On Language Characteristics and Translation Skills of Advertising Text

【Abstract】Under the situation of economic globalization today， the internationalization of advertising is becoming more and more obvious. All enterprises in all countries are meeting the same international， global problem， the problem of advertising translation. When dealing with advertising translation， we should take full account of language habits and cultural background of target customers.Therefore，it turns out to be important that we should be familiar with the language characteristics and translation skills of English advertisements. In this paper， I will introduce the language characteristics of English advertisements from three aspects of words， syntax and rhetorical devices， and introduce skills of advertising translation.

【Key words】advertising translation; language characteristics; translation skills

1 Introduction

The word ''advertisement'' comes from the Latin word ''advertere''， meaning ''a method that arouses the public attention to something， and induce people to use it in some way''. Nowadays， advertising is everywhere， and English advertising has gradually stood out， forming a kind of unique applicative language ads. Advertisement is of particular importance to businesses and consumers. Only when the language characteristics and translation skills of advertising English are mastered， can we convey the original intention of advertising and achieve the purpose of product promotion. Advertising and life are closely related. While widely spreading information， advertisements also remind us how good the products are. For the importance of advertising English， in this paper， I will analysis the language characteristics of English advertisements from three aspects of words， syntax and rhetorical devices， and introduce with examples the skills of advertising translation.

2 The Characteristics in Advertising English

The purpose of advertising is to persuade or remind people to buy a product or take an action， arousing people''s desire for purchase. Understanding the language characteristics of English advertisement can help us with the translation work. Advertising English language has unique stylistic features， mainly in vocabulary， syntax and rhetorical devices.

2.1 Words

2.1.1 The Wide Use of Simple Verbs and Oral Vocabulary

When we talk about this， the slogan of famous Nike Just do it comes to us. The use of three simple words， which makes Nike slogan outstanding in sports brands， not only saves spaces but also expresses clearly the meaning. At the sight of this slogan people will think of the Nike logo.

2.1.2 Coined words

In order to promote their products， advertisers are constantly creating new words. Based on the English word-formation， they create a unique word or phrase which the readers can understand. It can strengthen effectively advertising''s novelty and makes the advertising more vivid. Misspelt or nonce words are often used to create graphical peculiarities.For example:

1) MARLBORO=Man Always Remember LADIES Because Of ROMANCE Only！

2) KENT =Kiss Every New Tongue

2.2 Syntax

2.2.1 Simple Sentences and Elliptical Sentences

Advertising language is distinctive in form， tidy or rhyming， making itself fresh and new and unforgettable. The excellent advertisements are known for brevity and concision. For example:

1) Coca-cola可口可樂

2) SONY-take the world with you.讓世界陪伴你。(SONY)

2.2.2 Simple Present Tense and Active Voice

For example:

1) Harmony of style and performance set this new Mazda 6 apart.（Mazda）

2) How nuclear energy benefits a typical family of four· Nuclear energy means cleaner air.（nuclear energy''s ad）

The two Ads give people a kind of direct reality， and they suggest that commodities have lasting and permanent characteristics. They affect people to take action in aeriform.

2.3 Figures of Speech

2.3.1 Simile

Simile is a commonly used rhetorical device in commercial advertising by comparing two things or phenomena of common characters to make clear the similar relationship between the noumenon and metaphor object. It compares the abstract boring things with the specific vivid things. It can greatly render the concreteness of the language and form a bright and vivid image to arouse the consumers'' nice psychological association and cause emotional resonance. For example:

1) Feather water：light as a feather．(Glasses)

2) What''s on your arm should be as beautiful as who is on it.（Citizen watch）

2.3.2 Puns

Pun is the most often used rhetorical device in advertising， which makes use of pronunciation and semantics to give sentences both surface and connotative meaning in some particular context. It can not only cause consumers'' association， but also make the advertising language concise and witty， to achieve the excellent expressive effect. For example:

1) More sun and air for your son heir（homophonic pun)

2) Coca cola refreshes you like no other can. (grammatical pun)

3 Skills of Advertising Translation

Advertising text consists of brand name， slogan and text. For their different roles in advertising text， the method of translation is not completely the same. According to this， I will introduce the skills of advertising translation respectively.

3.1 Brand Names

The formation of brand is very simple， usually made up of a word or a phrase. However， brand translation is also a complex conversion activity of interlanguage symbols and is a form of cross-cultural communication. Only when the differences between cultural background and aesthetic habit are fully considered， can the translated brand names be impressive and stimulate the nice imagination and purchasing desire of target language audience.

3.1.1 Literal Translation

Literal Translation is a common way of brand translation. It refers to， according to the meaning of the original brand， choosing the same or similar words in the target language to translate. Literal translation can transfer the direct meaning of the original brand faithfully. For example:

1)Apple蘋果 2)Jaguar美洲虎 3)Ivory象牙 4)American standard美標(biāo)

3.1.2 Transliteration

Transliteration is another common way of brand translation. It can be classified into pure transliteration and homophonic translation.

1)Kodak柯達(dá) 2)Soft索膚特 3)Mcdonalds麥當(dāng)勞 4)Nokia諾基亞

3.1.3 Transliteration and Tree Translation

The combination of Transliteration and Tree Translation not only keeps the rough pronunciation of the original brand but also gets over the weakness of lacking meaning， which is an excellent way of brand translation. For example:

1)Unilevel聯(lián)合利華 2)Disney land迪斯尼樂園 3)\"凱樂\"膠卷 Lucky 4)\"九陽\"豆?jié){機(jī) Joyoung

3.1.4 Coinage

Coinage refers to the method that gives up the meaning and pronunciation of the original brand names， and redesigns a new brand name for the product which has good communicative effect in the target language culture. For example:

1)Mild Seven萬事發(fā) 2)Head Shoulders海飛絲 3)\"統(tǒng)一\"食品 Uni-President 4)\"創(chuàng)維\"電器 Skyworth

3.2 Slogan

Whether a slogan can impress people deeply is the key to measuring a slogan is successful or not. Therefore， a slogan should be easy to understand and remember ， strive to be unique and novel， and also be of pretty high aesthetic value.

3.2.1 Literal Translation

Literal translation can transfer the direct meaning of the original brand faithfully. But literal translation doesn''t mean the word-to-word translation. For example:

1) 一切皆有可能。Anything is possible. (李寧服飾)

2) 溝通從心開始。Reaching out from the heart. （中國移動）

3.2.2 Transferred Translation

Transferred translation refers to the method that extracts the part of the most expressive and appellative function in a slogan， and expresses it authentically in target language after extending and developing. For example:

1) 國酒茅臺，相伴輝煌。Good and vigorous spirit. （茅臺酒）

2) 運(yùn)動休閑，我行我速。Go my own way. (CBA運(yùn)動休閑系列)

3.2.3 Imitated Translation

Imitated translation refers to the method that applies the proverbs， idioms， epigrams or quotations in target language which can express the concepts of products. For example:

1) 一冊在手 縱覽全球。The Globe bings you the world in a single copy.(《環(huán)球》雜志)

2) 隨身攜帶，有備無患；隨身攜帶，有驚無險(xiǎn)。A friend in need is a friend indeed! (速效救心丸)

3.3 Text

Text introduces in detail the characteristics and functions of products， and aims at further impressing the consumers and finally urging them to purchase. Text on one hand should be brief and clear， and on the other hand should strive for smooth fluency， in order to conform to the language characteristics and textual patterns of the target language.

3.3.1 Word Adding and Word Reducing

Due to the differences between Chinese and English in aesthetic habit， history and culture， Chinese advertising is often filled with some ritualistic clauses that are rarely used in English advertising. English advertising text is good for conciseness， so the redundant information should be reduced， even be overlooked in translation. For example:

1) \"長城號\"游船設(shè)施豪華舒適，除觀景塔、露天觀景塔、游泳池、酒吧間、日光浴室外，佳肴美點(diǎn)，中西皆備，并有寬敞的游歩甲板，游客飽覽沿途風(fēng)光，華麗而舒適的客房均有空調(diào)設(shè)施，令您有賓至如歸的感受。

Being a deluxe cruiser to tour the Yangtze River， The Great Wall has indoor and open-air observation towers， a swimming pool， a solarium as well as Chinese and Western restaurants and a spacious deck. All the cabins are superb， comfortable and air-conditioned.

3.3.2 Adjustment to the Target Language

The text of advertising can be seen as a passage. We should not be constrained by the forms， contents and function of the original text in translation， and should in a unit of passage draw close to the writing habits and advertising model of target language in line with the principle of functional similarity. For example:

1） 聯(lián)想筆記本全新子品牌產(chǎn)品IdeaPad筆記本全面誕生了！

IdeaPad系列產(chǎn)品以時尚動感的外觀設(shè)計(jì)、尖端科技的娛樂應(yīng)用設(shè)計(jì)以及體貼入微的人性關(guān)懷設(shè)計(jì)，創(chuàng)造三維體驗(yàn)設(shè)計(jì)的時尚娛樂精品，給用戶帶來耳目一新的娛樂應(yīng)用體驗(yàn)。

Lenovo is a world leader in business notebook computing. Now we''re offering our users with the new IdeaPad line.

Stylish designs…

Face-recognition security…

Rich， theater-style sound…

IdeaPad notebooks offer an exciting collection of stylish and feature-rich notebooks， each engineered to make the user experience - your experience - a great one.

3.3.3 Be Creative

In some cases， in order to cater to the target language audience''s habits， and make the translated advertisements more authentic， translators can use their mental ability to create a text a little different from the original whether in form or in semantic effect. For example:

1)Your body is beautiful.

It''s your jeans that are out of proportion.

Even the most beautiful body can get lost under the wrong pair of jeans.

That''s why it''s important to wear jeans that let you look your best， jeans that make the most of what you''ve got. Like our Relaxed Riders.

When we make Relaxed Riders， we cut our material on a curve to conform to the natural contours of your body. So where your proportions change， the proportions of your Lee''s Relaxed Riders jeans change too.

If you''ve been thinking that something is wrong with you just because your jeans don''t fit， try Relaxed Riders. You''ll see it''s not a better body you need. It''s better jeans. （jeans）

你身材美妙。

但不合體的牛仔褲會使美的身材黯然失色。

李氏休閑牛仔褲剪裁得體，自然流暢;隨身所欲，調(diào)整體型。

好牛仔賽過好身材。

4 Conclusion

Advertising is an art， and English advertising language is the core part of it. The language in English advertisements creates a kind of artistic conception and aesthetic feeling for its unique lexical， syntactic， and rhetorical characteristics. While translating the English advertising， we should first understand the characteristics of advertising， with the standard whether the translated text has the same promotion effect as the original one， pay attention to differences in cultural background， choose appropriate translation skills， and try to be natural， precise and concise in language， in order to cater to the psychology of different audience， and achieve the purpose of advertising.

Reference:

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