广告英语的常用修辞与翻译

Rhetoric Constructs and Translation of Advertising Discourse

Abstract

In modern society, with the deepening of economic internationalization, advertising, as sales stimulus, plays a crucial role in delivering information. As a kind of applied language, advertising English has already separated from general English and developed into a non-standardized specific language because of its special application. However, it attracts consumers by particular skills, rather than language. To achieve its persuasion purpose, advertising English has to rely heavily on its rhetorical charms through the use of rhetoric devices. Rhetoric is one of the most important parts in English expression. It can make the language more vivid and expressive if those devices are used properly. Usually, rhetoric is regarded as “the decoration of the language” and “the decoration of the thoughts”. Beginning with the statement of basic advertising knowledge (especially the function), this thesis analyzes and summarizes three aspects of rhetoric, namely, phonetics, lexical and syntactic. Due to the differences between English and Chinese culture, the translation of rhetoric constructs used in English advertising should be based on the reception psychology of Chinese audiences so as to achieve its persuasion effect. This thesis also puts forward three practicable ways for rendering advertising as follows: transliteration, literal translation and free translation.

Key Words: advertising English;  rhetoric;  cultural differences;
translation strategies

摘  要

在经济高度国际化的今天，广告作为1种促销手段，已成为传播各种信息不可缺少的工具。广告英语作为1种应用语言，因其所具有的特殊效用，已经逐渐从普通英语中独立出来并发展成1种非规范化的专用语言。但是，它并不是通过语言直接显示其劝说意图，而是通过特殊的手段来打动消费者，激起他们的好奇心，刺激他们去购买。为此，广告英语的成功在很大程度上取决于其修辞的魅力。修辞是英语表达中最重要的组成部分之1，恰当地使用修辞手法可以使英语语言更为生动，更富表现力。修辞手法被看成是“语言的装饰”，“思想的装饰”。本文从阐述广告的基本知识(重点讲述广告的功能)入手，分析并总结了以下3个层面的修辞运用，即语言修辞、词汇修辞和句法修辞。鉴于英汉文化差异，广告英语的翻译应以汉语受众的接受心理为基础，以达到其劝说的效果。根据广告英语修辞的特点，提出3种切实可行的翻译方法：音译法、直译法和意译法。

关键词:广告英语、修辞、文化差异、翻译策略

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