论英汉广告中的修辞与翻译_英文_

第19卷南华大学学报(自然科学版)Vol.19 2005年9月Journal of Nanhua University(Science and Technology)Sep.2005 Article ID:1673-0062(2005)0143-07On Rhetoric and Its Translation in English and Chinese AdvertisingLIU Miao,JIA De-jiang＊(School of For eign Languages,Nanhua University,Hengyang,Hunan421001,China)A bstract:With the deepening of economic internationalization,advertising as sales stimulus,plays a cr ucial role in delivering information.Therefore it appears to be more important to un-derstand、appr eciate and translate advertising language properly.The purpose of this paper is toexplore the basic advertising kno wledge,to explain features of advertising language by mainlyanalyzing rhetorical devices in E nglish and Chinese advertising and to put forward several spe-cific techniques on how to deal with rhetorical devices in advertising translation.Key words:advertising rhetoric;communicative translation;readership论英汉广告中的修辞与翻译刘　苗,贾德江＊(南华大学外国语学院,湖南衡阳421001)摘　要:在经济高度国际化的今天,广告作为一种销售催化剂,已成为传播各种消息不可缺少的有力工具和手段.因此,如何理解、欣赏并准确地翻译广告变得尤为重要.本文的目的就是阐释广告语言的修辞特征及其翻译,并试图找出英汉广告翻译中处理修辞语言的最有效方法.关键词:广告;修辞;交际翻译;读者中图分类号:H085.3 文献标识码:A1　Generalization on Advertising1.1　DefinitionAmerican Marketing Association(AMA)defines advertising as“the non-personal communication of in-formation usually paid for and usually persuasive in na-ture about products,services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.”Today,with the development of the technology and the diversity of the mass media,advertising has influenc ed us pervasively in our daily life.Ho wever,whatever the promotive strat-egies advertising takes,language is the main carrier of message.Schroder says,“Advertising takes many for ms,but in most of them,langua ge is a style of imme-diate impact and rapid persuasion.The point of an ad-vertisement is to persuade you of the merits of a partic-ular product or services,in order that you will take out some of your money.” Biography:Lin Miao,undergraduate in2005,School of Foreign Languages of Nan Hua University.＊Instructor.1.2　Functions of AdvertisingAdvertising is both applauded and criticized for its role in selling products and its influence on society.For years,critics have denigrated advertising for a wide range of sins-some real,and imagined.The result has been a steady growth in the number of consumer groups,business organizations and government bodies that now regulate virtually everything advertisers say and do.(Arens1996:39)Anyhow advertising does play a crucial role in both reflecting and shaping our society.Five different functions have been identified for advertising:1)The marketing function.Along with sales pro-motion,public relations and personal feeling,advertis-ing is one of the vehicles employed by a business or an organization to c om municate with its customers.Al-though advertising is only one element in a company's overall promotional program,it is the most visible. (Wells-1995)2)The c om munication function.Advertising trans-mits different types of market information to match buy-ers and sellers in the market place.Advertising both in-forms and transfor ms the pr oduct by creating an ima ge that goes beyond straightfor ward facts.3)The economic function.There are two major schools.According to the marketing power school,ad-vertising is a persuasive communication tool used by marketers to distract consumer's attention from the price of the product.In contrast,the market competition school treats advertising as a source of information that incr eases c onsumer's price sensitivity and stimulus competition.4)The social function.It informs us of new and improved pr oducts and teaches us how to use these in-novations.It helps us compare products and features and make decisions.It mirr ors fashion and design trends and contributes to our aesthetic sense.(Wells-1989:11)5)The education function.Advertising as an edu-cator,speeds up the adoption of the new and untried and,in doing so,accelerates technological advances in industry and hastens the realization of a fuller life for all.1.3　Classifications of AdvertisingAdvertising is complex because so many diverse advertisers try to reach so many different types of audi-ences.I would like to list classifications of advertising as follows:1)B y target audiences:consumer advertising; business advertising.2)B y geographic area:local advertising;regional advertising;national advertising;international advertis-ing.3)B y medium:print advertising;broadcast adver-tising;out-of-home advertising;direct-mail adver-tising.4)B y purpose:product advertising;non-product advertising;commercial advertising:non-commercial advertising action.1.4　Advertising ObjectivesThe first objective of any advertising is to create a wareness-to acquaint some portion of the unaware people with the food,service or band that the company pr ovides.The next task is to develop comprehension-to communicate enough information to develop conviction; to persuade a certain number of people to believe in the pr oducts value.Of those who become convinced,some can be moved to desire the product.Finally,some who desired the product will take action-request additional information,visit a store,or buy it.Advertising objec-tives determine the way of writing and translating ad.s.1.5　Advertising ElementsA full print advertising is generally composed of two parts,na mely,the verbal part including headline, body copy and slogan;the non-verbal part consisting of trademark and illustration.2　The Rhetoric in English and Chi-nese AdvertisingAdvertising is a style of im mediate impact and rapid persuasion.In general,whether the medium is print,radio,or television,the advertisers can only rely on your attention for only a ver y short time,and there-fore the sales messa ge must be short,clear,distinctive and memorable.Among the advertising factors,langua ge is the c ore of all successful advertisements.Rhetoric may ser ve several functions in advertis-ing,like attracting attention,generating a positive mood,or communicating the essence of a message in a144南华大学学报(自然科学版) 2005年9月fast and effective wa y.The main advantage of the use of rhetoric in advertising lies in its superior ability to com-municate abstract features or benefits of the product and to c ommunicate information about intangible services. Mor eover,the creative use of r hetoric in advertising may result in advertisements which are e motionally alive,in-tellectually appealing and memorable.No w,let's have a closer look at some of the com-mon rhetorical devices employed in advertising.2.1　The Rhetoric in English AdvertisingRhetoric is widely employed in English advertis-ing,thus making it more attractive.Advertisers have made good use of all advantages of English phonetic, lexis and syntax to give beauty,variety and force to ad-vertising.2.1.1　Phonetic RhetoricAdvertisers have made full use of the sound mer-its.They tr y hard to bring out sound effect to please people's ears and to attract their attention.Phonetic rhetoric mainly c onsists of onomatopoeia,alliteration and rhyme.1)OnomatopoeiaOnomatopoeia is the use of words,which by their pr onunciation suggests the meaning of human beings, animals,etc.It is sometimes employed in ads.to con-nect the sound with the products advertised,adding life to language and achieving direct echoes from consum-ers.E.g.:Zoom!Let Service Federal Cr edit Union show you the fastest wa y to save a ne w car or tr uck.This ad.by Service Federal Credit Union is pro-gra mmed to advertise price-c utting.Obviously,“zoom”is a typical onomatopoeic word,vividly describ-ing the low,deep and humming sound made by a speeding car.Here“zoom”is used to emphasize that this is the fastest way to buy a car or truck with a low price.2)Alliteration.Alliteration is the repetition of initial identical consonant sounds or any vowel sounds in successive or closely associated words or syllables.There is no such rhetorical device in Chinese.E.g.:Sweet,Smart,and Sassy.3)RhymeRhyme has been defined as the similarity or iden-tity of sound that exists between accented syllables, which occupy corresponding positions in two or more lines of verse.Rhyme can help us to remember a piece of rhyming headline or slogan.E.g.:Clean your breath while it cleans your te-eth.Rhyme in advertising is sometimes combined with repetition,as is shown in the above advertise ment.Furthermore,rhyme is often used together with al-literation in English advertising.The adoption of the t w o devices makes adverts more po werful and appealing.E.g.:Think Ink!Make it clear,make it Canon. (Canon Ink)2.1.2　Lexical Rhetoric1)MetaphorA metaphor is an implied comparison between t w o things which are of unlike nature but which have one or more features in common.Metaphor is the concrete ex-pression of the ability to see resemblances or contrasted differences,the normal sign of innovation in language, as is invention in life.E.g.:EBEL,the architects of time.EBEL is a brand watch fr om Switzerland.As we all kno w,a fa mous sa ying like this,“Time is money.”And EBEL is described as“the architects of time”.The value and the quality of the watch are fully implied in just the words of a metaphor.2)SimileA simile is an explicit comparison between two or more things that are unlike but have something in com-mon,normally introduced by“like”or“as”.Similes are more precise,mor e r estricted and usually less radical, less committed than metaphors.E.g.:Featherwater:light as a feather.The ad describes most incisively the lightness of the Feather water spectacles by the use of simile.Almost ever yone who is shortsighted once suffered a great deal from the spectacle lens,so that all can image the com-fort given by spectacles light as a feather.3)MetonymyMetonymy is defined as a figure of speech which expresses a relation between the thing spoken and the thing meant,in such a way that the mention of one sug-gests the other.E.g.:Wash the big city out of hair.(a shampoo145第19卷 刘　苗等:论英汉广告中的修辞与翻译ad.)Here“the big city”means“the dirt of the hair”. Therefore the use of a metonym y avoids the embarrass-ment of a plainly mentioning“the dirt of the hair”and shows its elegant style,evoking a good feeling in its readers.4)PunA pun is a pla y on words based on the identity or similarity between the sounds of words with different meanings.E.g.:Spoil yourself and not your figure.This ad.for the weight-watcher ice cream suc-cessfully employs pun to advertise the pr oduct in a de-cent way.It implies that one will not put on weight by having the ice cream.5)PersonificationPersonification is generally used to give human qualities or abilities to abstraction or non-human enti-ties.Personification in advertising turns the ice-cold pr oducts to be cordial and friendly and leaves people a vivid and real impression,thus stimulating people into action.Examples:with52issues,they'll be thinking of you week after week.(Newsweek magazine)Flowers by Interflora speak from the heart.(Inte-flora)Unlike me,my Rolex never needs a rest.(Rolex watch)6)Hyper boleHyperbole is the use of exaggerated statements made for effect and not intended to be taken literally. Hyperbole in advertising helps set up perfect images for the products advertised and more important,it caters to all tastes of consumers.E.g.:We've hidden a full of vegetable where you'd never expect in a pie.(B iscquick vegetable pie)The best never rest.(Ford)7)RepetitionRepetition refers to any rhetorical device,which reiterates a word or phrase,or rewords the same idea,in order to emphasize a point.Psychologists maintain that you need to hear or see something a minimum of3 times before it cross the threshold of perception and en-ters into memor y.(Wells1995:282).Advertising is repetitious.E.g.:You can't Xerox a Xerox on a Xerox.. (Xer ox copier)In this ad.,“Xerox”is repeated3times.The rep-etition of the word leaves deep impression on its readers and urges them to discover more about the product ad-vertised.8)IronyVerbal irony is a rhetorical device in which the actual intent is expressed in words that convey a mean-ing opposite to its literal meaning.The American Can-cer Society Society succeeds in its advertisement to per-suade people to quit smoking by using irony:If people keep telling you to quit smoking ciga-rettes,don't listen……they ar e pr obably trying to trick you into living.9)ContrastIn advertising copywriting,contrast is usually ap-plied to stress the merits and quality of certain product or ser vice.Contrast is no doubt a powerful device to puff the product or service advertised.E.g.:Cancer is often curable.The fear of cancer is often fatal.This sharp c ontrast successfully warns people that what is fatal is not cancer,but the fear of cancer.In this way,it effectively encourages people to fight against cancer with confidence and optimistic attitude.10).ParodyA par ody is a piec e of writing intended to amuse by imitating the style of writing used by somebody else. Parody is widely used in advertising headlines and slo-gans by imitating idioms,proverbs,sayings,songs and so on.Examples:Wearing is believing.(L OVABLE un-derwear)We take no pride in prejudice.(Time magazine)A mars a day keeps you work,rest and pla y. (Mars chocolate)2.2　The Rhetoric in C hinese AdvertisingDespite the fact that English and Chinese belong to two different language fa milies and ther e is a big gap between the characteristics of the two languages,Chi-nese and English advertisements will share lots of simi-lar linguistic points.It can be seen in the following ex-amples:146南华大学学报(自然科学版) 2005年9月Rhyme:用清逸,更美丽.(清逸洗发露)Simile:恍如躺在洁白的云朵里.(鸭绒被)Pun:“夏”一大跳!(重庆麦克汉姆快餐店)Personification:我们是你不做声的仆人,却有着一百双手.(厨房用具)Repetition:送脑白金,就是送健康,送祝福.Contrast:只买对的,不选贵的.(雕牌洗衣粉)Parody:一夫当关,万夫莫开.(保险门)Antithesis:不求今日拥有,但求天长地久.(青岛牌电视)Nevertheless,Chinese advertisements possess their own distinctive characteristics.1)The four seven-Character AdvertisementChinese advertising is characterized by its popular usage of the four seven-character structure.Concise and comprehensive,rhythmical and po werful,the four seven-character can easily reach the readers'hearts. The following ads will definitely sound familiar to all:黑白分明,表现出众.(白加黑感冒片)清晰世界,优越生活.(康佳彩电)生活处处有真心.(某品牌瓜子)出手不凡钻石表.(钻石牌手表)Chinese idiom is well known as a typical four-character structure.Because of their identification with a particular language and culture,idioms usually carry more impact than non-idiomatic expressions.Another typical for m of the four-character struc-ture is set expressions in Chinese advertisements.物美价廉cheap and fine reasonable in price and excellent in quality品种齐全in a complete range of articles驰名中外popular both at home and abroad2)The Couplet AdvertisementThe couplet or antithetical couplet is a traditional-ly artistic form which is unique to Chinese.A typical for m of couple is the gatepost couplet,the scrolls on ei-ther side of the door.The following exa mples fully dem-onstrate the merits of employing couplets in Chinese.摘取天上彩霞,装点人间广厦.(珠海“镭射玻璃”)移欧陆名城于此地,揽湖山胜景在我家.(广州“蒙地卡罗山庄”,1993)莲瓣凝珠名楼美食迎佳节,香茶集雅老店新颜溢欢情.(广州“莲香楼”中秋对联,1992)3　The Translation of Rhetoric in En-glish and Chinese Advertising3.1　Principle Governing Advertising Translation1)Theories of TranslationFaithfulness,expressiveness and elegance,which are Yan Fu's Principles of translation,are mor e appli-cable to literary translation.Lu Xun put forward a four -character principle of translation,which is called faithfulness and smoothness.It was originally proposed for the translation of political essays and therefore can' t be applied to all types of discourse.Dr.Eugene A.Nida introduced his well-known principle of translation that is“dynamic equivalence”. He defined it that“The r eaders of a translated text should be able to understand and appreciate it in es-sentially the sa me manner as the original readers did”.2)Communicative TranslationProfessor Peter Ne wmark holds that:“……all art is to a greater or less extent allegorical,figurative,met-aphorical and a parable and therefore has a communica-tive purpose.(Newmar k1982:45).Prof.Ne wmark's major contribution is in a detailed treatment of semantic municative translating in which semantic trans-lation focuses primarily upon the semantic context of the source text and communicative translation focuses upon the comprehension and response of receptors.In my opinion,any principle adopted in advertising trans-lation is evaluated by whether the translated text ulti-mately helps promote sales.To meet the end,readership is the c ornerstone in advertising.3.2　Specific Techniques Applied to the Transla-tion of Rhetoric in Advertising3.2.1　The English-Chinese Advertising Translation1)Rhetorical Translation(1)Rhetorical TransferenceIn Pr of.Newmark's words:“Transference is the pr ocess of transferring a SL(Source Language)word to a TL(Target Language)text as a translation pr oce-dure.”Here,“rhetorical transference”means transfer-ring one rhetorical expression in the source advertise-ment to the same r hetorical expression in the target text.(In this way,r hetorical devices are transferred to give local color)to attract the reader to give a sense of intimacy between the text and the reader.)147第19卷 刘　苗等:论英汉广告中的修辞与翻译E.g.:Kodak is Olympic color.柯达--奥林匹克的色彩.The comparison of Kodak film to the Olympic col-or makes people conclude that the Kodak film is the peak out of other films.Transference can also be employed in the rendi-tion of the other rhetorical expressions in English-Chi-nese advertising translation.Light as a breeze,soft as a cloud.(Simile)轻似微风,柔如浮云.A word to wealthy.(Hyperbole)一言致富.Give a Timex to all,and to all a good time.(Rep-etition)天美时送万家,万家好时光.Flowers by Interflora speak from the heart.(Per-sonification)没有解决不了的大问题,没有不做的小生意.(2)Rhetorical ReplacementRhetorical replacement is adopted to replace one rhetorical expression in the source advertisement by an-other in the tar get text,for example,replacement of a metaphor in English ad.by a simile in Chinese ad.E.g.:Apple thinks different.苹果电脑,不同凡“想”.The cream of the translated version lies in the use of不同凡“想”,a parodied expression for m不同凡响.Melt in your mouth,not in your hand.(contrast)只溶于口,不溶于手.(Rhyme and Antithesis)2)Non-Rhetorical TranslationIn advertising translation,for the lack of close cor-respondence in figurative expressions,it may be neces-sary to translate some figurative expressions in the source language by non-figurative phrase in the target langua ge,provided that the translated applied to the translation of rhetorical expressions in advertisements requir es much creativity from the translators.E.g.:Think again,Think Canon.梦寐以求是佳能.No w,let's analyze in detail certain rhetorical de-vices that are especially suitable for non-rhetorical translation.(1)Phonetic RhetoricEnglish and Chinese respectively possess their distinct phonetic systems.The sound effects consist of onomatopoeia,alliteration,rhyme,stress and so on.In translation,“it's not possible to`translate'sound ef-fects”(Newmark1988:42).The same is true of the phonetic rhetoric in advertising.Examples:Sensuously Smooth Mysteriously Mellow Gloriously Golden.爽口顺喉,和醇耐味,名贵高尚.Sea,sun,sand,seclusion———and Spain.(Alliter-ation)海水,阳光,沙滩,幽僻之乡———西班牙情调!Talk,global,pay local.———Telecommunication (Rhyme)全球通信,就近付款.(2)PunOne makes a pun by using a word,or two words with the same sound,or a group of words with the same sound in their two possible sense,usually for the pur-pose of arousing laughter or amusement,and sometimes also to concentrate meanings.Examples:The Unique Spirit of Canada.别具风味的加拿大酒,独特的加拿大精神.(3)Par odyAdvertisers like to create headlines and slogans by imitating existing linguistic structures,such as idiom, pr over b,allegor y,saying,and song and so on.Such lin-guistic structures ar e usually rather culture-specific, that is,they depend very much upon a specific social or ecological setting.Finding satisfactor y equivalents for such parodied expressions in advertising is one of the most difficult aspects of translating.E.g.:The prose without the con.———The Times ma gazine.没有混淆视听的文章.A parody from the E n-glish idiom“the pros and cons”(是非曲直)3.2.2　The Chinese-English Advertising Translation1)The translation of Four Seven-Character Ads.and Couplet Ads.As mentioned in the pr evious chapter,both the four seven-character ads.and the couplet ads.repre-sent distinguishing Chinese features.Such unique struc-ture can hardly be matched in English ad.After all,E n-glish and Chinese belong to two different language fa mi-lies.Therefore much more skill is required fr om the148南华大学学报(自然科学版) 2005年9月translators.On the basis of adequate understanding of the source text,translators should“jump out”of it and try to express the meaning property in the target lan-guage,making the version faithful to the original as well as smooth in the target text.E.g.:出手不凡钻石表.(钻石牌手表)Buy a Dia mond brand watch,if every second cou-nts for you.The same is true with the couplet ad..When an equivalent is out of reach,translators are meant to work into their“language of habitual use”.Look at the fol-lo wing translation.美人选胜地,香国惯留香.(化妆品店联)Beautiful women choose scenic spots,while s weet -smelling regions retain fragrance theat left behind.2)Parody TranslationMany successful examples demonstrate the effi-ciency of par ody translation.人带梅花,准时乐道.(“梅花牌”手表广告)Give the Plum to all,and to all a good time.红玫相机新奉献.(“红玫”相机广告)My love is like a Red Rose.In the source text,the brand name“红玫”hap-pens to be equivalent with“Red Rose”in the target langua ge.Therefore it is natural to employ parody trans-lation by imitating the Scottish poet,Robert Burns fa-mous quotation,“my love is like a red,red rose”.Ech-oes can easily be attained in the r eceptors from such a romantic and widespread expression.4　ConclusionWe live in the age of advertising.The deepening of international trade between the west and China in-cr easingly fastens the significance of mutual under-standing and translating of English and Chinese adver-tising.Various rhetorical devices employed in advertis-ing have been proved to work effectively to serve for the advertising objectives.Good translation helps us appr eciate the charm of langua ge.Readership is the core of advertising transla-tion.Any specific techniques applied to advertising translation would be all in vain without consideration of the readership.Pr ofessor Peter Newmark's principle of communicative translation attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the source text in such a way that both content and language are r eadily acceptable and comprehensible to the readership.We will be able to achieve successful advertising translation as long as we keep the principle 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