功能對等視角下英語廣告翻譯研究

（陜西師范大學 外國語學院，陜西 西安 710062）

【Abstract】： Under the background of globalization， faced with a totally different language and culture， advertising translation comes out as required in the situation. Based on the Nida’s functional equivalence theory， functional equivalence is achieved in English advertisements through the specific analysis of the translated English advertising texts into Chinese.

【Keywords】： English advertising translation； functional equivalence； translation strategies

1. Introduction

Advertising is a special mode of communication， it aims to persuade people to purchase a product or take some actions. No matter at home or abroad， the earliest advertising campaigns can be traced back to the slave society. The modern advertising came out at the beginning of the 20th century in Britain. This article attempts to analyze English advertising translation from the aspects of functional equivalence theory. Several goals are expected to be completed.

In the research of functional equivalence theory， several translation strategies eventually have been put forward to guide the English advertising translation.

2. Nida and His Functional Equivalence Theory

The American， linguist Eugene Nida， proposed the functional equivalence theory， “Functional equivalence” is the core concept of Nida's theory. The so-called “functional equivalence”， which means the translation is not a literal correspondence， but between the two languages of functional equivalence， so that the conversion of the source language and the target language has a standard， reduce the difference. Therefore， Nida proposes the remarkable translation theory of “dynamic equivalence”， also called “functional equivalence”. In the functional equivalence theory， he shows that “translation is the most suitable， natural and equivalent language to reproduce the source language from the semantic meaning to the style of the text” （Guo Jianzhong， 1999：65）.

3. Strategies for Translating English Advertising

On the basis of functional equivalence theory， the advertisement translation is analyzed by using all kinds of advertising texts from three different angles in the previous chapters， and the operability of the theory in advertisement translation is proved. However， in order to make better use of the functional equivalence theory in advertising translation， the appropriate translation strategies are proposed in the following chapters.

3.1 Direct Transfer

Direct transfer is similar to literal translation. It is to translate the source text literally into the target text by keeping its word order， syntactic structure， rhetorical features. To the translators， it is the easiest translation strategy because the translator can make the least effort to reproduce the information in the receptor language.

Ex1： A woman who doesn’t wear perfume has no future.—CHANEL

不用香水的女人沒有未來。

As you can see， direct translation is adopted in these above examples to completely convey the information and the surface and deep meaning of the original advertisements， and their translations are also equivalent to the source texts in respect of word order and sentence structures. In the meantime， if it agrees with the language structure and the cultural background of target audiences， the directly translated version is not only right appropriate to the target readers but also can produce an unexpected pragmatic effect.

3.2 Adaptive Transfer

Nevertheless， under many circumstances， advertising texts cannot be rendered by using direct transfer strategy. For the translation effectiveness should be taken into consideration. Many English advertisements tend to employ the unique language features， and some translation skills or adaptive methods are usually required.

Nida also points out that in order to achieve a satisfactory functional equivalent of the source text， the necessity of adjustment.

3.2.1 The Use of Four-Character

Both of the four-character and seven-character structures are commonly used in Chinese language. In the advertisements， they are also commonly utilized. Compared with complete sentences， they are more concise and rhythmic. When reading them， the readers always find them smooth， elegant and impressive.

Ex2： Advancement through technology—Audi 汽車廣告

突破科技，啟迪未來。

In this example， four-character structure is used to produce the Chinese versions. Chinese readers will feel these idiomatic expressions familiar， intimate and popular. “突破科技，啟迪未來”correspond to Chinese consumers’ psychology. These translated versions are not only limited by the form of the original text， but also comply with the expressing way of English and Chinese language.

3.2.2 Adjustment and Interpretation

Adaptation and interpretation means that one translator expresses his understanding of the original in a way that suits the need， interest the intended target language readers. To some extent， recreation is inevitable in advertising translation.

Ex3： Good to the last drop！

滴滴香濃，意猶未盡！

It is an advertisement for a brand of coffee. It is short， natural， and warm. “滴滴香濃”can convey the original meaning of the source text， while the term “意猶未盡”is an additional meaning added by the translator. “滴滴香濃，意猶未盡” leaves the audience a picture of scholar’s satisfaction with Maxwell Coffee. It functions as an excellent advertisement slogan in the target culture.

3.2.3 Borrowing Familiar Chinese Expressions

Translators usually borrow some popular Chinese expressions to translate English advertisements. Such expressions may include idioms， proverbs， poems or some popular slogans used in Chinese.

Ex4： All roads now lead to one hotel.

香格里拉大酒店，條條大路通向她。

One common feature of the examples mentioned above is that it gives the readers a sense of familiarity. When reading them， the readers will recall a certain proverb or catch phrase， which will immediately make the advertisement leave a deep impression upon the receptors and arouse the interests of the readers.

4. Conclusion

In this thesis， a tentative study has been made on the topic of advertising translation， a relatively new genre in the field of translation. Under the guidance of Nida’s functional equivalence theory， some effective translation strategies are then proposed to improve the translation quality. The key point is that the best condition is to translate directly and literally. But in most cases， adaptation is needed. How to adapt to the target language and culture is decided by words， sentence structures， and cultural factors both in English and Chinese languages.

For all the major findings mentioned above， the present thesis is still far from satisfactory. Some examples are even lack of deep analysis， under the limitations of the condition and the author’s knowledge， not all the aspects of the functional equivalence theory are exemplified. All in all， the thesis just points out a direction， and further study is urgently needed.

Advertising translation is a complicated process which involves many factors， In order to fulfill the function of the advertisements， which is to persuade and affect the readers， the translator should take the age of the readers， acceptability， and language usage habits into consideration. It is sincerely hoped that the thesis helps to shed light on the English advertising translation into Chinese and inspire the further research into the field.

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