广告翻译中的英汉文化差异
张栩 (西南大学外国语学院 重庆)
摘要 广告翻译的目的是将一国各种各样的产品推销给生长在另一种文化中的人，使后者接受前者。任何语言都有其文化蕴涵，广告语言当然也不例外。目前我国的广告翻译存在的问题当中，有一些是语言层面上的，但更多的是由于对两种文化缺乏了解而造成的错译及生搬硬套。本文从广告的定义以及广告用语的定义出发，从语言，文化习俗，社会历史背景三个方面阐述了英汉文化差异对广告翻译的影响。积极向上的网名
关键词 广告 文化差异 翻译 跨文化交流
D ifferences o f Engli sh and Chi ne Cultures i n Adverti men t Trans l ation
A bstract The pu rpo of adverti m ent tran sl ati on i s t o pro mote the sal e of one coun try s'vari ous k i nds of goods to peop l e of d i ff er ent cu l tures and m ak e the l atter accept the f or m er.Each language has its c u ltural i m p licati on,s o i s t h e language ud i n advertisi ng especiall y i n t h is econo m ic s ociety.Am ong t he prent proble m s of advertis e m en t tran slati on in ch i na,s om e are rel ated t o l anguage level,but most are t he w rong and i nappropri ate translati on s cau d by the lack of kno w ledge of t w o k i nds of cu lt u res.S tarti ng fro m t h e d efi n iti on of adverti m ent
and the charact eristics of t h e adverti m en t l angu age,t h is thesis foc u s on t he i n fl uen ce of cu lt u ral d i ff er ences i n its trans l ation from t he aspects of language,cu sto m,s oci al and h ist orical background.
K ey W ords advertis e m en t;cultural difference;trans l ation;cross-cu lt u ral co mm un i cati on
1 In troduc ti on
In modern age,w e fi nd our l ves surrounded by various adve r ti m en ts each day.A n Ame rican w r i te r wr ites:!we fi nd adverti m ents of all k i nds everywhere,for examp l e,g li tter i ng neon signs on top o f hi gh bu il d i ngs a l ong m ain stree ts,co l or f u l p ict u res pa i nted on bus,pamphlets nt to every hou,adver tim ents ja mm ed be t ween TV progra m s,var i ous adverti m en ts g l utti ng new spape r and rad i o broadcast,e tc.∀A dve rti m ent has a very long h i story.It is sa i d that co mme rc ial advertiment started to appear on Br iti sh ne w s papers i n17th century,how eve r,people li v i ng i n m odern soc i e ti es m ay e or hea r adv erti m ent eve rywhere,it has already becom e an industry.!A dverti∀der i v i ng fro m the La ti n!advertere∀is!a m eans o f catch i ng people s'a ttenti on and leadi ng to a certai n way∀. Encyc l oped i a explains it as fo llo w s:the techniques ud to br i ng products,rv i ces,opi n i ons or caus
e t o public notice for the purpo o f pe rsuadi ng the pub lic to a ce rtain w ay t ow ards w hat is adverti d. Am erican M arke ti ng A ssoc i ation defi nes it i n this w ay:A dvertisi ng is the non-persona l co mm un ica ti on o f i n f o r m ati on usua lly pa i d f o r and usuall y persuasive i n na t ure about products,rv i ces or i deas by i dentified sponso rs through t he var i ous m ed i a.
T he transl a tion o f adverti m ent is a kind of cross-co mm un i ca ti on,the d ifferences of h istor ica l cond i tions,geographic locati ons, natura l c i rcu m stances and socia l rea lity fo r m ed cu lt ures o f unique characteristi cs and st y les.Languag e,as the carrier o f cu lt ure,repre nts t he though ts,cu lt ura l characteristi cs and nati onal emo ti ons of the peop l e who u it.D iff e rent languages are restr i c ted by different cu lt ures,on t he othe r hand,t hey re fl ect t he ir own cultures.T he re
fore,i n order to s m oothly comm un i cate,we must comb i ne the lan guag e know ledge and culture know ledge.In internati onal co mmun ica ti on,t he mo st w i dely ud adve rtisi ng language is Eng lis h.
2 D ifferences of Englis h and Chine Language i n Adver ti m en t Tran slation
Chine i s one o f the vera l ex isting p i c tog raph ic characters, but Eng lish is!p i ny in∀w ords.
T hey are d ifferent i n pronunc i ation, w ords,gra mma r and even i n fi gures of speech,most of t he ir e l ements are not sa m e,w e shou l d pay special attention t o t he d ifferences.A lot o fw orks prove thatw he t her a transl a ti ng article i s successf u l o r no t eventuall y depends on if the transl a tors can so l ve the prob l em s caud by differences o f t wo countries'languages.
2.1 P ronunc i ation
Eng li sh and Ch i ne hav e diff e rent charac teristics i n pronunc i a ti on,for exa m ple,a co s m etics co m pany ll s a ki nd o f li pstick na m ed !芳芳唇膏∀,the Ch i ne p i ny i n trans l ated it as!F angfang lip stick∀.In Eng lish,t here's t he wo rd!fang∀,it m eans!po i sonous teeth∀,so you can i m ag i ne the resu lt.Another exa m p l e,!太太口服液∀is translated as!T aita i∀,foreigners w ill never understand wha t itm eans.!功夫牌∀shoes can be d irec tly trans l ated as!K ung Fu∀, becau now Ch i ne K ung Fu has a w or l d-w i de fa m e,t h isw ord has already become a for m a l wo rd.It i s much better to u this wo rd t o attrac t tho who are fond o f Ch i ne K ung Fu,if it is translated as !sk ill i n fi ghti ng∀,it e m s longer and no t conc i .
2.2 W ord m ean ings
The most obv ious obstacle i n spread i ng cross-cult ura l adv er ti m ent i s the d iffe rence o f wo
rd m ean i ng,so good understandi ng o f
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the charac teristi cs of the country where the adverti m en t spreads is the basis and guaran tee.T herefo re,we cannot a ll re l y on the exp l a nati ons i n d i ctionar i es,t hey are not enough.For exa m ple,a kind of expo rted dry battery named!白象∀,its Eng li sh translation i s!a wh ite e l ephant∀,but i n Eng lish!a w hite elephant∀i s a t phra wh ich means!w aste thi ngs∀,you can guess its sa l e in foreign coun tr i es.Som eti m es i n t he cour of transl a tion we fi nd a strange situa ti on that a wo rd reprenti ng the sam e concept o r th i ng has i m pli ca ti on i n certain language syste m,however,t h is i m p licati on i s not easy to e o r even no t have any i n ano ther l anguage syste m,f o r exa m ple, in Am erican streets you som eti m es e a ki nd o f ca rs w it h pa i nting!I a m yell ow∀,but the cars are act ua lly not t he color!ye llow∀.T his m ade a l o t of Ch i ne people confud about t hat,they do not unde r stand what it m eans.In fac t,the!ye ll ow∀here re f e rs to ano t her t wo m ean i ng s,one is tax i and the o t her is ti m id,so it is obv i ous t hat!I a m yell ow∀shoul d be trans l ated as!I a m tax i∀,it becom es a lf-recomm ended adverti m ent of tax.i漂漂猪
菠萝鱼
2.3 F igures of speech
Successful adverti m ents do not a l w ays prai the m l ves d i rectly,in re t urn,the co mm erc i a l mo ti ve shou l d be h i dden cleverly, this must re l y on cu lture espec i a lly c lever fi gures o f speech.H owev e r,fi gures o f speech o f adv erti sing language a re a l so connected w ith a country s'l anguag e cust om s and liv i ng experiences.Eng li sh adverti m ent!F it i s Best∀is conci and m eets the ru les o f rhym i ng,but it is much w or when it i s trans l ated as Ch i ne!合适的就是最好的∀.T here is an adverti m ent for!健力宝∀,!你想体力好常饮健力宝∀,t he Eng lish is!If you w ish phy si ca lly stout,plea o ften dr i nk J'ian libao'∀,obv i ousl y,t he Eng lish adve rti m ent is translated d irectly,t herefore,i t e m s norma.l If w e u an Eng lish idi om i n stead,t here m i ght be a d ifferent e ffect,!A J'ian libao'a day keeps the doctor away∀.
P roper u of fi gure of speech bri ngs huge i nfl uence,catches reader s'attenti on i m m ed i a tely,sti m u l a tes their desire o f buy i ng thi ngs o r enhances their ns o f sa fety and public w elfare.The m ost co m m on one is pun,it is a l so a hard-to-solve prob l em i n adverti s i ng translati on o f Eng lish and Chine,for it is ve ry difficu lt to express the m eani ng o f pun o f t he o rig i nal arti c le i n trans l ation especiall y when the re a re wo rds w i th different m ean i ngs.For exa m ple,an Eng li sh traffic adverti m ent,!The driver is faste r when t he road i s dry; T he road is faster when t he dri ve r is dry∀,the key word is!dry∀,it has t he m ean i ng!干燥∀and!未饮酒(清醒)∀,so the
w ho le Ch i ne translati on i s!|路面干燥，司机安全；司机清醒，道路安全∀, you canno t e pun in its Ch i ne transl a tion.
3 D ifferences of E nglish and Ch ine Custo m s in Adver tim en t T ranslation
Soc i a l custo m s w hich are un i que to certa i n nati on deep l y i nfl u ence peop l e s'behav i o r,po i nt o f v i ew and li v i ng st y le.D ifferen t soc i a l cust om s deci de that English peop l e and Chi ne peop l e have different v ie w s abou t the sa m e t h i ng.A dv erti m ent translation s hould respect d ifferen t people s'v ie w s.In Ch i ne trad itiona l v i ew s,!phoen i x∀re prents!fortune,graceful∀,so!凤凰牌∀b i ke is translated as !P hoeni x∀,but i n Eng lish culture,!phoen i x∀i nd i ca tes!reborn∀, e i ng t h is b rand people cannot he l p think i ng o f!reborn after death∀,then people w ill t h i nk f urther tha t it i ndicates!surv ival from death∀.T he re is a K orean ce ll phone na m ed!D ragon∀,it is very popular i n china,becau dragon is the sy m bo l of t he sacred and the e m perors.H owever,in w esterners'opi n i ons,dragon is the sy m bo l o f si n.Sa l e o f this ce ll phone m ay not be successf u l I guess.T he brand !月兔∀is not translated as!Jade R abbit∀but!M oon R abb it∀,be cau!玉兔∀i s a rabbit li v i ng i n t he moon i n Ch i ne fairy tale,it i s a reprentati ve o f m oon.!M oon R abb it∀does not only e m body old Ch i ne culture but a lso avoid a m isunderstanding tha t the rabb it
i s m ade o f j ade.
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4 Conclusion
F rom t he po i nts discusd above,w e know tha t differences o f Eng li sh and Chi ne cu lture w ill inev itabl y i nfl uence adverti m en t translation,i n o rder t o a tta i n t he functi on o f advertisi ng translati on w e shou l d,on t he basis o f ana l ysis o f the or i g i na l adverti m ent,f u ll y take the cultural obstacles i nto conside ration,it is not only possi b le but necessary to u proper w ay s to change t he transl a tion a little b it. W hen we are do i ng the adve rtim ent translati on w e should pay a tten ti on to var i ous aspects of cultures,espec i a lly the language,custom s, soc i a l and historica l backgrounds of d ifferent nati ons,flex i b l y dea l w ith t he prob l ems in advertim ent transl a ti on and do our best to e li m i nate the bad i nfl uence caud by different cultures.O nly do i ng this w ay can m ake purpo o f adve rti m ent co m e true and br i ng good econo m i c benefit.把舵
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