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On Translation of Foreign Brand Names(2)

2016-08-18 01:05
2. Translation servers as a medium of communication, making the translation of brand names significant in the commodity trade. 论文网在线
“Language is the carrier of culture…Translation serves as the bridge of cross-cultural communication.” (Bao Huinan 5, my translation) At present, a product’s brand name has become an approach for communication.
Besides the original brand name, its translation also serves as a medium of communication as translation itself, dealing with different languages, is considered to be a way to communicate. In addition, translation is believed to be a way to exchange ideas and culture, to promote understanding among different countries and nations. (Xu Chongxin 83) From all these we can see that because translation serves as a medium of communication, translation of brand names plays a very significant role in commodity trade.
Therefore, from the two above-mentioned standpoints, it can be seen that attention should also be paid to brand name translations but not only the original ones. Hereto, the reason why translation of brand names worth discussing has already been justified. In the following parts, the preconditions and methods for foreign brand name translation will be explained.
B. The Preconditions and Methods for Foreign Brand Name Translation
1. Preconditions for Foreign Brand Name Translation
Brand names of import commodities are created by foreign manufacturers and advertising designers, thus they inevitably contain different cultures characteristics. When they enter the Chinese market, they will mainly face Chinese consumers. Whether they can win the market share and the favor of Chinese customers depends greatly on their brand name translation. A good translation will have enormous impact, though invisible, on consumers’ mentality. (Bao Huinan 281) To work out a good translation, the following preconditions should be considered in the first place:
a. The semantics association of the translation should cater to the mentality of Chinese consumers.
Differences in different countries’ social systems, natural environments, religious beliefs, customs, thoughts and languages bring various semantic associations to people, creating all kinds of obstacles and difficulties for translation. (Bao Huinan 22) As Chinese people prefer those characters that contain favorable meanings like luck, happiness, success, beauty, elegance, preciousness, beneficial, healthy, energetic and those can express propitious, good and promising ideas, characters like “吉” (luck), “乐”, “喜” (happiness, joy), “佳” (fine, good), “宝” (preciousness), “美” (beauty), “雅” (elegance), “益” (beneficial), “健” (healthy), “能” (capability, energetic), “富” (rich, abundant) are usually used.
“Coca-cola”, a famous beverage brand, is one typical example that cannot be neglected when talking about brand name translation. Its Chinese translation “可口可乐” is so prevailing that everybody in China knows it nowadays. “可口” means “tasty” in Chinese and “乐” means happiness, which seemingly tells the customers that drinking it brings happiness. “百事可乐”, the translation of another famous coke drink, “Pepsi-Cola” is another good example similar to “Coca-cola”. “Extra”, a chewing gum brand, is translated as “益达”, of which “益” implies that it is beneficial to people, reflecting the designer’s idea that chewing this gum will be beneficial to people’s teeth. “Hershey’s” and “Cadbury”, two chocolate brands, are translated into “好时” and “吉百利”, making use of the characters like “好”, “吉” and “利” to link customers’ thoughts with luck and good fortune. “Heineken”, a brand for beer, is translated as “喜力”, with a character “喜” meaning “happiness”. “Avon”, “Maybelline” and “Nivea”, three cosmetic brands, have very beautiful Chinese translation: “雅芳”, “美宝莲” and “妮维雅” respectively, which make use of characters like “雅”, “美” to emphasize their potential ability to beautify people.