A Study of Brand Name Translation in China 英语专业论文.doc

A Study of Brand Name Translation in China 1. Introduction With the acceleration of economic globalization and China’s entry into WTO, more and more Chinese products are being launched into the international market. Consequently, translating Chinese brand names successfully into English has never been more imperative and vital than today. The translation of Chinese brand names is a kind of intercultural communication. It involves such factors as linguistic laws, cultural psychology, and aesthetic values. A successful translation of the brand name should not only transfer the information concerning the commodity or service, but also transfer its cultural significance to the audience in the target culture. This applies particularly to culture-loaded brand names that have different mental associations in different cultures. According to the principle of functional equivalence, the translated brand names should achieve a perfect linguistic unity among sound, form and meaning. This paper, taking Nidas functional equivalence as its framework, attempts to study the problems that are often encountered in translating brand names into English and suggest ways to solve them. 2. Brand names and the translation Brand name, an essential component of advertising, is the part of a brand that can be vocalized. It is “a name given by a producer to a particular product, by which it may be recognized from among alike products made by other producers.”(Longman Contemporary English-Chinese Dictionary English, 1988) Aiming to build, reinforce, and/or reposition consumers’ perception of a certain brand, brand names have the following four functions: distinguishing products, providing information, ensuring guarantee and stimulating consumption. In order to build up a good image in the market and arouse favorable associations as well as purchasing desire in the minds of the consumers, brand names should have the following major characteristics: short in length and sweetness, sonoro