英语专业论文 商标翻译研究.docx
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英语专业论文商标翻译研究
1.Introduction
Nowadays,trademarkscanbeseeneverywhere,suchasinthepackagesoffoods,clothesandsoon.Withthedevelopmentofinternationaltradingandcommunication,thetranslationoftrademarkwillplayamoreandmoreimportantroleininternationaltrading.Propertrademarktranslationwillbringgoodeffects,suchaseconomicbenefits,andcorporationimage.Apropertranslatedtrademarkcanpromotesales;enhancethebrand-effectandsoon.Inaword,apropertranslatedtrademarkcanhelptheproducertogainanadvancedpositionininternationalcompetition.So,itisquitenecessaryforustostudythemethodsoftrademarktranslation.
Trademarktranslationhasarelativelyshorthistory.
1.1.HistoryofTrademarkTranslation
Thetranslationoftrademarkisrespectivelyanewarea.In19thcentury,themoderntrademarksystemwasfoundedinmostEuropeancountriessuccessively.FranceisthefirstcountrytoestablishtheRegistrationofTrademarksSystem,becauseitpublishedacodeoflaws,whichaffirmedtheprotectionofrightsoftrademarksin1804.Beforethe1980s,naturaleconomyandIsolationPolicyhadprevailedinaverylongtimeinChina,sotherearehardlyworkstointroducetrademark.Until1904,QingDynastypromulgatedatrademarklawbecauseofWesternimperialists’intimidationandpressure.ItwasasignthatthetrademarkcameintoeffectinChina.Sincethe1980s,trademarktranslationbecomesaheatedtopicanddrawsmoreandmorepeople’sattentionwiththedeepeningofChina’sreformandopeningpolicy.In2000s,withthedevelopmentofglobaleconomy,thecommunicationsamongdifferentcountriesbecomemoreandmorefrequently.Inotherwords,trademarktranslationisflourishinginmoderntimes.Now,lotsofcorporationsandtranslatorspaykeenattentiontothetrademarktranslation,becausetrademarksplayadecisiveroleinexploringmarkets,seizingmarketsandsettingupbrandimage.Therefore,trademarktranslationisnotaninnovation,butitsdevelopmentalhistoryisalsonotverylong.
Andapropertranslatedtrademarkhassomecharacteristics.Generally,apropertranslatedtrademarkshouldbeareflectionoftheproduct;andapropershouldpronounceandspelleasily,andbeeasytorememberandrecognize;overall,apropertranslatedtrademarkshouldbedistinctiveandcancoveytheconnotationcorrectly.
1.2.CharacteristicsofaGoodTrademark
Firstly,apropertranslatedtrademarkshouldsuggestsomethingabouttheproducts'characteristics--itsbenefits,useoraction.
Secondly,beeasy,simpleandcleartospell,pronounceandrecognize.Thischaracteristiccanenhancetrademark.Trademarksareusuallyshortandeasyinform,becausethuscandecreasethecustomers’effortstorecognize.Shortnamescanfacilitaterecallbecausetheyareeasytorememberandstoreinmemory.
Thirdly,apropertranslatedtrademarkshouldbedistinctive.Althoughatrademarkshouldbesimpleinformandpronunciation,atrademarkshouldbyallmeansbedistinctive.Thedistinctivenessisinherentfunctionofatrademark,whichcanhelpcustomerstelloneproductfromtheothereasilyinthemarket.Inourdailylife,itiscommonthatsometrademarkssharethesamenamewithsomefamouspeopleorplaces.Inotherwords,thesetrademarksareveryfamiliartocustomers.However,thisfamiliaritydoesnotcontradictwithdistinctiveness.
Fourthly,apropertranslatedtrademarkshouldpossessfavorableconnotation,whichcanbringoutfavorableassociationforcustomers.Inotherwords,thenameshouldavoidunpleasantconnotationthatmayoffendcustomersasmuchaspossible.Tocreatethefavorablebrandassociation,thetrademarkshouldhavetheabilitytomeetthecustomers’psychology.
Fromthecharacteristicsofthetrademark,wecanseethatdeterminingaproductnameisachallengingjob.Translatingtrademarksshouldconsiderthesecharacteristics,whicharevitalinproductcompetingadvantage.Meanwhile,weshouldalsobearsomecriteriainmindwhentranslateatrademark.Themaincriteriaare:
1.3.CriteriaofTrademarkTranslation
Creativenessisthekeyfactorintrademarktranslation.Fromthesuccessfultranslatedtrademarks,wecanconsidertrademarktranslationasakindof"interpretation",not"translation".Thiskindofinterpretation,whichrequiresthetranslatorstoconveyboththemeaningandthespiritoftheoriginal,istotallydifferentfromliterarytranslation.Itisatypeof“recreating”,inwhichthetranslatorsuseaddingordeletingwordstoachievegoodeffects.Trademarktranslationisakindofpersuasivecommunication.Itisthespecialtoolthatmarketersusetopersuadecustomerstobuytheirproducts.Thiscommunicationisthebridgebetweenmarketersandconsumers,andbetweenconsumersandtheirsocial-culturalenvironment.
Inshort,thesubjectoftrademarktranslationistoconveythemessageoftheoriginalcondition.Adesirableandacceptabletrademarktranslationhastwomaincriteria.
(1)Itcanpublicizeitsproductswithsuggestingtheadvantagesandfeaturesoftheproducts.
(2)Itconformstotheculturalpsychologyandreceptionaestheticsofintendedcustomers.
2.MethodsofTrademarkTranslationandComments
Tostudythemethodsoftrademarktranslation,theauthorbelievesthatitisnecessarytolearnthedefinitionofatrademarkandtranslation:
NewmarkPetergivesthedefinitionofatrademarkasfollowing:
“trademarkistheliteralappellationofcommodity,andisaspecialsign[1].”RichardTHisealsogivesthedefinitionofitasfollowing:
“abrand,i.e.trademark,isaname,term,sign,symbol,design,oracombinationofthemthattellswhomakesitorwhosellsit,distinguishingthatproductfromthosemadeorsoldbyothers.Abrandnameisthatpartofbrandthatcanbevocalized[2].”
InWebster’sThirdNewInternationalDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguagegivesthedefinitionoftranslationasfollowing:
“toturnintoone’sownoranotherlanguage.”AmericantranslationtheoristNidagivesthedefinitionoftranslationasfollowing:
“Translatingconsistsinthereceptorlanguagetheclosestnaturalequivalentofthesource-languagemessage,firstintermsofmeaningandsecondlyintermsofstyle[3].”Somescholarsbelievethatthetranslationholdsadutytotransmitthelogicalimageorartinrealsociety,includedintheoriginalarticles,fromonelanguageintoanotherwithoutbeingdestroyed.
Inthissection,theauthorwillgivesomemainmethodsoftrademarktranslation.Thereareseveralmethodsoftrademarktranslation,andthemostusualonesare:
transliteration,literaltranslation,transliterationandliteraltranslation,literaltranslationandadaptation,andadaptation.Meanwhile,theauthorwillgivesomehumblecommentsonthemethodsoftrademarktranslation.
2.1.MethodsofTrademarkTranslation
Becauseofthegreatimportanceoftrademarktranslation,manyexpertshavedonealotofresearchesinthisarea,andbroughtforwardmanymethodsfortrademarktranslation.“Atpresent,thecommonmethodsusedbytranslatorsincludeaddition,deletion,conversion,repetition,combination,cutting,substitution,recreation,homonymsareplacementandsoon[4].”Themainfivemethodsoftrademarktranslationarethefollowingones:
transliteration,literaltranslation,transliterationandliteraltranslation,literaltranslationandadaptation,andadaptation.
2.1.1.Transliteration
Transliterationisamethodthattranslatesthetrademarkaccordingtothepronunciation.“Ifweusethisway,itisbecausethatthereisnosuitedwordinthetargetlanguagetomatchwiththeoriginallanguage.Ortherearesomesuitedwords,buthavedifferentlexemeconnotation[5].”Itrequiresthetranslatortousethesameorakinarticulationintargetlanguagetoexpresstheoriginaltrademarks.E.g.“Thefamousbrand“Nike”,wetranslateitas“耐克”,whichissimilarinpronunciation,andalsohasaimplicationoflongendurance[6].”Manytrademarksforimportandexportgoodsaretranslatedbyusingtransliteration.Suchas“摩托罗拉”,(Motorolamobilephone),“西门子”,(Simensmobilephone),"Haier"(海尔electrichomeappliances),"Erissin"(爱立信mobilephone),"Nokia"(诺基亚mobilephone)and"Erdos"(鄂尔多斯cashmeresweater).Sometimeswecanalsosucceedinfindingavailable(orcoined)EnglishwordsthatarepronouncedsimilarlytotheChineseversion.Forexample,“安踏”as"Anta",“海尔”as"Haier",“科龙”as"Kelong".Atthesametime,mostpropertrademarksaretranslatedbyusingtransliteration,becauseitcankeeptheoriginalflavoroftrademarksandshowthecountryoforiginorqualityofproducts.Thetrademarksbasedonplace(sometimesscenicspotsandhistoricalsites)aregenerallytransliterated.SomeChinesefamoustrademarksaretranslatedintoEnglishbyusingtransliteration.Forexample,Harbinistheoriginof"Harbin"beerandcigaretteand“茅台”countryistheplaceofbrewing“茅台”liquor.Thesewell-knowntrademarksaretranslatedintoEnglishbyusingtransliteration,indicatingthegenuineoriginoftheproducts.
2.1.2.LiteralTranslation
Literaltranslation,alsocalledcreationtranslation,istheprimarywayoftrademarktranslation.Ifweusethisway,theremustbeatleasttworeasons:
oneisthatthereissuitedwordinthetargetlanguagetomatchwiththeoriginallanguage;theotheristhatthesuitedwordinthetargetlanguagereflectsthesameorequivalentmeaningoftheoriginallanguage,ortheyhavethesameeffects.Sincethattrademarksusuallyconsistofoneorafewwordsandbynomeansofsentences,theliteraltranslationprocedureusedheremeanstotranslatetheliteralmeaningorthecharacteristicsofthetrademark.Thepleasantmeaningandsomeprofoundconnotationcanfulfilltheconsumers'psychologicalneeds,andthus