translator should first analyze the language functions of an advertisement and be clear about the communicative functions of the source language，which is prerequisite for a translator to achieve functional equivalence，and then try to bring out its functions to the maximum extent in his translation．Only when she／he understands the functions of language can it be possible to produce the closest natural equivalence．Nida’s insights into the nature of functions of language help us understand better the nature of his translation theory.2.1.2 Content over FormThe priority of content over form is a core principle of Nida’s f unctional equivalence. He points out that“to preserve the content of the message the form must be changed”．“If all languages differ in form then quite naturally the form must be altered if one is to preserve the content”mida&Taber，1 982：4)．As has already been indicated in the definition of translating that“translaconsists in reproducing receptor language the closet natural equivalence of the source language message，first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style”，meaning must be given priority, for it is the content of the message，which is of prime importance for advertising translation．Some translators are unwilling to sacrifice the formal elements ofthe target language text to preserve what they regard as the integrity of the source text．The main functions of advertising discussed in chapter three are informative，expressive, vocative and aesthetic．Therefore，the more important element in advertisingtranslation should be content rather than the form．Nida says the original message includes two aspects：form and content．He also stresses that content enjoys priority over form when he conflict between content and form arises.2.1.3Reader’s ResponseAccording to Nida, in order to achieve functional equivalence，reader’s response should be put in the first place“The older focus in translating was the form of themessage，and．．．The new focus，however,has shifted from the message to the responseof the receptot Therefore，what he must determine is the response to the translatedmessage”(Nida,2004：1)．Here Nida considers the response ofthe target receptors asthe criterion of translation．What’s more，the quality of translation should also bemeasured by reader’s response．Advertisements mean to attract consumers．So it must take the target audience into full consideration. An advertisement translator has to consider the readers．such as theireducational background，religion，customs and consumer behavior etc．Testing translation of an advertisement doesn’t consist in merely comparing texts to see the extent of verbal consistency or conformity, but in its target audience’responses toit．Th e consumers’ responses can be evaluated through whether he is attracted by the advertisement or not and in evaluating an advertising translation，the receptor’s response to the translation should occupy a more important place than other factors，including the convincing of meaning，the form of the source language and that of thetarget language．Only when those translations are understandable and acceptable to the readers can they be considered as good and satisfactory translation．2.1.4Translating Means CommunicatingNida advocates that translating means communicating．Meanwhile，advertising is a communication of information between the advertiser and the target audience．First and foremost, advertising is communication--a special kind of communication．It is communication that occurs not face to face，but through amedium (such as a radio，magazines，television，or a computer). Besides this advertising is not only a kind of economic activities, but also a kind of cultural communication，which is an invisible hand，manipulating people’s life style and consumption pattems．For instance，what Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald’s bring to the world not only the fast food，but also American culture，or perhaps a kind of life style. Thanks to cultural dififerences，Nida holds that a translator should try to accomplish essentially the same communication functions of the original in closest, natural equivalence．In advertising translation，the translator should try to counteract cultural difierences and achieve communicative functions of the original advertisement，though the form of the original，sometimes cannot be preserved because of the employment of the novel spellings，culture-loaded words，and rhetorical devices，etc．Besides, aesthetic aspect is another important factor to adopt functional equivalence theory in advertising translation because of its flexibitities in language form．Advertising is an important kind of artistic work and successful advertisement can give the audience aesthetic enjoyment．Because of the transference of language，the original advertisement’s beauty will be greatly damaged. However, to some extent，functional equivalence can make up for the loss.2.2Exporation of Effective Strategies in Advertisement TranslationPracticeDue to language and cultural barriers，in the light of Nida’s functional equivalence theory, target-language-culture oriented strategy can be considered as the basic strategy for advertising translation．To a certain degree functional equivalence serves to demolish one of the main barriers occurring in the translation progress，namely, the cultural barrier．The greater the differences in language and culture the greater the difficulties in comprehension and appreciation．That’s to say, the less culture-specific a text is，the less need there will be for its structure to be modified．On the contrary，the more culture．specific a text is，the more flexible there may be for modification.Only when the original advertisement is adapted to the target language and cultural standards，can the target receptor easily understand what is advertised and be likely to accept the advertised products. So it's necessary for translator to probe into the linguistic features in advertising translation on lexical level，syntactic level and rhetorical level respectively and cultural features such as different thinking patters，culture-loaded terms for Chinese and English，which not only belong to different language families but also represent different cultures，differ greatly in terms of linguistic conventions.2.2.1Translating Based on Target Language OrientationIn English Advertising，the words and phrases employed are usually simple and short．Its main lexical features can be summarized as：·Mass use of adjeetive．Adjectives help to build a pleasant picture in the readers’ minds and manage to create a belief in the potential consumers---if you buy this product or if you choose this service，you will lead a better life．In addition, comparatives and superlatives often occur to highlight the advantage of a certainproduct or service．For example：(1)The Compaq Armada family is lighter，with new rounded edges for easier pacinng．(Compaq)(2)We call give you a better view of investment opportunities from both sides of the Pacific(City Bank)．·Use of verbs GN．Leech，an English linguist，lists the most used verbs in his English in Advertising which are make，come，love(1ike)，get，go，use，give，know,feel，have，keep，take，see，look，start，buy(purchase)，need，taste(廖瑛，1995：307)．For example：(1)Getting places in the business world is easier if your banker is there to meet you.---Security Pacific Asian Bank (2)We can give you a better view of investment opportunities from both sides of the Pacific．---City Bank．·Colloquialism. It is close to the receptor and easy to be remembered and accepted，for example，the slogan of Nike：Just do it．Compared with a long history of advertising in the west，China does not have a long history of advertising．Four-character compounds，with strong rhythm and rhyme in a concise form，could be considered as the most distinctive feature in Chinese advertising．Many of them are set phrases．From the following example we cart clearly see the difference between English and Chinese on lexical level．Source text：People with high standards value ours，SeikoFar beyond the ordinary in styling and performance．Brilliant new timepieces with a solid emphasis on perfection，and the unequabled accuracy of a quartz movement．Handsomely refined．Meticulously detailed．Elegantly slender．To keep you looking your best every moment．From Seiko．(ad for Seiko watch) Translation：精工表荣获用户最高评价无论款式或性能都远远超过一般钟表，达到了尽善尽美的境地，那就是精工牌手表。