On The Language Features of English And Chinese Tourist Materials

馬琳

英漢旅游宣傳資料的語言特點

Tourist materials are intended to provide basic and factual information about a given scenic spot， aiming to introduce Chinese tourist information to the foreign tourists. Tourist materials may be in different forms， which generally include guidebooks， brochures pamphlets， pictures， albums， tour maps， postcards， slides， video TV shows， documentary films， videodisks， etc. English people and Chinese people have formed different cultural traditions， aesthetic values and different ways of thinking， which are well reflected in their language features.

1 Language features of English tourist materials

1.1 Conciseness

Conciseness is the key element in the writing of English tourist materials in order to leave a deep impression on readers' mind. Simple words and short sentences are frequently found in the English tourist materials， because they are easier for prospective tourists to read and remember. Here is a typical example： an elaborately designed ad.

Sun，sand，sea and surf—Hawaii，golden beaches and golden people.

（楊全紅，2007： 74）

This is a short publicity slogan for Hawaii of America. The writer designs this ad. by using concise words （The ad. consists of only 11 words）. “Sun， sand， sea and surf” serve as four name cards for this city. These four nouns， though short and simple， convey much information to the readers. Besides， the employment of alliteration produces the beauty of tone， which brings readers fanciful thoughts.

1.2 Plainness

English writers prefer to employ simple and plain language to make an objective， lifelike description of a tourist spot. They choose their words with precision to ignite one's imagination. Adjectives are frequently employed to add color and vividness to the places concerned so as to arouse tourists' interest. For example：

Discover America along its favorite scenic drive. Drive back in time from Virginia's Shenandoah Valley to the Great Smoky Mountains. 1，200 miles of Backroad Tours Await You. Lose yourself in the simple beauty. Simple Folks， Explore the blue ridge. Enjoy awe inspiring views.

（Burnham & Bill， 2007： 22）

This example uses plain language to inspire tourists' desire to the place. The language is simple but persuasive. The writer hopes to invite tourists to have a Backroad Tours in Virginia. The adjectives like “simple， blue， awe and inspiring” are employed here to modify nouns so that the readers can have a vivid imagination of the relaxing tour. The sentence “The 1，200 miles of Backroad Tours Await You” may strongly awaken visitors， because the trip seems to be too exciting to resist.

1.3 Naturalness

English writers also like to use natural language to give a lively description of tourist places. The frequent use of some verbs and variable sentence patterns can make the versions natural and smooth. The use of stimulating questions also plays an important part in achieving natural effect of expression. Appropriate questions are to place the tourists in the position of answering questions， and thus can naturally stir up the tourists， capture their attention and encourage them to think. For instance：

Can you smell the salt air？Do you hear the waves crashing？We are off to the beach now！ Don't forget your sunscreen. We are going to start our trip on Cape Cod. It's a favorite vacation spot for families from all over the world. They love its wide beaches and beautiful dunes.

（Leacock， 2005： 8）

Raising questions is a powerful way to make tourist materials effective. The persuasive function of this example is obvious. The two questions at the beginning bring a very friendly feeling to the readers. In order to stimulate visitors to travel， the author uses an exclamatory sentence “We are off to the beach now！” to highlight the information of destination and stir the feelings of visitors.

2 Language features of Chinese tourist materials

Chinese people are proud of their ancient civilization， long history and splendid oriental culture. Tourist materials written for publicizing the beautiful landscape are often mixed with Chinese culture， which is different from English tourist materials. Influenced by their thinking patterns and aesthetic values， Chinese tourist materials are always more flowery， containing many “four-character expressions” and involving extensive use of quotations of poetic lines， sayings or legends.

2.1 Flowery description

Compared with English tourist materials， narrations and descriptions in Chinese tourist materials seem a bit more “flowery”. Chinese writers often employ a succession of formal adjectives to brighten and bring scenic events to life. Besides， the extensive use of four-character expressions is also a typical rhetorical feature of Chinese tourist materials. If used properly， they will make the description powerful and impressive. For example：

江南山水中，無錫得天獨厚，占一方精華。太湖攬三萬六千頃的云水詩篇，描七十二峰丹青畫卷，賜佳絕句，點睛筆留于無錫。萬里長江，浩蕩東去，沖門凌浪，氣象萬千。千年運河，流金淌銀，織就水鄉的珍珠網衫。一脈 “天下第二泉”， 滋潤了山脈園林， 使其飄溢出人文與靈秀。

（包通法，孫玲，2005： 56-57）

This example shows that the writer has racked his brain to employ very flowery language to make the text beautiful and elegant. The use of four-character expressions makes the sentences orderly and well-balanced to convey concise and understandable information. Such sentences read smooth and melodious， thus adding a poetic color to the text and creating vivid images in reader's mind. In the eyes of the writer of the above text， Wuxi's whole view is of exceptional beauty： Taihu Lake is harboring and crystal， Yangtze River and the Great Canal are magnificent， the Second Spring is sweet and limpid. These cute images may evoke beautiful pictures in the readers' mind， which help to fulfill the persuasive function of the original text.

2.2 Quotations of poetic lines or sayings

Classical literature is a reflection of the rich cultural heritages of China， and so it is often quoted in Chinese tourist publicity materials. Poems， sayings and legends are used to ornament the description， which may better readers' understanding about the history and culture of the scene depicted. Let's look at the following example.

東方明珠電視塔塔高468米，是亞洲第一，世界第三的高塔。設計者富于幻想地將11個大小不一，高低錯落的球體從蔚藍的空中串聯至如茵的綠色草地上，而兩顆紅寶石般晶瑩奪目的巨大球體被高高托起，整個畫面渾然一體，充滿了 “大珠小珠落玉盤”的詩情畫意。

（孫萬彪，王恩銘，2006： 244）

The famous tower described here is the symbol of Shanghai. This tower possesses the status in Chinese's heart as Eiffel Tower for French people and Sydney Opera House for Australians. The designer of the tower got the inspiration from a poetic line“大珠小珠落玉盤”by Bai Juyi in the Tang Dynasty. The text can be translated as：

The Oriental Pearl TV Tower is 468-meter-high， which ranks first in Asia and third in the world in height. The designers， inspired by rich imagination， had 11 spheres arranged in order of their sizes like a string of pearls from high up in the blue sky down to a carpet of green lawn， while two colossal dazzling ruby-like spheres are propped high up. The tower presents a harmonious whole； an image of pearls， large and small， seemingly falling down from the top to the bottom； a poetic and imaginative scene.

The sentence underlined expresses the meaning of the poetic line “大珠小珠落玉盤”， which fully proves the credibility of the description， hence the effect of publicity is enhanced.

Another example：

位于周莊的張廳，前后六進，房屋70余間，洛鏡河穿屋而過，構成“轎從前門進，船從家中過”的水鄉建筑特色。

（莊春地，趙若琳，2004： 1）

In order to reflect the typical architecture features of Zhouzhuang， the lines“轎從前門進，船從家中過”（Sedans go in by the front door while boats sail through the house） are quoted， which increase potential tourists' curiosity about this ancient town. When foreign tourists visit this place， almost everyone will have a cruise on the river and appreciate the songs of the ladies on the boats as well as the scenery of the ancient town.

In brief， an examination of the language features of both English and Chinese tourist materials shows distinctive differences between them. In Chinese tourist materials， flowery descriptions， four-character expressions， poetic lines or sayings are widely employed to achieve harmony in rhythm and aesthetic effect. Language in English tourist materials is concise and brief， plain and simple， natural and appealing. In order to make it understandable to foreign tourists， in C-E translation of tourist materials， we often need to adapt the Chinese language style to the English one.