1、Comparison of the Pronunciation of Chinese and English Trademarks中英商标词发音比较商英 1041 班李星辰100200404653- 2 -IntroductionTrademarks, as a special symbol of brands and goods, plays an important role in the leaving of impression and the spread of goods. In the international business, Chinese and English tra
2、demarks should be translated each other in order to impress the native people of the imported brands and goods. Interestingly, they are not usually translated directly. From a pronunciation aspect, the Chinese and English of some brands are almost the same, but some may be far different. The followi
3、ng to be stated will be the comparison of the pronunciation of some trademarks both in Chinese and English. In this way, we can see some unique translations and may have some help with our translation studies. The whole paper is composed of three parts. Chapter one is an introduction of some common
4、ways of the trademark translation work. Chapter two will show some examples and compare the pronunciation in Chinese and English. Chapter three is a conclusion.Chapter 1. Some common ways of the trademark translationThe translation of trademarks is completely different from translation in politics,
5、science or sports fields. Under the circumstance of a different culture, being easy to be acquainted and accepted is the most important thing. To be perfect, the translation should have a similar pronunciation.1.1 Transliteration Transliteration is a way of translation in accordance to the original
6、pronunciation of the trademark. It is an easy job to do and is widely used by translators. For example, Vans sneakers is translated as 万斯. More commonly, Adidas and its Chinese 阿迪达斯 has got a completely same pronunciation.1.2 Free TranslationFree translation is another way of translation on the basi
7、s of the meaning of the trademark words. This kind show the real meaning though in a different culture. For example, Microsoft - 3 -for 微软 and Nestle for 雀巢。1.3 Translators CreativityThis kind of translation is not used as widely as the transliteration and free translation because it demands the tra
8、nslator be extremely familiar with both Chinese and English cultures and languages. Moreover, the translator himself should be confident and has a creative thought. One particular example is that Chinese 海信 is translated as HISENSE according to high sense .Chapter 2. Comparison of Some Specific Trad
9、emarks on PronunciationAs stated before, the trademarks can be translated differently. In this chapter, the comparison of pronunciation is to be talked more.2.1 E-C TranslationIn English, Nike is read /naiki/. But in Chinese, it is translated as 耐克. We can see, /ki/ and 克 are read differently. Anoth
10、er example, Puma(has the same kinds of products as Nike), whose Chinese meaning should be American lions, read /pju:ma/ , is translated as 标马. /pju:/ and 标 also read differently. In addition, German manufactured English named Mercedes Benz /benz/ motors is called 奔驰 in China. Interestingly and stran
11、gely, how comes those differences in pronunciation? In fact, there isnt a Chinese character read like /ki/ so 克 took the place of it. The same way goes to Puma. Differently, /z/ and Chinese zi read similar, but almost every Chinese would accept 奔驰 more because it means running fast and swiftly and c
12、ars should run fast and swiftly. Mercedes Benz deserves its Chinese name.(517) Moreover, Coca-Cola and its Chinese almost read the same and the Chinese version has also expressed the happiness so that people would love to buy it. As is known, some brands is named after peoples names. For example, Jo
13、hnson & Johnson. In Chinese its called 强生, which we are all familiar with. But Johnson is not translated as what we usually do as 约翰逊. Giant means big and strong men. Giant is a brand of bicycle. It makes people believe that riding bicycle can help people with a stronger body.- 4 -2.2 C-E Translatio
14、nAs Chinese economy develops rapidly over the years, some Chinese brands also go to the world market. For example, Haier(for 海尔, electrical equipment), Anta(for 安踏, sports equipment) and Lining(for 李宁, sports equipment) are all their phoneticize for Chinese and they are easy to pronounce in English
15、so that English-speaking men accept and remember them quickly. Its easy to see, in C-E translation, direct call is the most widely used way.Chapter 3. ConclusionAs is mentioned before, trademark translation is a different field. Trademarks is related to businesses. The purpose of business it to attr
16、act consumers to make the purchase and make the brand as famous as possible. So, when translating trademarks, what should be considered most is how to attract native people. People in different cultures and districts have different customs, likes and dislikes. The pronunciation of trademarks is just
17、 a part of it. Comparing the same trademark in both Chinese and English is an interesting doing. It may help us know more about some world-famous brands and trademarks and help with our ability to translate a new trademark. Since the pronunciation is just part of a trademark, we need to study entirely. As a start of studying trademark translation, its not bad.- 5 -References荣世敏. 2000. 漫谈商标翻译J. 天津外国语学院学报，2000 年第一期张雪梅，阎国华. 2007. 论商标翻译中的译者创造性 J. 东北大学学报（社会科学版） ，第 9 卷第 4 期周婷，周莉. 2007. 商标翻译的原则及方法J. 科技信息，2007 年第 33 期周银华. 2007. 中英商标翻译误区J. 中国科技信息，2007 年第 18 期
