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1、The Translation of Automobile Brand-names from the Perspective of the Principle of EquivalenceAbstract: Like any other translations, the translation of automobile brand-names is also a kind of form of intercultural communication, it involves language laws, cultural psychology, aesthetic interest and
2、 some other factors. The principle of equivalence of Nida has great help to the translation of automobile brand-name. According to this principle, the receptors of the brand names in the receptors language should respond to it in substantially the same manner as the receptors of the brand names in t
3、he source language. On the premise of knowing the sources and the features of automobile brand-name, the translator should realize the big significance of this principle to translation and implement the principle of equivalence in the process of translation. Also, the translator should master variou
4、s translation principles and four different translation methods such as transliteration, literal translation, free translation and transliteration combined with literal translation to achieve the desired effect. Key words: principle of equivalence; brand names; translation strategies从等效原则看汽车品牌名称的翻译摘
5、要:汽车品牌名称的翻译同任何翻译一样, 是一种跨文化交际形式, 也涉及到语言规律、文化心理、审美情趣等方面的因素。而奈达的等效原则理论对于品牌名称的翻译有很大的帮助。根据这一理论，奈达指出在翻译过程中，品牌译语中的信息接受者对品牌译文信息的反应应该与品牌源语接受者对商标原文的反应程度基本相同。在掌握好汽车品牌名称的来源及特征的前提下，译者应当了解等效原则对翻译的重大影响和意义，并在翻译过程中彻底贯彻奈达的等效原则，熟练掌握翻译时应遵循的四条原则及四种翻译策略：音译法、直译法、意译法、音意结合法，以达到理想效果。关键词：等效原则；品牌名称；翻译策略Introduction With the ac
6、celeration of economic globalization and Chinas accession to the WTO, a large number of automobile brand names need to be translated. Nowadays, the translation of goods has become an important bridge that can help enterprises open the markets of other countries. In recent years, the economy of China
7、 has a rapid improvement as well as the Chinese peoples living standard. Automobiles have quickly entered into the common peoples family. As the continued growth of consumer demand and the rapid rise of the automobile production, people can see that almost everywhere the streets, newspapers, magazin
8、es, radio and television, the Internet and other mass media, are talking about automobile and more and more automobile advertisements are dancing and flying over the city at the same time. In this environment, a translation that is well coordinated with consumers language habits, cultural practices
9、and capabilities of acceptance has become extremely important in the process of automobile marketing. The translation of automobile brand-names is not an easy job. The receptors of the brand names in the receptors language should respond to it in substantially the same manner as the receptors of the
10、 brand names in the source language. According to the point of views of principle of equivalence theory, the translated brand names should achieve a perfect linguistic unity among sound, form and meaning. Meanwhile, cultural obstacles in the receptor language should be surmounted. The translated bra
11、nd names should conform to peoples aesthetic interest and psychology to attract more consumers. 1. Introduction of Automobile Brand-name As is known to all, the brand name is the soul of product. It reflects the most important information such as quality, character, function and performance and so o
12、n to consumers with the most direct and simplest means and cause some certain image of the commodity to the buyers. Usually a good brand name can bring great benefit to the company because of its brand effect. So does the automobile brand name. 1.1 A Simple Introduction of Brand A brand is a name, a
13、 term, a word, a symbol, a design, or a combination of them. It aims to identify products or services of a particular seller or a group of sellers and to make a distinction between sellers and their competitors with their goods and services(倪宁，2004). In general, brand not only is unique and specific
14、, but also has the feature of association, arbitrary and other characteristics which also determine the specificity of brand translation: it is different from the literature translation, as it should be the most accurate and concise way to convey the goods basic information; it is also different fro
15、m a simple science and technology translation, because it has to consider the aesthetic psychology of consumers and the culture in the target place where goods are sold(贺川生, 2002 ). As the external image of commodity and corporate, brand passes the information of goods to the consumer. In fact, ever
16、y brand name is the crystal of wisdom of commodity producers, because it contains a large amount of background information in a simple form, for example, product performance, corporate culture and social culture can also reflect the consumer culture. So the translation of brand is not merely the sim
17、ple conversion of language, but also a combination of various factors. Brand name should reflect the language and cultural implication of the source language and give full consideration to the concerned information of the target language. Brand name itself represents a strategically important issue
18、and may determine the success or failure of a product. Along with the globalization of world economy, especially with Chinas entry into the World Trade Organization, more and more people have realized the importance of goods brand names and international brand names in promoting sales and cultivatin
19、g. 1.2 The Origination of Automobile Brand NamesTo explore the automobile brand-name translation, the translator must first understand the source of the original brand name. Through the analysis to the collected automobile brand names, it is not difficult for people to find that there are wide varie
20、ties of automotive brand names and their naming is also distinctive. Some of brand names come from some peoples name or some places name which have a special significance, such as Lincoln（林肯）, Elysee（爱丽舍）, and so on. As is known to all, Abraham Lincoln is the 16th president of America and Elysee is
21、the abode of French president. Some of brand names come from natural phenomena, such as Zodiac（黄道带）, Taurus（金牛座）, and so on. The Zodiac is an imaginary area through which the sun, moon, and planets appear to travel, which some people believe this will influences our lives. And Taurus, represented by
22、 a Bull, is the second sign of the Zodiac. It is believed to affect the character and life of people who are born between Aprial 21 and May 22. Some of brand names are from mythology, for example, Mazda（光明之神）, the god of the light. Triton（海神）, the god of the sea and Apollo（太阳神）, the god of the sun i
23、n western culture. Some of brand names come from the ordinary words that have good images, for example, Sunny（ 阳光）, it will remind people the real sun and the warm sunshine, and give people the sense of bright, comfort, peace and warm. And some of them come from the local national characteristics an
24、d history: such as Conquers, Grand Voyager, Ranger, Tracer, Touring, etc. and some are the concoctive words that there is no specific meaning such as Excelle. 1.3 Characteristics of Automobile Brand Names Currently, the economic globalization is not only a matter of economy but also a matter of cult
25、ure. Automobile, as a materialization of the human spirit, reflects the image and the shape of social, aesthetic tendencies, the sense of human competition and the ideological and cultural awareness concretely and vividly. Actually, automobile that has not merely the nature of material wealth but al
26、so the nature of spiritual wealth has constituted a very important part of culture, and with the globalization of culture and commodity, this particular culturethe automobile culture has gradually infiltrated into the whole world (刘洪泉, 2008：14). According to research, good automobile brand names gen
27、erally have the following characteristics: First, they are concise, easy to pronounce, pleasant to ear and easy to read and remember. Whats more, they can bring the impact of hearing to the audience and cause the association on automobile instantly when the audience heard the name of commodities. Th
28、ese brand names have a distinct characteristic of voicethey generally have clear pitch and can bring a sense of rhythm when people read. For example, Rolls-Royce(劳斯莱斯), it enhances the effect of audio of brand names in the form alliteration of the word mark sound (张弛, 2008:5 ). Second, they give ris
29、e to a better association. Most of the words of automobile brand names are made based on the performance characteristics of products. They are new words which were created by people through combining language, culture, aesthetics, markets, consumer sentiment and other factors with a variety of word
30、formation and justifications. They are the imaginary words, such as Benz（奔驰）, it reminds people the running house in the vast champaign. Third, the automobile brands are usually closely tied with culture. From these brand names, we can learn a lot of relevant knowledge. For example, there are many a
31、utomobile brand names come from legends or myths. Most of the automobile brand names have a specific ethnic cultural implication. In the same cultural environment, the designer and consumer of automobile brand names share a common cultural presupposition, so through the surface meaning of automobile
32、 brand names, the consumer can understand the deep cultural significance within it. As a result, automobile brand names have a considerable attraction to the consumers within the target place. However, the translation of automobile brand names is not only the contact of two languages, it is also a b
33、lend of two cultures. In the process of translating the source language into target language, if the brand name does not meet the cultural background of language in target country, the enterprise may encounter huge amount of losses. 2. A Brief Introduction to the Principle of EquivalenceThe developm
34、ent of international trade makes brand-name translation necessary. It becomes the bridge of producers and foreign consumers. As is known to all, the design of a good brand name will firmly promote the selling of the products and an appropriate translation of brand name will help to the foreign marke
35、ts. So in the markets abroad the translation of the brand names becomes great significance. But how to translate brand names effectively? The translators need some principles to guide the translation of brand names. The principle of equivalence of Eugene A. Nida could be the principle of translation
36、 used as the criteria in brand-name translation.2.1 The Content and Development of the Principle of EquivalenceAccording to Tyler, a good translation is one in which the merit of the original work is so completely transfused into another language as to be distinctly apprehended and as strongly felt
37、by a native of the country to which that language belongs as it is by those who speak the language of the original work(Tyler, 1790). According to Nida, a minimal, realistic definition of equivalent-effect principle could be stated as “The readers of a translated text should be able to comprehend it
38、 to the point that they can conceive of how the original readers of the text must have understood and appreciated it”(Nida ,1993:18). The principle of equivalence indicates that an ideal effective translation should be able to produce the equivalence of function, message and response to both the tar
39、get and the original receptors. That is the effect produced by a translation on its audience should be as close as possible to the effect the original had on the recipients in the source language. Nida (1964) advances the principle of dynamic equivalence that the translator should produce the same e
40、ffect on his own readers as the source language author produced on the original readers. This principle is restated in many other books and later Nida states that the translator must be a person who can draw aside the curtains of linguistic and cultural differences so that people may see clearly the
41、 relevance of the original massage (Nida, 1986). The dynamically equivalent translation does indiscriminately use “anything which might have special impact and appeal for receptors”; it rather “means thoroughly understanding not only the meaning of the source text but also the manner in which the in
42、tended receptors of a text are likely to understand it in the receptor language” (Nida, 1986). Peter Newmark argues that Nidas principle of equivalence is becoming generally superordinate, both in translation theory and practice, to the principles of primacy of form and primacy of content. (P. Newma
43、rk, 2001)2.2 The Influence of the Principle of Equivalence to Translation Translation is a mean of converting information. It expresses anew the information of one kind of language by using the information of another language, so that the people who dont understand the first language gain the same i
44、nformation just as its users. This is translation. So the effect of translation to its reader should be equivalent to the effect of the original language to its original reader. This is subjected to the essence of translation (Eugene.A. Nida, 1969). According to Nida, translation is a reproduction o
45、f the information in the original language from the meaning to the style by using the closest and most natural corresponding language in the target language. Here corresponding language is a very important concept, because it involves the principle of equivalence in translation. In fact, translation
46、 is not only the change of language form, but also an extremely complex process. That is: original worksthe translators understanding to the originalworkstranslation process translated works The readers feeling The principle of equivalence requires the translators in the process of translation must
47、implement these equivalences: words equivalence, logic equivalence, plot equivalence, conception and theme equivalence, aesthetic equivalence (including rhetorical equivalence, verve equivalence and style equivalence ) and cultural equivalence. Actually, equivalence in every aspect is not so easy. T
48、he translators have to loss or sacrifice some item in the process of translation. As for what should be sacrificed and what should be implemented, it depends on the practical requires. All in all, Nidas principle of equivalence is quite applicable to the translation of brand names, for the brand nam
49、es are created to perform certain functions. In From One Language to Another, Nida classified languages functions into nine: expressive, informative, cognitive, interpersonal, imperative, performative, emotive, aesthetic, and metalingual(Nida, 1986: 10). The expressive, informative, imperative and aesthetic are closely related to brand names. As is known to all brand name is the symbol of product quality and strengths of enterprise.