浅谈英汉语言文化差异对广告翻译的影响.docx
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浅谈英汉语言文化差异对广告翻译的影响
浅谈英汉语言文化差异对广告翻译的影响
[Abstract]Astheproductofculture,advertisementdirectlyreflectsthecloserelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture.Andadvertisinglanguageisaspecialartform,whichhasprofoundculturalbackgroundandcanbeinfluencedbythetendencyofthetimes.ThispaperinvestigatestheChineseandEnglishadvertisinglanguages,anduncoverstheculturedifferencesinadvertisements.Thenitdiscussestheproblemsintheadvertisingtranslation,andputsforwardtheartisticandeffectivemethodsofadvertisingtranslation.
Theworldisgettingincreasinglyglobalized.Advertisementiscloselyrelatedtotheculture.Thepurposeofanadvertisementistopersuadetargetconsumeserstobuytheadvertisedproductsorservices.Thus,itisamostimportanttasktobeawareofthedifferencesbetweenChinesecultureandwesternculture.Thispaperanalyzesthedifferencesfromsixaspects:
monismversuspluralism,collectivismversusindividualism,theimplicitwayversusthedirectway,theimagerypatternversustheabstractpattern,respectofauthorityversusrespectofself-performance,andthedifferencesofsocialbackgroundandaesthetics.
Somedefectsandevenunsuccessfuladvertisementsaremadebecauseofthepoorqualityoftranslation.Thispaperproceedsfromproblemsinadvertisingtranslationthatthetranslatorsdonothaveagoodcommandofthenation-specificcultureandistooadhesivetotheadvertisement’ssuperficialmeaningwhiletherearealotofculturalfactorshiddeninthepresentadvertisingtranslation.Infact,advertisementtranslationrequiresmorethanjustrenderingsentencesintoanotherlanguage.Translatorshavetoconverttheideasandthoughtsbehindthesentencesintothetargetlanguagebyapplyingtheknowledgeofthetargetculture.Thispapersuggestssomemethodstomakeadvertisingtranslationinviewofthelanguageandculturedifferences.
[Keywords]advertisinglanguage;culturedifference;advertisingtranslation
【摘要】广告作为文化的产物,可以更直接地展示语言和文化的关系,所以广告语言是一门具有浓郁文化色彩与时代特点的艺术形式。
本文对中、英广告语言进行了探讨,揭示了中英广告的语言在语音、语义、文字形式及修辞等方面的差异以及文化差异。
然后,文章分析了广告语言翻译中存在的问题,从文化的角度提出了有关广告翻译的艺术的有效方法。
因为全球的经济一体化,所以广告语言涉及了大量的文化知识。
既然广告语言的目的是劝导目标消费者购买其产品或服务,那么充分理解中西文化差异就成了一项举足轻重的任务。
本文从六个方面进行分析,它们依次是一元论和多元论、集体主义和个人主义、含蓄和率直、形象和抽象、权威意识从众心理和自身功效自身价值、社会历史背景、审美方式等差异。
中英广告的互译中,有许多不理想的实例,有的甚至导致了销售挫折.本文分析了问题的原因,主要是在于当今广告翻译同样蕴藏着大量的文化,而译者却没有足够的文化的驾驭能力,太拘泥于原文表层。
事实上,广告的翻译不是简单地把句子翻译出来。
翻译人员要充分运用目标文化知识,把句子后而所承载的思想、概念尤其是文化传递给译入语的目标消费者。
所以本文旨从广告语言文化差异的角度出发介绍几种英汉广告互译的方法。
【关键词】广告语言;文化差异;广告翻译
DifferencesReflectedinAdvertisements
Shenxiaolong[1]oncesummarizesthatwesternlanguagesarerule-governedwhiletheChineselanguageispeople-governed.Inotherword,Chineseisalanguagegovernedbymeaning.Chineseisregardedasaflexiblelanguagewhichcanbelongorshortinitslexicalunits,andisbasedonthelanguageoflogicphrasechunkswhileWesternlanguagearemadeupofverbcentralelementswhichareinflexible.
Thefollowingpartofthispaperwilldiscusssevenaspectsoflinguisticdifferencesreflectedinadvertisement.
Flowingchunksvs.SVstructure
JinHuikangcomparestheChineseandEnglishlanguagesindetails.Inviewofsyntax,Chinesesentencesconnectminor-clausesaccordingtochronologicalorlogicalorder.Thestructureseemsshortandloose.Itseldomfocusesononerigidpointbutmovesaccordingwiththelogicalorderandthechangingrhythm.UnliketheChinesestructure,Englishsentencedisplaysaspatialarrangementwiththeverbasacenter.Theyareclearinmeaningandtightinstructure.Therefore,Chinesesyntacticstructuresusuallyemployparataxis,whileEnglishadoptshypostasis.Intranslation,wemustgetridofourownwayofthinking,andarrangesentencesconformingtothetargetrulesandconventions.ThefollowingexamplesshowtheseintrinsicdifferencesworkinginChineseandEnglish,andhelpusexploresomeplausibletranslationmethods.
(1)境内西湖如明镜,千峰凝翠,洞壑幽深,风光绮丽。
TheWestLakeislikeamirror,embellishedallaroundwithgreenhillsanddeepcavesofenchantingbeauty.
Obviously,theoriginalstructureischangedinthetargettext.ThestructureoftheChineseadvertisementisloosewithsomeshortclauses,whereastheEnglishonebreaksitintoonesentence,whichiscenteredonaverb,withmodifiersofparticiplephrase,propositionphrase,andnounphrasearoundit.Bydoingso,thetranslationemphasizesthecentralmeaningintheSVstructure"TheWestLakeislikeamirror"andspecifiestheimpliedlogicalrelationshipinthesurfaceform.ReflectinglinguisticfeaturesofEnglishlanguage,thetranslationisasuccessfuloneinbothcontentandfunction.
Flowerylanguagevs.concisewording
“Whenconcerningabouttherhetoric,ChinesetendstousegorgeouswordswhileEnglishhasavividcharacterofconciseness.
“Chineseisgoodwritertoexpresstheirfeelingsbywritingandtrytheirbesttoapplygrandvocabularytodescribebeautifulandmovingimagestobesoundedelegantly.Manyhigh-soundingwordscanbefoundinChinese.Forinstance,inChineseadvertisementswefrequentlyseewordslike“一流”(firstclass),“完美”(perfect),“独特”(specific)regardlessofthequalityofgoodsbeingadvertised.Withregardtolanguageforms,theChineselanguagestrivesforsymmetryinstructureandrhymeinsound,hencereadingneat,implicitandmusical.Forexample,four-characterphrases,parallelism,antithesisappearsfrequentlyinChinese.Inordertoachieverhyming,emphasisorneatstructureChineselanguageoftenresortstotautology.
“Onthecontrary,westernliteratureandarthavebeendevelopingunderthetheoryofimitatingthereality.TheEnglishlanguagereflectsthistheoryandprovestobeobjective,factualandrational.Ithastightsentencestructure,meticulousstreamofthought,andlogicalrelationshipbetweenlinguisticunits,concisewordingandstraightforwarddescription.Allinall,brevityisthesoulofwit,orinotherwords,aproperwordinaproperplaceisgoodEnglish.AbusingoffloridlanguageisforbiddeningoodEnglish,foritisconsideredillogicalandmayharmtheoriginalmeaningorcommunication.
“ThusChineseandEnglishadvertisementsarequitedifferent,especiallywhendescribingsceneryintouristadvertisements.Itisalanguageforpoetstogiveexpressiontospecialfeelingsinsteadofdefiningorjudging.Evenwhendescribingsceneries,Englishdisplaysabeautyofform,straightforward,explicit,objective,unlikethecasual,subjectiveChinese.Forexample,thefollowingadvertisementwrittenbyanativespeakerofEnglishisconciseandplain,andthroughsimileandcombinationofconcretescenes,itprovidesenoughspaceforimagination.However,fromthepointofviewofChinese,itmaybetooplain.Forexample:
(2)Tinyislandsarestrungaroundtheedgeofthepeninsulalikeapearlnecklace.Hunksofcoralreef,coconutpalmsandfinewhitesand.
“Ifwetranslateitwordbyword,itwillnotmeetChinesereaders’expectation.Soabundantmodifierssuchas“礁红”,“成片”,and“如银”,andfour-characterphraseslike“玲珑小巧”,and“如诗如画”areemployedtomakethetranslatedversionreadbeautiful.
“座座岛屿玲珑小巧,紧密相连,像一串珍珠缀成的项链,环绕着半岛边缘。
岛上珊瑚礁红,椰树成片,沙滩如银,景色如诗如画。
“TheboldcharactersaddcharmtothescenicspotandcontributetothewholerhymingstructurebutmeannothingtoEnglishreadersbecausetheyarerepetitiveandwordy.ThesameistruethatinC-Etranslation,thosesuperfluousmodifiersshouldbeomitted,adaptedorimplicitbetweenlinessoastomakethetargetversionconformtothewesterners’aestheticstandards.”
Speechcontrast
Thepronunciationofthelanguagecancausethementallydifferentsenseofhearingresult,andstirupthedifferentreactionmentally,howeveritissoftorclearandcrisporstrong,ordignified.Inadvertisinglanguage,weusuallymakeuseofonomatopoeicmotivation,soundsymbolismandechoismwhichcouldeasilycausethetargetaudience’saestheticfeeling.ButthereexistagreatdifferencebetweenChineseandwesternspeech,onomatopoeiaandrhythm.Asaresult,itmakestranslatorpuzzled.InEnglishadvertisingwords,inordertomaketheadfullofaestheticfeeling,theyoftenmakeuseofalliteration,assonance,rhyme,andconsonance.Forexample,theadvertisementphrase”NeverlateonFather’sDay."Therearetwoassonance[ei]whichsoundmusicallyharmonious.However,itisquitedifficulttoattainthisaestheticfeelinginitsChinesetranslation.Moreoverwhiletranslatingweshouldstillnoticesomeadvertisementsphrasesoundmaycausetoleadtobadmeaninginanotherlanguage.ForexampletheJapanesecompanyofToshibaonceusesanadvertisement:
(3)"东芝(Toshiba),东芝(Toshiba),大家的东芝”.Thisisaadvertisinglyric.Thefirst“东芝”istranslatedintothesound"Toshiba".Henceyoungpeoplejokinglyreaditas“偷去吧,偷去吧,大家的东西”Inthisway,there’snosolemnityatall.
Semanticcontrast
Languageisanessentialpartaswellasthecarrierofaculture,whichnotonlyreflectsitsracialhistoryandculturalbackground,butalsoincludestheviews,lifestyle,andthinkingmethod.Meanwhile,advertisinglanguage,onebranchofthelanguage,isalsoreflectedbytheculture.Itisnotenoughforadvertisingtranslatorsonlytoknowtheliteralmeaningofanad,foritmaybeendowedwithextendedmeaningandculturalimplication.Fullycompetentadvertisingtranslatorsaresupposedtohaveagoodcommandofreligions,traditions,ethnicattitudes,thespiritofcommunity,andpurchasinghabitsofthetargetcountries.Otherwise,thetranslatedadsmightgoagainsttheoriginalintentionoftheproducersinthefollowingfouraspects.
1)Translationconveysaderogatorysenseinthetargetculture.Forexample,theShanghai-producedpenbrandedas“白翎