[Keywords:] English trademark translation strategies
1. Introduction
Trademark is a symbol of commodities, a product of the development of commodity economy, and a remarkable symbol used by commodity producers or operators to distinguish the commodities they produce and sell from other commodities. It is the concentration of the remarkable characteristics of commodities and the core part of commodity culture. In the international market, trademarks are often regarded as simplified enterprise names by entrepreneurs and consumers. As soon as a trademark appears, it becomes a symbol of an enterprise, a bridge for direct dialogue between producers and consumers, and a powerful weapon for enterprises to participate in international competition. With the deepening of China's opening to the outside world, the economic activities of foreign enterprises in China are also increasing. This has greatly enriched the economic life of the people of China, thus giving birth to many brand-new economic and commercial activities for the people of China. A large number of domestic products are being exported to all parts of the world, while foreign goods flock to the domestic market. Legal goods have their own trademarks. Therefore, with the exchange of Chinese and foreign products, the translation of commodity trademarks inevitably appears.
2. English trademark translation strategies
2. 1.
In the process of trademark translation, transliteration is a method that cannot be ignored and has strong universality. Transliteration refers to finding Chinese words with similar pronunciations according to the pronunciations of the original brand names without deviating from Chinese language norms and causing false associations or misunderstandings. Its advantages are simple operation, exotic translation and attractive products. Transliteration can be divided into pure transliteration, homophonic translation and provincial transliteration.
2. 1. 1. Pure transliteration
Pure transliteration is to match Chinese characters with similar pronunciation word by word according to English pronunciation. Mainly applicable to proper nouns, such as trademarks of names and places. This translation method is a kind of translation method that trademarks have to adopt when they are translated into Chinese because they can't find the corresponding Chinese expression.
2. 1. 1. 1 name and trademark
Some trademarks are made up of surnames, such as Hoover vacuum cleaner, which is derived from the surname of the manufacturer willaim henley Hoover; Rael-Brook men's wear is derived from the surname of the founder H.Rael-Brook. Some trademarks are people's full names, such as: Walter Disney Production Company, which is named after Walter Disney, the founder of the company; Pierre Cardin (Pierre Cardin) fashion is based on the name of the fashion manufacturer Pierre Cardin; The earliest meaning of "Mercedes-Benz" brand was karl benz's surname, which was transliterated into "Mercedes-Benz" in China.
2. 1. 1.2 trademarks of geographical names
Santa ana car, Santana was originally the name of a valley in California, USA; Nokia mobile phone is named after Nokia, a small town in northern Finland.
2. 1.2 homophonic translation
This kind of translation is based on sound, and often changes individual words on the basis of pure transliteration, which is homophonic with the pronunciation of the original trademark. The transliterated trademark after the change combines the characteristics of the product. For example, in memory of Willian Edward Boeing, the founder of the airline, Boeing's trademark was translated as "Yin Bo", but as a trademark, the translator changed it to "Boeing", which can make people have endless reverie about this supersonic aircraft.
2. 1.3 provincial transliteration
Provincial transliteration is based on the aesthetic habits of China people. Disyllabic and trisyllabic trademarks are easier to remember. Some English trademark words are longer and have more syllables. If word-for-word translation is awkward to read and inconvenient to remember, it can be simplified by omitting transliteration.
2.2 Free translation
Free translation is to translate the original trademark into Chinese with the same or similar meaning. Free translation can better reflect the original intention and hope of the original trademark creator, and can be used for some trademarks with distinctive images, elegant meanings and gorgeous words. Free translation can be divided into pure free translation, free translation and free translation.
2.2. 1 Free translation
Some goods have distinctive trademark meanings, which have elegant and beautiful meanings in both Chinese and western cultures, so pure free translation can be used. For example, The Bluebird Car is taken from Nobel Prize in Literature's pantomime The Bluebird, which was obtained by Belgian writer Maurice Matt Rinecker 19 1 1. It symbolizes "happiness in the future", which translates into "bluebird" in Chinese, because "blue" means "green". Li Shangyin of the Tang Dynasty wrote a poem: "From Pengshan to Jade Bird, there are not many roads. Listen! -bring me what she said! " . Jade bird is the messenger of Penglai fairyland. It can be seen that the translator has good intentions to transform Chinese and western cultures.
2.2.2 Free translation
If some trademarks are translated literally, they may not fully express the connotation of the trademarks, or some trademarks have several layers of literal meanings, so it is impossible to fully express these layers of meanings in Chinese with concise words. At this time, it is necessary to choose the meaning of the trademark and choose the best and most representative one. For example, good company cigarettes can be translated into "good friend", "good partner", "good friend" and "good company". From these translations, choose the best-"good friend" as the trademark.
Increase or decrease free translation
It is to increase or decrease the meaning of the original trademark according to the meaning of the original trademark, so that the translated trademark is more suitable for consumption. For example, the original trademark means "transformation" and "transformation", but the translator skillfully added the word "King Kong" according to the psychology of potential consumers in China. "King Kong" is unique to Chinese culture and is the name of Buddha's bodyguard. Named after his hand holding King Kong (an Indian weapon), in the eyes of China people, "King Kong" is extremely powerful, superb in martial arts, brave against demons and invincible, and is the embodiment of invincible warriors. "King Kong" has become the idol of children and one of the teaching AIDS for parents to educate their children to be brave and strong. Therefore, toys with the trademark "Transformers" are deeply loved by children in China.
2.3 Combination of sound and meaning
Some trademarks are made up of fictional words with rich cultural connotations, which requires the translation method of combining sound and meaning. The combination of sound and meaning is the combination of transliteration and free translation for translation. That is to say, some or all English trademarks are flexibly selected and combined by appropriate transliteration or free translation methods to make them suitable trademarks. This is a complicated translation method, which is suitable for some proper nouns and common nouns except word formation.
2.3. 1 bibliography
Some trademarks are mostly proper nouns or invented text symbols. According to the pronunciation of the original trademark, the 5,000-year accumulation of the Chinese nation is dissolved in translation to create a new trademark. This trademark has both far-reaching significance and China characteristics. For example, BMW, the trademark of BMW, comes from three acronyms of Bavarian Automobile Company in Germany. According to Xin Qiji's "A BMW Carved with Fragrance" (Jade Case, Yuanxi), the translator translated it into "BMW", reminding China consumers of the ever-changing BMW and linking the performance of the car with its characteristics.
2.3.2 Near-sound Association Method
The near-sound association method requires that the translated names of trademarks are similar to the original trademarks, or similar to some of them, associating some beautiful Chinese meanings and combining the characteristics of products. Such as Johnson &; Johnson Company deals in health care products and nursing products. She was founded by three brothers, robert wood Johnson, James Wood Johnson and Edward Mead Johnson. It's nothing special if it is literally translated into "Johnson", but if it is translated into "Johnson" by the method of near-sound association-association represents strong vitality and is linked with the company's health care and health care products.
2.3.3 Near-sound escape method
This translation takes into account both pronunciation and semantics. Generally, the original trademark is a meaningful word or phrase, but in order to conform to China's cultural habits, it should be escaped. The meaning is not the original meaning, and it needs to be created, but it cannot be separated from a certain category. For example: Sprite drink, which means "spirit" and "demon" in English. In some of Shakespeare's plays, the "elf" is very cute. Western countries celebrate Halloween. On Halloween, children dress up as all kinds of "elves" and "goblins" and go door to door to beg for candy, but it is evil in China. If literal translation is inevitable, it is escaped as "Sprite". "Snow" is fresh and cool, and "Bi" is exquisitely carved, giving people the feeling of jade as ice.