rbief-analysis-of-the-cultural-factors-and-strategies---to-brand-chineseenglish-translation---从文化.doc

Brief Analysis of the Cultural Factors and Strategies to Brand Chinese-English Translation 从文化因素和翻译策略上简析汉语品牌名英译

Contents

Abstract......................................................................................................................1
1. Introduction........................................................................................................1
2. Brand names and the translation………………………….……………1
3. The cultural factors between brand translation and culture…................................................................................................................2
3.1 Problems in translating Chinese brand names………………………....2
3.2 Cultural associations of brand names.……………………………….......4
4. Criteria for an ideal translated brand name….…………….……....5
4.1 Phonetic relevance………………………………………………………….6
4.2 Semantic relevance…………………………………………………………6
4.3 Graphic relevance……………………………………………..……………7
5. Translation techniques of Chinese brand names…………………..7
5.1 Literal translation…………………………………………………………...7
5.2 Transliteration……………………………………………………………….8
5.3 Paraphrase……………………………………………………………………9
5.4 The technique of Combined translation………………………………....9
5.5 Adjustment…………………………………………………………………...9
6. Considerations and Conclusion……………………………...…………11
6.1 Considerations……………………………………………………………..11
6.2 conclusion…………………………………………………………………..13
从文化因素和翻译策略上简析汉语品牌名英译中文摘要、关键字…………………17

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[Abstract] A brand is a special language symbol, a concentration of significant feature of product and a core of commodity culture. But there are still some problems and misunderstanding in the brand translation from Chinese to English, cultural difference is a big cause of those problems. So I come up with the thesis that cultural difference is a main cause which influences the brand translation from Chinese to English. And I try to demonstrate cultural factors from cultural diversity, different thinking, different social values and other cultural aspects which make effect on the brand translation from Chinese to English in my thesis. On the other hand, I also provide with some brand translation strategies, they can not only prove the influence of culture to brand transition, but some skill could be used in the brand translation.
[Key words] brand; cultural factor; translation; strategy

1. Introduction
With the acceleration of economic globalization and China’s entry into WTO, more and more Chinese products are being launched into the international market. Consequently, translating Chinese brand names successfully into English has never been more imperative and vital than today. The translation of Chinese brand names is a kind of intercultural communication. It involves such factors as linguistic laws, cultural psychology, and aesthetic values. A successful translation of the brand name should not only transfer the information concerning the commodity or service, but also transfer its cultural significance to the audience in the target culture. This applies particularly to culture-loaded brand names that have different mental associations in different cultures. According to the principle of functional equivalence, the translated brand names should achieve a perfect linguistic unity among sound, form and meaning. This paper, taking Nida’s functional equivalence as its framework, attempts to study the problems that are often encountered in translating brand names into English and suggest ways to solve them.
2. Brand names and the translation
Brand name, an essential component of advertising, is the \art of a brand that can be vocalized. It is “a name given by a producer to a particular product, by which it may be recognized from among alike products made by other producers” (Longman Contemporary English-Chinese Dictionary English, 1988).
Aiming to build, reinforce, and/or reposition consumers’ perception of certain brand, brand names have the following four functions: distinguishing products, providing information, ensuring guarantee and stimulating consumption. In order to build up a good image in the market and arouse favorable associations as well as purchasing desire in the minds of the consumers, brand names should have the following major characteristics: short in length and sweetness, sonorous and distinct, elegant and apt, original and novel.
Translation is a more complex communication than that within a single language because it involves two languages. (Jin & Nida, 1984:31)
Given the uniqueness of brand names translation, the translator must be fully aware of the cultural awareness, aesthetic standards, and consumption modes of both SL and TL readers, and should keep in the mind the intention of the original so as to transfer its message (both linguistic and cultural) maximally, otherwise, “a failure to reflect the spirit and dynamics of the source document is a ‘mortal sin’” (Nida, 1993)
The translator of brand names should strive for the following two effects: (a) the translated brand name should reflect the semantic features of the original one; (b) the translated brand name should have the same or similar function as the original one.
The translated brand name should be delightful to the eye, pleasant to the ear, easy to remember, as well as be a perfect unity of sound, form, and meaning. That is to arouse the same interest and psychological empathy of the target consumers, stimulate their aesthetic enjoyment and consuming desire. Toward the end, the translators must serve as receptor of the message intended by the source sign and be the source of the message in the target language. (1984:31-50)
3. The cultural factors between brand translation and culture
3.1 Problems in translating Chinese brand names
Brand translation is closely connected with cultural differences. In the society, culture plays an important role in people’s daily life, which brings great influence. The diversity of culture determines that people are also diverse in many spiritual levels to commodity of the brand. There must be more or less difference. Therefore, during working, people who make the brand translation must fully consider the cultural differences in brand translation from the perspective of cross-cultural communication, "Exists between psychological and aesthetic brand translation public a very close relationship. A brand is a name may be known by many people. So the translator must be pretty careful when naming it since it may even take bad side if the name is not in accordance with local circumstance. It has influence on others in public more or less. For other culture, we know that respect and understanding is necessity since they are equal, old or new. To get the target, the translator must be acquainted with the target culture, only in this way they can be able to analyze where is different and should be pay much attention. Otherwise, misunderstanding will come to birth and bring about bad result.
Owing to the cultural difference in geographical location, customs, religion and values, etc, people of different cultures often draw different associative meanings from one and the same word, which carries the same conceptual meaning. The major considerations and possible problems in brand names translating should be discussed in details.
Brand names have the same conceptual meanings but partially overlapping associative meanings. People worldwide love the scene of a blue sky and white clouds. However, the phrase “Blue Sky” “蓝天” (toothpastes) is associated with “bond that can not be paid off” in American English, so it should not be rendered into “blue sky” when the item is exported to America.
Brand names that abound with associative meaning in Chinese culture, suggest none in English culture. For example, “厚朴”, a Chinese culture-specific item, is a famous Chinese brand name of toothpaste. We Chinese know about the traditional herbal plant by the name of “厚朴” (magnolia officinal). But if we translate it as “magnolia officinal”, the translation may mean nothing to the target readership.
Brand names with the same conceptual meanings, is different or negative in associative meanings. In different languages and cultures, the same word may generate totally different associations. “凤凰” (bicycle) was translated into “phoenix”. The Chinese brand name “凤凰” is associated with such favorable connotation as “auspicious” or “good luck” while “Phoenix” symbolizes “rebirth” or “nirvana”. That is, it may generate the ominous implication of a narrow escape. Many Chinese brand names are named after animals and plants. However, many of them are failures because of their negative associations. The brand name”蝙蝠” (electric fan), “蝠” being homophonic to “福” symbolizes “luckiness, happiness and long life span” in Chinese culture. However, in western culture, “bat” is “an eerie creature believed to have become entangled in people’s hair” and in southern America, the bat is even the symbol of the bloodsucker vampire. For another example: ”紫罗兰” is a beautiful flower with fragrance in Chinese culture. In English there are two equivalents, “violet” and “pansy”. The latter carries the negative connotation of “effeminate man; homosexual.”
There are some peculiar brand names in Chinese and western cultures. Owing to the striking differences between Chinese and western cultures, some Chinese brand names have no English counterparts (“cultural gap”). These brand names often derive from people’s names, names of places and characters of mythology. “江南” (air conditioner) is an ideal choice for the make of air- conditioners. As soon as the Chinese people see the brand name “Jiangnan”, a romantic place with beautiful scenery and pleasant climate will immediately flash before their eyes. But few westerners have a clear geographic concept of the place, the vast territories south of the Yangtze River in China. Therefore, it cannot bring the same mental association to its target audiences.
3.2Cultural associations of brand names
The famous British anthropologist E. B. Taylor (1871) defines culture as “a complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”(Danesi & Perron, 1999:3) The late German sociologist R. Fletcher defines culture in more detail: The ‘social heritage’ of a community: the total body of material artifacts…, of collective mental and spiritual ‘artifacts’ (systems of symbols, ideas, beliefs, aesthetic perceptions, values, etc.) and of distinctive forms of behavior created by a people…in their ongoing activities within their particular life-conditions…transmitted from generation to generation.” (See Bullock & Trombley, 1999:191)
Since culture is often created by a people in their ongoing activities within their particular life-conditions, brand names, which obviously are part of the culture of a people (in this sense refers to “spiritual ‘artifacts’”), frequently trigger different aesthetic perceptions (or associations) and values in different cultures.
From the viewpoint of lexicology, associative meaning is the secondary meaning supplemented to the conceptual meaning. It differs from the conceptual meaning in that it is open-ended and indeterminate. It is liable to the influence of such factors as culture, experience, religion, geographical region, class background, education, etc. In contrast to denotative meaning, connotative meaning (of which associative meaning is an essential part) refers to the overtones or associations suggested by the conceptual meaning. For example, mother, denoting a “female parent”, is often associated with “love”, “care”, “tenderness”, “forgiving”, etc. These connotations are not given in the dictionary, but associated with the word in actual context to particular readers or speakers. (1999:87-88)
Translation means not only translating literally, but also conveying the same cultural associations. Thus translators should translate with regard to the TL culture and the SL culture. Failure to recognize and/or transfer cultural factors could lead to information loss. Most people buy with their emotions rather than their minds. Therefore, the functions of brand names depend far more on associative meanings than on conceptual ones. And associative meanings of brand names are closely linked to values and beliefs of a people. For instance, “黑妹” (toothpaste), which literally means “black sister” or “black girl”, is readily accepted by the Chinese. But the English version “Black Sister” or “Black Girl” could insult colored receptors.
4. Criteria for an ideal translated brand name
How to assess a translated brand name? Most marketing textbooks summarize the criteria for ideal brand names as memorable, distinctive, and positive and preferably suggestive of product attributes (Kevin Keller 1998: 131-132). These criteria also apply to translate brand names. In translating the original brand name into a new one, these criteria should be kept in mind. But translated brand names are the products out of their original names; they should share some relevance with their originals to some degree or by some manner. If they are completely irrelevant, and then the new names are re-created, not translated. In order to build a unified brand image across borders and to make consumers easy to associate the new names with the old names, it is advisable, from a marketing point of view, to translate with some associative relevance between them, while re-creation means the total loss of original brand assets and new expensive promotion of the new one. With this consideration and prerequisite, an ideal translated brand name should not only have the general criteria for brand names, but should also follow the following additional criteria:
4.1 Phonetic relevance
The new translated brand name should sound similar, if not exactly the same, to its original name. Transliteration can well reach this criterion. Midea sounds like Mei-di, MAXAM sounds like Mei-jia-jing, etc. In China, we can find that a large number of foreign brand names are phonetically similar to their translated Chinese brand names. Examples include: Pepsi (Bai-shi), Mazda (Ma-zida), Pentium (Ben-teng), Simmons (Xi-meng-si), Motorola (Mo-tuo-luo-la), Contac (Kang-tai-ke), just to name a few.
4.2 Semantic relevance
By semantic relevance, we do not necessarily mean literal equivalence; rather we mean the new translated brand name should be semantically meaningful. If the original brand name has a similar positive meaning or cultural connotation in the target language, then literal translation may be a choice, such as Peony, Panda. If it is not the case, the new brand name should also be meaningful. Such meaning is not the inherent meaning of the original name, but intentionally is given to the new name by choosing suitable morphemes, root