广告英语翻译中的错误研究.doc

常熟理工学院毕业论文 本科毕业设计（论文） 题 目 广告英语翻译中的错误研究 系（院） 外国语学院 年 级 2006级 专 业 英语（师范） 班 级 0301062 学 号 030106232 学生姓名 朱慧 指导教师 徐青根 职 称 教授 论文提交日期 2010-5-18 常熟理工学院本科毕业设计(论文)诚信承诺书本人郑重声明： 所呈交的本科毕业设计(论文)，是本人在导师的指导下，独立进行研究工作所取得的成果。除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本论文不含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的作品成果。对本文的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体，均已在文中以明确方式标明。本人完全意识到本声明的法律结果由本人承担。本人签名： 朱慧 日期：2010-5-18常熟理工学院本科毕业设计(论文)使用授权说明本人完全了解常熟理工学院有关收集、保留和使用毕业设计(论文)的规定，即：本科生在校期间进行毕业设计(论文)工作的知识产权单位属常熟理工学院。学校有权保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和电子版，允许毕业设计(论文)被查阅和借阅；学校可以将毕业设计(论文)的全部或部分内容编入有关数据库进行检索，可以采用影印、缩印或扫描等复制手段保存、汇编毕业设计（论文），并且本人电子文档和纸质论文的内容相一致。保密的毕业设计(论文)在解密后遵守此规定。本人签名： 朱慧 日期：2010-5-18导师签名： 徐青根 日期：2010-5-18摘 要广告翻译行业尽管有些翻译的佳作，但随着广告的发展，广告翻译中的各类错误充斥于在广告翻译作品中。许多关于广告翻译的文章都是赏析其成功案例的，而本文主要对一些失败案例进行解析。首先介绍了中国广告翻译行业的发展状况与背景。其次把搜集来的失败案例系统的分为三个层次：语法错误，文化层次方面的错误以及翻译后美感的缺失这三个层次。第三部分提出了提高广告翻译的方法：译者要了解中外文化的差异，提高中英文水平等等。最后一部分在此基础上总结了全文。这篇文章并非为嘲笑广告翻译中的各种不同层次的错误而作，而是分析改正错误，以便提高广告翻译的质量。关键词：广告翻译，错误，较好版本，改进方法ABSTRACTA Study of Mistakes in Advertisement TranslationsZhu HuiWith the development of advertisement translation, many successful works of advertisement translations are created. Most articles have complimented those first-class works. However, this thesis argues from an opposite aspect. It focuses on the mistakes and failure of many translations collected from books, magazines and pubic signs. The first chapter of this thesis has to do with the social background of the fast development of advertisement translation in China. The second chapter deals with all sorts of mistakes and failures and categorizes them into three levels: grammatical mistakes, cultural mistakes and lacking in sense of beauty in advertisement translation. The third chapter is related to the methods for translators to improve the quality of translation. This thesis is not to criticize nor laugh at those mistakes but to research and correct these mistakes for fear that other advertisement translators make the same mistakes. This will help improve reputation of companies among consumers.Keywords: Advertisement translation, Mistakes, Better version, Method of improvement TABLE OF CONTENTS摘 要ivABSTRACTvTABLE OF CONTENTSviChapter One Introduction11.1 The social background and development of advertisement translation in China11.2 Literature review: research done in this field11.3 Purpose of this paper2Chapter Two: Three Levels Of Mistakes32.1 Grammatical levels of mistakes32.1.1 Spelling mistakes32.1.2 Vocabulary mistakes32.1.3 Sentence mistakes42.2 Cultural level mistakes52.2.1 Mistakes caused by differences in aesthetic ideas52.2.2 Mistakes caused by value differences52.2.3 Mistakes caused by differences in customs62.2.4 Mistakes caused by political system differences62.3 The lack of a sense of beauty in advertisement translations72.3.1 Lacking appealing force in translations72.3.2 Lack of Commercial sense in translations8Chapter Three Three Ways to Deal with the Problems103.1. Strengthening translators understanding of cultural differences103.1.1 Cross-cultural studies103.1.2 Studying the basic features of commercial English103.2 Improving a translators English and Chinese103.2.1 Reading more English originals103.2.2 Reading more classical Chinese11Chapter Four Conclusion12ACKNWLEGEMENTS13REFERENCES145Chapter One Introduction1.1 The social background and development of advertisement translation in China With the wave of economic globalization and Chinas constant communication with other countries, lots of international companies flood into Chinese market. At the same time, Chinese enterprises are also pursuing an edge into the international market. It is reported that the number of international companies in Shanghai will increase to more than six hundred and ten by the end of the International Expo. Additionally, the number of Chinese companies expanding overseas is increasing every year. Against this background, international companies are exerting both themselves and their products in a slew of advertisements in order to get their lions share of the market. Because of this, a great importance has been attached to the correct translations of advertisements. The accuracy of advertisement translations is indispensable to the effectiveness of advertisements. However, in sharp contrast to the prosperity of commerce development, the advertisement translation industry does not enjoy a good reputation for correct and effective translations. This is mainly owing to the low quality of translators working in the industry.1.2 Literature review: research done in this field Many papers and books are written to analyze the successful examples of advertisement translations, such as English Level through Ad-Reading, written by YanPing Zhou and Ma Yongtang discusses the classic examples of advertisement translations and so on. However, lots of mistakes keep occurring in advertisement translations. Therefore, several works cover from certain angles the pragmatic failure of advertisement translations, including Advertisement translations in a Cross-Cultural Background by Hou Tong from Huanghuai College in 2005, On Self-Image of the English Version of the Advertisement, by Wang Zhijun from Kun Ming Institute of University in 2001 and so on. In addition, the paper, like Research on Common Problems of Advertisement translation and its Translation Strategies by Xu Juan just concludes several problems in advertisement translations but fails to classify the mistakes from grammatical level to higher level. Whereas this thesis continues to research the mistakes and systematically categorize these mistakes from three main levels: grammatical level, cultural level and the lack of a sense of beauty in advertisement translation and puts forward the methods to improve the quality of advertisement translations. 1.3 Purpose of this paper Many works have been written for the study of successful examples of English translations. However, not much attention is paid to the mistakes of advertisement translations .Mistakes in this field have brought about the ruin of the credits on the part of companies and inconvenience on the part of consumers. The loss of the companys reputation is the first victim of poor English translations. In order to establish themselves in the translation industry, English translation companies must first obtain consumers acknowledgement, understanding and credit. Foreign consumers, who are not experts in commodities, are inclined to check the produce date and read the introduction of those commodities. Consequently, the wrong introduction to the company will leave them a bad impression. This means that they will form the opinion that the English linguistic capability of many Chinese people is low. The second victim is the impossibility of recuperation of the lost value of poor English translations. Besides advertisements practicability, the key to its success is its accuracy. Without this, the result would cause serious consequences. For example, if a consumer buys a kind of medicine meant for exterior use and he takes it orally due to a mistaken translation, he will suffer irreparable damage. Therefore, the point of this research paper is to encompass the common mistakes in advertisement translations from different levels and put forward a way to avoid these mistakes. Chapter Two: Three Levels Of Mistakes2.1 Grammatical levels of mistakes2.1.1 Spelling mistakes Despite their poor vocabulary and grammar, some so-called translators are so certain of their infallibility that they dont think it is necessary to use dictionaries or other sources , and no wonder there appear all sorts of simple mistakes in their translation “works”. In a famous four-star restaurant of Chengdu , “行政套房”and“行政标间”have been translated as “Excutive Suite” and “Excutive Standard Room”, where executive is spelled as excutive . There is also part of a Passenger Information bulletin from an airport ticket office at Tuodong road in Kun Ming City, where spelling mistakes included. Tickets: The ticket is valid only for the passenger whose name appears on the ticket and is not transferale.The invalid ticket will not be refundable if it has been mutilated.The word transferale should be changed into transferable. Besides, the sentence should be: “The tickets will be void does not make sense, thus void should be changed into invalid”. 2.1.2 Vocabulary mistakes Vocabulary is the basic unit of any language. If vocabulary is misused, there is apt to be cultural confusions. There is a large department in Wangfujing Street in Beijing with an English advertisement which reads “a time sex”. This is a particularly inappropriate translation, since in English, this means prostitution! Just imagine what kind of foreigner would dare go to this department store to buy their goods! Actually “一次性用品”, has an English equivalent meaning. Because of this, it would be better to change it to “disposable goods selling”.With regard to “一次性用品”, it is relatively lucky that there happens to be an English equivalent, so we can manage it by following certain English rules. But what if there is no English equivalent? In fact, there are many cases, in which no equivalent ready for translation. Great challenges therefore emerge since a number of words dont have equivalents in the target language. For some “similar” words, they can actually differ a lot in sense and meaning.In fact, “equivalence” never means absolute sameness, which view is also supported by Nida. In his view, translating was not to get something completely identical, but to reproduce “the closet natural equivalent to the source-language message” in the receptor language (Nida 1969: 12). His theory is applicable to advertisement translation. An example of this is an ad about tea which says,“九华佛茶，润世清心”with its translation “Jiuhua Buddhist Tea, moisten the world and clears the heart”. In Chinese, “润” here means“泽被”, so it could not be simply rendered as “moisten”. Probably “benefit” would constitute a good substitute. Besides, “clear the heart” may have an ambiguous meaning as “clear the heart artillery and keep the brain healthy.” As a result, I strongly recommend this ad be replaced by “Jiuhua Buddhist Tea benefits the world and refreshes the mind”.2.1.3 Sentence mistakes Vocabulary may be a basic lingual unit, but it is not all there is to proper translation. A good translation lies on proper translation on the sentence level. If we fail to master the rules of English, no matter how accurate our copy is, we cannot get the expected correct translation. The following is a translation for the imported medicine “思密达”： “Should be mixed in 50ml warm water .To be administered in 3 divided doses should be perfectly administered after meals in oesophagitis, between meals in other indication.” This is a traditional “Chinglish” advertisement for products. It seems to be perfect and faultless since it is so well matched to Chinese words and phrases. However, if we deal with it more carefully and closely, we find a few errors. First, in accordance with the practice of sentence, once the predicate has been put into a sentence, the whole sentence should be completed .Therefore, “the product” should be added before should as its subject. “The product” should also be added before “To be administered in 3 divided doses”. As a whole, the correct version is “The product should be mixed in 50ml warm water .The medicine, to be administered in 3 divided doses, should be perfectly administered after meals in oesophagitis, between meals”. “与中国名酒五粮液同工艺同原料，系五粮液系列姊妹酒”“Wu Liang mellow , is made with the same technology and the raw material of Wu Liang ye , is a series Liquor of Wu Liang ye. It makes a specialty of strong flavor, pure and mild, taste of sweet, clear and clean taste. It has its own characteristic styles among the Da-qu liquor”Firstly, “made with the same technology and the raw material of Wu” should be considered as an appositive clause, for “is a series Liquor of Wu Liang ye” is the main sentence. Also, specialty should be rendered as specialty. To sum up, the re-written advertisement should therefore be, “Wu Liang mellow , made with the same technology and the raw material of Wu Liang ye , is a series Liquor of Wu Liang ye. Its specialty is a strong flavor, pure and mild, with a slight taste of sweet, clear and clean taste. It has its own characteristic styles among the Da-qu liquor”2.2 Cultural level mistakes2.2.1 Mistakes caused by differences in aesthetic ideasAesthetic ideas are associated with Advertisement translations .Advertisement translations, as a means of advertising, are an important culture itself. As a result, the culture and appreciation of beauty of the masses should be well respected. The food product, 西湖藕粉, named West Lake Starch in the west before, did not sell very well . Because the Chinese word “藕粉” was translated into “starch” , which means “fat” and once over-eaten people would grow fat from it . In my opinion, starch should be changed into pudding or powder, which describes the shape of the product. Jin Huikang published the book Translation in Intercultural Communication (Jin Huikang, 1993), which cites the example of the famous Chinese lipstick “芳芳”, a trademark that makes Chinese people think of a woman as pretty as a picture. However, once translated into “fang-fang” in foreign countries, foreign consumers are more likely to feel a sense of terror, for fang is an English word that has two meanings: a long, sharp tooth of a dog or a snakes poison-tooth. Therefore, it is no wonder that in the West “fang-fang” is not considered a thing of beauty, but a fierce dog or poisonous snake baring its teeth and showing its claws. Jin contends it is better to translate it into “Fragrance” or “Fun-Fun” in a creative way. 2.2.2 Mistakes caused by value differences Commercial English usually meets the needs of consumers by virtue of its ability to attract people and promote products. Peoples values have recently undergone several changes, but traditional values still play an important role. Guan Shijie has showed that “in China, pursuing collective interests, group consciousness and chasing the ideas of harmony are still the mainstream values” (Guan Shijie, 1995). The following two Chinese commercials give a vivid presentation of these Chinese values:“我们将以优质、高效的服务使您满意，共同为人类医疗事业做出更大的贡献”, the English translation is “we will provide quality and efficient service to satisfy you and make greater contribution to human medical profession together ”. “宾客至上 , 服务第一”, refers to guests being supreme and service to them coming first. However, commercials in western countries are seldom created the same as those in China, due to their focus on individual identity, individual roles and self choice. In addition, China is a country that emphasizes the importance of government and accepting the authority of governmental functions. Xu Shenghuan points out that “words such as 省优（provincial Fine-quality）and 国优(national Fine-quality) are used by 30 percent of advertisements in China for marketing according to statistics”(Xu Shenghuan, 1990). However, there is a great difference in recognizing power in the West. The attitude of the American people towards the government is totally different from that of Chinese people. Americans believe in their own judgment, rather than governmental authority. Based on that, you can not ignore the differences in English-to-Chinese commercial translations.The following translations are evidence of that: “KC-30D 窗式空调器1985年获得轻工部颁发的优质产奖”“KCS-12窗式空调器1987年获得天津市消费者协会颁发的月季花环杯”“KC-30D room air conditioner got the quality product prize from the Ministry of Light Industry of P.R.C in 1985”“KCS-12 room air conditioner got the Rose Cup Award from the Tianjin Consumer Association in 1986”In my opinion, the best thing to do is omit these types of remarks from the introduction of products in foreign markets; for fear that doing so would cause the antipathy of the consumers.2.2.3 Mistakes caused by differences in customs The typical mistakes caused by differences in customs mostly lie in the different attitude to animals and other cultural meanings expressed at a deep level. For example, the night owl is also believed to be an unpropitious bird in China; in contrast, it stands for wisdom in the West. Therefore, in English/Chinese translations, translators should be very prudent in translating the names of animals for fear of pragmatic failure. For example , the famous Chinese batteries “白象”, was translated into “White Elephant”, which is an unknown product in England . This is because “White Elephant” is considered as a large and useless creature in the western culture. Whats more, when the name of an animal is to be translated, cultural factors should be put into consideration. For example , a Chinese underwear brand “紫罗兰” , was translated into “Pansy” in English . However, Professor Jin Huikang believes that “in English, pansy refers to men who lack masculinity or are gay. So most male consumers are not willing to buy a product bearing that name. Therefore, violet is a good substitution.” (Jin Huikang, 2003: 186). 2.2.4 Mistakes caused by political system differences As there are many differences in the social systems between China and Great Britain, many obstacles such as message transmission and pragmatic failure may arise due to incomprehension of each others political