Cultural Differences in the Translation of Trade Marks

何懿文

Abstract:As more and more Chinese products are getting into foreign markets, it is important to translate a Chinese trade mark into English properly. This paper points out what is a trade mark and its importance in the modern world. It then gives reason why it is necessary to translate the Chinese trade marks properly into English. It also gives the standard of a good trade mark. Furthermore it analyses several kinds of improper translation and the cause of these mistakes. Last it introduces the main rules and three main skills of translation of trade marks.

Key words:Trade marks Translation Cultural differences

Today almost everything in our daily life should have a trade mark which has become an important aspect of the modern economic life. A trade mark identifies the goods or services of one seller and differentiates them from those competitors. A good trade mark has profound significance. Though it is only a name, it contains an immense wealth with the denotation of the enterprise's reputation and the firm's managing achievement. A good trade mark can be respected by consumers and encourages them to buy. The success of the commodity may depend on whether their trade marks attract many consumers, especially when a new brand enters a new market.

Nowadays, as China is becoming a new member of WTO, more and more Chinese products are getting into foreign markets. So to translate a Chinese trade mark into English properly is significant for the product with that brand to enter the world market successfully. When we want to give a Chinese trade mark suitable name, first it must be easy to remember. Short crisp names like Tides(汰渍) or Only One(昂立一号)are good examples. Second, it must create the right image as good as that in the mind of the domestic consumers. For instance, the name of a nutritious drink is Apollo(太阳神口服液) which can also suggest being young and vigorous in English. We should establish a good image for Chinese products which are planning to go into foreign market and compete with foreign brands. However, many good images implied in the Chinese trade names may not remain; even become rejecting when the name is translated literally into English. Only if the translator understands both the Chinese and English culture well, he/she can avoid misunderstandings of the products caused by improper translation and gain a distinctive, resounding and meaningful trade mark in English of a Chinese original trade mark.

The translation of trade marks is closely connected with culture. Since the translation of trade marks is transmitted over different cultures, it should reflect the source language culture and customs,and cater for the aesthetic psychology of the target language people. However, today there are still many problems with the translation of Chinese trade marks into English. First of all, some use the skill of transliteration directly without considering the profound meaning of the brand names in Chinese. For example, 春兰 is just Chun Lan without association with the warmth of spring in Chinese; 红豆 is only Hong Dou without the beautiful feeling about romantic love in ancient Chinese poem; 健力宝 is merely Jian Li Bao without the meaning to strengthen the body in Chinese. And such transliteration sometimes may not only be unable to express the cultural implication of its Chinese trade mark but also lead to misunderstanding, for example, 芳芳牌爽身粉 is translated into Fang Fang which not only has no beautiful feeling but also indicates poisonous teeth. So no one would like to use this with such a name. Second, Many Chinese trade marks are translated into English according to the original meaning, which cannot disclose the cultural implication or may even lead to negative effects because the Chinese people and other people see the same thing in a totally different way. For example, 跃进牌地板蜡 is Great Leap Forward Floor Polish in English; this trade mark is not only too long, but also easy to make English-speaking people associate it with the embarrassed look of falling down. It is not good for the promotion of the goods. 紫罗兰, mans shirt, is translated into Pansy, which indicates a homosexual and a man without manliness, for such a brand named shirt, most men would refuse to buy it. Most of these failures are due to the different implications of the same thing in different cultural backgrounds; many animals, numbers or colors have completely different indications in Chinese and in English, for instance, dragon in Chinese is a kind of divine animal which stands for royalty and prosperity while in English it is an evil animal which brings misfortune; the number 13 has no special meaning in Chinese but in English it is an ill number because of the Bible story. Some of the improper translation may even connect to political issues, for example, a brand of canvas shoes 大鹏 was translated into ROC in English which is the same as the abbreviation of Republic of China(中华民国) which was overthrown in the mainland of China fifty five years ago. So it is extremely improper to use such a name in the world market.

Therefore, to avoid those problems mentioned above, the translation of our Chinese trade marks into English should abide by the following four rules: the translator should respect and recognize the differences in the two people's concepts and make clear of the implication of the trade name in the target language; the translator should pay attention to the political and economic implications of the trade name; the translator should know the target consumers of the products with the brand and choose the attractive words to that specific group; the trade name should show the kind and characteristics of its products.

In fact, the different characteristics of the two languages and the different cultures make such translation become a re-creation process. It requires that the translator should break away from rigid restraints and make an innovation to find an effective and excellent translated name, which will attract the consumer's attention. At present, the main skills of translating trade names are transliteration, free translation, combination of transliteration and free translation and transformation, etc.

First of all, transliteration is translating the name according to its pronunciation. Transliteration is the habitual practice when we translate foreign trade marks, for example, Whisper-护舒宝 and Nissan-尼桑. If we use the transliteration skill properly, sometimes, it make an ordinary name become distinctive suddenly, for example, the sports shoes “Peak” translated as “匹克”. It has made full use of similar pronunciation of English and Chinese while it also makes people associate the name with Olympic Games. Transliteration is not perfect, so we cannot use it all the time. For example, the famous German car brand “Volkswagen” which is translated into “大众”,not only conforms to the Chinese customs, but also encourages everybody's interest. This skill is free translation. Free translation is the skill of translating which is translated according to the original meaning. We should pay special attention to the translation of Chinese trade marks when we use the skill of free translation. Many advertising designers will rack their brains to invent trade marks which are full of wit, vividness and uniqueness to give a deep impression to the consumer and triumph over the opponents in keen competition. For such kinds of trade marks, we prefer to use the skill of combination of transliteration and free translation.

The translation of a trade mark is important for the thing that the trade mark stands for to enter the overseas markets, therefore the translators must know clearly those main mistakes in the translation of trade marks and adopt useful skills to try their best to avoid mistakes and give a good English name for the product as well. It is also the translator's duty to translate the trade mark properly to let the outside world know much about our nation and to promote our national commodities to a good international image.

References:

[1]Xiao Hui,Tao Yukang. The Translation of Trade Marks and Culture. Foreign Language and Teaching, 2000, (11).

[2]Yangxu. The Exploration of the Translation of Trade Marks. Guangdong Youth College Journal,2001,(1).

[3] Xu Xiaoqing. Also Talking about the Translation of Trade marks. Foreign Language College Journal of Shandong Normal University, 2002.

[4] Jianglei. Cutural Differences and Mistakes in Translation of Trade Marks. China Science and Technology Translation, 2002(3).