Translation Of Names Of Trademarks Between English And Chinese:a Perspective Of Functionalist Approaches

A trademark leaves the first impression of the product or the company it represents to consumers. Many consumers rely on trademarks to identify the quality of the goods they buy. Therefore, the translation of names of trademarks between English and Chinese is of extreme importance for enterprises engaging in exploring the international market. A good translation work of the name of a trademark can not only protect interests of companies, but also foster good brand image and promote sales of products. This thesis focuses on translation of names of trademarks between English and Chinese, aiming to sort out the principles and techniques that should be applied to the translating process and provide some valuable advices for translators.The thesis consists of6chapters. The first chapter is an introduction to the study, covering the background, significance, object, methods and structure of the research. The second chapter is the literature review, which explores different perspectives and research results of Chinese experts in definition, principles and techniques of translation of names of trademarks. The third chapter gives an overview of Functionalist Approaches, and explores the reasonableness of applying Functionalist Approaches to translation of names of trademarks.Chapter4and Chapter5are the most important part of the study. Chapter4conducts a comparative study between names of trademarks in Chinese and English, mainly taking the trademarks from the lists of "2011World Top100Brands","Top500most valuable Chinese brands2011" and "Chinese Well-Known Trademarks" as samples. Through the comparative study, we find that trademarks both in Chinese and in English share common expected functions:to distinguish products, make product image and promote sales. Besides, they also share some common naming principles, including ensuring uniqueness, simplicity and aesthetics of the names. Meanwhile, names of trademarks in Chinese and in English differ from each other in terms of categories of words, phonetics and cultural meaning.In Chapter5, translation principles and techniques are illustrated under the guidance of Functionalist Approaches. The two translation principles are:1) focus on the information of the products which the trademarks represent;2) be target audience-oriented, which means translation works should be carefully examined in the target language and target culture. Guided by these principles, the following common techniques are summarized:1transliteration;2) literal translation;3) combination of transliteration and literal translation;4) adjustment, which includes paraphrase and non-translation. The last chapter is a conclusion of the thesis.