A Study Of Foreign Automobile Brand Name Translation From The Perspective Of Skopostheorie

With globalization and market internationalization, an increasing number ofproducts are entering the international market. In China, where auto industry isflourishing, automobiles from other countries are still the mainstream of China’s autoindustry. Naming of automobiles and their translated names in Chinese are emergingas a special cultural phenomenon. As for how to realize the maximum publicity andpromotion of products, brand translation plays a crucial practical role. Translation ofauto brand names is not a simple conversion of words but an inter-linguisticcommunication between different cultures, which is a painstaking re-creation process.Whether the brand of a commodity can be interesting and highlights its characteristicsmay have an influence on consumers, and a good brand may bring a superior place fora commodity in the increasingly competitive market and help an enterprise establish agood image. A successful translated brand name is an important condition forcommodities of a company to smoothly enter the international market.In the past, experts and scholars have made many researches on brand translationand had great achievements. Auto industry is growing strong only in recent years, sothere are not many researches on translation of auto brand words. Moreover, mostsuch researches remain on the level of case analysis and there is lack of systematicsummary. In this thesis, qualitative analysis on origins of auto brand names,translation principles and translation techniques of auto brand names are made basedon quantitative analysis. A combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis is theinnovation and breakthrough point of this thesis.This thesis is comprised of five chapters. The first chapter is introduction, whichmainly introduces the research background, purpose and significance of this researchsubject and framework of this thesis. Firstly, a description of the research backgroundof brand translation is given, while achievements and shortcomings are pointed out.Then the entry point of this research subject and its meaning are put forward. At last,the frame structure of this thesis is clearly explained.A detailed introduction to auto brands is provided in the second chapter. Firstly, definition of brand is introduced. Brand is the mark of a commodity, which is used byproducers and operators to distinguish their products and services from thoseproduced and supplied by others. Functions of auto brands are described next, namelyinformation function, publicity function and aesthetic function. Then, a description ofthe three development stages of brand translation is given. In addition, a briefdescription is given to describe the current situation of researches on translation ofbrand words at home and abroad. Methods for translation of auto brand names are ahot topic for researches on brand name translation in recent years. Through literaturereview, theories and methods for translation of auto brand names at home and abroadare sorted out.The third chapter is the research design of this thesis. This research subject isabout the research on translating foreign auto brands into Chinese under the guidanceof Skopostheorie proposed by school of functionalism in Germany. As the theoreticalsupport for brand translation, Skopostheorie provides a great perspective for brandtranslation methods and principles. Skopostheorie put forward by Hans Vermeer in1978emphasized functions and purposes of translated texts and provided a new viewon traditional faithfulness to the original texts, which believes that if changes in theoriginal texts in translation process can realize the identical purposes of the originaltexts, such translation can be viewed as faithful and great. Translated brand namesalso have cultural specificity in different cultural context. Translators must understandthe context in which a new brand name will be used, its specific purposes and thesituation of target readers in order to realize the purpose of sales promotion. In thischapter, definition of Skopostheorie and its development are introduced firstly andthen three rules of Skopostheorie are introduced, namely Skopos rule, coherence ruleand fidelity rule. These three rules occupy different positions in Skopostheorie.Skopos rule is the primary one and the other two are subordinate to it. In translationpractice, when there are conflicts between Skopos rule and the other two principles,translators should follow Skopos rule first. In addition, the research questions,research instruments, data collection and research methods are expoundedrespectively in the chapter. There are three major research questions in this researchsubject: origins of auto brand names, translation principles and translation techniquesin the process of translating foreign auto brands into Chinese. Manual collection andanalysis are mainly adopted as research instruments. Books, journals and websites are the main channels of data collection. Combination of quantitative and qualitativeanalysis is the main research method.In the fourth chapter, quantitative and qualitative research on the origins of autobrand names, translation principles and translation strategies in the process oftranslating auto brands into Chinese are made based on the research design in thethird chapter. Firstly, through a quantitative research on129auto brands, origins ofauto brand names are analyzed, and those translation principles and translationstrategies which play a role in the process of translating auto brands into Chinese areobtained and the proportion of each origin and translation strategy is calculated. Thesedata indicate that which translation principles and translation strategies are mainlyconsidered and adopted by translators in practical auto brand translation. Thenanalysis and research on the major origins of auto brands, principles and strategies forauto brand translation are made through qualitative analysis on specific cases, throughwhich specific discussion and analysis on these origins, translation principles andstrategies are made clearly. Research in this chapter indicates that based on culturalorigin, the formation of foreign auto brand words can be generally categorized asfollows: Originating from people’s names of historical significance; originating fromfamous works and masterpieces; originating from local national characteristics andhistory; originating from myths and legends; originating from words that can generatehappy associations; originating from names of scenic spots; originating fromgeographic and natural phenomena; and originating from creative words or inventedwords. In the process of translation, major principles need to be followed, namely thata translated name should reflect the characteristics and functions of a commodity asmuch as possible; translated name should be brief, memorable and innovative; andcultural factor needs to be considered. In addition, translation strategies adopted intranslation include transliteration, literal translation, free translation, transliterationplus free translation and abbreviation.The fifth chapter is the ending part of this thesis, which makes a summary on themajor findings and some limitations of this research. Origins of auto brand names,translation principles and translation strategies in the translation of foreign autobrands are obtained through the method of combining quantitative research withqualitative research. Specific research and analysis indicate how these origins,principles and strategies influence translation process. These findings may provide some inspiration and references for translators. Finally, some limitations of thisresearch are pointed out.This thesis includes only the author’s limited views, which aims to induce othersto put forward more valuable views. It is hoped that this thesis may provide someinspiration for the future development of researches on auto brand translation.