Considerations Of Cultural Influence On Chinese And English Brand Name Translation

Nowadays, the international character of the brand name is becoming more and more notable with the continual increase of the internationally economic exchange. Brand name will be spread with the expanding of commodity exchange, as not only the symbol of the commodity and its reputation, but also an important window to show the national culture to the other countries. Therefore, the translated brand name, as the sign of the commodity in the foreign market, should transfer both the information concerning the characteristics or functions of the commodity and its cultural connotation. This requires the translators to have a good command of the cultural differences between China and western countries to make sure the translated brand name are welcome in the foreign market.Brand name translation is a very complicated process. It covers linguistics, translation principles, aesthetics, intercultural communication, marketing, advertising, consumer psychology, etc. Each of these subjects allows no negligence in the process of translating. This requires the brand name translator to not only regard the brand name translation as one kind of commercial activity, but also know clearly the cultural similarities and differences between country of origin and target country. From one language to the other, the translator should keep the essence of the original brand name, while making the translated name accord with the culture of the consumers in the foreign market. That is to say, brand name translation means not only the transfer between two languages but also the transfer between two cultures.When translating brand names, translator can translate them by adopting their equivalents, similar expressions, or creating or coining words according to their form, sound or connotation in the target language with the help of conventional translation theories. If brand name translation is like this, as long as translators know two languages very well, they can finish this work. In fact, brand name translation is largely influenced by culture. However, a translated brand name, which is perfect meaningfully, may not be accepted by the target consumers due to cultural differences. And many examples prove that neglecting cultural differences can bring barriers for the promotion and expansion of products in the foreign market. This makes the study of this paper meaningful.From the aspect of cultural differences, this paper analyzes the factors of cultural differences between China and western countries, discusses the cultural influence on Chinese and English brand name translation by many instances, and finally introduces some suggestions for brand name translation on the basis of conventional translation theories.This paper proceeds as follow.To begin with, this paper introduces the purpose and value of this study, literature review and the organization of this paper.In Chapter Two, this paper mainly analyzes the brand name, including its definition, history, classification, characteristics and functions.Chapter Three demonstrates culture in detail. Besides the introduction of the concept of culture and its five elements—history, religion, values, social organizations and language, this chapter focuses on the cultural influence on Chinese and English brand name translation and problems caused by lacking related cultural knowledge. This chapter analyzes the causes of cultural difference and its influence on brand name translation from the following six aspects:connotation, geographical allocations, color, numeral, religion and language. The problems mainly includes: first, failing to pay attention to the words with different associations under different cultural background; second, neglecting consumers'psychology; third, violating the habitual use of target language; fourth, losing original meaning; Last, but not the least, neglecting politics.Because China and western countries live in different parts of the earth, they are different from each other in geographical conditions, traditional habits, customs, thinking patterns, religious beliefs, historical evolution and political and economical systems and so forth. Consequently, the oriental and the occidental have different cultures. The influence of cultural differences on Chinese and English brand name translation mainly results from different or even opposite connotations, preferences, religious taboos and habitual use of languages.Brand name translation, as a sub-field of translation, not only means a conversion process of languages, but also concerns the transfer of cultures. During the process of brand name translation, translators always encounter difficulties caused by the above-mentioned cultural differences. If translators cannot deal with these difficulties well, the consumers in the target market will easily misunderstand the connotative meanings of the brand names. On the contrary, effective brand name translation can improve communication and understanding between consumers and manufacturers. At the same time, brand name translation can enrich our culture. So we can conclude that successful brand name translation plays a very important role for the product to expand in the foreign market and improve cross-cultural economic communication. This fully reflects the necessity and importance of brand name translation.In order to achieve successful brand name translation, Chapter Four focuses on brand name translation. This chapter is developed as follows:Section 1 shows the importance of brand name translation. Section 2 reviews the conventional translation theories that brand name translators should know well. These theories consists of literal translation, liberal translation, transliteration, the combination of transliteration, literal and liberal translation and zero translation, which are the basis of any kinds of translation. As the traditional translation techniques are not good enough to render a brand name properly, the translator has to be imaginative and creative in dealing with the source language and target language. So there should be some principles to follow to achieve imaginative and creative translation. Section 3 describes the principles of brand name translation, such as the principle of easy pronunciation and remembrance, the principle of avoiding confusing, the principle of respecting the target consumer's psychology and the principle of differentiating target consumers. Section 4 gives the criteria of brand name translation:(1) whether the brand name is informative to imply what the product is; (2) whether the brand name is able to reveal the product's unique merits; (3) whether the brand name is proficient in arousing people's desire to possess the products; (4) whether the brand name is capable of impressing people from multi-aspects so as to meet demands from various consumers. Section 5 is about the factors for the success and failure of brand name translation, summarized by the author based on some typical examples. Section 6 proposes some suggestions for brand name translation.The brand name translation such a very complicate procedure that translators often encounter problems that the present strategies cannot deal with. What the translators should do is to do more practice and grasp the ultimate aims of the brand name translation.Conclusion is made in Chapter Five.The purpose of the study is to help brand name translators realize the large cultural influence on Chinese-English brand name translation and avoid misunderstanding caused by cultural differences. However, it must be pointed out that there are some limitations in the paper due to limited knowledge of the author and the material available. Though this thesis is far from being comprehensive and perfect, the author hopes that it might encourage those who are interested in brand name translation to make further studies in this field and contribute a bit to brand name translation.