Analysis of English Advertisements Translation from the Perspective of Translation Ethics

李倩

School of Foreign Languages and Literature， Tianjin University

摘 要：This paper standing on the translation ethics， analyzes the differences in language， communication and culture level when translating English slogan， and proposes such translation methods as foreignization， addition and omission， and non-translation.

關键词：translation ethics； English advertisements； foreignization； addition and omission； non-translation

Introduction

In 1984， Antoine Berman first brought up with the concept of translation ethics as a research direction of translation studies （Wang Dazhi 2012： 21）. As for Chinese study on it， Lv Jun and Hou Xiangqun put forward that “translation activities are social practical activities of intercultural communication” （Lv Jun and Hou Xiangqun 2006： 248）.

English advertising has been an important， nevertheless， there are few studies on its translation from the point of view of translation ethics. In a bid to enhance translation quality， this paper explores English and Chinese advertisements differences in different level from two aspects， trying to provide four possible approaches of English advertising translation from the perspective of ethics of translation.

Chapter 1 English and Chinese advertisements differences in different levels

English and Chinese belong to different language families. From a macro view， English is a synthetic language and Chinese is an analytic language. As a result， English slogans often take good advantage of voice and tense， or inflections of words to express a special meaning. From a microscopic point of view， English is a kind of alphabetic writing， so English slogans prefer a rhetoric device of rhyme by putting together the words that have identical or similar sound to achieve an excellent effect in voice and affection. But Chinese is an imagery language， and its characters are pictograph， ideograph and phonogram. Henceforth， Chinese slogans often use such rhetoric devices as pun and parody.

Verbal communication between East and West are different. Westerners usually use direct， self-centered communicative styles， which are reflected in English advertising words， sentence patterns and rhetoric. M&Ms chocolate said M&Ms melts in your mouth， not in your hand. It squarely cast light on the biggest advantage of this product， inspiring peoples curiosity and motivating their desire to buy it. Chinese people are often prone to indirect and implicit communication style. Sometimes， a merchant doesnt lay emphasis on the quality and performance of their products， instead of employing indirect and roundabout way to make a contrast.

Chapter 2 English Advertisements Translation from the Perspective of Ethics of Translation

2.1 Foreignizations Priority Over Domestication

Domestication attaches importance to adapting to the practical condition. One purpose of translation is to create effective and successful intercultural communication， and to transplant the source culture into the target culture to eliminate cultural barriers. For instance， Seven-ups advertisement Fresh-up with Seven-up.提神醒腦，喝七喜， is clearly a habitual statement to serve Chinese consumers.

Relatively speaking， foreignization highlights that the language characteristics and the cultural background of the source language should be preserved as much as possible， so that readers of the target language will feel the differences and accept them， consequently enriching and refining the target language.

2.2 Creative Translation with Moderation on Adding and Omitting

The Chinese translation of English advertisements is not a simple conversion at the language level. John Dryden compared translating to “dancing on ropes with fettered legs” （Dryden 1900： 228）. Under the premise of not changing the original meaning， translators should try to accurately present the informative function and cultural and ideological connotation delivered by the original ad to the audience consumers. This translation method is a kind of re-creation. In this regard， the translation of some cosmetic brand names is extremely brilliant. For instance， Origins悦木之源， while retaining the original intention， indicates its materials are green and natural， adding a unique beauty of the makeup brand.

2.3 Reasonable Use of Transliteration and Non-translation

Transliteration plays a decisive role in the translation of English advertising for there are such proper nouns as names of people， places and brands in English slogans seeking no semantic equivalent in Chinese， so transliteration can be necessary. For example， the car brand Benzs translation as 奔驰 is close to the original sound and reflects the outstanding characteristics of the car （in Chinese it refers to a car running fast）.

In effect， language is an open system. With the development of economy， new things and new products are constantly springing up， and new words will continue to flow in. For example， a red bean pie is translated into 红豆派. In dictionary， pie is interpreted complicatedly， but here it is transliterated as 派.

Conclusion

This paper analyzes the Chinese translation of English advertising， and puts forward a train of translation methods and ideas. It believes that no matter what type it is， the translation should be loyal to the original text， to the original author， and to the readers. In the process of translating English slogans into Chinese， the appropriate translation method shall be applied under the guidance of translation ethics.

References

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