Culture and Translation in Business English

Abstract: Business English is the main language used in foreign activities. As a language, business English is the concrete embodiment of culture. In business English translation, besides mastering the necessary translation skills and basic knowledge of language, familiarity with culture, especially cross-culture, is also a necessary condition for doing business English translation well. This paper makes an in-depth analysis of business English translation from a cross-cultural perspective, aiming at improving the level of business English translation.

[Keywords:] cross-cultural translation of business English

Business English refers to the English used in business communication, but business communication can not be completed only by business-specific words or terms, but involves all aspects of production and life. Therefore, cross-cultural knowledge is an important part of business English communication. Cross-cultural communication refers to the communication between individuals with different cultural backgrounds, usually referring to the communication between people or groups with one cultural background and people or groups with another cultural background. In business English translation, we should not only understand the rules and characteristics of business English, but also understand the cross-cultural factors in business English, so as to do a good job in translation.

I. Understanding and Translation of Animals

The contrast of symbolic meanings between English and Chinese animal words is inseparable from the contrast of connotations. In the vast vocabulary, animal words often contain rich emotional colors, which have not only direct, superficial and dictionary meanings, but also connotative, emotional and migratory meanings. The conceptual meanings of animal words in different languages are the same or similar, but sometimes they are quite different. For example, when the word "rooster" is mentioned, people in China often associate it with "smelling the chicken dancing", "rooster crowing the dawn" and "rooster singing the world white", but the alarm clock and shoe polish of "Golden Rooster" are sold to Britain and the United States. If the trade names are translated into "Golden Rooster" and "Shoe-shining Rooster", I'm afraid no one will take care of it. Because in English, the word "rooster" means "the genitals of male animals", this unsightly association will naturally make the goods unsalable. For another example, the image of "dragon" is widely known in the cultural differences between China and the West, so "expecting success" should be translated into expecting one's son to become an outstanding personality. Never translate "I wish my son a dragon and my daughter a phoenix". China people call themselves "descendants of dragons", which is bound to mislead westerners. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to suggest that China's "dragon" should be translated into long instead of dragon.

Second, the understanding and translation of color

In eastern and western languages, there are many words expressing different colors, which need translators' special attention in business translation. For example, in China culture, red symbolizes auspiciousness and celebration, while in western culture, it is often said that there is a red battle and a red alert; White is a basic taboo word in China culture. Westerners often use white souls, white weddings, white lies and so on. In China culture, black symbolizes seriousness and justice, as well as evil and reaction. In western culture, black is a taboo color, such as black words (unlucky words), black deeds (extremely bad behavior) and giving me a black look (looking at me angrily); In China culture, green not only means green in a narrow sense, but also means wild evil. In western culture, green means freshness, inexperience and jealousy. Like a novice and jealous green. As far as color is concerned, business translators should first find out whether it has special pragmatic significance in the source language and the target language, and then decide to adopt appropriate methods to convey it. Because business planning, advertising and language propaganda should have the representativeness and continuity of corporate image, an careless use and expression of color will lead to serious consequences of losing the game.

Thirdly, understanding and translation of numbers.

In business translation, another thing that needs special attention is numbers. Due to the influence of cultural traditions and religious beliefs, there are also obvious differences in numbers between eastern and western cultures. For example, in China, there are commodities with trademarks such as "666", "999", "Jinliufu", "Three Guns" and "Thirteen Incense". European and American countries can also see goods with trademarks such as "7-up", "gentle 7" and "7-Eleven". However, it will be more troublesome to use three, six and thirty as trademarks of goods or as dates for dating, because six symbolizes the devil, thirty is an unlucky number, and three is regarded as unlucky in Benin and Botswana. For another example, although 4 is a bad symbol in both Chinese and English, it is homophonic with "death" in Chinese, while "four" stands for vulgarity and cheapness in English. For example, four-letter words refer to vulgar and dirty words. From this, the four-letter man (a person who likes to use vulgar and obscene words) is derived. Another idiom made up of four groups is: four selling (cheap beer; A pint of beer used to cost only 4p. A good business case happened in 1990s, when an American company packaged golf balls exported to Japan into a set of four balls to show that they were cheap and good. I don't know that Japanese culture was born out of Chinese civilization. Are they inextricably linked? In Japanese culture, the number "four" also represents "death", and people are afraid to avoid it. You can imagine the sales of golf balls of this American company in Japan.

Four. Concluding remarks

Business translation is a complex problem, and among many factors that need to be considered, cultural factors are one of the most important ones. When it comes to the translation of animals, colors and numbers, it is necessary for us to study the relevant cultural factors in the two languages, especially their cultural meanings in the translation countries. In business translation, we should pay attention to the above cultural differences and adopt appropriate translation methods on this basis, so as to effectively convey correct business information and help enterprises explore the international market.

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Related literature:

Liu Huihua. The nature and style of e-mail language [J]. Journal of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, 2004(2)

[2] Li Junru. Genre Analysis of Business English E-mail [J]. Foreign Language and Foreign Language Teaching, 2007(7)

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