Punning and the Translation of Puns in English Advertisements.docx
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PunningandtheTranslationofPunsinEnglishAdvertisements
PunningandtheTranslationofPunsinEnglishAdvertisements
[Abstract]Punningisoneofthemostcommonrhetoricaldevicesusedinadvertisement.Therearevariouswaystoformpunsinadvertisements.Thetranslationofpunsisdifficultbecauseofthedoublemeanings,andthetranslationofpunsinadvertisementsisevenmoredifficultbecauseonemustkeepboththedoublemeaningsofapunandthestyleoftheadvertisementinmind.ThispaperisaboutthetechniquesofpunningandthetranslationofpunsinEnglishadvertisements.Itexpressesthetechniqueofpunbythewaysofhomophonicpun,homographicpun,grammaticalpunandidiompun.AndthispaperhassomepreliminarydiscussionsinpunningofEnglishadvertisementthroughthemethodsofconjuncttranslation,nimbletranslation,replenishmenttranslation,transliteration,compensatetranslations.
[KeyWords]advertisinglanguage;pun;translation
英语广告中双关语的运用技巧及翻译
【摘要】双关语是英语广告中一种较为常见的修辞手段。
双关语的翻译本身就是一个难点,而广告中双关语的翻译则更加复杂。
本文从语音双关、语义双关、语法双关和成语、俗语双关等几方面对双关语的运用技巧作了阐述。
并在考虑双关语的双重含义及广告语体风格的基础上,从契合译法、活译法、加注译法、意译法和补偿译法等方面对英语广告双关语的翻译作了初步的探讨。
【关键词】广告语言;双关语;翻译
1.Introduction
Whatisadvertising?
Advertisingisthenon-personalcommunicationofinformationusuallypaidforandusuallypersuasiveinnatureaboutproducts,servicesorideabyidentifiedsponsorsthroughthevariousmedia.[1]p4Whetheritisgoodsadvertisementorpublicserviceadvertisement,thecreationoftheadvertisementisacomprehensiveart.Thecreationoftheadvertisementinvolvessociology,aesthetics,psychology,soundofelectricity,literatureandlinguisticsetc.Theskillsneededinthisartaremorethanotherformsofwriting.Itshowsthevividandinterestingcharactersbytheprincipleofsalesmanship.Andithasspecialcommunicationtobringthereader'sattentioninamoment,stimulatesthedesireofbuyingandfacilitatesthebehaviorofbuyingfinally.Therefore,theusingofprecisionandappropriateinadvertisingliterarylanguagewillmaketheinfluenceofadvertisinglanguagefarbeyondtheadvertisementitself.Therhetoricalofpunisacommonskill,increatingadvertisement.Thepun,inItalian,“puntiglio”means“afinepoint,”henceaverbalquibble,andismostlikelythesourceoftheEnglishpunctilious.ApunisdefinedbyWebsteras“thehumoroususeofaword,orofwordswhichareformedorsoundedalikebuthavedifferentmeanings,insuchawayastoplayontwoormoreofthepossibleapplication;aplayonwords.”[2]Asthegameofwords,punwillleaveadeepimpressiononreadersbyitsreadability,wit,andhumor.Thereforeitisusedintheadvertisementwithalargeamount.
2.ThePunsinEnglishAdvertisements
TherearemanykindsofpunsexistinEnglishadvertisements.Inthispaper,fourmainlytypesofthemaretalked.Therearehomophonicpuns,homographicpun,grammaticalpunandidiompun.
2.1HomophonicPun
Homophonicmeanstwoormorewordsareofthesimilarorsamesound.
Because“Thereexistnoinformationchannelsofbilingualconversionatthesoundlevel”[3]thepartialsoundpunsarealwaysseeninthedailylife.Itconcludesclosesoundpunandthesamesoundpun.
2.1.1CloseSoundPun
Closepunmeanspairsormoreofwordshavingthesamesoundbutdifferentmeanings.
(1) ANidealmarriageisoneinwhichthewifeisatreasureandthehusbandtreasury.
理想的婚姻—太太是宝贝,而先生是金库.
(2) Nowadays,apairofdiceismadeaparadise
如今,一副股子就可以成为乐园
Inthetwoexamplesabove,boththetwoadvertisementssuccessfullyconveythesatiricaltonesofthetwoEnglishsentences.Nevertheless,neither“宝贝,金库”nor“股子,乐园”reflectthepartialtonesof“treasure,treasury”and“pairofdice,paradise”.ItjustputonelayerofthedoublemeaningintoChineseandthepunaffectdisappearswithoutanytrail.
(3) Centrumwithbeta-carotene
FromAtoZinc
MoreComplete[4]P15
富含胡萝卜的珍多美,
从A到锌,应有尽有,
营养更全,口味更新!
Thisisoneoffoodadvertisementnamedcentum.“FromAtoZinc”harmonicswiththeEnglishphrase“FromAtotheZ”,thelattermeaningrefers“comprehensively,complete”.Thepunherewantstoexplainthiskindoffoodnutritionrichinprominent,allcontainsfromVitaminA(namelycarrotelement)tothezincelement,hastheextremepowerofpersuasion..
2.1.2TheSameSoundPun
Thesamesoundpunmeansthewordshavethesamesoundbuthavedifferentmeanings.
(4)Haveanicetrip,buy-buy!
[5]
祝君旅途愉快,拜拜/快买!
“Buy-buy”isavariedspelling,anditunisonwith“bye-bye”.Airportstoresaysgoodbyetothepassenger,thepurposeisthatremindseverybodytobuyapresentorotherthingtobringwithjustbeforeleaving.“Buy-Buy”!
Formsinone'smindingeniously,humoroustobehumorous,makesonethumpthetableandshoutpraise.
(5)Forgethottaste
OnlyKool,withpurementholhasthetasteofextracoolness
ComeuptoKool.[6]P49
忘掉辛辣的感觉,
只有“酷”牌,纯正的薄荷口味给你特别清凉的酷酷感觉,
想酷你就来!
Thisisoneofthecigaretteadvertisements,insentence“kool”isaunisonpun,itbothrefertocigaretteandthecoolfeeling.Inordertoprominentproductoutoftheordinarycoolcharacteristic,theadvertisementmakerfabricatsword“kool”totakethecigarette’sname,usingthe“cool”unison,andthe“hot”infirstsentencealsofurtherstrengthenedthis“cool”meaning,contraststheKoolsigncigarettebytheconsumerstothe“cool”feelinginthemouth.
(6) Foyledagain?
TryDillon.[7]
又失望了?
那就来Dillon书店看看吧。
Thisisadvertisementofthebookstorewhosenamecalls“Dillion”,While“Foyle”isLondon’sanotherbookstore’sname.Theadvertisementmakerintendstoaddon“d”,thencausesunionwiththe“foiled”,themeaningofitis“sufferssetbacks”or“getobstructed”,expandsthebookswhichcannotbefindbythereadersthemselvesneed.Therefore,thisadvertisementisactuallysaidtothereader:
Ifyouhaveanybookscannottofindinthe“Foyle”bookstore,welcometothe“Dillon”bookstore,thepunmeaningheregivesachallengetotheopponentandlethefeelsstress.
2.2HomographicPun
Homographicisoneofimportantmeanstocreatepuns.Easilyknowfromitsname,homographicpunisapuncreatedbythehomographicofaword.[8]Forinstance:
(7) Golfisnolongerarichman’ssport;therearemanypoorplayers.
“Poor”isahomographicword,bearingtwomeanings-“notrich”and“notgoodatsomething”.TheChinesetranslationconveysjustonemeaningofthesentence,andtherealmeaningthatthespeakerorthewriterintendstoexpressinthesecondclauseisnotconveyed-“有很多人的技术都很差.”
Fromthedataabovewecanseemethod“e”and“j”aremostlyusedindealingwiththehomographicpuns.Why?
ThisproblemneedstobeanalyzedthroughthedifferentsemanticcapacityofChineseandEnglishwords.
AsitisknownthattheChineselanguageisacompletelyanalyticallanguageandwordsareformedmainlythroughamalgamation.Intermsofamalgamationwemeanputtingtwoormorecharacterssoastomakethewordspreciseinmeaning.
Homographicpunisalsoseeninthebrandofgoods.Forexample:
(8) Thelabelofachievements.
BlackLabelcommandsmorerespects.[9]
酒是功成名就的标志。
黑色标志使您更显尊贵。
Theexample(8)isanadvertisementofwhiskey,“label”hastwomeanings,oneis“sign”,anotheristhebrandofwine--“BlackLabel”.Thisadletthepeopleassociatewithdrinkingthisbrandwinewhentheyrenderoutstandingserviceandisfamousbythemeansofpun.Simultaneity,itcanhelpconsumerstorememberthebrandconvenientlybythepunmadeofbrandtag,andthenlettheminterestedinwhuskey.
(9) Spoilyourselfandnotyourfigure[10]
尽情大吃,不增体重.
ThisistheadtitleofWeight-Watcherice-cream,andthisice-creamisproducedfordieterparticular.Punexistsnotonlyinthebrandtagofproduct;the“spoil”inthetitleisalsoapun.Themeaningof“spoiloneself”is“toone’sheart’scontent”(尽兴),butthemeaningof“spoilone’sfigure”is“someone’sfigureisspoiled”(破坏了体形).Thisadvertisementmakesthedieteracceptitspontaneouslyintheeasyandhumorousmoodbyhomographicpunandmakethembuytheproduct.
2.3GrammaticalPun
2.3.1PunsCreatedbyDifferentCollocations
Englishwords,especiallyphrasalverbshaveveryflexiblecollocations.Incertaincollocations,themeaningofaparticularverbcanbebroadenedinacertainwayofcourse;verbsvaryfromonetoanotherincollocationrange.Forexample“lostgameandlosttemper”aretworelativelyfixedcollocations;while“pressgrapeandpresscloth”arefreelexicalphraseswhichmeansthetwocomponentsineachphrasearenotcloselyboundandcanappeartogetherwithotherwords.Nomatterfixedorfreelexicalcollocations,theybothlieonthelargesemanticcapacityofEnglishwords(verbs),whichenablethemtocombinewithotherdifferentlexicalelementsandthuscreatetwoormoredifferentphraseshavingonewordincommonthatmakepunbyrepeatingthewordincommon.
.
2.3.2PunsCreatedbyDifferentUnderstandingsoftheSameWords
IthasbeendiscussedthatformanyEnglishwords,differentunderstandingsofthesamewordsresultingfromitsstructurealsoattributetothehomographic.Forinstance:
(10)Cokerefreshesyoulikenoothercan.[11]
没有什么能像可乐那样令您神清气爽。
“Can”inthesentencecanbethemeaningof“kettle”(罐,听),andalsobethemeaningofverb“can”(能),wecanunderstandtheholesentencewith“Cokerefreshesyoulikedrink)can(refreshyou).Thisad’sfullofinterestandhumorsthatcanlivethelongtimeinthereaders’memories.
(11)Doubledelicious,Doubleyourpleasure.[12]
双倍地香甜,双倍地开心
Obviouslythisadvertisementrealizesthepunmeaningbythewordof “double”.Thefirstdoubleisanadverb,decorates“delicious”;thelatterisaverb,“pleasure”isanobject,thiswordgameplaysquiteappropriately.
(12)Theoffspringof