On the Dynamic Functioning of Cultural

Adaptation in Brand Name Translation

Anhui University

Acknowledgements

During my study in the School of Foreign Studies of Anhui University for the Master’s Degree, I have learned a lot from those learned professors in linguistics, translation and literature. Their industrious work has always been an encouragement to me.

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my deepest gratitude and thanks to all those whose lectures have helped me build a solid foundation for my present study and have given me much inspiration, including Prof. Hua Quankun, Prof. Hong Zengliu, Prof. Chen Zhengfa, Prof. Zhou Fangzhu, Prof. Zhu Yue, Prof. Li Yongfang, Prof. He Gongjie and Prof. Zhu Xiaomei.

In particular, I am indebted to Prof. Tian Debei, my supervisor, whose valuable advice and thought-provoking comments propel me to improve and perfect the thesis. Without her guidance, the completion of this thesis would not have been possible.

I want to express my heartfelt thanks to my colleagues and friends from whom I have received generous help.

Finally, my thanks also go to my family for all their support, care and encouragement. They are the source of confidence for me to overcome difficulties in study.

Abstract

Despite its importance, brand name translation had hardly drawn any attention from the Chinese translators until around 1994, when really significant studies on this topic began. The thirty essays relating brand name translation published in the three leading translation journals and a few other academic journals in the past ten years fall into five categories in terms of their focuses. Seventeen have been dealing with the principles and methods of brand name translation; two have been devoted to the translation of brand names when used in different parts of speech; eight have touched upon the importance of culture in brand name translation; one has proposed applying socio-semiotics to brand name translation; still two have criticized the present brand name translation studies in China. Briefly, the present studies on brand name translation in China are far from being satisfactory: most of the studies are based on a mere descriptive analysis of examples rather than on a theoretical foundation, and although culture has been discussed repeatedly, recent linguistic theories have scarcely been applied to the discussion.

The originality of the present research is its inquiry into brand name translation in the light of the Theory of Adaptation (Jef Verschueren, 2000:13) and its exploration of the dynamic functioning of cultural adaptation in brand name translation from a pragmatic perspective.

To begin with, the paper reviews the previous studies on this topic and introduces the present study. Secondly, the concepts of brand and brand name are introduced, followed by a discussion of the importance of brand name translation and the commonly used methods in brand name translation. Thirdly, the relationship between language, culture and translation serves as a starting point for the present study, functional equivalence provides an effective way of evaluating good translations of brand names, and the Theory of Adaptation is exploited to facilitate the understanding of brand name translation as a process of continuous adaptation to various factors. Fourthly, the paper concentrates on cultural adaptation in brand name translation. With the help of numerous real examples of brand name translations, an in-depth analysis is conducted on various cultural correlates with which brand name translation should be adaptable. The word “culture” is used in a broad sense, referring to almost everything in human life ranging from national traits to purchasing psychology. Finally, the paper investigates the way in which cultural functions, seeing dynamics as one characteristic of cultural adaptation in brand name translation.

Through the above analysis, the paper comes to the conclusion that the functioning of cultural adaptation, which is a dynamic process, is crucially important in brand name translation. This research aims at achieving a better understanding of brand name translation process and can help to overcome the cultural barriers to successful translations of brand names.

Key words: brand name translation culture Theory of Adaptation dynamic

摘 要

本研究的创新之处在于运用顺应论 (Jef Verschueren, 2000:13) 指导品牌名称翻译，从语用学角度探讨了品牌名称翻译中文化的作用，指出动态的文化顺应在品牌名称翻译中的重要性。

通过以上分析，本文得出结论：文化顺应作为一个动态的过程，在品牌名称翻译中具有至关重要的作用。揭示这一点能够帮助我们更深入地理解品牌名称翻译的过程以及跨越品牌名称翻译中的文化障碍。

关键词：品牌名称 翻译 文化 顺应论 动态

Contents

Brand name translation, a once neglected topic in the translation studies in China, has been drawing more and more attention from the translators nowadays. With China’s entry into WTO and the trend of globalization, Chinese businesses have been undergoing ever-frequent exchanges with the outside world. Well translated brand names contribute to the good reputation of the companies and their products, while poor translations of brand names often result in costly failures, and even damage the reputation of the companies. Carrying on studies on this topic can lead to people’s serious consideration of good translations of Chinese brand names and thus help to improve the competence of Chinese companies in the global market.

Although brand name translation plays a vital role in establishing the international brand image of a company, it failed to draw translators’ attention in China until around 1994, when really significant studies began to be conducted in this field. Relating brand name translation, thirty essays have been gathered which are published in the past ten years in the three leading translation journals in China—Chinese Translators’ Journal, Chinese Science and Technology Translators’ Journal, Shanghai Science and Technology Translators’ Journal—and some other academic journals. Admittedly, though the previous studies have served as a starting point and thus have made enormous contribution to the study of brand name translation in China, they are still far from being adequate for the present situation of China’s development.

The majority of the previous studies, counting to nearly 57% of the total, have been dealing with the principles and methods of brand name translation. Nearly all the studies in this group, such as studies done by scholars like Yang Liu (1995:2), Cheng Quanming (1996:1), Liang Guo (1998:1), Lu Pin (2000:6), Chen Hongfu (2000:3), and Lin Lan (2000:1) have elaborated on the categorization of translation skills, and the methods and skills are more or less the same. Zhou Suwen (2003:3) narrows her interest down upon handling aesthetic beauty in brand name translation. Besides, Guo Shangxing (1995:4) and Liu Zengyu (1996:1) point out problems existing in the present brand name translation practice by giving examples of poor translations, while Zeng Li (2003:3) regards homophone translation as one of the ideal methods in brand name translation. In terms of translation principles, Li Guisheng (1996:2) proposes three kinds of “faithfulness”, namely, faithfulness to pronunciation, faithfulness to meaning as well as faithfulness to marketing strategies. Liu Quanfu (1996:2) is of the view that principle of equivalence should be adopted in brand name translation while Xu Jinqi (2002:11) not only agrees with him on this point but also adds another principle “beauty in sense, form and sound”. Lu Guangyan (1999:2) insists that brand name translations, obtained through whichever method, should be in conformity with the international branding principles. Li Shuqin (2000:2) holds the view that brand name translation should achieve a correspondence in meaning and similarity in function. Apart from the above mentioned studies, Wang Qiong (2003:5) and Liu Fagong (2003:6) see brand name translation as a complicated work which demands a comprehensive ability of translators including creativity, sensitivity, and imagination.

Another two essays have been dealing with the translation of brand names when used in different parts of speech (Zhou Fangzhu, 1997:4, Zhang Dingxing, 1999:3). Despite the fact that no more essays have been written on this issue recently, it remains a quite new topic and deserves our further attention.

Among all the studies, eight essays, which count up to about 27% of the total, have touched upon the importance of culture in brand name translation. Tang Gende (1997:1), Bao Huinan (2001:274-287), Xiao Hui and Tao Yukang (2000:11) all agree that culture plays an important role in brand name translation. Hu Kaijie (2001:4) stresses the importance of an appropriate conversion of cultural meaning and Jiang Lei (2002:3) clearly puts forward the opinion that ignoring cultural differences can cause pragmatic failures in brand name translation. Zhu Xiaoju (1999:2) also approaches brand name translation from the angle of cultural differences, considering it crucially important to know the western customers’ aesthetic conception and their response to the translated brand names. Cang Lanju (1999:1) considers it a necessity to take into consideration consumers’ psychology, product nature, conciseness of translations and target culture in brand name translation. And finally, Liang Xiaodong (1997:3) is particularly interested in the treatment of national psychology in brand name translation. All in all, though these eight essays have repeatedly discussed the importance of culture, most of them merely start from describing examples of translated brand names rather than being based on theories. Moreover, their analysis of culture is to some extent confined to one or more aspects and is far from being holistic, which is probably due to the limited length of the essays.

As for theoretical application to brand name translation, the essay written by Li Shuqin and Ma Huijuan (2000:4) is unique in applying socio-semiotics to this field. According to their study, socio-semiotics can be applied to assure pragmatic equivalence in both designative meanings and associative meanings of brand names.

There are still two essays commenting on the studies on brand name translation in China (Zhu Fan, 2002:4, Yang Quanhong, 2003:3). The two essays agree that the previous studies in this field have certain limitations and still have ample room for improvement.

Unfortunately, though a few scholars have been much concerned for the unsatisfactory situation of the previous studies on brand name translation, little effort has been made to improve it. To summarize, most of the discussions lay emphasis merely on practical translation strategies and there seems to be a tendency to separate theories from the translation practice in this field. The primary concern of those studies has chiefly been the discussion of methods or practical strategies of translating brand names and most of them are based on a mere descriptive analysis of examples rather than on a theoretical foundation. The discussions of culture also lack the guidance and support of systematic theories. Besides, too much attention has been paid to the lexical level of using language, and there is comparatively a shortage of discussions on the multi-motivations underlying the translator’s strategies used in brand name translation.

1.2 About the present study

Nowadays, Chinese companies have been involved in fierce competition in the global market, and well translated brand names can help to build the product image among consumers, who have become more and more critical of choosing products of their favorite brands. Thus, the present study, largely derived from an increasing unease about the status quo of brand name translation in China, applies Theory of Adaptation (Jef Verschueren, 2000:13) to brand name translation and probes into the functioning of culture in brand name translation from a pragmatic perspective. The application is believed to be justified by the fact that brand name translation is a particular form of using language aiming at producing an ideal target brand name.

In this section, it might be helpful to give a brief explanation to the organization of this paper. The paper is organized in five chapters. Chapter one makes a general review of the research done in the past ten years related to brand name translation, pointing out that there have been a number of limitations in this field. And it is followed by a brief introduction to the present study.

Chapter two discusses the concepts of brand and brand name, highlights the importance of brand name translation, and also lists commonly used methods in brand name translation.

Chapter three explains the theoretical framework referenced in this paper, which mainly derives from a new pragmatic theory proposed by Jef Verschueren (2000:13). The interwoven relationship between language, culture and translation will provide us with the starting point to approach the research topic, and functional equivalence serves as an effective way of evaluating good translations of brand names. Theory of Adaptation will be exploited as a tool to understand brand name translation as a linguistic choice making process, in which translator’s linguistic choices should be adaptable with various factors including culture.

Chapter four has two goals. Since translation is an intercultural transmission, this chapter first focuses on cultural adaptation. Culture is definitely among the most important correlates of adaptability which motivate the linguistic choices of a brand name translator. The word “culture” here is in a broad sense, referring to everything in human life. With the help of a considerable number of real brand names either successfully or unsuccessfully translated, an in-depth analysis will be conducted of all the possible cultural elements with which brand name translation should be adaptable. Furthermore, this chapter makes an inquiry into the way in which translator’s linguistic choices are made to adapt to culture, and points out that dynamics is a characteristic of cultural adaptation in brand name translation. The dynamics of cultural adaptation in brand name translation is viewed from five aspects: passive adaptation and active adaptation, cultural adaptation being an interactive phenomenon, adaptation concerning the development of cultural correlates over time, adaptation to both cultures, and dynamics of criteria of translation adequacy.

Therefore, chapter five concludes that brand name translation, as a practical form of using language, is a continuous choice-making process with the dynamic functioning of cultural adaptation as one of its major concerns. A brand name translator should not only be bilingual, but more importantly, bicultural. The exposure of this can help to create successful translations of brand names.

Chapter Two

About Brand Name Translation

2.1 Concepts of brand and brand name

Branding has undergone several phases of development, which can be dated back to centuries ago. Modern branding and the use of brand names have their origin in the nineteenth century. According to the famous American economist Richard T. Hise (1979:257), a brand, i.e. trademark, is a name, term, sign, symbol, design, or a combination of them which tells who makes it or who sells it, distinguishing that product from those made or sold by others. Another

definition of brand is “a synthesis of all these elements, physical, aesthetic, rational and emotional and cultural, which is a perception created in the mind of consumers who ascribe beliefs and values to the product” (Murphy, 1987:3). A brand name, or a trademark word, is that part of brand which can be vocalized.

A powerful brand embodies a unique set of values and attributes and hence stimulates consumers’ interest. Brands are extremely significant for developing the product’s image. A successfully developed brand can bring about enormous value in a real sense, while a poorly developed one is often a hinder for the sales of its product. Brand name is the core of a product’s identity and personality. When we hear a certain brand name, the image of the product or service readily comes to our mind. Brand name initiates the critical relationship between the brand and the audience. The selection of a brand name is of increasing importance. In fact, the greater the quantity and variety of products, the greater the demand for brand names. Brand names should be effective in as many ways as possible: distinct, memorable, pronounceable, original, and more often than not, descriptive of the product. Besides, an effective brand name should not carry poor meanings in other cultures.

2.2 Importance of brand name translation

What’s in a name? When a name comes to a brand, it means enormous value. The brand name of a certain product is fundamentally significant because it exactly defines the central theme of the product and arouses key associations of the product. Naming can be crucial to businesses. A good brand name can bring about unexpected advantages as Apple, Lux, and Pampers do, while a bad brand name can jeopardize the business. This is also true of translated brand names. A well translated brand not only reflects brand image and conveys product information, but can adjust to the local market, lingual, cultural, and legal environments. For example, Coco-Cola is translated into the Chinese “可口可乐”, meaning “delicious and joyous” or “tasty and happy”. The name, which exactly caters to the target consumers, has contributed a lot to the great popularity of the drink. On the contrary, a badly translated brand name can often bring about unfavorable association to the consumers, such as Lactogen being translated into the Chinese “勒吐精”, meaning “forcing you to vomit the essence”. Who would like to buy such products?

Errors in the translation of brand names have cost businesses millions of dollars, not to mention damaging their credibility and reputation. Chinese as well as foreign companies have paid high price for the fallacies in translating brand names. The brand name of a Chinese cosmetics “芳芳” is translated into “Fang Fang” according to the Chinese pinyin, but unfortunately, “Fang” coincides with the English word “fang”, which refers to the poisonous teeth of a snake. Another brand name for battery, “白象”, is literally put into the “White Elephant”, totally ignoring the fact that “white elephant” is referred to something expensive but useless. Even “Coco-Cola”, when it first appeared in the Chinese market, was improperly translated into “口渴口蜡”. Now that the Chinese character “蜡” (wax) is often used to describe something that is extremely tasteless, such as the idiom “味同嚼蜡” (meaning as tasteless as chewing wax), the name naturally fails to evoke any appetite. It was not until the new name “可口可乐” was adopted that the sales of the drink began to increase rapidly.

Brand name translation, as a practical form of translation, does not transfer whole text from the source language into the target language. Instead, it is the transfer of single words or few words. Therefore, brand name translation has its own specific requirements and characteristics. Since China is the largest developing country with its economy steadily integrated into the world economy, brand name translation is getting especially important for the Chinese companies if they are to compete in the global market. Brand name translation, as one of their most critical strategic choices, deserves our full attention.

2.3 Commonly-used methods of brand name translation

With the intensification of international exchanges, a growing need for intercultural communication is involved. To our delight, Chinese companies have gradually realized what a powerful brand means to the survival and flourishing of a company. Brand name translation is attracting more and more attention, and there has been a greater variety in the translation methods of brand names. Here are the most prevailing methods:

a. The Use of pinyin

Because Chinese is a pictographic language, pinyin system was created to help people to pronounce the Chinese characters. The method of pinyin, which is exclusively used in the translation of Chinese brand names, has been very popular in the 50s and 60s of the 20^th century in China. Even today, there are still a number of Chinese brand names translated in this way, for instance, the Chinese brand name of shower “中野” being translated into “Zhongye”, the Chinese name for tea leaves “齐头山” being translated into “Qitoushan”, the Chinese brand name of water dispenser “三和” being translated into “Sanhe”, etc. Despite its popularity, the method of using pinyin has certain limitations. Though it also uses Latin alphabet, it does not convey any meaning, nor does it conform to the international phonetic system. Therefore, most of the brand names translated in this way are hard for English-speaking consumers to pronounce, not to mention to memorize. Naturally, the product message involved in the source brand names can not be conveyed to the target receptors. Admittedly, the use of pinyin should not be regarded as translation; rather it should be called transcription.

b. Literal Translation

Literal translation is also one of the main methods used in translating brand names. Many brand names, both English and Chinese, have been rendered in this way: the Chinese brand name of TV set “熊猫” being put into “Panda”, the Chinese brand name of sewing machine “蜜蜂” being put into “Bee”, the English brand name of cigarettes “Camel” into “骆驼”, the English name of “Crown” into the Chinese name “皇冠”, the English name of men’s accessories “Crocodile” into the Chinese “鳄鱼”, to name just a few. This method is not always effective due to the fact that the source brand name sometimes carries poor meanings in the target culture.

c. Homophonic Transliteration

Transliteration is to write or spell a word, or a name in the alphabet of another language, which is mainly used in the translation of proper names from one language into another. Homophonic transliteration refers to choosing words which sound closest to the original brand name. It is generally believed that the adoption of this method can help to achieve various purposes. Some brand names obtained in this way can effectively remind the customers of their classic status and others may intend to cater to the target consumers’ general preference for foreign goods. Many foreign brand names have been translated into Chinese using homophonic transliteration, including “Citizen” into “西铁城”, “Ford” into “福特”, “Casio” into “卡西欧”, “Haagen Dazs” into “哈根达斯” and so on. An increasing number of Chinese brand names have also begun to use this method, such as “康佳” into the English name “Konka”, “飞亚达” into the English name “FIYAT”, “格力” into the English name “Gree” which sound fairly close to the original. Such brand names are more easily for target consumers to pronounce and remember.

d. Semantic Transliteration

Semantic Transliteration is a combination of the phonetic transcription and semantic manipulation of the original word. Comparatively speaking, semantic transliteration is a quite ideal way of translating brand names, since the target brand name not only bears the similar homophonic pronunciation of the original but often conveys partly, if not all of the semantic messages of the source brand name. At least the target brand names are specially chosen to have favorable meanings in the target language. A lot of world-famous brand names are translated with this method: the Chinese brand name of watch “依波” into “Everbright”, the Chinese brand name of shampoo “奥妮” into “Olive”, the English brand name of air conditioner “Philco” into “飞歌”, the name of men’s casual wear “Hush Puppies” into “暇步士”, the name of the well-known supermarket “Carrefour” into “家乐福”, etc.

e. Coinage

There are still other brand names translated through coinage, i.e. the invention of a new word. This method is believed by some people to be a wise choice, for names obtained in this way are very unlikely to be repeatedly used by other companies. What’s more, the method, once appropriately adopted, can help to produce an unexpectedly fascinating effect among target consumers. The translation of the Chinese brand name “彩虹” is an interesting story. In 1995, the彩虹 company in China’s northeast Shanxi Province, the biggest TV monitor manufacturer at that time, intended to find a special English name for its product. Many methods were adopted and the company finally selected the name “Irico”, which was blended from “Iris” and “Corporation”. “Iris” is the goddess of rainbow who brings good news to people in ancient Greek mythology. Thus the word, obtained through coinage, is related to the source brand name. What’s more, it is simple and distinct. The name was immediately accepted by English-speaking consumers partly because it sounds like an international brand name and can easily build up a good product image. The Chinese brand name “美加净” has adopted the same method. Its translation “MAXAM” originates from the English word “maximum”, and surpasses all the other possible translations for its favorable association, conciseness, symmetry, and ease to remember. Other brand names which have been coined include “雅戈尔” into “Youngor”, “德生” into “Tecsun”, “美的” into “Midea”, and so on.

Although there have already been a variety of methods in brand name translation, not all of them are suitable for the translation of all brand names. What the translator should do is to take everything into consideration and decide which method might be the best for a certain brand name.

It is widely accepted that translation is an intercultural communication. Translation becomes impossible if it is separated from the interpretation of the relationship between language and culture, and the discussion of functional equivalence provides us with the ultimate goal which brand name translation is intended to achieve. Finally, Theory of Adaptation serves as a tool for the exploitation of brand name translation as a particular form of using language. In this chapter we shall take a look at these related concepts as well as the application of Theory of Adaptation. All these are the necessary components of the theoretical framework on which the present study could have been built.

3.1 Language, culture and translation

Culture, which has been heatedly debated in the translation field, is an extremely complex, multidimensional, and all-encompassing subject. According to the definition given in The New Encyclopedia Britannica (1768:784), culture is “the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behaviour”. “Culture thus defined consists of language, ideas, beliefs, customs, taboos, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, works of art, rituals, ceremonies, and other related components.” And in The Encyclopedia Americana (1829:315), culture is defined as the most general concept to describe human behavior and history. It refers to innumerable items at different levels of generality: ideas, sentiments, values, objects, actions, tendencies and accumulations.

As a matter of fact, although more than a hundred definitions have been given to culture, all anthropologists agree that culture consists of the learned ways of behaving and adapting, as contrasted to inherited behavioral patterns of instincts. Social scientists have divided culture into a series of institutions or

groups of activities with specific need-satisfaction functions. Family, education, economics, politics and religion are the most familiar ones.

Culture and language are indispensable to each other. Culture can never be discussed without mentioning the language used in it. According to Peter Newmark (2001:94), culture refers to “the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its means of expression.” Culture is an extremely complex concept and an enormous subject, which embraces almost everything in the world, whether material or spiritual. Language is intrinsically bound up with culture and no linguistic text can exist out of a certain cultural context. Language is the means through which culture is expressed while culture embodies language at the same time. Different languages codify the world in different ways. The acceptance of culture is limited by the diversity in the categories of culture and particularly by the diversity in language-culture and mental culture. Language, of course, is the most important code of all for the transfer of culture. On the one hand, being an intrinsic part of culture, language carries culture, mirrors culture, spreads culture, and helps develop culture. On the other hand, language is strongly influenced and shaped by culture in various aspects of our life.

Translation is not simply a process of decoding languages, but the process of intercultural or cross-cultural communication. Due to the fact that people from diverse cultures vary sharply in their criteria ranging from perception, evaluation, and attitudes to religions, lifestyles and stereotypes, translators can hardly avoid cultural interpretation in the translating process. In a word, cross-cultural competence is absolutely needed for effective translation. As Nida (1991:110) points out, “For truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism, since words only have meanings in terms of the cultures in which they function.”

As far as culture is involved in translation, brand name translation is no exception. Brand names are not isolated units of language. They are information chips deeply rooted in the cultural soil. As a particular form of translation, brand name translation is not simply a matter of finding equivalent expressions in the target language for the source brand name, but a process of transplanting cultures as well. Therefore, heightening brand name translators’ sensitivity to the dynamics of culture is a prerequisite for translation if the target brand names are to be operative and effective.

3.2 Functional equivalence

Translation equivalence is one of the central topics of translation research. Realizing that no translation is able to attain complete equivalence to the original, Nida advocates the idea of “functional equivalence” (1993:117) to describe the degrees of adequacy of a translation. The term is based on a comparison between the way in which the source audience understand and appreciate the source text and the way in which the target audience understand and appreciate the target text. The idea “equivalence” is approached on the basis of degrees of closeness from minimal to maximal effectiveness. According to Nida (1993:118), a minimal adequacy of translation is that the target readers can conceive of how the source readers must have understood and appreciated the source text; a maximal adequacy of translation might be that the target readers can understand and appreciate the translated text in essentially the same manner as the source readers understand and appreciate the source text. Nida (1993:125) suggests that when literal translation fails to attain satisfactory equivalence, adjustments in form are necessary. Furthermore, in order to produce functionally equivalent translation, he proposes “the greater the differences in the source and target cultures, the greater the need for adjustments; the greater the differences between the source and target languages, the greater the need for adjustments.” (1993:129) Since different languages belong to different cultures, there is no such thing as complete equivalence in translation while functional equivalence can be achieved through adaptation to various factors.

When “functional equivalence” is applied to brand name translation, it means that the translated brand name should be able to achieve the closest natural functional identity. Brand name translation is different from other forms of translation such as technical translation and literary translation mainly in that it clearly aims at promoting the sales of a product in the target market. The translated brand name should be able to convey product information to the target customers as the source brand name does to the source consumers. Only when the target consumers from distinct cultural backgrounds understand the conceptual meaning of the translated brand name in a similar way can they rightly obtain the messages conveyed from the producers. Only when this is achieved, will the translated brand name be able to create the same brand image, arouse the same interest and stimulate the same desire for purchase among the target consumers. Communication becomes effective abroad only after the message has been translated. Brand name becomes effective only when it produces an effect in the target market which is closest to the one produced in the source market by the source brand name.

To sum up, “functional equivalence” can be regarded as the ultimate goal for brand name translation, which can be used for evaluating whether translations of brand names are effective or not.

3.3 The Theory of Adaptation

3.3.1. An introduction to the Theory of Adaptation

In his book entitled Understanding Pragmatics, Jef Verschueren proposes a new pragmatic theory: the Theory of Adaptation (2000:13). The theory is an explanation and interpretation of using language from a totally new perspective.

Understanding the following key notions is a prerequisite for understanding Theory of Adaptation: linguistic choice, variability, negotiability, and adaptability. According to Verschueren, using language consists of the continuous making of linguistic choices (both in speaking and in interpreting), consciously or unconsciously, for language-internal and/or language-external reasons (2000:55). This “making of choices” can be understood in terms of the three hierarchically related properties which language possesses. Among the three properties of language, variability is the one which defines the range of possibilities from which choices can be made; negotiability is the one responsible for the fact that choices are not mechanical but guided by flexible principles and strategies; adaptability refers to the property of language which enables human beings to make negotiable linguistic choices from a variable range of possibilities in such a way as to approach points of satisfaction for communicative needs (Ibid: 58-63). These three properties of language, which represent the meaningful functioning of language, are fundamentally inseparable, and their hierarchical ranking serves as a conceptual tool to understanding pragmatic phenomena. The higher-order notion of adaptability has no content without both variability and negotiability. Regarding adaptability, there is still one thing deserving our attention: adaptability should not be interpreted unidirectionally. That is to say, not only are language choices made in accordance with pre-existent circumstances, but also circumstances get changed by, or adapted to, the choices that are made (Ibid: 62).

Using adaptability as the starting point, Verschueren assumes possible to assign four tasks to the interpretation of using language. First, contextual correlates of adaptability have to be identified. These potentially include all the ingredients of a communicative setting with which linguistic choices have to be interadaptable. The correlates of adaptability which motivate and/or are affected by the linguistic choices include communicative context (language users, mental world, social world and physical world) and linguistic context (contextual cohesion, intertextuality, and sequencing). The latter will not deserve our further attention in this paper since brand name translation is only concerned with the translation of individual words or groups of words. Second, structural objects of adaptability situate the meaningful functioning of language in relation to the different structural layers of adaptability. Third, dynamics of adaptability shows how communication principles and strategies are used in the making and negotiating of choices of production and interpretation. And finally, salience of the adaptation considers the fact that not all the choices are made equally consciously or purposefully. Some linguistic choices are made automatically while others are highly motivated (Ibid: 65-68).

In addition, these four tasks “can be seen as necessary ingredients of an adequate pragmatic perspective on any given linguistic phenomenon” (Ibid: 67). Or, to put it differently, Theory of Adaptation is believed to be applicable to every form of using language, on both macro level and micro level. The theory also provides a totally new perspective from which we can approach translation (Song Zhiping, 2004:2). Hence this paper will first apply Theory of Adaptation to brand name translation, and narrow down to its adaptation to culture, part of the above mentioned “communicative setting” with which linguistic choice making in brand name translation should be interadaptable.

3.3.2 Brand name translation as a process of adaptation

If we look into brand name translation from a pragmatic perspective, a question naturally rises: what do we do when translating brand names from one language into another? In accordance with Theory of Adaptation, we find that using language in general and brand name translation in particular, can be interpreted as a linguistic choice making process consisting of continuous adaptation to various factors, including both language-internal factors and language-external factors, aiming at producing the desired target brand names.

Then, if adaptability is adopted as a useful concept to account for what people do in brand name translation, we shall be able to ask what the linguistic choices in translation process will have to be interadaptable with. In other words, what are the “correlates of adaptability” (Jef Verschueren, 2000:66) which motivate the choices that are made in brand name translation practice? What does the procedure of brand name translation look like? To answer the questions, we shall take the Theory of Adaptation into account. The theory comprises a full range of parameters involved in successfully fulfilling a linguistic choice making process in using language. In terms of brand name translation, first, since the purpose of such translation is to create brand names in another language, the linguistic choices should naturally meet the linguistic requirements of that language so as to be perceived by target consumers as if they are newly created in their language. Second, since translation is an intercultural transmission, apart from the linguistic requirements, culture in a broad sense should be considered. A brand name that has favorable connotations in one language may convey unfavorable meanings in another language, and even it may be a taboo word when rendered into a target language. Third, as we all know, brand name translation is a complex and multi-disciplinary task which involves many factors other than linguistic and cultural ones, such as legal and marketing considerations. Being a type of advertising translation, translation of brand names is a linguistic transfer as well as a cultural, marketing and legal transfer. Therefore, a translated brand name will also have to meet the marketing strategy of the company and legal availability is a priority which must be guaranteed for the translated brand name.

All in all, using language in brand name translation is influenced not only by factors from within the languages, but by factors from outside the languages. A translated brand name may need to be modified to meet the linguistic requirements of a certain language, and at the same time, it may need to be oriented to the target setting. Brand name translation is not simply a process of decoding the source brand name in the target language; instead, it is a complicated process which aims at producing the target brand name as the result of adaptation.

Based on the Theory of Adaptation, the author adopts the following figure to demonstrate the process of the translator’s using language in brand name translation:

Source Brand Name Target Brand Name

Preliminary Adaptation

Investigation

Linguistic

Transmission

Candidate Target

Brand Names

The figure is adopted to help us to achieve a better understanding of how the desired target brand name is chosen as the outcome of an adaptation process. Generally speaking, a brand name goes through three steps before its translation is complete: preliminary investigation, linguistic transmission and adaptation.

In undertaking brand name translation, a lot of preliminary work has to be done, which is always beyond the scope of linguistic and translation theories. As we have pointed out, brand name translation is believed to be multi-disciplinary, thus the first step of brand name translation has little to do the translation work in a real sense. The preliminary investigation is usually limited to the following three aspects: marketing strategy, product nature, and trademark law of the target country.

From the second step on, we begin to touch upon translation in a strict sense. The translator may adopt any method he regards as proper, such as homophonic transliteration or coinage, to transfer the source brand name into a target language. It is advisable that the translator should create as many candidate target brand names as possible with different methods so as to have a wider variety of names to choose from.

As soon as the candidate target brand names are created by the translator, they are submitted to the third step, adaptation. This is perhaps the most crucial step in the whole translation process. In addition, this step is a typical realization of the Theory of Adaptation. At this step, the candidate names created in the second step will be analyzed strictly against the linguistic requirements as well as the target setting. The whole adaptation consists of three parts: linguistic adaptation, cultural adaptation, and legal and marketing adaptation. By linguistic adaptation, we mean the candidate target names are examined against the linguistic requirements of the target language and whichever does not comply with them will be deleted. Cultural adaptation is conducted when the remaining target names are screened according to the target culture. This will be discussed at length in chapter four of this paper. Similarly, those who convey unfavorable connotations should be abandoned. And equally important is the marketing and legal adaptation in which the marketing strategies of the company and the legal status of the brand names should be considered. After all these stages, the final target brand name is selected as a unity of pleasant sound, memorable form, favorable meaning and standardized legal status which is also in agreement with the marketing strategies of the company.

Therefore, an ideal translated brand name is produced out of a complicated adaptation process involving adaptation to different factors. The recent action taken by China’s 联想 Group Ltd. can be used to illustrate this point. “联想”, one of the biggest maker of personal computers in China, adopted an English brand name “Legend” years ago. The name was chosen because it not only sounded similar to the Chinese name but hinted as well the fierce competition lying ahead of the company in the global market since there were already a number of powerful competitors in the world such as IBM, MICROSOFT, and H&P. The name “Legend” fully displayed the company’s resolution to create a “legend” and contributed a great deal to the success of the company in its pioneering stage. Everything changes over time. When the Legend Group was planning for globalization in 2001, it was discovered unexpectedly that the name “Legend” was a hinder, for it had already been registered by a number of producers in many European countries. In order to be smoothly accepted in the global market, the company takes a new name “Lenovo”. The first two letters of the original name “Le” is kept to indicate the passing down of traditions, while “novo” is a Latin word meaning “innovation”, so the whole name means “to innovate without discarding traditions”. The name is a nearly perfect one. For one thing, it is created out of adaptation to all the factors including linguistic requirements, culture as well as marketing strategies and legal status. For another, its translation adopts the coinage method so as to guarantee the uniqueness of the name in the global market.

Before we focus our attention on cultural adaptation in the following chapter, a few more remarks would be made here about the process of brand name translation in order to avoid misconceptions. For one thing, though adaptation is arranged as the third step of translation in the above figure, it is absolutely possible for it to happen at any other step. That is to say, it is not uncommon that a translator begins to adapt his linguistic choices, consciously or unconsciously, to various factors even during the first or the second step of the translation process. As a matter of fact, since brand name translation aims clearly at promoting the sales of a certain product, the choice making throughout the translation process will have to be interadaptable with this translating purpose. For another, though in the above figure, the three correlates of adaptability are arranged in sequence, they do not necessarily take place one after another in actual adaptation. More often than not, the three of them function simultaneously to varying degrees.

From the above analysis, it can be obviously seen that brand name translation is in nature a process of constant adaptation to various factors including linguistic, cultural and marketing and legal ones, with the ultimate goal of producing a desired target brand name, and thus achieve functional equivalence between the source brand name and the target brand name. That also explains why the figure places “Source Brand Name” and “Target Brand Name” at the same height.

Although a number of factors function in the adaptation process of brand name translation, the following chapter will be exclusively devoted to the dynamic functioning of cultural adaptation. It might be helpful at this point to make clear that the “culture” to be discussed refers to the totality of beliefs and practices of a society. Therefore, it is a general term embracing all the elements ranging from national traits to purchasing psychology. All these are combined to form a complexity, with which the translator’s linguistic choices in brand name translation should be interadaptable.

Chapter Four

The Dynamic Functioning of Cultural Adaptation in Brand Name Translation

We have stressed in the previous chapter that brand name translation can be interpreted as a process of continuous making of linguistic choices in the light of the Theory of Adaptation proposed by Verschueren (2000:13). According to the theory, speakers involved in using language do not only choose forms, but also choose strategies (Verschueren, 2000:56). As for translation practice, the translator not only chooses form for the target brand names, but also the translation strategies he adopts. For example, the translator will have to decide on his cultural stand in translation, whether to adapt more to the source culture or to the target culture, or to adapt almost equally to both. He may also need to decide the choices of diction and styles dependent on who are assumed to be the consumers of a certain product. Besides, when a potentially multi-meaningful source brand name is involved and it’s obviously impossible to create a complete equivalence for it, the translator will also have to decide which meanings should be conveyed to the target consumers as faithfully as possible, and which ones could be abandoned. No matter what kind of linguistic choices the translator is making in brand name translation, the choices should be interadaptable to various factors in the communicative context. The translator makes choices according to highly flexible principles and strategies, and each method he adopts seems to have its own advantages and disadvantages.

Although numerous factors are influencing one’s choice making in brand name translation, this chapter will merely focus on the influence of culture on brand name translation. Culture is such an influential factor that more often than not, when a word is used in a different culture, it becomes a different word. Section 4.1 will give us a brief idea of what cultural adaptation is and its important status in brand name translation. With the help of a number of real examples of brand name translation, section 4.2 will display to detail the concrete cultural elements with which linguistic choices should be interadaptable. And section 4.3 will contribute to the explanation of cultural adaptation in brand name translation as a dynamic process instead of being a static one.

4.1. Cultural adaptation and its importance

Since translation is a bilingual as well as bicultural communication, it is an even more complicated activity than linguistic choice making activities in a general sense. Brand name translation is a practical form of translation, in which the translator’s choice making is constantly operated under the influence of linguistic adaptation, cultural adaptation and legal and marketing adaptation (Section 3.3.2). Cultural adaptation is among the most important factors with which the whole translation process should be interadaptable. In a translation process, equal importance is conferred to both linguistic and cultural differences between the source language and the target language, and it is widely acknowledged that differences between cultures may cause more severe complications for the translator than differences in language structure do. A target brand name, as the outcome of a translation process, should first of all be culturally accepted.

In order to achieve the closest natural functional equivalence in brand name translation, cultural differences will have to be taken into account. After the candidate target brand names are created, a careful evaluation should be made of the cultural appeal and appropriateness for the target consumers. Language, images, symbols, and colors may carry different meanings in different cultures, and people living in different cultures differ in their values and beliefs, social conventions, etc. As a result, flexible adaptation out of cultural considerations is necessary to avoid possible misunderstandings. Only when the translated brand name is culturally accepted in the target market, will it be able to increase the competitiveness and profitability of the product. On the other hand, if the cultural adaptation is neglected, the translation may not be successful at all, or what is even worse, it may result in costly mistakes. This can be clearly illustrated with the often-repeated joke about the translation of “金鸡”, a well-known Chinese brand name for alarm clock. When it was introduced into foreign market years ago, the translator put it rigidly into “Golden Cock”, paying no attention to the fact that “cock” is a taboo word in American culture as well as in some other cultures. Naturally the translator’s ignorance of cultural adaptation resulted in pragmatic failure, and consequently, the name could not be accepted by many English-speaking consumers. If the cultural elements had been taken into account at that time, the translation would have been something like “Golden Rooster”, which might have been well accepted by target consumers.

Therefore, a competent translator of brand names should definitely have a good command of cultures since cultural adaptation is a most crucial part in brand name translation. This also reveals the huge pressure on the translator of brand names, since he is perceived as the person to bridge the gap between the producer and the target consumer, and thus to some extent, perceived as the guarantor of the success of the product. He is responsible for the entire communicative process and is required to be bilingual, and more importantly, bicultural.

4.2 Adaptation to various cultural elements

In this section, a multi-dimensional study will be conducted on the various cultural elements which might be possibly involved in brand name translation. All the factors may roughly fall into eight categories: national traits and values, politics and history, extended meanings of words, people’s attitudes towards animals, plants and numbers, geographical location, religious elements and allusions, age, sex, and race of the consumers and purchasing psychology. Along with the analysis, a considerable number of real brand names will be used to illustrate how the translator’s linguistic choice making is interadaptable with various cultural elements. And it will be further explained why a successful translation of brand name should take these elements into consideration. Besides, what deserves our attention is that the adaptation of linguistic choices in a translation process is a highly flexible one: the translator may often need to consider several cultural elements in one translation, but not all the elements are necessarily involved. In the following categories, each of the examples will be devoted mainly to one dominant aspect of culture with which the translator’s linguistic choices should be interadaptable.

4.2.1 Adaptation to national traits and values

By national traits, we mean particular characteristics, qualities, or tendencies that a nation has, and values are moral principles and beliefs which they regard as important. Both of them are part of a culture. If a translated brand name is to be well accepted in the target market, the translator can never neglect the national traits and values which are exclusively possessed by the target consumers.

“Kiss Me”, the brand name of a foreign lipstick, is a popular name in western countries partly because the name arouses people’s association of charming ladies after using the lipstick. To some degree, the name caters to the majority of western people, who, compared with people living in the east, show a much stronger tendency to pursue love boldly. But when the product is targeted on the Chinese market, one has to consider the national traits and values of the Chinese, which vary a great deal from those of western people. As we know, compared with western people, most Chinese tend to be more traditional and conservative when talking about love in public. Actually, throughout much of the Chinese history, the ability to control one’s feelings has always been seen as a virtue. Hence the translator, who might be well aware of that, translated the name into “奇士美” while another candidate target brand name “吻我” is quickly filtered out in the adaptation process. Obviously the latter does not show enough respect for the Chinese national traits and values, and thus does not fit the Chinese market. Comparatively, the name “奇士美”, though not necessarily the best translation, shows some adaptation to the target culture in the translator’s linguistic choices. Apart from that, some people believe that the name is intended to evoke similar association among the target consumers as the original does: “奇士” is homophonic with “骑士”, so when combined with “美”, it makes people think of a handsome hero with a beauty. In order to adapt to the target culture, the translator chooses to sacrifice the literal meaning so as to keep, if not all, part of the original flavor. On the contrary, other people do not think highly of the name “奇士美”, which, to them, can never match the source brand name in its humor and liveliness.

There are still other examples of adaptation to national traits and values in brand name translation. One might have heard about the famous perfume “Poison” produced by the French company Christian Dior in 1985, which was believed to be specially designed for western women to satisfy their curiosity about mysterious and adventurous matters. The product sold so well in western countries that it broke the record in the first two weeks after it appeared in the market. “Mysterious and unforgettable” was the common feeling of western woman consumers. But considering the fact that women in the east tend to be more gentle and quiet, it is translated into “百爱神” with the semantic transliteration method before entering the Chinese market. The translation of the name bears a similar sound to the original and conveys favorable meanings in the target language. Other possibilities like “毒药” are not chosen by the translator since the linguistic choices are not interadaptable with the Chinese culture and also very confusing.

In a word, in order to attain functional equivalence in brand name translation, the translator will have to adapt his linguistic choices to national traits and values of the target culture.

4.2.2 Adaptation to politics and history

Politics and history, being part of a culture, have always been imposing influence upon many other cultural elements. In fact, political and historical elements always bring out gradual changes in almost every aspect of lives within a nation, directly or indirectly. In brand name translation, the translator should be sensitive as well as careful enough to adapt his linguistic choices to the political status and the history of the target country. If the translated brand name does not accord with the above elements, it is very likely to hurt the feelings of that people, or even result in serious trouble, not to mention to help in the sales of the product.

So far as political and historical reasons are concerned, the most notorious example of all brand names might be the “OPIUM” cologne produced by a French company. The owner of the company had ever been to China and was deeply impressed by the traditional Chinese snuff bottles which were exquisite handicrafts. He then named his product “OPIUM”, hoping that no Chinese gentleman could resist the temptation of this cologne just as one could not resist the temptation of opium. What was beyond his expectation was that the translation ended up as a blunder. The word “鸦片” is already a symbol of galling shame and humiliation long since the outbreak of the Opium War. Every Chinese has a strong hatred towards opium from the bottom of his heart. Therefore, when the product first appeared in the Chinese market, it encountered unprecedented dilemma: all Chinese consumers protested strongly against the name. They insisted that the name had brought insult upon them. The cologne was finally forbidden to be offered for sale in Chinese market because it also violated the Chinese trademark law. From this example, we can see how important it is for the brand name translator to adapt his linguistic choices to politics and history of the target country.

A similar error was made when the Chinese “大鹏” plimsolls entered the foreign market with an English name “ROC” (a kind of imaginary bird in the ancient times which is believed to be large and fierce). The Chinese name conveys favorable association of “good expectation” but its literal translation “ROC” coincides with the abbreviation of the former Republic of China in the Chinese history. Thus the name was improper as far as the politics and history of the source country are concerned. If the name had been used in the foreign market, it would have done harm to the reputation of our country. Therefore, the name was soon replaced by “Giant Eagle”, which sounds much better. It is obviously seen that brand name translation is a process of making linguistic choices out of various considerations, including adaptation to politics and history.

There are still other Chinese companies who paid little attention to adapting to these cultural elements when adopting English names. Years ago a factory in Hangzhou failed to register its English name “PRC”. The reason is obvious: the abbreviation of the People’s Republic of China can not be used as a brand name. The brand name also violated the Chinese trademark law. Another company in Wuhan called “福尔摩莎” incurred much criticism because it adopted an English name “Formosa” without noticing that “Formosa” was once a contemptuous name for Taiwan used by the western colonists in 16^th century. Naturally the name was not pleasant to the ears of the Chinese. Though the company finally adapted another translation of brand name, it could not make up for the loss caused by the translator’s ignorance of Chinese history.

Comparatively speaking, Japanese businessmen seem to be more careful in brand name translation in terms of cultural adaptation. Every Chinese who knows a little history would remember the Japanese invasion into China during World War II and the enormous pain it has brought to the Chinese people. Out of such historical consideration, Japanese businessmen racked their brains in the translation of “Nippon”, the brand name of a Japanese paint when they were targeting on the Chinese market. Thinking that their product would very probably be rejected by Chinese consumers if the literal translation “日本” is adopted, the Japanese businessmen cleverly used the semantic transliteration method and put the name into “立邦”, which sounds like a newly created Chinese name. The name sounds very close to the original; what’s more, the Japanese businessmen’s patriotism is also implied in the name, for “立邦” in Chinese means “to make one’s country prosperous”. It must be admitted that the Japanese are indeed good at handling cultural elements in brand name translation and the linguistic choices involved in producing the desired target brand name for “Nippon” are highly motivated by adaptation to political and historical concerns.

All in all, when one undertakes brand name translation, he should seriously adapt his linguistic choices to all the possible political and historical elements so as not to cause costly failures. That may also be one of the reasons why the word “bear” is not a desired brand name since the former Soviet Union was often referred to as the “Polar Bear” by many western newspapers.

4.2.3 Adaptation to extended meanings of words

Language is the carrier of culture. Being a kind of code system reflecting concrete culture, each language contains numerous words with their extended meanings far beyond the basic ones. Great care is needed in the treatment of these words and the translator should consider not only the basic meanings of words but the extended meanings of them as well. Often these words can not be literally translated; some adjustments are necessary.

Let’s look at some examples. It seems that the word “羊” has no unfavorable meaning to most Chinese, but things are not the same with its English equivalents “ram” and “goat”. “Ram” not only means “an adult male sheep” but also acquires the extended meaning of “to run into something very hard”. So the brand name of the Chinese “五羊” bicycle can not be literally put into “Five Rams”, since the name is likely to give people a sense of insecurity. And things would be even worse if the name is put into “Five Goats”, for “goat” is sometimes used derogatively for someone who is sexually active. Even the name “Five Sheep” may not be a satisfactory one, because the word also conveys a derogative meaning of someone who always obeys others without thinking. Till now, how to translate “五羊” into English properly remains a problem, and some scholars even suggests abandoning the original name and creating a new one. Though there has not been a satisfactory translation for “五羊”, the controversy over the matter shows the pleasant fact that the Chinese are more and more conscious of the importance of cultural adaptation in brand name translation.

There are still other occasions on which people translate Chinese brand names into English without taking the extended meanings of words into consideration. For instance, the Chinese brand name of leather shoes “帆船”, which stands for people’s good wishes, was once translated into “Junk” when entering the foreign market. Though the translation seems to be equivalent to the source brand name in their literal meanings, it conveys an extended meaning “old and unwanted things of little value”. Naturally the minimal functional equivalence cannot be attained in this case since the target consumers would not be able to conceive how the source brand name was appreciated by the source consumers. Sales of the product did not rise until it adopted another name “Junco”, which, though not absolutely desirable, sounds much better than “Junk”. The translator’s final choice of “Junco” instead of “Junk” is actually an outcome of cultural adaptation in translation process.

Out of the same consideration, the translator should be alert when translating the Chinese brand names of “蓝天” toothpaste and the “白翎” pen, for “blue sky” in American English is often used to mean “invalid securities” and “White Feather” symbolizes cowardice in English. The English idiom “to show the white feather” means “to act like a coward”. And a car made in U.S.A does not sell well in many countries in Latin America partly because its name “Matador” not only means “bullfighter” in Spanish, but also has another meaning “killer”.

In addition to the above examples, the most controversial brand names concerning the treatment of extended meanings might be those containing the Chinese character “红”. The Chinese have been so fond of the red color that they use the word “红” frequently in naming their products such as “红梅”, “红塔山”, “红旗”and so on. But in English, “red” has an extended meaning of extremism, danger, blood and violence. Out of this consideration, many scholars hold that the brand name “红星” cannot be put into “Red Star” for the English-speaking consumers. Instead, “Bright Star”, “Shining Star” or “Twinkling Star” show more adaptation to the target culture. On the contrary, other translation critics are of the view that the translator’s linguistic choices in this case should adapt more to the source culture and the original flavor of the source brand name should be kept, because due to the increasing cultural exchanges in the world today the target audience would not fail to notice what “red” means to the source audience. For example, “红旗”, the world-famous Chinese brand name of car, is simply put into “Red Flag” and has also been widely accepted. Interestingly, yet other critics argue that it is not entirely true to say that westerners do not like the word “red” (Yang Quanhong, 2003:56-58). Such opinion is justified by a number of facts: an American hotel named “Red Roof Hotel”, the “Red Room” in the White House, the beautiful lines written by Robert Burns “My love is like a red, red rose”, and the book entitled Red Star over China written by the famous American journalist Edgar Snow. It is hard for us to say which translation is the best, for the strategies adopted by different translators mainly result from different considerations of culture. Some tend to adapt his linguistic choices more to the source culture while others may adapt more to the target culture. Choosing the most proper cultural stand has also been the central divergence between “domestication” and “foreignization”. Anyway, no matter what kind of strategy the translator adopts, the basic purpose of brand name translation—selling products—should always be remembered.

In order to avoid being misled into one-sideness in translating brand names, we should have as more and better understanding as possible on comprehensive meanings of words and phrases approved by people at home and abroad, and especially how they use them in practice.

4.2.4 Adaptation to people’s attitudes towards animals, plants, and numbers

People living in different cultures hold different attitudes and beliefs towards animals, plants, and numbers. What is considered a good omen in one culture may not symbolize the same in another. Therefore, it is generally advisable that people should not use this type of words to name their products, and when one translates existing brand names of this type, cultural adaptation may help him in finding a more proper target brand name. The difficulties caused by such words in brand name translation may be illustrated with the following example.

As we know, Chinese people often associate bats with good luck because the Chinese character “蝠” sounds the same as “福” (meaning “blessing” or “good fortune”). Some Chinese legends even say that when a bat lives 100 years, it turns white in color and hangs upside down from a tree, and eating that bat could bring a person longevity. A red bat foretells even better luck for “红蝠” sounds exactly the same with “洪福” (being supremely fortunate) (Hu Wenzhong, 1995:212). Some Chinese stick to the belief so much that they name their products “蝙蝠”. But if the translator adapts his linguistic choices to the different attitude towards the animal in European cultures, he would not consider “Bat” a good name, for bat is regarded as an extremely evil omen in many European folklores. Perhaps translations like “Fortunes” would be better.

“孔雀” is also a Chinese brand name. Most Chinese would feel it natural to adopt such a brand name since peacock has always been seen as the most beautiful bird of all and seeing a peacock displaying its fine tail feathers is regarded as propitious. In China’s Yunnan Province, people of the Dai nationality pass down the custom of performing a kind of “peacock dance” from generation to generation to express their good wishes for life. Just on the opposite, English-speaking people hold a different attitude toward the bird. According to Collins Cobuild English Dictionary, “peacock” may be used to describe someone who behaves “in a vain and arrogant way” (1997:1217). Therefore, when the name enters the global market, the translation may need to be adapted to the unfavorable association which may be aroused among English-speaking consumers. Compared with “Peacock”, the name “Kingbird” might be a better choice.

Apart from these two examples, there are many other occasions of using animal words as brand names, and more often than not, they bring different associations to people from different cultures. For instance, “喜鹊” symbolizes the foretelling of good news in China, while to most English-speaking people, it stands for gossip as the English idiom “as talkative as magpie” shows. And Swedish people relate the bird with witchcraft while in Scotland a magpie flying into one’s house forecasts death. Therefore, when translating the brand name “喜鹊”, the translator’s linguistic choices should be interadaptable with the cultural connotation implied in such words.

Similarly, English brand names like “Owl” and “Grey Hound” may be hard for the Chinese consumers to accept, while Chinese brand names like “蝴蝶牌”, “大白兔”, “鹅牌”, “仙鹤”, and “海燕”may be hard for English-speaking consumers to accept if they are translated into “Butterfly”, “White Rabbit”, “Goose”, “Crane”, and “Petrel”. The translation of this type of words needs translator’s careful consideration of cultural connotations, otherwise even if they do not cause any unfavorable association to the target consumers, they will definitely fail to convey the original flavor to the target consumers. Thus functional equivalence would be impossible to achieve. With this in our mind, it seems easy to understand why the brand name of a Chinese pillowcase “鸳鸯” is put into “Lovebirds” instead of “Mandarin Ducks”. To English speakers, the latter means nothing other than a kind of duck. “Lovebirds” is actually created out of cultural adaptation.

Plant words also acquire different connotations to people from different cultures. People associate their feelings and emotions, happenings and natural phenomena with various plants. “水仙” is often related to virtues like purity in Chinese, but the English word “narcissus” arouses an unfavorable association: a self-loving person. Thus if the Chinese washing machine with such a brand name is targeted at English-speaking consumers, cultural adaptation is necessary in the linguistic choices. Compared with “Narcissus”, “Daffodil” might be a more suitable target brand name for it.

Finally, numbers bring about different associations. Generally speaking, each culture has certain numbers believed to be either “lucky” or “ominous”, but this may often differ from individual to individual. Let’s take the translation of “7-up”, a brand of soft drink, as an example. The number “7” is thought to be a lucky number to many English speakers, but it does not have the same meaning in Chinese. Considering the cultural difference, the translator, in order to create a similar effect among the Chinese consumers, worked out the name “七喜”. The name is quite satisfactory because its first part “七” remains faithful to the source brand name without conveying any unfavorable meaning, and its second part “喜”conveys the meaning of “happiness and good luck”, and hence makes up for the loss of connotation in the number “7”.

In a word, using the above-mentioned type of words as brand names in a global market often means taking a risk. As we have discussed, it is advisable that producers be careful with creating such brand names. Anyway, what a translator can do about the existing brand names of this type is cultural adaptation.

4.2.5 Adaptation to geographical location

Geographical location may be seen as another important element contributing to the differences in cultures. Different natural environments give rise to differences in languages, and literally equivalent terms may be interpreted differently in different cultures. For instance, snow has become an indispensable part of Eskimos’ life, and consequently a quite large vocabulary exists in their language for different kinds of snow. While people living in India can hardly imagine what snow looks like, and there is naturally no word for “snow”.

When the difference caused by geographical locations comes to brand name translation, it may also be a cultural barrier. Here is a typical example. China has once produced a series of agricultural machinery named “东风”. Because of the geographical location of China, Chinese people have always regarded “东风” as a symbol of warmth. It may also convey the meaning of “advantageous conditions” as the Chinese allusion “万事俱备，只欠东风” expresses. On the contrary, “east wind” may be totally different to British consumers. Apart from the political sense possibly implied in the term, it would never be a symbol of warmth to people living in Britain. To them, the term expressing an identical idea is “west wind”. Therefore, though the brand name was put into “East Wind”, many people hold that a more proper name might be “West Wind”.

4.2.6 Adaptation to religious elements and allusions

Religions, myths, legends, and images from literary works are an inseparable part of culture. They are deeply rooted in culture and at the same time contribute a great deal to the formation of people’s concepts about certain objects. These elements, when involved in brand name translation, call for the translator’s sensitivity as well as flexibility in cultural adaptation in order that functional equivalence could be attained between the source brand name and the target brand name.

To begin with, religious elements often result in the formation of taboos, which people feel offensive to talk about usually because they are believed to be sacred and inviolable or mythical, sinful or filthy. As we know, most Chinese, who have been strongly influenced by the doctrines of Buddhism, regard death and the loss of fortune as very unpleasant topics. This is believed by some people to be a main reason why the famous foreign brand of men’s accessories “Goldlion” was not well-liked when it first appeared in the Chinese market with the name “金狮”. It is said that many people would not buy that product just because the name sounds very close to “金死” in some Chinese dialects. Other people believe that the name was not well accepted because it resembles the sound of “尽输”, which is also a taboo idea in China, especially in Hong Kong, where people display a particular liking for things with luck-bearing names. Anyway, the product did not sell well until the new name “金利来” was adopted by Zeng Xianzi, a famous Chinese entrepreneur. He skillfully took apart the source brand name into “gold” and “lion”. The first part was literally put into “金” to be faithful to the original, while the latter adopted the method of semantic transliteration and was put into “利来”, meaning “bringing profit”. Such an auspicious name has helped a lot in building up the good fame of the product. By contrast, yet some other scholars do not agree that “金狮” is an unfit brand name for the Chinese market, and the most convincing example is that “金狮” is also a prestigious brand name of a Chinese bicycle which once sold extraordinarily well in China. That probably is due to the fact that “金狮” bicycle is made in the mainland while “Goldlion” is made in Hong Kong, where people seem to pay even more attention to good luck than people living in the mainland do. Anyway, the story of “Goldlion” at least shows how important religious elements might be to the translation of brand names.

Due to the same reason, the English translation of “黑猫” into “Black Cat”(the brand name of a Chinese company in Suzhou selling mobile sprayers, high-pressure cleaners, etc.) is not an adequate name for the countries where people generally believe in Christianity. As we know, Christians regard black cat a taboo image and the word “cat” already implies the meaning of “a mean unpleasant woman”. Similarly, the Chinese brand name “熊猫” should not adopt a literal translation in Islamic countries, for to Islamic people, panda resembles pigs in appearance and pigs are seen to be filthy. All these should be taken into account in the process of the translator’s choice making so that the target brand names could be culturally accepted.

Myths and legends are sometimes used in brand names. There was an old Chinese brand for bicycle called “凤凰”. The name sounds pleasant to the Chinese because phoenix, an imaginary bird, foretells a peaceful world. While in English, phoenix has a different symbolic meaning. According to Oxford Concise Dictionary of English Etymology, phoenix is a “mythical bird of gorgeous plumage living for centuries in the Arabian Desert, then burning itself to ashes, from which it emerged with renewed youth” (2000:350). The different connotations of “凤凰” and “phoenix” in the two cultures lead to heated debate about the translation of this Chinese brand name. Some people, who clearly show more concern for the adaptation to target culture, insist that “Phoenix” is not proper for it easily arouses consumers’ association of “a narrow escape”. Others maintain that both source culture and target culture should be considered. On the one hand, the unique Chinese flavor of the brand name should be kept; on the other hand, thanks to the more and more frequent global exchanges, western people have come to understand Chinese culture. Therefore, to the latter group of people, “Phoenix” is no longer a problematic brand name in today’s world market. There is also an website named “火凤凰”, whose English translation “Hope-Phoenix” has been accepted by many people. At this point we also touch upon the dynamics of culture. Whether to choose “Phoenix” or to resort to other methods should be decided after conducting a thorough investigation in the target market.

Images or allusions from literary works are occasionally adopted when creating new brand names. The producers make use of them usually for the purpose of enhancing the fame of their products. In this case, the translator will also have to be engaged in cultural adaptation so as to elicit a similar response from the target consumers as the one evoked by source brand names in the source market. The translation of this type of brand names demands a comprehensive ability of the translator: a good command of languages and cultures, creativity and imagination. The translation of “杜康”, the brand name of a Chinese liquor, is a successful story of cultural adaptation. In Chinese culture, 杜康 is said to be the first person to make liquor, and in order to commemorate his contribution, Chinese people worship him as god of liquor. The name became even more famous after Du Fu, one of the most prominent poets in the Tang Dynasty, wrote the lines: “何以解忧？唯有杜康。” Thinking of the rich cultural connotation implied in the name “杜康”, a translation like “Dukang” would not be adequate. The translator adapted his linguistic choices to all these cultural elements and finally came up with the word “Bacchus”, which refers to God of wine in Greek mythology. Undoubtedly, the name helps the English-speaking consumers to rightly obtain the cultural messages conveyed by the source brand name and arouses their association of tasty liquor and proves to be successful.

As far as the use of literary images in brand names are concerned, “杜康” is not the only example. Many foreign companies have endeavored to make their Chinese brand name more Chinese. Thus they make full use of the images and allusions from Chinese literary works. “Revlon”, the brand name of a foreign cosmetics company is translated into the Chinese “露华浓”. The target brand name has been carefully chosen to cater to the Chinese market: the name, which sounds very close to the pronunciation of the source brand name, seems to be a local Chinese name. And more importantly, the choice of words in the target brand name has purposely intended to meet the aesthetic requirements of the Chinese, especially those who have ever read the poetic lines written by Li Bai, the most genius poet in China’s Tang Dynasty for Yang Guifei, who was the most beloved beauty of the Tang Emperor: “云想衣裳花想容，春风拂揽露华浓”. Therefore, the target brand name is the result of the translator’s adaptation to the Chinese culture as well as showing some consideration for the equivalence in pronunciation. Such localization of brand names fulfilled through using also occurs to a Japanese brand name for car: “Luxus”. In order to please the Chinese consumers, the name is put into “凌志”, which is taken from the lines written by the former Chinese leader Mao Zedong: “久有凌云志，重上井冈山”. The target brand name sounds close to the source brand name and expresses the favorable meaning of “lofty ideals”. Besides, due to the charm of the poetic lines, the name sounds attractive and memorable.

Recently, there seems to be an increasing tendency among Chinese producers of using literary images or allusions for brand names. Names like “红豆” (men’s clothing) and “杏花村” (a Chinese distillery) have appeared one after another, but translations like “Hongdou” and “Xinghuacun” do not seem to be adequate. To maintain the charm and appeal of these Chinese brand names, the translator will meet more challenges in choosing the right form as well as strategies. What he has to keep in mind all the time is how to adapt his choices to certain cultural elements. Perhaps the successful translation of “杜康” can give us some hint.

4.2.7 Adaptation to age, sex, and race

Brand names, including translated brand names, are a vital choice in marketing strategy. More often than not, a product is targeted at a certain group of consumers. In this case, it is advisable that the brand name translator should take into account the age, sex, and race of the target consumers so as to make sure that his linguistic choices involved in producing an ideal target brand name are adaptable to the above elements. Only when all these elements are seriously examined will it be possible for the target brand name to be culturally accepted or to achieve the desired marketing goal.

Regarding consideration of consumers’ age, the adaptation process which brings out the name “Wahaha” might be a convincing example to justify its importance. The food is extraordinarily popular among Chinese children, but despite its popularity, few people have cared about why the source brand name “娃哈哈” and its English name “Wahaha” are adopted. The source brand name has a favorable meaning and can easily arouse people’s association of happy children’s faces. Not only that, the name is made up of simple sounds which even a baby can easily pronounce. Naturally this helps a great deal to build up an unforgettable image in Chinese children’s mind and it was soon able to occupy a large market. The name has been so successful in the Chinese market that few other products of the same type seem to be able to compete with it. Therefore, when the translator was to put the name into English, he would never fail to notice the advantageous characteristics possessed by the source brand name. Among numerous possibilities about how to translate the name into English, the translator adapted his linguistic choices to consideration of consumers’ age. Since the “娃哈哈” producers target children and the source brand name is already a success in fascinating children, the translator simply chose to create a target brand name which would be as memorable and as easy to pronounce as the source one. The Chinese pinyin of “娃哈哈” was naturally a ready-made one. Thus the English name “Wahaha” was selected, which achieves a fairly high degree of functional equivalence in that the sound of the name resembles happy laughter as well as that children in other countries would also find it easy to pronounce the name. Even a little baby who still has some difficulties in expressing would not have much trouble saying “Wahaha”.

There are many other occasions when consumers’ age is regarded as an important factor with which translator’s linguistic choices, including those in both form and strategies, should be interadaptable. The Ayear Group Co. Ltd. in Hong Kong, a leading umbrella producer specializing in the production and sale of umbrellas with fashionable patterns, designed a fantastic umbrella with lights and music for children with the name “Magic Meteor”. In translating the name into Chinese, literal translation was used and the name was simply put into “魔法流星”, which is assumed to be able to bring about a similar effect among Chinese-speaking children. Now that curiosity and imagination are psychological characteristics of children, both the source brand name and the target one cater to the psychological needs of children.

In addition, adaptation to consumers’ age in translator’s linguistic choices may also be one of the reasons why amplification is repeatedly adopted in translating foreign brand names of children’s wear into Chinese, especially those lovely cartoon images. For example, BRUNO is put into “班纳小猪”, “Micky” into “米奇鼠”, and GARFIELD into “加菲猫”. This type of translations is obtained through a combined effort of literal translation and amplification which clearly aims at attracting children, the designated consumers.

Besides the age of consumers, sex is another factor which is believed to be equally important in brand name translation, and this is often embodied in translator’s choice of words. There seems to be a tendency for the translator to choose words which are thought to be more “female”, e.g. “莲”, “雪”, “雅”, “婷”, for products targeted for women, while words which are thought to be more “male”, e.g. “绅”, “顿”, “威”, “士”, are more likely to be chosen for products targeted for men. For instance, the world famous brand names of women’s products like “Italina”, “Mary Kay”, “Lancome” and “Maybelline” are respectively put into “伊泰莲娜”, “玫琳凯”, “兰寇”, and “美宝莲” to fully display women’s tenderness and beauty, while brand names for men’s products like “Lowndes” and “Novell” are put into “罗比登威” and “蓝威龙” to emphasize men’s might and strength. Very often, this difference in diction occurs even when the source brand names share some characteristics in sound or spelling. Everybody knows the celebrated brand name “Gillette” (men’s razor), which is put into “吉列” using transliteration method. Interestingly, another brand name “Belle” (women’s accessories), which shares part of its sound and spelling with “Gillette”, adopts the same method but is put into an utterly different Chinese name “百丽”. The name “列” sounds quite masculine while “丽” seems rather feminine. The difference in diction has been a result of the translator’s high-motivated adaptation to the sexes of consumers.

“Triumph” is also a good illustration of how translator’s linguistic choices in brand name translation are purposefully adaptable with the sex of targeted consumers. “Triumph”, the brand name of women’ underwear, if translated literally into “胜利” or “凯旋”, will not seem attractive to its targeted consumers, and can hardly be associated with female products. Therefore, taking the targeted consumers into account, the translator chooses transliteration with the use of “female” characters: “戴安芬”. Here the literal meaning of the source brand name is sacrificed for the adaptation to the sex of designated consumers so as to achieve another aspect of functional equivalence in translation. What’s more, the famous Chinese brand of men’s shirt “紫罗兰” was once rendered literally into “Pansy”, but the name was soon filtered out for the word “Pansy” is believed to be womanish and “Violet” is used for it. Unfortunately, “Violet”, which easily arouses people’s association of a shy and timid person, does not seem to be a satisfactory translation, either. Therefore, to keep the original flavor of the Chinese name as well as considering the sex of the consumers, some scholars suggest coining a word “Violetex”, using the combination of “Violet” and “texture” to weaken the womanish characteristics as well as hinting at the fine material of the product (Liu Fagong, 2003:69).

Though a lot of examples have been given to stress the importance of adaptation to sexes in brand name translation, exceptions do exist. The world famous French brand name “Montagut”, which is mainly used for men’s wear, is a typical example. Despite the fact that the name is put into “梦特娇”containing a typically feminine Chinese character “娇”, the product remains one of the favorite choices to many Chinese gentlemen. Though “骄” may be a more neutral word to be used here, as we know, promotion of a product is an interdisciplinary task, and thus the inadequacy in brand name translation can sometimes be compensated for by other advertising strategies or the appealing attributes of the product itself. Therefore, the adequacy of brand name translation is not the only means to evaluate the success of the product.

Regarding the sexes of designated consumers, still one thing deserves our attention: nowadays there has been a less clear-cut distinction between products for men and those for women, which might have been the result of the development of the society and the changes in people’s concepts. Despite all that, it is still necessary for the translator to take sexual differences into account, and adjust his translation when needed.

Finally, the race of consumers can also bring about need for translator’s linguistic adaptation in the translation process. A sensitive translator would not use words which show even the slightest tendency of racial discrimination. Otherwise, if a name bearing prejudice against a certain racial group enters the global market, it may certainly cause trouble. “黑人”, a Chinese brand name of toothpaste, was originally translated into “Darkie” to promote its teeth-whitening effect, but what the translator might never have thought of was that the word “Darkie”, just like “negro”, is a contemptuous name for the black people. Consequently, the name incurred a series of complaints that the name amounted to racial discrimination against the black. Besides, the name violated the trademark law of our country. The company was finally forced to adopt another name “Darlie” but the loss in sales of the product could never be made up for. The story of “Darlie” teaches a good lesson: race is an extremely sensitive object and adaptation to it in brand name translation should be handled with great care.

4.2.8 Adaptation to purchasing psychology

Millions of purchases take place everyday. But what has been motivating people to choose certain brands among countless products of the same type, particularly at the first sight of them? As we know, in spite of the variety of products purchased every day, consumers aim at satisfying one or more aspects of their needs, either physiological or psychological. This means whether consciously or unconsciously, consumers expect that the purchase would be able to meet their different needs. When a product first appears in the market, besides its advertising slogans, package, price, advertisements and other related items, brand name is crucially important for leaving a good impression upon people. This is also true of a translated brand name. In order that a translated brand name is acceptable or even appealing to the consumers, a careful assessment of the consumers’ mentality relating certain product should be made. In other words, a thorough investigation should be carried out about consumers’ general expectations for the brand name, which are largely related to the product nature. It is not uncommon for us to find that the brand name translator adapts his linguistic choices to purchasing psychology and consequently many brand names are translated to highlight the high quality, the effectiveness, or the outstanding performance of the product.

Since consumers’ purchasing psychology is closely related to the different natures of products, it might be helpful if we divide common products into the following eight types:

Medicine

When people buy medicines, the first thing that provides information for them is the brand names of the medicines. Very often, the translated names indicate something like the function as well as the effectiveness or instant results of the medicines in order to cater to consumers’ purchasing psychology. In addition, many brand names of medicines made by foreign producers are translated into Chinese through semantic transliteration. For example, “Bufferin”, the brand name of a medicine for cold and flu manufactured by the American Bristol-Myers Squibb company, is put into the Chinese “百服咛”. The translated name does not tell what the medicine is, but implies that symptoms can be relieved after the medicine is taken since “服” means “to take the medicine” and “咛” is homophonic with “宁” meaning “peace”. On the one hand, the choice of the name shows the translator’s consideration of the source brand name since the word “buffer” also means “to lessen” in English; on the other, the name suddenly captures consumers’ attention because it caters to their psychological needs. What’s more, the two Chinese characters combined with “百” help to form a sound which is very close to that of the source brand name. It is not hard to see that its translator carefully adapted his linguistic choices to people’s purchasing psychology and the translation achieves a high degree of functional equivalence to the source brand name. Another foreign brand name of medicine “Coldrex” is put into the Chinese “咳立治”, which literally means “coughs can be cured immediately” in an almost boastful way. Its Chinese translation not only bears a similar sound to the English name but reminds consumers about the medicine’s function at once. Similarly, “Asverin” is put into “安嗽定” meaning “bring coughs under control”, “Legalon” into “利肝灵” meaning “extraordinarily beneficial for liver”, “Dakmane” into “带尔眠” meaning “helping you fall into sleep”, “Hsmanal” into “息斯敏” meaning “relieving allergic reaction”, and “Contac” into “康泰克” meaning “health”, “peace” and “cure”.

By contrast, Chinese medicine producers are not paying equal attention to the translation of their brand names as foreign producers are. “利君沙” is simply put into the Chinese pinyin “Lijunsha”, which means almost nothing to foreign consumers and can provide no information about the product. Also, the name is too long to leave an impression on them. How could they remember a name that they do not even understand? “依研” is a Chinese brand name of medicine for curing chilblain. Though an English name “Silker” is adopted for it, which does not seem to have any unfavorable meaning, it has little to do with the source brand name. Despite the careless translations of Chinese brand names of medicine, it pleases the author to find that a few medicine producers in China have begun to realize the importance of brand name translation. “润洁”, the brand name of eye drops produced by a pharmaceutical factory in China’s Shandong Province, is skillfully put into a coined word “Mioclear”. “Moi” is taken from “moisture”, which conveys the meaning of “润”, and “clear” is the literal translation of “洁”. The whole name sounds like a native English name and also indicates the function of the product. In this way, consumers’ purchasing psychology is to some extent taken into consideration. Besides, it tends to be very rare that a brand name obtained through coinage has been used by other producers, thus the uniqueness of the brand name is guaranteed. Brand names like “Moiclear” are certainly much more memorable to foreign consumers compared with “Lijunsha”, and what’s more, it gives consumers some idea about the product itself and caters to their purchasing psychology.

Food and drinks

When purchasing food and drinks, almost all consumers would expect the products to be delicious so as to satisfy their appetite. Due to this reason, a brand name of this type tends to be more easily accepted if the translator considers consumers’ purchasing psychology by choosing words which hint that the product tastes wonderful. There seems to be no need to give details of how the brand name of the well-known American soft drink “Coca-Cola” was put into the Chinese “可口可乐”. Anyway the name has been universally acknowledged to be an even greater success than the original for its lively rhythm and more importantly, its positive implication “tasty and happy”, which fully displays the translator’s adaptation to consumers’ purchasing psychology. A product with such a name is indeed irresistible to one who is thirsty.

In translating the brand name of another soft drink “Sprite”, the translator, having in mind consumers’ purchasing psychology, gives up Chinese names like “斯必来特” and “小妖精” since neither meets the physiological and psychological needs of consumers. Even a fairly lucky name “事必利” is not proved to be entirely satisfactory probably because the name has little to with the product itself. Finally the name“雪碧” (meaning “as crystal as ice”) is considered most appropriate since to a person who needs a drink, something that is cool and crystal-clear as ice is the best choice. Still many other brand names are translated with emphasis laid on purchasing psychology: “Dumex” being put into “多美滋” (meaning “extremely delicious ”), “Lactov” being put into “乐口福” (meaning “having a gourmet’s luck”), and “Timmy” being put into “添美食” (meaning “more delicious food”), etc.

We have exemplified the importance of adaptation to purchasing psychology in translating brand names of food and drinks, but still one point has to be made clear: though a considerable number of translated brand names highlight the deliciousness of such products, an almost equally large number of names of this type tend to adapt to other aspects of purchasing psychology and almost have nothing to do with their tastes. For instance, “Pepsi-Cola” is put into “百事可乐” meaning “everything is enjoyable”, the Swiss brand name of coffee “Nestle” is put into the Chinese “雀巢” (evoking a favorable association of “great comfort and tender care”), and the Chinese brand name “乐百氏” is put into the English “Robust” (meaning “strong or healthy”), to name just a few.

Cigarettes and liquor

Smoking and drinking are generally believed to be harmful to people’s health. In order to make cigarettes and liquor sell well in the global market, producers rack their brains to create charming names for their products. It is also true of the translated brand names.

The celebrated “Kent” cigarettes got its English names from the acronym of “kiss ever never teach”, while “Marlboro” is said to be the acronym of “men always remember love because of romance only”. Both names are very romantic, but it seems really difficult for the translator to convey an equally romantic sense. Therefore, in order to make up for the loss of the romantic flavor, translators turn to the purchasing psychology of smokers. Thinking that health and wealth might be to the taste of smokers, translators respectively put them into “健牌” (“health”) and “万宝路” (“road to wealth”). (By the way, as is mentioned before, it is not rare to see the translation of a brand name simultaneously adapt to more than one cultural elements: the translators in these two cases have also taken into account the sex of consumers, which result in the use of rather “masculine” diction probably due to the fact that men smoke more than women do.) Other brand names of cigarettes like “Kenwood” and “Good Companion” are rendered into the Chinese “健伍” and “良友”. Though different techniques are used in translating the above brand names, they are in fact out of the same consideration. It seems that successful promotion of cigarettes should put emphasis on advocating ideas in conformity with smokers’ purchasing psychology, which sounds, in nature, a bit deceitful. As far as the translation of liquor brand names is concerned, Brandy has been much more popular than Whisky though both of them are foreign brands of liquor. Some scholars believe their different wording in translations to be among the reasons which have led to the different sales of them: “威士忌” seems not as pleasant as “白兰地” and thus fails to cater to people’s purchasing psychology as well as the latter does.

Household commodities

When translating brand names of household commodities, the translator also needs to adapt his linguistic choices to purchasing psychology so as to promote the product image among target consumers, and this is often achieved through highlighting the most prominent characteristics of the products. With this in mind, we should never fail to notice the excellent translations of the following brand names: “Tide” (washing powder) being put into the Chinese “汰渍” to highlight the superb function of “washing out stains”, “Safeguard” (soap) into “舒肤佳” to advocate the its function of “smoothing one’s skin and feeling good”, “Colgate” (toothpaste) into “高露洁” to stress its ability to “make teeth as clean as dew drops”, “OMO” (washing powder) into “奥妙” to emphasize the “wonders” the product is supposed to work, “Pampers” (baby diapers) into “帮宝适” to indicate that the product are used “to make the baby feel comfortable”, and “Johnson’s Baby” (baby’s lotion, shampoo and other products ) into “强生” to mean that using the product can help “to build up baby’s body”.

Contrary to the well translated brand names of household commodities, there have also been examples of translated brand names with almost no concern shown for consumers’ purchasing psychology. Among them is the notorious story of “跃进”, a Chinese brand name of floor wax produced many years ago. The source brand name was created under the strong historic and social influence of that age, which of course did not deserve any criticism. But its English translation “Great Leap Forward” was indeed ridiculous: the name was too long to strike foreign consumers, and the worst of it was that it was easily associated with the embarrassment of falling down on slippery floor. Naturally, the translator’s neglect to adapt to purchasing psychology resulted in the doomed failure of the product in the foreign market. If the translator had taken consumers’ purchasing psychology into account, the English brand name might have been “Dash” or something else.

Cars

In terms of the purchase of cars, what people care about most are probably model, speed, and performance. As a result, if the translator adapts his linguistic choices to consumers’ purchasing psychology by indicating the distinctive style of model, the swiftness and the brilliant performance of the cars, then the names he creates would be more likely to attract target consumers. Let’s look at the translations of some real brand names of cars.

As we know, the celebrated German mobile manufacturer in Munich called Bayerische Motoren Werke is usually referred to as “BMW”, which is in fact the acronym of the name. “BMW” is also the brand name for the plane engines, cross-country vehicles, motorcycles and the first-class cars it produces. No one cares about the real meaning of the name, but it has become a symbol of success and prestige. When the product enters the Chinese market, a Chinese name must be chosen for it. The source brand name is an acronym which does not seem to convey any particular meaning for one who knows little about its origin, so literal translation seems not appropriate. To solve the problem, the translator cleverly adapts his linguistic choices to the purchasing psychology of the consumers, that is, their expectations to know something about the first-class performance of the car. The result of the adaptation of translation strategies to this element is the use of semantic transliteration, which brings about the Chinese name “宝马”. The name not only keeps part of the original sound, but hints as well that the car is as speedy as a horse that could cover a thousand li a day in the Chinese legend. The name is proved to be so impressive that many people even think it surpasses the source brand name “BMW”. The name, together with other factors as the high quality of the car, has led to the great success in the Chinese market.

Out of the same consideration, another famous brand names of car like “Porsche” and “Peugeot” are respectively put into “保时捷” and “标致”, with semantic transliteration method applied to both translations. “保时” sounds faithful to the source brand name in sound, while the last character “捷” emphasizes the swiftness of driving the car, thus taking into account the consumers’ psychology in car purchases. And in the latter case, the name “标致” sounds very close to the source brand name, and also aims at meeting consumers’ expectations that the car has a handsome model. What sounds slightly different from these names is the translation of “Mazda” into the Chinese “马自达”, which tells consumers in a humorously boastful way that the car is so easy to drive that it can reach a destination almost automatically.

As for translating brand names of cars, an often-repeated example is “Benz”, the brand name of a well-known German automobile originating from the surname of a pioneer automaker in Germany whose factory later became one of the biggest in the world. The name was once put into “本茨”, and then acquired several other names in different areas of China. In Hong Kong it is called “平治”, in Taiwan people call it “宾士” except that San Mao, the famous Taiwan writer, once used the name “鹏驰”, and in China’s mainland “奔驰” is widely accepted for “Benz”. All of these translations try to be equivalent to the source brand name in sound, but different names leave different impressions upon people. “本茨” sounds very plain and does not seem to convey any meaning. “平治” and “宾士” have little to do with the attributes of the car. By contrast, both “鹏驰” (meaning “as swift as an eagle”) and “奔驰” (meaning “speed on”) are good at depicting the speediness of the car, but the former can never compete with the latter in their faithfulness in sound to the source brand name “Benz”. Besides, compared with “鹏驰”, “奔驰” is a ready-made phrase in Chinese, which makes it even more unparalleled. This example shows that although adaptation to the purchasing psychology is not the only factor contributing to the successful translation of a brand name, consideration of that in the translator’s linguistic choices can at least help to make the target brand name more impressive.

Household appliances

As a rule, nearly all the successful brand names of household appliances, including brand names in a source language and their translated ones, are more or less designed to hint at the high quality or the superb performance of the products. With sales promotion as the ultimate goal, the translation of brand names should be consumer-oriented. Therefore, adaptation to purchasing psychology would help the target brand names in coming up to consumers’ expectations of the product. We are especially joyful to notice more and more brand name translators have been aware of its importance, and an increasing number of Chinese household appliances are entering the global market with an attractive English name. For instance, the Chinese brand name “海尔” of a series of household appliances is put into “Haier”, but the translator’s choice of pinyin method is never a careless one. Coincidentally, its Chinese pinyin “Haier” sounds very close to an English word “higher” and this can easily arouse consumers’ association with the high quality of the product and the company’s enterprising spirit of always striving for higher goals. Besides its successful adaptation to purchasing psychology, the name “Haier” sounds like a native English name but is not a real one, and thus English-speaking consumers will not find it difficult either to pronounce it or to memorize it. What’s more, the uniqueness of the brand name might well be guaranteed.

Other cases of brand names translation which exemplify the adaptation to purchasing psychology include “海信”, which is put into “Hisense” (an obvious combination of “high