英語專業(yè)畢業(yè)論文論商標(biāo)翻譯

1、a brief study on translation of brand names邸 朋 飛論文方向：翻譯學(xué) 指導(dǎo)教師：submitted to english department of foreign languages school of shandong universityin partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of bachelor of arts通訊地址：濟(jì)南市高新區(qū)大正示范區(qū)英才路2號(hào) 山東英才學(xué)院郵編：250104 電話號(hào)碼ep,2011contentsabstract1摘

2、要.2introduction3chapter. common methods of the translation of brand names41.1 literal translation.41.2 free translation.51.3 transliteration.6chapter. factors that influence the translation62.1 cultural factors .62.2 customs and habits factors.7 2.3other factors .7chapter . how to build an internati

3、onalized brand name.83.1translate directly83.2 renaming the products93.3 coining brand names.10 conclusion11 bibliography.12abstract brand name is one of the effective ways to help companies to spread their identities and better sell their commodities. with the globalization of economy, the internat

4、ional trade has become into a very critical power for promoting the economy development of the whole world. the translation of brand names becoming more and more important. but, the problem is, in the process of translation, to get a good translated brand name is very hard. on one hand, the method o

5、f translation is a pretty complex subject in itself. on the other hand, there are some factors that have a direct influence on the results of the translation. furthermore, along with the acceleration of the economic globalization, especially with chinas entry into the world trade organization, more

6、and more chinese have realized the importance of good brand name translations. how to make the brand name better comprehended by people from other country, how to build a internationalized brand name, is still a hard problem from which a lot of people suffering. this paper is intended to describe th

7、e three normal methods in translation of foreign brand names literal translation, free translation and transliteration. at the same time, it explores some common approaches and techniques used in the translation, which have a direct influence on the results of the target brand names. moreover, some

8、factors that influence are pointed out in this paper. at last, on the question how to build an internationalized brand name, this paper gives a further study. key words: brand names; translation; factors1摘要 品牌名稱是公司傳播自身特點(diǎn)和促進(jìn)銷售量的有效途徑。隨著經(jīng)濟(jì)的全球化發(fā)展，國(guó)際貿(mào)易開始成為促進(jìn)全球經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展的中堅(jiān)力量，因此，品牌的翻譯也變得越來越重要。但問題是，在翻譯過程中，要想得到一個(gè)

9、優(yōu)秀的翻譯結(jié)果并非易事。一方面，翻譯的方法本身就是一個(gè)相當(dāng)復(fù)雜的問題，另一方面，很多因素會(huì)對(duì)翻譯結(jié)果造成直接影響。另外，隨著經(jīng)濟(jì)全球化步伐的提高，特別是隨著中國(guó)加入了世界貿(mào)易組織，越來越多的中國(guó)人開始意識(shí)到了品牌名稱翻譯的重要性。怎樣讓品牌名稱更容易被外國(guó)人所理解，怎樣建立一個(gè)國(guó)際化的品牌，仍然是很多國(guó)人所面臨的難題。 本文意在描述在外國(guó)品牌名稱的翻譯中常用到的三種翻譯方法直譯、意譯以及音譯。同時(shí)，也探究了會(huì)對(duì)目標(biāo)品牌名稱的翻譯結(jié)果造成直接影響的一些常用的方法和翻譯技巧。指出了一些翻譯中的各種影響因素。關(guān)鍵詞：品牌名稱；翻譯；因素 2introduction with the increasi

10、ng globalization of the world economy, brand advertisements come to play a more and more important role for manufacturers to promote their products in the world market. as we all know, good brand names are the best advertisements for commodities. an effective brand name can promote the brand develop

11、ment process and enhance the perceived value of a product. “coca cola” is a very famous brand all over the world, it appeared at the top of international brands list of the100 best global brands in the year 2006, with an estimated value of $70 billion. closely behind in the number two spot was micro

12、soft, with an estimated brand value of $65 billion. with the development of the global economy, the competition of international market is becoming extremely fierce. in order to have a stable position in the global economic market, chinese producers have to build up the awareness of its own brand na

13、mes. therefore, all translators, in order to finish tasks well, have to establish a set of proper concept of translation, to master correct skills of translation, to be familiar with the cultures of foreign countries, and to be directly acquainted with various customs and faiths. this paper will poi

14、nt out some approaches used in translating brand names, in combination with the successful cases, to figure out some basic translating methods used and common mistakes occurring in advertising translation. 3chapter common methods of the translation of brand names a brand is a product name or logo, w

15、hich leave the first impression on people, and have directly impact on consumers visions, hearings and psychology. therefore, excellent translation of brand names is very important. superior brands have a clear vision, proper methods of translating in overseas markets lead to a great success. althou

16、gh the form of the brand names and slogans are expressed in another language, one thing is certain that the translation of brand vision should be clear and consistent. therefore, how to translate faithfully is a great task presented before the translator. in this part, the two normal translation met

17、hods are discussed. 1.1 literal translation a literal translation is a translation that follows closely the form of the source language. it is believed that literality can faithfully reflect contents in accord with forms. that is to say, by direct translation, we can retain the originality of the so

18、urce brand names. by literal translation, we can directly switch between the target slogan and the source slogan to maintain the original style and meaning. appropriate using of this method can greatly help translators in creating the good image of a product. the two famous clothing brands “nike” an

19、d “adidas” have their literal translation names:“耐克”and“阿迪達(dá)斯”.“coca-cola”, is one typical example that cannot be neglected when talking about literal translation. its chinese translation “可口可樂” is so prevailing that everybody in china knows it nowadays. “可口” means “tasty” in chinese and “樂” means ha

20、ppiness, which seemingly tells the customers that drinking it brings happiness. “百事可樂”, the translation of another famous coke drink, “pepsi-cola” is another good example similar to “coca-cola”. as 雀巢 is embedded deeply in chinese mind, we may ignore the fact that it is an overseas product. it has a

21、 vivid logo that makes us feel the warmth of parental love. in combination with its meaning pleasing birds nest and embrace, the successful spread of this brand is for sure. the english version of a famous chinese brand 王朝 is dynasty. this word can express its character: inherited through years. ano

22、ther hidden meaning is revealed: consumers can trust its quality 4because it has been tested by time and history. microsoft, the american software giant company, also adopts literal translation method to register its chinese brand. translating “micro” as “微” and “soft” as “軟” successfully transmit t

23、he implied meaning: a basic, tiny and delicate software. from the above unsuccessful cases, we identify the great impact of literal translation: direct invasion into readers mind and vision, leave us a strong impression even at the first sight.1.2 free translation a free translation is a way of tran

24、slation that cares more about the true meaning of the original text. languages are not equivalents to each other. therefore, a successful translation has to pay much attention to the effects. in order to obtain a successful equivalence, we need to use various methods to achieve a satisfying effect.

25、“extra”, a chewing gum brand, is translated as “益達(dá)”, of which “益” implies that it is beneficial to people, reflecting the designers idea that chewing this gum will be beneficial to peoples teeth.“avon”, “maybelline” and “nivea”, three cosmetic brands, have very beautiful chinese translation: “雅芳”, “

26、美寶蓮” and “妮維雅” respectively, which make use of characters like “雅”, “美” to emphasize their potential ability to beautify people. “benz” and “porsche”, two famous automobile brands, are translated as “奔馳” and “保時(shí)捷” with “奔”, “馳” and “捷” all meaning going very fast. “reebok”, a brand for running shoes

27、, is translated as “銳步”. “銳” (sharp, vigor) and “步” (foot) all serve to convey the features of the product. carrefour is a foreign invested supermarket in china. the chinese version of it is 家樂福, which tells us each family can enjoy happiness and pleasure in this supermarket. virtually, this superma

28、rket provides all the demands by people, and it is an ideal place for them. “safeguard”, a brand for soap and bathing lotion, is translated as “舒膚佳”. here “舒” means “comfort” and “膚” means “skin”. so this translation will leave the impression to people that this soap or lotion can bring comfort to t

29、he skin. “colgate”, a brand for toothpaste, is translated as “高露潔” with the character “潔” meaning “clean”, indicating that it can make peoples teeth clean and tidy. as we can see, free translation is widely used in translation of foreign brand names. it pays more attention on the true meaning and th

30、e information which the brand gives us, so that people can tell what the goods is all about without any introduction.51.3 transliteration transliteration is another translation method that mainly depend on the similarity of pronunciation. sometimes, it might be not easy for people from other countri

31、es to understand the translation in the way of transliteration, but there are still some good examples that is very common in our daily life. “nokia” as “諾基亞”，“motorola” as “摩托羅拉”“marlboro” as “萬寶路”, “carlsberg” as “嘉士伯”, “l(fā)ipton” as “立頓”, “mazda” as “馬自達(dá)”, “renault” as “雷諾”, “sony” as “索尼”, “intel”

32、 as “英特爾”, “dell” as “戴爾”, “erisson” as “愛立信”, “siemens” as “西門子”, “nikon” as “尼康”, “olympus” as “奧林巴斯”, “gucci” as “古琦”, “rolex” as “勞力士” and “omega” as “奧米茄”， “canon”as “佳能”，etc. in cases that the original brand names are not notional, that is to say, they do not make sense to the customers litera

33、lly, transliteration is often used. the strongpoint of using transliteration is that it can best preserve the rhyme and rhythm of the original brand, reflecting the products special emotional appeal.chapter factors that influence the translation to make a comment on an specific translation of foreig

34、n brand name, is depend on not only those common methods, but also the factors that influence the translation. thats why the translation of foreign brand names is such a complex subject in itself. the influencing factors will be discussed in the followings.2.1 cultural factors brand names translatio

35、n has much to do with culture. people assimilate social experience characteristic of our own culture, and these experiences are reflected in the language they use. as a result, brand name translation is language converting across the different culture. in order to be 6accepted by the public, brand n

36、ame should conform to the public culture. therefore, local culture should be taken into serious consideration when a brand name is to be translated. once the brand name is accepted, a global market may be opened for the product. to achieve it, translators have to take culture factors into account.2.

37、2 customs and habits factors different countries have different customs and habits. the same object in different culture contains different values, associations and connotations. take “玉兔” (a famous cookie in china) as an example. in chinese mythology, it is a pet living with change and wugang on th

38、e moon. chinese people like it and prefer to apply 玉兔 to products which are related to the moon. 玉兔 is known in china. however, if we translate it literally into jade rabbit, foreign customers cannot understand it. as a result, it had better be translated as moon rabbit, which may be more easily acc

39、epted by foreigners. “紅豆” is also a good example. “紅豆” is the brand name of shirt produced in jiangsu hongdou group. the brand name makes chinese people think of a well-known chinese tang dynasty poem, “紅豆生南國(guó)，春來發(fā)幾枝。愿君多采擷，此物最相思?！?“紅豆”, a name with a rich poetic flavor, gives people many favorable ass

40、ociations. the lovesickness seed used as a love symbol in china will arouse the young people nice feeling. it can make those who have passed their glorious youth review their “紅豆” stories in the mind and it may “take” overseas chinese back to theirmotherland. the brand name benefits from its brand c

41、ulture and nice feelings. thats why “紅豆”shirts are widely welcomed among chinese people. thats to say, differences in customs and habits are reflected in the translations of brand names, translation is not only important but also very difficult. different situations may require the translators to ad

42、opt a different treatment according to the different cultures between the source language and the target language.2.3 other factors yet, some mistakes are caused by carelessness. in addition, lack of knowledge about phrase and 7misunderstanding about certain words may also result in the failure of t

43、ranslation. for example “吉利”, a brand for cars in china. “吉利” means lucky in chinese . but it has a bad translation “geely”. in english, gee means pity, ly is an adverb suffix. for english-spoken people, its just the opposite meaning. the disastrous results are for sure. another example 東風(fēng) is a famo

44、us brand in china, the name “東風(fēng)”has long been praised by many famous poet. if we translate it literally, well get east wind, which has an opposite meaning in english. in england, east wind comes from the north and brings coldness and unpleasantness, while mild winds has been described in shelleys od

45、e to the west wind. consequently, in order to translate brand names successfully, translators have to be familiar with foreign cultures, aesthetic psychology of foreigners, different cultural backgrounds and consumers psychology in that the erecting of successful brand names is not so easy. a brand

46、might also be considered to be the personality of the product or service. an effective brand will tell the customer what to expect from the product and even how it impacts or benefits their lifestyle. a good translation of brand names is also beneficial to establish its effective and instructive ima

47、ge in target language market. chapter how to build an internationalized brand name as far as i know, most chinese companies have no internationalized brand name yet. this is a disadvantage for them going to the world. to crack world market, chinese companies must have their understandable, transfera

48、ble and acceptable brand names. in fact, brand name internationalizing has become a new subject. energetic enterprise that wants to take part in world market competition, should reposition its brand image. so, its important to design internationalized brand names. then more people can interpret the

49、meaning of chinese. 3.1 translate directly translating chinese brand names into english is a direct way of internationalizing brand names. such as “panda”(熊貓), “changhong” (長(zhǎng)虹)and “l(fā)ittle swan”(小天鵝). during translation, the 8translators must pay great attention to the cultural differences between tw

50、o languages and concentrate on the target language consumers response. however, due to the difference of two nations, this kind of translation is hard to understand.3.2 renaming the products according to the cultural differences, renaming the products is quite necessary. in 1986 a perfume and cosmet

51、ic company christian dior produced a kind of named poison. as we all know, the brand names of perfume are normally related to nobility, romance and mystery, for perfume is usually associated with fragrance, elegance and beauty. however, poison is a death causing substance, usually labeled with a pic

52、ture of a cross of bones under a human skull, a symbol of death. when poison, the perfume went into the market, it made a stir and was sold out immediately. in western countries people like to break away from conventions. anything new or challenging conventions might be welcomed. many people, especi

53、ally the young, tend to rebel against traditions and conventions, and often go so far as to seek abnormal incentives. poison , the perfume is just to their taste. as to the different cultures, chinese people might not accept “ poison” without hesitation. but when “poison” is translated into “百愛神”，wh

54、ich may make people love it at the first sight. bmw ,a famous brand name, is short for bayeriche motoren werke(巴伐利亞汽車公司). b, m and w are just three simple letters that have no special meanings. however, when rendered as “寶馬”, it becomes a wise and appropriate translation. first, “寶馬” makes chinese p

55、eople think of “汗血寶馬”,a very good variety of horse, which chinese people is deeply loved. therefore, chinese people rely on it and consider it as the treasure. second, “寶馬” means the car is super and excellent, which indicates the high quality. third, “bm” is initials of “寶馬” in pinyin. there are also some other good examples for renaming brands like “future” (非常)cola, “founder”（方正）computer and “mysheros”( 蜜雪兒)women garments. though brand innovation, these vivid brand names can make a deep impression on customers.93.3 coining brand names many english brand names, i