Advertisement Translation from the Perspective of Sociolinguistics

刘智慧

【Abstract】：Over the last decades，advertisement has become an important part of our daily life.It is quite different from other types of texts，because its  primary function and purpose is to persuade consumers to buy the products.As a mean of propaganda， it has its unique linguistic features.The main task of this paper is to analyze the linguistic characteristics of advertising language and the strategies in advertisement translation from the perspective of sociolinguistics.

【Key words】： Sociolinguistics; advertisement translation;language

1 . Sociolinguistics

As a branch of linguistics， sociolinguistics studies about language and the society. As we all know， the society has great impacts on the language we use， no matter in daily life or in a specific field， advertising language is no exception. To a large extent， the language used in commercial advertisements are influenced by social factors， including the target consumers educational background， occupation， age， gender， etc. When we are trying to translate a certain advertisement into another language， we are to take these social factors into consideration， thus the connotation can be grasped by the audience.

1.1 Sociolinguistics

Language works as one of the most important instrument of social interaction. Sociolinguistics is a newly developing discipline in linguistics. Its goal is to explore the nature of language variation and language use among a variety of speech community in different social situations.It is the study of language in relation to society.

1.2 Language Variation

A single speaker uses different linguistic forms in different situations，and different speakers of a language express the same meaning using different forms.Variability is inherent in human language.Variation in language use among speakers or group of speakers is a principle concern in sociolinguistics.Regional dialects and social dialects are two forms of language variation.The former refers to a language that is spoken by people in a particular region，for instance，Hebei dialect and Cantonese are very much different.People from the two respective provinces have difficulties understanding each other.Accent is the most distinguishable feature of a regional dialect is .The later is also called sociolects，whichs are varieties of language used by people belonging to particular social classes.Social variations are caused by education background，class，occupation，age， gender， and so on.Take age for example.Young people tend to be more open-minded than the older generation in their speech habits，and feel more at home using new words like“浮云”，“童鞋”，“88（bye bye）”.

2. Sociolinguistic Characteristics of Advertising Language

When we refer to the advertisement，we ought to know what advertisement means. It is originated from the Latin word “advertere” which means “a mean draws peoples attention to something and introduces people toward a particular direction.” Because of its specific purpose advertisement is not the same with other style of texts.This part is concerned with the functions and the sociolinguistic features of advertising language.

2.1 Functions of Advertising Language

Advertising language is distinctive.And it is different from the language we use in daily life，because it has specific functions.Scholars mention at least three functions of advertising language.They are the informative function，the persuasive function and the reflective function.The informative function is the primary function of advertising language，which is used to  introduce a new product to the target audience.The persuasive function is the predominant function which urges people to buy the product.The reflective function simply means that advertisements reflect certain aspects of that societys values.Some might say that the best way to discover the lifestyles of young people in mainland China is to read several commercial advertisements whose target consumers are the youth.

2.2 Sociolinguistic Characteristics of Advertising Language

Advertising language plays an important role in social culture.To produce a successful advertisement，one should consider a great deal of social factors that may have impacts on the effects.This part is about to discuss the linguistics characteristics of the language used in advertisements from five perspectives，which are  social reality，gender，age，class and region.

Language is a mirror of society，that is to say， it reflects some social realities. The advertising language in particular reflects the social realities in different times.In the 1990s，there are famous advertisements known to every household，such as “海爾，中國造！”. It reflects the fact that the society is making efforts to promote domestic products by spurring the nationalism spirit in customers. In contrast， currently， the language used in commercial advertisements tend to impress the audience with exoticness. We can see this notable phenomenon in many real estate advertisements，such as“绿地崴廉公寓：金桥40万平方米德国音乐艺术生活”， “阳光国际公寓：阳光金桥来自纽约的生活蓝本”. Perhaps it is because， words associated with a foreign metropolis are more impressive in consumers eyes.

Men and women are different in various aspects. They have differences in language use and in appreciating advertising language. While women tend to be emotional， men are rational. Therefore the language used in products made for men should use terms or data to be persuasive. Whats more，it should be simple as well. For example， “精于心，簡于形”. It is simple，and the meaning is easy to grasp. It simply tells the audience that Phillip razor is a product which has good quality and beautiful shape. In contrast，women are more sensitive，and they can be easily influenced by the environment.As a result，female products usually employ a lot of adjectives and nouns，e.g “我永遠不会忘记她的吻，她的微笑，她的香水”（chanel no.5）.The language used in this advertisement can arouse womens imagination and the urge to have the product.

The sociolinguists believe that the language people use is influenced by their age. People of different age have distinct differences in their language. Thus， in order to make the products appealing， the advertisement producer ought to take the consumers linguistic features into consideration， especially those aiming at consumers of a certain age.When the audience are kids，the language should be interesting and vivid. “左刷刷，右刷刷，上上下下，蛀牙不怕，双重防蛀，牙齿更坚固”， “怕蛀牙，用青蛙王子”. The language in this advertisement is easy for little children to comprehend，and the rhyme makes it interesting.While for adolescents，who are eager to show their personalities and self-value，the advertisement ”我的地盘我做主” may be more appropriate.

People from different regions may speak different dialects.There exist dialects in language，so is the same with the advertising language.Take the following two sentences as example."好巴适，小小个，好巴适，金黄色，好巴适，美丽又独特，豆腐干就是好巴适”，“有病唔使怕.雨绵绵，小穿衣（呀！），快食保济丸”.The first one uses Sichuan dialect，and the second one uses Cantonese.The advantage of using dialects in advertisements is that it makes it easier for the audience who speak this dialect to recognize and accept the product.

Finally，each product targets at a certain group of customer. This also affects the language in advertisement.If a product aims at common people，it is often straightforward，e.g “海飞丝：头屑去无踪，秀发更出众”.If a product aims at a specific group of consumer，it often uses terms which are not so easy for common people to understand，in order to emphasize its unique features and advantages，e.g，“免疫磁性技术”，“上皮循环细胞” in an advertisement for medical devices..

3. Strategies of Advertisement Translation

Advertisement is an effective way in promoting the sale of products.Choosing proper strategies when translate an advertisement into another language has great effect on its success.An well translated advertisement can attract consumers  attention and urge them to buy the product.Literal translation and free translation as two basic strategies，when employing the them in translating，we should also consider the influence of social factors in the language.

3.1 literal translation

Literal translation is also called word-for-word translation.A translator who wants to reproduce the ideas and writing style of the original work is inclined to adopt literal translation.In this way，the translation can also keep the  rhetorical devices and sentence structures of the original text.Here are three examples：

To me，the past is black and white，but the future is always color.对我而言，过去平淡无奇;而未来，却是绚烂缤纷.

拥有了力莱纤维，就拥有了最优美舒适的丝袜. Lilion，the finest yarn that makes your stockings look beautiful and feel comfortable.

舒膚佳：促进健康为全家.Safeguard， keep dotors afar.

Obviously，the translators employ literal translation，for they do not change the form of the original sentence.The first advertisement is for liquor.The target audience are young people，who have many expectations for the future.The words “未来”，”绚烂”，”缤纷” can arouse their positive imagination，thus can easily attract their attention.The second one is for stocking.Stockings are made for women，so the target customer are female.The translation uses intensifier and adjectives to make the product appealing.The last one is for soap，and soaps are often bought by housewives who care about the wellbeing of the whole family.The translation “keep doctor afar” shows that by using Safeguard soap，the whole family can keep healthy.

3.2 Free translation

Free translation concentrates on the communicative meaning of the text and tries to reproduce the genetic meaning in another form of the target text.That is to say，the translation does not reflect the form of the original，it reproduces the content of it.Here are some examples：

Philips：Sense and simplicity 飛利浦：精于心，简于形.

HSBC：the world's local bank.  汇丰银行：环球理财，当地智慧.

Come to where the flavor is. Marlboro Country. 光临风韵之境——万宝路世界.

Apparently，the translations of the three advertisements do not comply to its original form，so they are free translation.The first one is for razor.We know that razors are mainly used by men，so the language is supposed to be straightforward and meaningful.There are only six characters in the translation，but it is enough to tell the audience the key information that the razor is powerful with a good shape.The second one is for bank.Normally，customers who are interested in wealth management are well-educated，possess active thinking and broad vision.The words like “环球” and “智慧” can attract their attention.The last one is for cigarette. The target customer are adventurous men with masculinity.The translation uses elegant language，expressing the idea of a free and easy life style.

4. Conclusion

There is no doubt that language and society are closely related.Sociolinguistics is the study of this relationship.Sociolinguists believe that social factor such as class，gender，age and education background have great impacts on the language people use.Nowadays，advertisement as a mean of propaganda plays a more and more important role in society.And the advertising language has its own linguistic features which are also influenced by the above social factors. When dealing with advertisement translation，these factors should not be left out. Based on the above analysis，we can see that applying sociolinguistics to advertisement translation offers a new perspective for advertisement translation， understanding the advertisers real purpose.

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