功能对等理论视角下的商标翻译研究

摘要

商标名称是指商标中可以用语言称呼的部分，是产品的标记，是产品形象的重要内容之一。本文从商标名称的相关知识入手，介绍了商标名称的概念、特征及功能。商标名称是一种文化现象，我们在商标名称翻译时需要注意它的可行性，以奈达的”功能对等”理论作为商标名称翻译的基本原则及翻译的方法，这是一种可行的方法。商标名称具有特有的文化特点，与文化有着密切联系，我们需要从不同国家的特性、习俗和习惯、语义联想等不同角度分析商标名称翻译过程中的文化障碍。尽管在商标名称互译中存在文化障碍，但它们并不是不可以跨越的。译者应灵活运用具体的翻译方法，跨越文化障碍，力求达到功能对等和最佳翻译效果。

关键词：功能对等；商标；翻译

Abstract

A brand name is the part of brand that can be vocalized, and the sign of a product. This paper starts with the information of brand names to introduce the definition, characteristics and the functions of brand names. The brand name is a phenomenon of culture. We should pay more attention to the possibility of brand name translation, and take the Nada’s “Functional Equivalence” as a cardinal principle and methods employed in brand name translation，this is a viable way. Brand names possess peculiar cultural characteristics and have intimate relation with culture，then we need analyze the cultural barriers of the brand name translation from different national traits, different customs and habits, different semantic associative. Although there are cultural barriers in the brand name translation, we can still overcome them. Translators should use the techniques flexibly so as to overcome the cultural barriers in brand name translation and try to translate brand names perfectly.

Key words: functional equivalence; brand name; translation

Contents

摘要 (i)

A b s t r a c t...........................................................................i i I n t r o d u c t i o n (1)

C hapt er 1 Overvi ew of Brand Nam es (2)

1.1 Definition of Brand Names (2)

1.2 Formation of Brand Names (2)

1.2.1P r o p e r N a m e s (3)

1.2.2C o m m o n Wo r d s (3)

1.2.3C o i n e d Wo rd s (4)

1.3 Characteristics of Brand Names (5)

1.3.1B r e v i t y (5)

1.3.2E l e g a n c e (6)

1.3.3O r i g i n a l i t y (7)

1.4 Functions of Brand Names (7)

1.4.1In fo rm at i v e F un c t i o n (8)

1.4.2A e s t h e t i c F u n c t i o n (8)

1.4.3E v o c a t i v e F u n c t i o n (10)

Chapter 2 Functional Equivalence Theory and Brand Name

Translation (12)

2.1 Funct i onal Equi val ence (12)

2.2 Consideration of Factors in Brand Name Translation (13)

2.2.1C o ns um e r P s yc h o l o g y (13)

2.2.2 Cult ural Fact ors (14)

2.2.3A e s t h e t i c Fa c t o r s (16)

2.3 Application of Functional Equivalence in Brand Name Translation (16)

2.3.1 Equivalence of Informative F unction (16)

2.3.2 Equivalence of Aesthetic Function (17)

2.3.3 Equivalence of Evocative Function (18)

Chapter 3 Methods Employed in Brand Name Translation (20)

3.1 Li t er al Trans l a t i on (20)

3.2Tr a n s l i t e r a t i o n (21)

3.3 Combination of Literal Translation and Transliteration (23)

3.4C r e a t i v e Tr a n s l a t i o n (24)

3.4.1 Addition or Deletion (24)

3.4.2B l e n d i n g (25)

3.4.3A c r o n y m (26)

3.4.4P u r p o s i v e M i s s p e l l i n g (26)

C o n c l u s i o n (27)

B i b l i o g r a p h y (28)

Acknowledgements

i ii

Introduction

A brand name is a sign representing cultural characteristics of different nations, societies and times. It serves not only its expected functions of communication; it is also employed in a symbolic manner to identify a brand and its cultural origin. Today, well-known brand names have become cultural icons, and enjoy powerful advantages in the fierce competition. Brand names, as part of language, reflect the features of a certain nation, including the historical and cultural background, their attitudes towards life, and their life style and thinking pattern.

Brand name translation is influenced by cultural elements which differentiate it from general translation. Brand name translation is of significance in the competitive market. Brand names mirror the culture of different countries, so cultural elements must not be ignored in the translating process. At present, with economic development and increasing international contact, the exchanges between different countries become more and more frequent. And trade surplus becomes an important part of our national economy. Proper translation of brand names also becomes more and more important so as to promote the sales of goods and cultivate foreign markets.

Chapter 1

Overview of Brand Names

1.1 Definition of Brand Names

A brand name refers to a specific name employed by a corporation to identify uniquely a product or its manufacturer, or a service and its provider. （Li Guisheng，1996）It is quite often used interchangeably within “brand name”, although it is more correctly used to specifically denote written or spoken linguistic elements of any product. A legally protected brand name is called a proprietary name. A powerful brand name embodies a unique set of values and hence personality. A successfully designed brand name can bring about enormous value in a real sense, which is invisible wealth of a company. Therefore, brand name is of more and more importance in “global village” and the right and suitable meaning of a brand can be an enduring advantage.

1.2 Formation of Brand Names

From the perspective of the linguistic structures, brand names can be mainly divided into proper name brand names, the common word brand names and the coined word brand names.(He Chuansheng,1997) However, there are some similarities and differences in the formation of Chinese and English cosmetic brand names.

1.2.1 Proper Names

Using a proper name especially a person’s name can create a sense of amicability between the product and the consumers. A good name will inspire the consumers to think about the image under that name. Take some brand names for example, “Charlie” in English has the long-standing image of being a confident but warm little girl; “大宝”in Chinese is an adorable nickname for a male who is the family members’darling. When personal names are used as brand names, distance between the commodities and the consumers could be shortened while the sense of intimacy could be established. In such a delightful and cheerful state, consumers would be inspired to be better informed about the products, if interested and satisfied, they will purchase. Thus, a very successful sale could be fulfilled as the brand name fully performs its fundamental function.

1.2.2 Common Words

Common words will add more amicability and friendliness in the products and names provide the denominators and translators more choices. Usually, the common words used in Chinese and English brand names include adjective and noun.

B.A Thesis Chapter 1 Overview of Brand Names

The brand names formed by common nouns have symbolic and metaphor functions. Products with these names possess the characteristics of these words or objects, for example, “Ivory” can make you skin smooth and white. The cosmetic brand names formed by adjectives or adjective plus noun can show a very direct description of the main characters of the product.

1.2.3 Coined Words

When certain qualities, characteristics and functions are taken into consideration, coined words can be created. Since they are coined, they are unique and novel as there is not much possibility that another similar one will appear. Many English brand names are created by means of lexical methods, such as shortening, compounding, blending, affixation, etc while the Chinese brand names tend to use word group.

Shortening is the simplified form of the original words. For example, “SR”, a brand name of toothpaste, is formed by acronym, that is, to use the initials of the ingredients of the product (Sodium, Ricinoleate).

Compounding is a popular and crucial way of forming English and Chinese cosmetic brand names. By compounding, two or more words are together to show the feature, quality and function of the product, so compound brand names can illustrate the characteristics of the products from multi-perspectives. Examples are:

“Body Flower” stresses its function of making the body full of the fragrance of flowers.

“Head& Shoulders”stresses its function of moistening the hair and making it soft and easy to comb.

Different from English, Chinese is the ideograph language. So word groups can be formed by putting characters together. Usually, certain words have good connotations are frequently used.

Names of plants and animals are often used as brand names. Chinese cosmetic brand names have a preference of the pretty images of some of them which can arouse the interest and bring good association, such as“蜂花”(cosmetic),“紫罗兰”(cosmetic)and “佰草集”(cosmetic).The above-mentioned have attached great importance to the point that they are pure, natural and environmentally safe products by using the raw material from the outside world and the consumers can get the essence of the flowers and herbal extract by using them.

1.3 Characteristics of Brand Names

A brand name is the name of a product, which is a mark or a symbol that can be used to define a certain product. The goal of a brand name should aim at setting up a good image in the market, a rousing consumers’favorable association and purchasing desire. Thus the language used in brand names must have some features of its own.

1.3.1 Brevity

Brevity is a basic requirement of a good brand name, which means brand names should concise in spellings and pronunciations to make them eye-catching and easy to remember. According to an investigation, Chinese brand names consist of mainly two or three characters, and 70% of them (including Chinese versions of foreign ones) are two-character construction, 29% are three-character construction, only about 1% are more than five characters. Name a few as examples, “立白”(washing powder), “碧浪”(washing powder), “汰渍”(washing powder), “雕牌”(washing powder), “奥妙” (washing powder), “海尔”(electric appliance), “双星”(sports product).Whereas most English brand names are made up of one to four syllables on most occasions. Brand names such as “Benz”and “Ford”(cars) consist of one syllable;Brand names like “Sony”(electric appliance)and “Kodak”(film)are composed of two syllables; those like “Accustom”(watch) and “Adidas”(clothing) are made up of three syllables; “Electrolux”(appliance) comprises four syllables. In addition, most of these syllables consist of sonorous vowels and consonants with less friction, making the brand name easy to pronounce and remember.

1.3.2 Elegance

As far as elegance is concerned, it means that both brand names and their rendered versions should have favorable association but avoid unpleasant connotation that may offend customers to arouse consumers’purchasing desire. For example, the Chinese version “金利来”for the English brand name “Goldlion” is better than “金狮”, for “金利来” not only presents consumers the good quality of the tie but indicates the profit or good luck it can bring. While on the other hand, brand names such as “交际花”, “舞女”are forbidden to register in our country according to our Interim Regulations of Brand Name Registration because of their vulgar tastes.

1.3.3 Originality

A brand name should be as novel and unconventional as possible in wording, pronunciation, meaning and other aspects, so as to arouse the interest of the consumers and leave a deep impression on them.

There are a variety of methods that can be used to achieve this effect. Word formation such as abbreviation, initials, numbers, and parallelism is one way to create originality. The brand name “TCL”(TV set) is special and new in home-made TV sets. Appealing sound is another way to obtain this effect. “Yahoo”and its Chinese version “雅虎”have a very peculiar and strong phonological effect and thus cause a pleasant psycho-acoustic impact on its hearers. Still unusually combination of common words, or coined words in English brand names, such as “7-up”

B.A Thesis Chapter 1 Overview of Brand Names (beverage), “0M0” (powder) and so on, leave a fresh yet deep impression on costumers because of their unique form and pronunciation.

1.4 Functions of Brand Names

The brand name is intended to appeal to the target consumers favorable meaning so as to spread ideas or information about persuade symbolic, or convince consumers. The basic functions of brand with pleasant sound and the products that will names are informative, evocative and aesthetic.

1.4.1 Informative Function

It is well known that high-information is an important value of advertisement, to say nothing of its core, brand name. Brand name should firstly be informative to provide the consumers with information about the uses, characters, values and the target consumers.

For example, brand names such as “Benz” (car), “Mary Kay” (cosmetics), “蒙牛”(milk)，“张小泉”(scissors)，“青岛”(beer) provide consumers with product makers, materials and producing areas. Those like “Microsoft” (computer), “H20” (cosmetics), “立白” (washing powder), “舒肤佳”(soap) provide us with the information about basic uses of products. Brand names such as “钻石”(watch) imply the characteristics and the value of the products. Brand names can also indicate who the potential consumers are, such as “兰贵人”(cosmetics), “劲霸”(apparel), “淑女屋”(apparel), etc.

1.4.2 Aesthetic Function

In order to appeal to consumers, a good brand name should also have an aesthetic effect on them. Information alone supplied by brand names is far from enough to attract consumers and they should also bring consumers pleasant feelings, which can be manifested in the following three aspects — sound, form and meaning.

To begin with, sound is not only an indispensable element of a brand name, but also an essential way to attract consumers, i.e. a means of accomplishing advertising effect. So on TV advertisements, brand names are always articulated. Brand names with beautiful sound are preferred by consumers as well as brand name designers. For example, “Kodak”(camera) simulates the sound when we push the shutter of a camera, while “Pepsi” reminds us of the sudden sou nd “si-” when we open up a bottle of soda drink and “Coca-Cola” is rhythmic and harmonious, easily pronounced and remembered.

Then, form is closely related with psychology, and could arouse consumers’psychological and visual reaction. A brand name with aesthetic features in form is more outstanding. For instance, “S” reminds people of lady’s curvilinear figure. That’s why many female

articles are named with “S” added, such as, “Aeress” (underwear), “Finess”(cosmetics), “Simples” (cosmetics), etc.

Last but not least, semantic aesthetics should also be taken into consideration. Favorite Chinese characters in brand names include “诚”（honesty）, “梦”（dream）, “爱”（love）, “美”（beauty）etc. It is the same case with “淑女屋”(apparel), which attracts girls who desire to be gentlewomen.

1.4.3 Evocative Function

A brand name has evocative function, which means the brand names must interest consumers and stimulate them to make a purchase. According to Newmark, a typical example of evocative texts is advertisement. As the essential part of the advertisement, the brand name has the evocative as its basic function, which is based on its informative and aesthetic functions.

In order to realize its evocative function, many brand names tend to choose words with favorable meanings. They offer consumers a kind of aesthetic feeling and arouse their purchasing desire. It turns out that brand names with exotic flavor can arouse people’s interest and persuade them to give it a try. For instance, the “Safeguard” (soap) impl ies that the soap can protect your skin and you more beautiful. And the Chinese brand name “皇冠”(automobile), which means crown, hints the quality of being superior and noble. Such kind of brand names will certainly appeal to consumers and result in their purchasing.

Brand names can also succeed in persuading people by catering to their psychological needs. Brand names with romantic connotation can always attract the young customers and stir their enthusiasm of making a purchase. That’s why most costume bran d names are common words full of imaginary or romantic connotation so as to meet the purchasing psychology of those young ladies and thus catch their attention. “Kiss-Me” (lipstick) is a call of love and “Youngor” (clothing) tells you that you will be younger than before if you are wearing this kind of clothes. “旺旺”(food) exactly expresses people’s best wishes of being healthy, wealthy and outstanding.

B.A Thesis Chapter 2 Functional Equivalence Theory and Brand Name Translation

Chapter 2

Functional Equivalence Theory and Brand Name

Translation

2.1 Functional Equivalence

Translation equivalence is one of the central topics of translation research. Realizing that no translation is able to attain complete equivalence to the original, Nida advocates the idea of “functional equivalence”. According to Eugene A. Nida, a minimal, realis tic definition of functional equivalence could be stated as “the readers of a translated text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how the original readers of the text must have understood and appreciate it” (1993:118).

I n addition, a maximal, ideal definition could be stated as “the readers of a translated text should be able to understand and appreciate it in essentially the same manner as the original readers did” (1993:118). However, this maximal level of equivalence is rarely achieved in practice. In fact the idea “equivalence” is approached on the basis of degrees of closeness from minimal to maximal effectiveness.

To put it more specific, a minimal adequacy of translation is that the target readers can conceive of how the source readers must have understood and appreciated the source text; a maximal adequacy of translation might be that the target readers can understand and appreciate the translated text in essentially the same manner as the source readers understand and appreciate the source text. Nida suggests that when literal translation fails to attain satisfactory equivalence, adjustments in form are necessary (1993:125).

Furthermore, in order to produce functionally equivalent translation, he proposes “the gre at the differences in the source and target cultures, the greater the need for adjustments; the greater the differences between the source and target languages, the greater the need for adjustments” (1993:129).

2.2 Consideration of Factors in Brand Name Translation

2.2.1 Consumer Psychology

Consumer psychology in a narrow sense refers to the mental state of a consumer and in a broad sense; it means the science of consumer psychology. It can be defined as “the mental or psychological activities of consumers in their realization, adjustment, and control of purchasing and consuming actions according to their own needs and abilities under the influence of the general social environment of consumption and

economy”.(Gu Wenjun, 2002: 7)

The majority of consumers are the intended reactors of marketing activities. Brand name translation, an indispensable procurer of such activities, is consumer-oriented. Consumers in the target market play the roles as the reader, the addressee, and eventually the reactor of a translated brand name. And the translator of a brand name can be regarded as a target-market brand name producer expressing a source-market brand name producer’s intentions.

Information about the target-text addressee is of crucial importance for the translator of the brand name, and the goal of sales promotion is to stimulate immediate consumer purchasing. Therefore, the translator should enable a brand name to attract the attention, to arouse the curiosity and interest of the consumers, to satisfy their psychological needs and further stimulate their motives to purchase the particular commodity.

2.2.2 Cultural Factors

Culture has its certain underlying characteristics which can be associated with brand names. Culture exists to satisfy the needs of the people within a society. It offers order, direction and guidance in all phases of human problem solving by providing “tried-and-true” methods of satisfying physiological, personal, and social needs.（Jiang Lei，2003）For example, culture provides standards and “rules” about when to eat, where to eat, and what is appropriate to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, and what to present your parent and the aged. Soft-drink companies would suggest that the consumers should choose their products containing more vitamins and minerals since health is the first priority in modern society. In china, we used to have porridge or soy bean milk for breakfast. So, the manufacturer would produce the household mixer whose slogan might be “soy bean milk is your best choice”.

Besides company image strategies, many well-known brands spotlight their cultural connotation. They emphasize what they sell is not a product, but a certain culture, a national spirit. In this regard, “Haier” means aiming higher and being sincere. So, cultural meaning can move from the culturally constituted world to consumer goods and from there to the individual consumer by means of various consumption-related vehicles, including brand names of course.

Since culture is considered as the totality of beliefs and practices of a society, nothing is more important and effective than language through which the beliefs are expressed and transmitted and by which the cultures are conveyed and transferred. It is believed that where there is language, there is culture hidden behind. Language is a kind of institutional culture in some sense. It is not grasped by individuals but shared by a certain society. It is influenced by certain culture and in turn mirrors the culture. Brand names, as part of language, are of no exception. They are

B.A Thesis Chapter 2 Functional Equivalence Theory and Brand Name Translation influenced by culture and in turn reflect culture. Therefore, culture has its underlying characteristics which can be associated with brand names.

2.2.3 Aesthetic Factors

As has been discussed in the first chapter, brand names possess the aesthetic function. In the process of translation, it is vital to reproduce the original aesthetic features of the brand names to the addressees. Brand name translation is demanded to be practical and aesthetic and translators will not only have to reserve the essence of the original brand name but also conform to the aesthetic psychology of consumers. Xu Yuanchong (2006:73) argues that translation is an art to transfer one language into another. His theory regarding to aesthetics in poetry translation goes like this: “beauty in sound, beauty in form and beauty in image”. Consequently, aesthetic factors should be taken into great account in the translation of brand names.

2.3 Application of Functional Equivalence in Brand Name

Translation

As Nid a’s functional equivalence the equivalent function indicates, an effective translation version should be able to produce or in other words the most proximal function to both the target and the original receptors. A translator must be clear about the functions of the source language, which is the prerequisite for a translator to achieve functional equivalence. Thus, brand name translation should take the functions of original brand name into full consideration in order to achieve functional equivalence.

2.3.1 Equivalence of Informative Function

First of all, brand name translation is usually informative. Equivalence in informative function is required. This requires that the renderings must be able to inform people of the functions, characteristics and values of the products as the original brand names do. To achieve the informative requirement, brand name should contain as much information as possible, readable to give the receptors strong impression. Some kinds of brand names inform the consumers of the basic functions of certain products. An English brand name “Goodyear” (tyre), which consists of “good” and “year” (two common words), meaning that if you use this tyre you will be smooth and happy through the whole year because the tyre lasts long in use. And the Chinese translation “固特异” is as good as the original one. “固”implies “lasting long” and“特异”means “extraordinary”. So we can see from the translated name that the life of this tyre will last extraordinarily long. It suggests the function of the tyre.

2.3.2 Equivalence of Aesthetic Function

The aesthetic function refers to that brand names can provide the

audience with aesthetic feeling. No matter how faithful it is to its original in meaning, any slight failure to aesthetic function may render the name to the state of being rejected by consumers. The renderings should create a sense of beauty either in form or in context to the same or similar extent to the original ones so as to achieve equivalence in aesthetic function. It is of no doubt that a brand name must not only provide information about the product, but also please people and help them to bring aesthetic feeling. Most brand names are carefully selected to perform their aesthetic function, which is mainly realized by creating phonetic beauty, se mantic beauty and imaginary beauty. “Coca-Cola” (beverage) is a distinguished example. It is translated to “可口可乐”in Chinese. The version not only imitates alliteration like the original one, but also helps to arouse favorable associations of customers and also consider the phonetic beauty.

2.3.3 Equivalence of Vocative Function

S imply speaking, the vocative function means that brand name can arouse people’s interest and persuade them to make purchases. Brand name translation should not only inform people of the value of products, but also cater to the customers’ psychological need to achieve equivalence in vocative function. One example is “Mr. Muscle” (a detergent brand name). If it is translated as “肌肉先生”，Chinese people are likely to associate it with a person who merely has a simple brain and strong limbs without intelligence. Of course, such a translated version in Chinese will attract few people’s interest and its vocative function would be impossible. A revised version of “威猛先生”can fulfill its vocative function of inducing housewives to do some cleaning with this detergent.

Besides the above-mentioned equivalence in functions of brand names, a translator must also take into consideration simultaneously such elements as linguistic and cultural factors in order to achieve functional equivalence in brand name translation.

B.A Thesis Chapter 2 Functional Equivalence Theory and Brand Name Translation

Chapter 3

Methods Employed in Brand Name Translation As discussed above, the successful observance of the principle of “functional equivalence” in translating source brand names into target ones depends on many factors, among which the most important is the flexible employment of translation techniques in practice. There are four kinds of translation techniques: literal translation, transliteration, combination of literal translation and transliteration and creative translation.

3.1 Literal Translation

Literal translation means translating meanings literally, namely, keeping both the original form and the original sense. It is often used when the brand names can find corresponding expressions in target language. As Chinese and English cultures share many similarities, many brand names can be translated into target language by literal translation, especially those brand names invented after the names of plants, animals, birds or precious things like gem, diamond and gold. （Murphy, 1987）For example, “梅花”(recorder) is translated as “Plum Blossom”; “小天鹅”(washing-machine) as “Little Swan”; “钻石”(watch) as “Diamond”; “金杯”(sports shoes) as “Golden Cup”. Some Brand names which indicate the material, the quality, the usage and the peculiarity of certain products can be translated into English by this technique as well.

Literal translation is often adopted in many cases as an effective technique for achieving functional equivalence in translating brand names. Nevertheless, translators must make sure first that versions produced by this technique are acceptable in other culture and are not negative in the target market. And this is of great importance, for we may fail to reproduce the same vocative function of the brand names if we do something opposite. For example, “白翎”(White Feather) are well accepted in domestic market; while in American and British market, the product was rejected, because its English rendering White Feather does not meet the psychology of the potential customers. In their culture, to show the white feather is a means of insulting, equivalent to abuse the person for being coward.

3.2 Transliteration

Transliteration refers to the way of translating brand names by taking the sounds of words instead of their verbal meanings into account. It is frequently used when the brand names created by culture-specific

B.A Thesis Chapter 3 Methods Employed in Brand Name Translation notions, for these names can hardly find any correspondences in English.（Murphy, 1987）For example, “厚朴” is a f amous Chinese brand name for toothpaste. We Chinese know quite well about the traditional herb named magnolia officin al. But if we translate it as “Magnolia Officinal”, the foreigners may not have the same acknowledgement as we do. And this rendering seems to be something bizarre to English people. In order to solve this problem, we can use transliteration. Hence we get the brand name “Hope” which sounds similar to Chinese word “厚朴” and conveys a favorable meaning in English.

One of transliteration methods is to translate the brand names by Chinese Pinyin. Take the famous Chinese brand name “鸭鸭”(down-filled coat) for example. Although “鸭鸭” has its literal substitutions “Duck” and “Ducky” in English, it is not translated so, but transliterated into “Ya Ya” by Chinese Pinyin. The reason is that either “Duck” or “Ducky” often indicates something silly and clumsy in English language culture, which may lead to an unpleasant feeling. However, “Ya Ya” will of course not cause such kind of feeling though it is alien-colored and is not a meaningful English word. In general, most proper Chinese brand names are transliteration by Chinese Pinyin. For example, “李宁”is translated as “Li Ning”; “茅台”as “Mao Tai”; “太极”as “Tai Ji”; etc. Transliteration by Chinese Pinyin can tran sfer the typical Chinese flavor to the target receptors so as to attract and persuade them. However, translators must avoid ambiguity or negative associations caused by some Chinese Pinyin when translating the brand names by this method.

Owing to the inadequacy of transliteration by Chinese Pinyin, another method is proposed. It means that some Chinese brand names can be transliterated by English words, or even coined English words, whose pronunciations are the same or the similar to them. Therefore, the renderings will look more like English brand names so that they become closer to foreign receptors, and thus become more elective and memorable. This method is most often used for the coined word brand names translation. For instance, “美而暖”(clothing) is tran slated as “Malran” instead of “MEI ER NUAN”; “华帝”(kitchenware) is translated as “Vantage” instead of “HUA DI”.

3.3 Combination of Transliteration and Literal Translation

Which way should we use in brand translation depends on how well it can achieve the equivalence in function, especially in making a brand best perform its functions in the aesthetic and vocative function. To best achieve functional equivalence, we often combine the two frequently used ways of translation: literal translation and transliteration. This

method is often used when brands can find the correspondences which have the similar sounds and the relevant meanings in the target language. And the translated brand can also clearly tell the consumer about the quality, function and char acteristics of the products. Let’s look at some successful translations of brands by combination of transliteration and literal translation.

A good example is the world famous brand “Unilever”. When coming to the Chinese market, it is translated as “联合利华”by combination of transliteration and literal translation. Part of the brand “uni-”means “joined together”, thus translated as “联合”by literal translation. And the other part “lever” is transliterated as “利华” because “利华”is close to, though not exactly the same as “lever”in pronunciation. The meaning of the Chinese name “联合利华”sounds friendly and pleasant to the Chinese, and the brand soon becomes very famous and popular.

The translation of “昂立1号” (medicine) is another typical example of translation by combination of transliteration and literal translation. The Chinese characters “昂立” sounds like the English word “only”, while “1号”is literally translated as “one”. The translated version “Only One” is special and novel enough for consumer to remember.

3.4 Creative Translation

The technique of creative translation mainly includes addition or deletion, blending acronym frequently and purposive misspelling. These methods can be taken as complements to the used translation methods.

3.4.1 Addition or Deletion

Addition refers to adding letters or characters in brand translation, while deletion means deleting letters or characters for better translation. For example: “雄山” (clothes ) is translated as“Hillo” by adding letter “o” to “Hill”, which is more novel and impressive than the literally rendering “Hill”. But “狼牌” (clothes) is translated as “Wolf” instead of “Wolf Brand”. Deletion of the Chinese character “牌” (brand) helps the translated version conforms to the habitual use of the target language.“鄂尔多斯”(cashmere clothes), a famous brand in China, was once transliterated as “Eerduosi”. But since “Eerduosi” is totally different from English spelling, thus it was changed into “Erdos” to make it more like an English word. Obviously, the new brands not only keeps the original pronunciation, but also becomes simpler and easier to remember. “Lufthansa” (airline) is translated as “汉莎” by deletion in order to get a simpler Chinese version. This conforms to the characteristic of Chinese

B.A Thesis Chapter 3 Methods Employed in Brand Name Translation brands, which are usually made up of two Chinese characters.

3.4.2 Blending

Blending refers to combining two or three words into one word in brand translation. This conforms to the requirements of brands to be informative and concise. For example: “肤美灵” (cosmetic) is translated as “Skinice” by blending “skin” and “nice”. “椰风” (drinks) is translated as “Cowind”by blending “coconut”and “wind”. While “七匹狼”(clothes) is translated as “Septwolves” by blending “Sept-” and “wolves”. “Sept-” is a Latin word root which stands for “seven”(七). “wolves” is the English equivalence of “狼” in its plural form.

3.4.3 Acronym

Acronym refers to the way of translating by combining the initial letters of the Chinese characters of the Chinese brand. This translating method is borrowed from the way of creating brands in English. Some brands translated in this way have already become familiar to us, for example: “奥康”(shoes) is rendered as “AK” by taking the initial letters of the Chinese characters “奥” (ao) and “康” (kang).

3.4.4 Purposive Misspelling

Purposive misspelling means to purposely use misspelled English words in translating Chinese brands into English. For example “雅戈尔”(clothing) is rendered as “Youngor”by intentionally misspelling the English word “Younger”. While “苏泊尔”(cooker) is translated as “Supor” by purposely misspelling the English word “super”. Such translations can be easily accepted by consumers in English-speaking countries and looks more novel and unconventional.

Conclusion

Based on an introduction to brand names and brand naming, this paper analyses the characteristics of brand names: brevity, elegance and originality. Brand names perform the functions of being informative, aesthetic and evocative. With the theoretical frame work of N ida’s “functional equivalence”, it is used as the guiding principle for brand name translation, thus four methods to overcome cultural barriers and achieve functional equivalence combination of translation and transliteration, and creative translation.

The brand name aims to publicize the products and attract potential consumers. Accordingly, the task of brand name translation is to create desirable brand names to promote the sale of the product, and the function of a brand name is to publicize the commodity, arouse customers’ int erest and stimulate their buying. In the market full of competition, a good brand name along with its successful translation plays an important role in breaking into the world market. The paper is thus supposed to be of both theoretical and practical significance in brand name translation.

Bibliography

Aaker, David, A. Building Strong Brands[M]. Chicago: American Library Association, 1995.

Diamond, Sidey A. Brand Problems and How to Avoid Them[M].

Chicago: Crain Books, 1981.

Murphy, John, M. Branding: A Key Marketing Tool[M]. London: The Macmillan Press Ltd, 1987.

Newmark, Peter. Approaches to Translation[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2001.

Nida, Eugene. A. Language, Culture and Translation[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1993.

陈宏威. 汉英翻译基础[M]. 上海:上海外语教育出版社, 2002.

顾文均. 顾客消费心理学[M]. 上海:同济大学出版社，2002.

贺川生. 商标英语[M]. 长沙:湖南大学出版社, 1997.

蒋磊. 文化差异与商标翻译的语用差异[J]. 科技翻译, 2003(3):25-26. 李贵升. 论商标的翻译[J]. 中国科技翻译, 1996(2):11-13.

唐德根. 文化差异在品牌翻译中的运用[J]. 上海科技翻译, 1997(1):87-88.

许渊冲. 汉英唐诗一百五十首[M]. 西安:陕西人民出版社，1984.