英语专业论文 商标翻译研究.docx

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