功能对等理论指导下广告语的英译研究外语系毕业论文

滁州学院外语系2012届提纲AStudyontheC-ETranslationofAdvertisementundertheGuidanceofFunctionalEquivalence功能对等理论指导下广告语的英译研究ThesisStatementWithChina'senteringWTO,globalizationhasalsoaffectedtheworldofadvertising.Advertisementtranslationasatypeofinterculturalcommunicationandasaresultofinternationalcommunicationgraduallyattractsthetranslator'sattention.ThisresearchaimsatimprovingtheapproachestotheEnglishtranslationofChineseadvertisementandpointsoutthatNida'sFunctionalEquivalenceisoneofthemostappropriatetheoriesforEnglishtranslationofChineseadvertisements.ThisthesisanalyzesEnglishtranslationofChineseadvertisementsundertheguidanceofNida'sFunctionalEquivalencefromfiveperspectives,namely,textualperspective,lexicalperspective,syntacticalperspective,rhetoricalperspectiveandculturalperspective.Thisthesisisdividedintofourchapters.Chapter1worksastheintroduction.Chapter2isliteraturereview.Chapter3dealswiththeEnglishtranslationofChineseadvertisementsundertheguidanceofNida'sFunctionalEquivalencetheoryandChapter4isthesummaryofthethesis.AStudyontheC-ETranslationofAdvertisementundertheGuidanceofFunctionalEquivalence1.Introduction1.1BackgroundofthestudyIncontemporarysociety,advertisementcanbeseeneverywhere.Advertising,asamajormeansofconveyinginformation,isplayinganessentialroleinbusinessworld.Becominganindispensablepartofourdailylife,itservesasachiefsourceofinformation.Afterthecarryingoutofopening-uppolicyandChina'senteringintotheWTO,advertisinghasbecomeapowerfulapproachforthoseChinesecompaniestopromotetheirproductsaswellaspenetrateintooverseamarket.However,becauseofthelingualdiscrepanciesandculturaldifferences,anadvertisementsometimesmaynotnecessarilybeacceptedandunderstoodbyreceiversinaforeignculture,partlybecauseofinappropriatetranslation.Therefore,asaspecialbranchoftranslationdiscipline,advertisementtranslationisgainingmoreandmoreimportance.Advertisementtranslationisdifferentfromotherkindoftranslationduetoitspragmaticstylewithcommercialvalue.Advertisementsaimatattractingconsumers'attention,satisfyingtheirconsumptionneeds,inspiringtheirdesireofpurchasinggoodsorservicesandfinallymakingproductsorservicessold.Inordertorealizetheabove-mentionedgoals,translatorsshouldabandonthetraditionalideaofliteraltranslationbuttointerpretitinthethinkingofthosereceptors,namelytheforeigncustomers.Atranslatedversionbecomessuccessfulwhenitisacceptedbycustomersinthetargetlanguagesociety.Thetruthisthatatranslatedtextisnotalwaysfaithfultotheoriginaltextinform.Asaresult,literaltranslationdoesnotalwaysworkinadvertisementtranslation,especiallywhentherestandsculturalobstacles.Inthiscase,traditionalequivalence-orientedtheoryisnolongersatisfactoryandanewandmorepracticaltheoryisnaturallycalledfor.Hence,anewtheory----functionalequivalence,isfinallyintroducedandputintouse.1.2SignificanceofthestudyThestudyonadvertisingtranslationismeaningfulboththeoreticallyandPractically.Theoretically,itintendstoapplythefunctionalisttheorytostudyadvertisingtranslation,aimingatimprovingthequalityofthetranslationofadvertisement.Inacademicfield,translation,especiallytheadvertisingtranslationhasbecomemoreandmoreimportantandhasattachedgreatinterestsofscholars.Practically,thethesis,bydiscussingtheprincipleconceptsoftranslation,analyzesthedailyapplicationofthefunctionalistequivalenceinthetranslationofadvertisements.Inthemeantime,theauthortriestofindoutabetterwaytohandlethepracticaladvertisingtranslation.Consequently,theauthorinthelightoffunctionalistapproaches,redeemsthattarget-cultureorientedstrategyshouldberegardedastheessentialmethodtotranslateadvertisements.Inadditiontothat,theauthoralsoholdtheopinionthatadvertisingtranslationshouldbeinconformitywithtargetlanguageandthetargetcultureaswelleventhoughitmaybringaboutsomechangesinformandcontentoftheoriginaltext.1.3OrganizationofthestudyThethesisconsistsoffourchapters.Chapter1isageneralintroductionwhichmainlydealswiththebackgroundandthesignificanceoftheresearch.Chapter2isaliteraturereviewwhichcontainstwoparts,namely,aintroductiontoNidaandhiswell-knownfunctionalequivalence;somepreviousresearch,bothhomeandabroad,onChinese-Englishadvertisingtranslationappliedtofunctionalequivalence.Chapter3isthecorepartofthisthesisandininthischapter,theauthortriestoillustratethespecifictranslationofadvertisementfromseveralperspectives,namely,textualperspective,lexicalperspective,syntacticalperspective,rhetoricalperspectiveandculturalperspective.Inordertomakeafullexplanation,theauthoremploysmanyexamplesbothhomeandabroad.Chapter4istheconclusioninwhichthelimitationofthisthesisaswellassomerelatedsuggestionsareputforward.Chapter2LiteratureReview2.1NidaandFunctionalEquivalenceAsalinguist,NidadevotedalmosthisentirelifeintothetranslationoftheBibleintheprogressofwhichhedevelopedhisowntranslationtheorywhichiswell-knownas“DynamicEquivalence”,latertobecalled“FunctionalEquivalence”.Inhistheory,Nidapointedoutthat“Translationconsistsinreproducinginthereceptorlanguagetheclosestnaturalequivalentofthesourcelanguagemessage,firstintermsofmeaningandsecondlyintermsofstyle.”（翻译是用最恰当、自然和对等的语言从语义到文体再现源语的信息）(GuoJianzhong,2000:65）．Hedeclaredthatfunctionalequivalenceshouldincludefourparts,namely,theequivalenceoflexical,syntax,textureandstyleamongwhich“meaningtakesthefirstpriorityandthencomesthestyle.”(GuoJianzhong,2000:67).Asaprolificwriter,NidawasdeterminedtoproduceatheorythatwouldfostertheeffectivecommunicationoftheGoodNewsacrossallkindsofculturalandlinguisticsbarriers.HisfirstfamousbookBibleTranslating（《圣经的翻译》）waspublishedin1946;thenintheyear1964,hismostinfluentialbookTowardaScienceofTranslating（《翻译的科学探索》）cameout;andlaterTheTheoryandPracticeofTranslation（《翻译理论与实践》）helpedhimachievethisobjective.Theterm“equivalence”intranslationwasfirstintroducedinJ.R.Firth’swritingwhenhestatedthat“theso-calledtranslationequivalencebetweentwolanguagesareneverreallyequivalent”(Snell-Hornby,1988:37).ThetheoryoffunctionalequivalencewasformallyputforwardbyagreatAmericanlinguist,EugeneNida,inordertonarrowthegapbetweenthesourceandtargetlanguage.InhisbookFromoneLanguagetoAnother,hechangedtheterm“functionalequivalence”to“dynamicequivalence”.Theso-called“functionequivalence”,asNidaexplains,is“incontrast,atranslationwhichattemptstoproduceadynamicratherthanaformalequivalenceisbasedon‘theprincipleofequivalenteffect’.Insuchatranslation,oneisnotsoconcernedwiththesource-language,butwiththedynamicrelationship,thattherelationshipbetweenreceptorandmessageshouldbesubstantiallythesameasthatwhichexistedbetweentheoriginalreceptorandthemessage.”Thenatureoftranslationistomakedifferentculturescommunicatefreelyasiftheywerenotforeignerstoeachother.Inhistheory,Nidabelievedthat“Translationconsistsinreproducinginthereceptorlanguagetheclosestnaturalequivalentofthesourcelanguagemessage,firstintermsofmeaningandsecondlyintermsofstyle”andthat“Absolutecorrespondencebetweenlanguagesisnotalwayspossible.”(Nida,1964:185).Nidagenerallydividedhistheoryintofourparts:wordequivalence,sentenceequivalence,textureequivalence,andstylisticequivalenceamongwhichitistheverymeaningratherthanthespecificstylethatcounts.2.2PreviousresearchesconcerningC-EtranslationofadvertisementsGuidedbyFunctionalEquivalenceThetranslationofadvertisementhasbeenresearchedandanalyzedbymanyscholarsbothhomeandabroad.Inwesterncountries,advertisingtranslationwasfirstdiscussedbyHurbin.Atthatperiodoftime,linguisticstudyoftranslationgenerallyfocusedontheconceptofequivalence,whichis"submittedtolexical,grammatical,andstylisticanalysis;itisbasedontexttypeandsocialfunction.(Venuti2000:121).Hurbinholdstheideathattherearemanytypeoftranslationforthesourcetextandthatitisthetranslatorwhoisresponsibleforchoosingthemostsuitabletranslationversion.Withtimepassingby,equivalencewasnolongerconsideredasthemostimportantfactorwhiledoingtranslationactivityandfunctionalismgraduallygainedgreatimportance.Thus,functionalequivalencefinallycameintobeingandhasbeenplayingavitalroleinthetranslationfield.Afamousscholar,Tatilon,basingonNida'sideaoffunctionalequivalence,pointsoutfourfundamentalfunctionsofadvertisingtexts,namely,identifyingfunction,laudatoryfunction,ludicfunctionandmnemonicfunctionaswell.Hethinksthatthefunctionmodelshouldontheonehand,taketargettextintoconsiderationandontheotherhand,giveimportancetosourcelanguage.AccordingtoGuidere,atranslationversionshouldkeepacertainequivalencebetweentheoriginaltextandthetargettexttoensuretheeffectivenesssothatthereceptorscanunderstand.However,theequivalenceshouldnotbelimitedtothelexicallevelandshouldnotbeloyaltothesourcelanguageonly.Atranslationversionmustbeeffectiveenoughtodeliverinformationandensurethegoodcommunicationfortheproducersandtheconsumers.Inthatregards,Guidereputsforwardseveralmethodstoanalyzethetranslationofadvertisementswhichreferstosemanticway,communicativewayandrhetoricalway.InChina,advertisingtranslationbecameahottopicamongscholarsinthe1990s.ItismainlycomposedofthreepartswhichreferstothestudyonEnglishadvertising,themethodsofadvertisingtranslationandtheargumentaboutwhichtheoryisthemostsuitableandeffectivetoguidethetranslationofadvertisements.Inthepast,advertisingtranslationwasdeeplyinfluencedbytheequivalence-orientedtheorywhichhasitsownshortcomings.Inaccordancewiththetraditionalpointofview,translationisdefinedasafaithfulreproductionofthesourcelanguagebothinformandincontentwhichturnsouttobeimperfect.Equivalenceisconsideredasacorefactoroftranslationtheory,butacompeteandtotalequivalenceisimpossibletobeobtained.Therefore,onemusttakeaflexibleattitudetowardadvertisingtranslation,givingfirstprioritytoeffectivenessandfunctionalism,thentakeequivalenceintoconsideration.Chapter3TheC-ETranslationofAdvertisementGuidedbyFunctionalEquivalenceThemainfigureofadvertisementcanbeseenintheprincipleofAIDAwhichistheabbreviationof"attention","interest","desire",and"action"respectively.ItisobvioustofindthattheAIDAprincipleaimsatattractingreaders'interestandattention,recallingtheirpursuingdesire,andfinallystimulatingthemtotakeactiontobuy.(Wells,Sandra&Burnett2006:102)3.1TheC-ETranslationofadvertisementsfromlexicalperspectiveBecauseofthespecialintentionofconvincingpotentialcustomerstoconsumeproductsorservices,thelexicalcharacterofadvertisementisquitedifferentfromthatofothertypesofwriting.Inadvertisement,someverbsandadjectivesarefrequentlyused,whichcanontheonehand,achievethepurposeofdeliveringinformation,andontheotherhand,stresstheexpressivenessofadvertisinglanguage.AlthoughadvertisementinChinadoesn'thavealonghistorycomparedwiththatinwesterncountries,itstillhasitsuniquecharactersamongwhichfour-charactercompoundscanbeconsideredasthemostdistinctive.Thefollowingaresometypicalexamples:(1)Chineseversion:滴滴香浓，意犹未尽。Englishversion:Goodtothelastdrop.ItisanadvertisementforNescafé.Afterreadingtheadvertisement,whatappearsbeforetheconsumersisacupofcoffeewithsogoodflavorthatpeoplecan'thelpdrinkingittothelastdrop.JustimaginewhocanresistNescaféafterreadingthisadvertisement.ItsEnglishversiontransmitsthefeelingtheoriginalversionimplies,thusmakingtheNescafébewelcomedbyallWesternpeople.Inthissense,itachievesthefunctionalequivalence.(2)TheChineseversion:优良的质量，优惠的价格，优质的服务。(“三优”牌家具）Thetranslatedversion:Unrivaledquality;Unbeatableprices;Unreservedservice.ThepatternofthisbrandisthreeU.Andintheoriginaladvertisement,thefirstcharactersofthesethreeshortsentencesaresame,theyareboth“优”.SothetranslationhasEnglishletter“U”andthemeaningofgood.Thisisasuccessfultranslationanditachievesthefunctionalequivalence.(3)TheChineseversion:食在广州.Thetranslatedversion:Eastorwest,theGuangzhoucuisineisthebest.TheChineseversionmeansthemostdeliciousfoodandthebestcuisineareinGuangzhou.ItiseasytofindthatthetranslationisanimitationoftheEnglishproverb,"Eastorwest,homeisbest".Itisasuccessfulrendition,becauseoftworeasons:first,thesuccessfulemploymentofparodymakestherenditionquiteeasytoreadandremember;second,ithasrevealedtheintendedmeaningofthesource,thushavingrealizedfunctionalequivalence.Whendoingadvertisingtranslationfromlexicalprospective,twopointsshouldbebeardinmind.Firstofall,areasonableuseofambiguityshouldbeconsidered.Ambiguityrefersto"alingualphenomenonwhereacertainlanguageoracertaindiscoursehastwoormoremeanings."Inadvertisingtranslation,ambiguityisatwo-endswordwhichwillattractconsumers'attentionifsensiblyusedandifnot,willcausealotoftroublesandmisunderstandings.Forexample,afamouscigaretteMoreputitsadvertisementas"I’mMoresatisfied."whichhastwomeanings.Foronething,itmeans"IamsatisfiedandIwantmore",andforanother,itmeans"IamsatisfiedwithMoreandIwantmoreMore".Bytranslatinginthisway,theproductsuccessfullyleavesadeepimpressiononthereadersandlettheconsumerscan'thelpconsideringtobuysuchaproduct.Inadditiontothat,advertisingtranslationshouldbeartheconsumersreactioninmindratherthantheform.Thepurposeoftranslationistorealizethegoalofpursuitandcommunication.DuetothedifferencebetweenChineseandEnglish,thespecificformmustbeneglectedsometimes.Forinstance,acelebratedbrandofshoeswhoseChineseversionis“穿金猴皮鞋，走金光大道”istranslatedas"WearGoldenMonkey,WearSuccess."Ifthetranslatorjusttranslatesthe“金光大道”into"GoldenRoad",thebuyerswillfeelconfused.Thereisalsoanotherexample,pleaselookatthefollowingstatement:ChineseVersion:随身携带,有备无患;随身携带,有惊无险。(速效救心丸)EnglishVersion1:Afriendinneedisafriendindeed.EnglishVersion2:Arescueinneedisarescueindeed.Version1directlyquotesaEnglishproverb"Afriendinneedisafriendindeed",whichdoesn'tseemtobelexicallyequivalenttothesourcetextbutrealizesthefunctionalequivalence.Version2makesalittlechangeonthebasisofversion1inwhichtheword"friend"isreplacedby"rescue".Asitknowntoallthatitisamedicineadvertisement,thisreplacementisabsolutelymuchbetterthanversion1becauseitfullyshowsthefunctionofthemedicine.3.2EnglishtranslationofChineseadvertisementsfromsyntacticalperspectiveWordsarecombinedintosyntaxtomaketheseparatewordsgainthespecificmeaningsinthesentence.Advertisementlanguage,differentfromothertypesoflanguage,isgenerallyconsideredtobeshort,brief,simplifiedandconcisesoastocatchtheconsumers'attentionatthefirstsight.However,duringtheprocessofChineseadvertisingtranslation,thebriefandconcisefeaturesareoftenignoredandlongsentencesarefrequentlyusedwhichtoaextent,reducestheeffectivenessofadvertising.Generallyspeaking,thesyntacticfeaturescanbeconcludedasthefollowing:first,frequentuseofsimplesentences;second,frequentuseofinterrogativeandimperativesentences;third,cleveruseofdisjunctiveclause;andthelastoneis,frequentuseofellipticalsentences.Thefollowingareseveralexamplestoattesttheaforesaidissues.1)“皇冠”牌手，日日创新，步步领先，年年夺冠。The"Crown"brandwatchbringsforthnewideaseveryday,takestheleadeverystep,andcarriesoffthefirstprizeeveryyear.2)人无我有，人有我新，人新我优。Wehavewhatothershaven't;oursarenewerthanthesimilaritemofothers;oursaresuperiortothesimilarnewitemsofothers.Theabovetwoadvertisements,whenreadbyChinese,willbyallmeansbeconsideredassplendidandexcellent.However,itisinfacttoolengthyfromtheaspectoftheEnglishsentencestructureandwillnotbewellacceptedbythosewesterners.Therefore,theChineseversionsaboveshouldbechangedrespectivelyasfollows:(1)Endlessendeavortomakeinnovation,persistentpursuittobethebest,the“Crown”watch,youridealchoice.(2)Wearealwaysaheadofothers!Inthesuggestedtranslationscreatedbytheauthor,notonlytheconcisenessofthesyntacticfeatureisretained,butalsothefeaturesoftheproductsarewellembodiedandstronglyhighlighted.Throughslightadaptation,bothlinguisticfeaturesandculturalpreferenceoftheadvertisementsarepresentedtothetargetreader.ThefollowingaretwogoodexamplesreflectingatransmissionfromChinesetoEnglishfromsyntacticperspective.1)Theoriginalversion:方寸之间，深情无限。-----《集邮杂志》Thetranslatedversion:Onthesetinypostagestamps,Philatelists'friendship"franks".Thesourcelanguagehastheellipticalmessages.Stampdoesnotappeardirectly.Ittransmitstheellipticalmeaningofthestamptothereaders.SoThetranslationshouldillustratewhatis“方寸”,and“深情”meanswhichkindofemotionis.Thetranslationrhymeneatly.Itmakesappropriateadaptationintheword“frank”andspreadsitsmeaning.Theoriginalmeaningisputtingastampontheenvelope.Heremeansputthefriendshipamongthefansonastamp.Thetranslationisasuccessfulonetoachievethefunctionalequivalence.2)Theoriginalversion:接天下客，送万里情。Thetranslatedversion:Readytomeetguestsfromallovertheworld,Readytospeedthemontheirway.ThisisanadvertisementforonecompanyofTianjin.ButthetranslationisnotacceptabletoEnglishaudience.Itusesthewords"guests","them"and"their"whichmaketheaudiencefeelthatthereisawidecommunicativegapbetweenthecompanyandtheconsumers.InEnglishadvertising,thesecondpersonalpronounsYOUandYOURareoftenused.Theyhaveastrongpersuasiveforceandaremoreacceptabletotheaudience.Theuseofthesewordscanshortenthedistancebetweenthecompanyandtheconsumerspsychologicallyandstresstheaudience'sindividualcharacter.Therefore,itisbettertochangethesewordsinto"you"and"your".Thenthetranslationshouldbe:ReadytomeetyoufromallovertheworldReadytospeedyouonyourway.3.3EnglishtranslationofChineseadvertisementsfromrhetoricalperspectiveEdwardP.J.Corbetthaseverdefinedtherhetoricinthisway:Rhetoricistheartorthedisciplinethatappealswiththeuseofdiscourse,eitherspokenorwritten,toinformorpersuadeormoveanaudience,whetherthataudienceismadeupofasinglepersonoragroupofpersons(1971:3).Itgoeswithoutsayingthatitisamixtureofliterature，aesthetics，psychology,marketingandrhetoric.Moreoftenthannot,agoodadvertisementwhichusesrhetoricaldevicescangivetheconsumeradeepimpressionoftheproductsandenhancethesenseofbeautyofthelanguages.Accordingly,advertisersoftenuseplentyofrhetoricaldevicestoimprovethereadabilityandmotivatepeopletotakeactionatlast.Advertisingisrhetorical.Itestablishesanethosfortheproduct,thecompanyortheservice;itappealstotheemotionsoftheconsumer:anditarguesforthepurchaseoftheproductorserviceinavarietyofways.Asaconsequence,intheadvertisementtranslation,peoplemayusesomefiguresofspeechwidelytomaketheadvertisinglanguagevividand1ively.Forinstance:(1)不要用这种眼光看我!我不过是为你们多加了两排座位!(玉柴汽车加长型FromModemAdvertising)Don'tlookatmethisway.Ijusthavealongerfigurethantheothers.Don'tlookatmethisway.Ijusthavemorehumpsthantheothers.(2)美女话西施，美酒推灵芝。((张裕特制灵芝酒广告FromChinaDaily)AstheEmPeror'sfavorite,Xishiwasthemostbeautifulofwomen,soisLingzhiMedicatedLiquorthemostbeautifulwines.(3)桂龙咳喘宁，“咳”不容缓。Guilongcoughprevention,awonderdrugforstoppingcoughing.TheabovethreeChinese-Englishadvertisement,whentakerhetoricaldevicesintoconsideration,arebyallmeansexcellenttranslationversionbecauseforonething,theysuccessfullydelivertheveryspiritoftheadvertisement,andforanother,theythoroughlysymboltherhetoricalmethods.Ofwhich,example(1)keepsthevividnessofthesourcetextandrealizetheeffectivenessofthetargettextthroughmanipulationofrhetoricaldevicessimilartothesourcetext.Thetranslationofexample(2)and(3)appliesthetargetlanguageorientedprincipleandadoptsthestrategyofinterpretationtocertaindegree,clearlyconveyingtheinformationandachievingthefunctionofthesourcetext.3.4EnglishtranslationofChineseadvertisementsfromtextualperspectiveGenerallyspeaking,advertisingtextisanexplanationtotheheadlineandaspecificdescriptionoftheadvertisedproductorservice.Atthesametime,thethemeoftheadvertisementiscompletelyreflectedbytheadvertisingtext.Sincetheheadlinehascaughtconsumers'attention,whetherconsumerswouldtakeactionornotdependsonthepersuasivenessofadvertisingtexts.Becauseofthegreatsignificanceofadvertisingtexts,translatorsshouldtrytheirbesttoachievethefunctionalequivalenceintranslatingadvertisingtexts.Inwhatfollows,theauthorwouldtakeadvantageofseveralexamplestoillustratehowequivalencebeachievedintranslatingadvertisingtexts.Intermsoftextstructure,advertisementscanbedividedintostraight-linecopy,questioncopy,narrativec