英语广告翻译

语言学论文OnCharacteristicsofEnglishAdvertisements英语广告的特点Abstract:Agoodtranslatedversionofanadvertisementwillnotonlybestconveytheoriginalinformation,butalsoreflectthecharacteristicsoftheproductadvertised,attractconsumersandleadthemtoproducedesireofpurchaseaswell.However,differentfeaturesoflanguages,differentculturesandconsumers'acceptancedeterminethatthetranslationofadvertisementisfarfrombeingeasy.ThispaperstudiesthecharacteristicsofEnglishadvertisementsfromtwoperspectives:lexical,syntactical.KeyWords:Englishadvertisement;characteristics1.DefinitionofAdvertisingTheword“advertise”originatesfromtheLatinword“advertere”meaning“toinformsomebodyofsomething,”and“todrawattentiontosomething.”AlbertLasker,generallyregardedasthefatherofmodernadvertising,definedadvertisingas“salesmanshipinprint,drivenbyareasonwhy.”ButLasker,theownerofLord&Thomas,espousedthatdefinitionaroundtheturnofthe20th,longbeforetheadvertofradioandtelevision,whenthenatureandscopeofadvertisingwereprettylimited.Advertisingisthenon-personalcommunicationofinformation,usuallypaidforandusuallypersuasiveinnature,aboutproducts(goodsandservices)orideasbyidentifiedsponsorsthroughvariousmedia.2.Lexicalcharacteristics2.1UsingLargeNumberofPositiveWordsBritishlinguistG.H.Leechranksthefirsttwentiethusedadvertisementpositivewords:(1)new(2)good/better/best(3)free(4)fresh(5)delicious(6)full(7)sure(8)wonderful(9)clean(10)special(11)crisp(12)fine(13)big(14)great(15)real(16)easy(17)bright(18)extra(19)safe(20)richForexamples,(1)Selectedmaterials,fineworkmanship,moderndesigns,reasonableprice,variousspecifications.Orderswelcome.(“Aviation”ArtificialLeatherSuitcases)用料上乘、做工精细、款式新颖、价格合理、规格齐全,欢迎选购。(“航空牌”人造革皮箱)(2)Whyourspecialteasmakeyourpreciousmomentsevenmoreprecious?(LiptonTea)非凡立顿,异样人生。(立顿茶)2.2TheUseofOralEnglish“Theonlycarinitsclass”istheVillagerauto’sadvertisementin1993.Andthewordclassinthissentenceistheoralspeakingofthemeaningofsametype.“Itgivesmeclear,plainpaperfaxesatapriceIcanafford.”ThisisthemessageofCanonduplicatemachine.Anditsstructureisdailyused,likeitgivesomebodysomething…….Alltheadvertisementaboveisinformalwordsbutconveystheinformationexactly.Andwecanunderstanditfromitssurface.2.3TheRepetitionoftheWordsVocabularyofduplicateadvertisementsinEnglishisacommontechnique,whichismainlyusedtostressthefocuspoint,expressstrongfeelingsandincreasethevitalityofnarration.Itcanleavetheconsumersdeepimpressions.Forinstance,thefamouscopierbrandXerox’sadvertisement,“Wecan’tXeroxaXeroxonaXerox.”Itisveryoutstandingforthethreetimesrepetitionofthesameword.Inthissentence,thefirstXeroxmeanstheverbsense“copy”.Thesecondonemeansthenounsense“hardcopy”.Andthelastonemeansthebrandname“Xerox”.Thisadvertisementsloganprotrudesthetheme,leadingtothesuccessoftheworld-knownbrand.Therearealsomanyotherexamples,like“Anewyear,anewcareer.”(AninvitationAd);“ExtraTaste.NotExtraCalories.”(AfoodAd)Therepetitionofthewordsnewandextramaketheadvertisementmoreoutstanding.Thesewordsshowthefunctionsofthemdirectly.3.SyntacticalCharacteristics3.1Theuseofsimplesentence.Advertisementmustconsistoftheleastofthelayout,themostrefinedlanguage,andthemostexpressinginformation,whichisthemosteffectivewaytomotivatereaderstobuythegoods.Therefore,Englishadvertisementadoptssimplesentences,andavoidsusingcomplexcompoundsentences.Forexamples,Can'tbeattherealfeeling!——Coca-cola挡不住的诱惑!——可口可乐Goodtothelastdrop.——MaxwellHouseCoffee滴滴香浓,意犹未尽.——麦氏咖啡Adiamondisforever.——deBeers钻石恒久远,一颗永流传.——戴比尔斯钻戒Stopinastorenearyou.Takealook.到你附近的商店停一停,看一看。Goaheadcompare.往前走,比一比。VisitanauthorizedIBMPersonalComputerdealer.(IBMPersonalComputer)拜访IBM家用电脑指定经销商。(IBM家用电脑)Arthritis?Don'tsuffermorethanyouhaveto.(Pfizer)关节炎吗?别再忍受不必要的痛苦。(辉瑞制药)3.2TheFrequentUseofImperativeSentenceAnImperativeSentencecontainsatoneofrequestingitself,callingonpeopletodosomethingmeaningful.Usingitintheadvertisementcaneffectivelycatertoconsumers’psychology,toachievetheadvertisements'purpose.Therefore,imperativesentencesarewidelyusedintheadvertisement.Forexamples,Designedwithacomputer.Silencedbyalaser.Builtbyarobot.(Volvo)电脑设计,激光消音,机器人制造。(沃尔沃小汽车)We'lltellyoutheoddsbeforetheyareout.我们要向您预示未来的结果。We'llpublishwhatotherpublicationsdarenot.我们要发表别人不敢发表的东西。We'llgiveyouinsideinformationyouwon'tfindelsewhere.(TimeMagazine)我们给您在别的地方找不到的内部消息。(《时代周刊》)4.ConclusionGenerallyspeaking,mostadvertisementshavetheirsingularqualitieswhichcanattracttheattentionsoftheaudiences,andsetuptheirownbrand-named.Andalsotoattracttheaudiences'attention,theadvertisementshouldbespecializedwhateverthecreation,theform,aswellasthesort.References[1]Leech,G.H.TheLanguageofAdvertisement[M].London:Longman,1966.[2]谭载喜.新编奈达论翻译[M],北京:中国对外翻译出版公司,1999.[3]秦秀白.英语文体学入门[M],长沙:湖南教育出版社,1986.[4]贾文波.英汉时文翻译[M],北京:中国对外出版公司，2000