论文总字数：27629字

摘 要

随着中国对外开放的不断扩大, 中外对外贸易蓬勃发展。大量的外国产品涌入中国市场。化妆品是其中的一个类别。一些知名品牌不仅被消费者认可, 而且逐渐与中国文化融为一体。这些享有盛誉的品牌不仅获得巨大利润, 也为企业打造了良好的品牌形象。因此，翻译对产品具有重要意义。本文以翻译目的论为基础，旨在探讨如何制定适宜的翻译方法来获得让消费者满意的翻译结果。

关键词：目的论；化妆品品牌；翻译；

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3. Theoretical Framework of the Study 2

3.1 Definition of Skopostheorie 2

3.2 Background and development of Skopostheorie 2

4. Overview of Cosmetic Brand Name 3

4.1 Definition of brand name 3

4.2 Features of cosmetic brand name 4

4.3 Functions of cosmetic brand name 5

5. Application of Skopostheorie to The Translation of Cosmetic Brand Name 6

5.1 Transliteration 6

5.2 Literal translation 8

5.3 Phonosemantic translation 9

5.4 Zero translation 10

6. Conclusion 11

Works Cited 13

1. Introduction

With the development of economy and the Chinese reform and opening-up policy, a large number of foreign products have been pouring into the Chinese market. People’s purchasing power has been increasing by geometric multiples and the colorful brand names of cosmetics attract their attention. Thus how to make the commodities stand out and accepted by consumers since achieving the goal of making profits is a problem for all manufacturers. It’s widely acknowledged that an incomparable and elegant brand name is the symbol of high reputation and good quality. That’s why manufacturers do their utmost to establish their brand images in the global market. Now brand name translation is considered as a way of the advertisement and expand publicity. The author believes that brand name translation will be a crucial part in marketing activities. Therefore, brand name translation is worthwhile to win the attention of more manufacturers and researchers.

2. Literature Review

The translation of cosmetic brand names captures more attention of many scholars. Although very limited, these scholars starts to explore this field and from different angles. For example, Liu Dandan (2007) analyses the translation of brand names explicitly in her thesis A Probe into Cosmetic Brand Name Translation from the Perspective of Functional Translation Theory. Some researchers focus on the influence that aesthetic factors have on the translation of cosmetic brand name, which is described in Zhang Xiaoyun’s (2004) thesis To Show Its All-round Beauty…A Prob into Cosmetic Brand Name Translation from the Perspective of Skopostheorie, Lin Hua’s (2008) On the Translation Methods and Cultural Aesthetic Characteristic. These studies give the author much guidance to realize how greatly aesthetic factors influence the cosmetic brand, but there also exist some limitations due to the fact that aesthetic is not the only factor that influence the translation of cosmetic brand names. There also exists other research from different angles, like Wei Yali’s (2009) A Look into the Translation of Female Cosmetic Brand Names from the Perspective of Social Linguistics and Zhang Huiting’s (2009) On the Translation Methods and Skills of Cosmetic Brand Names. These studies focus on the techniques to translate cosmetic brand names though without adequate theoretical guidance. But they provide the author with valuable assistance for the thesis since study the same topic, i.e. the translation of cosmetic brand name.

3. Theoretical Framework of the Study

Skopostheorie is a translation theory which applies to translation the concept of Skopos, which emerged in 1970s in German. The core concept is that the mainly influential factor in the translation process is the purpose and the goal of the translation behavior.

3.1 Definition of Skopostheorie

Skopostheorie appeared in the 1970s, which is the core of German functionalism. It is considered as one of the most authoritative translating theory in the world. In 1978, German translation theorist H. J. Vermeer broke through the restriction of the traditional equivalence-based theory that is based on source text. He created the Skopostheorie in which purpose has great influence on the structure of target text. According to Vermeer, human activity is an intentional and purposeful behavior. Now this idea has been widely accepted. Therefore, in Skopostheorie, whether a cosmetic brand name is translated well or what technique is adopted to translate it all depends on what goal to achieve.

3.2 Background and development of Skopostheorie

First proposed by Hans Vermeer, Skopostheorie has witnessed four stages of development. The first stage was Katharina Reiss’s research. She introduces text function into translation criticism for the first time. She also develops a model of translation criticism by means of connecting language function, text type and translation strategies. Reiss’s research lays the foundation for the Skopostheorie.

In the second stage, Reiss’s student Vermeer inherits some of her ideas. Vermeer proposes Skopostheorie, which freed translators from the bondage of the source-text-centered theory. The view of theory is that translation is an intentional activity, which cannot be accomplished without negotiation. That is to say, the translation relies on the intention of the translation. Translators should adopt corresponding translation strategies in specific condition, and have the right to decide which content can be retained and which needs to be adjusted or modified.

In the third stage, Justa Holz Manttari further develops the theory of functionalism by putting forward the Theory of Translation Action based on the theory of communication and behavior. She regards translation as a complicated process driven by the particular purpose and an interaction between humans which is oriented by translation results.

In the fourth stage, Christiane Nord moves a further step in functionalist Skopostheorie. Nord systematically illustrates the internal and external factors that should be taken into account translation for the first time. She also makes translation strategies which is based on the function of the source text and suitable for the purpose of translation. Nord answers all the criticism to Skopostheorie from other theorists, and put forward the principles of “function and loyalty” to make a great improvement to the German Functionalism.

4. Overview of Cosmetic Brand Name

This part attempts to define what a brand name is and to illustrate the importance of cosmetic brand name translation by studying the definition and functions of cosmetic brand name.

4.1 Definition of brand name

What is a brand? Used to differentiate the commodities from those of another, brand has existed for centuries. According to the American Marketing Association(AMA), a brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition. (Keller 3) From the mentioned definition, we can concluded that translating a brand name is a process of selecting a word or a symbol to make it different from others and convey the value of its product. Brand name is the crucial part of a product because it is the unique identity of commodity. A perfect brand translation should bear the information of products as well as build impressive image of the company. Otherwise, an imperfect brand translation may incur some damage for the company. Therefore, the translator is required to be fully aware of the differences from the aspects of cultural roots, aesthetic standards of consumers between the source language and the target language. Meanwhile, he is also required to keep the original intention of translation in mind so that earn the market shares for the producers to the extent.

4.2 Features of cosmetic brand name

As the definition mentioned shows, the brand name is a means to distinguish a commodity from others. So distinctiveness is the most important feature above all the others. Nowadays all sorts of advertisement are created to be unique to popularize the products or service of brands. Brand names help them to stand out from others so as to have different characteristics. In this way, product and service have chance to be promoted and be famous around the world.

A brand name should also be exclusive. To be exclusive means that the brand name can only be used for one specific commodity. Different sorts of commodities belong to different categories, which means that the exclusiveness of brand is valid under one specific category. The exclusiveness is protected by the law.

A brand name should be brief in form and positive in meaning. This is due to the fact that a brief brand name won’t cost consumers too much time to understand and remember the product. To achieve this goal, a brand name should not contain too much words. Besides, the strange and difficult words should be avoided. Some famous foreign cosmetic brand names such as Za“姬芮, Vichy“薇姿” and Uno“吾诺” are good examples.

Besides, a brand name should also be novel. Novelty is about the originality of a brand name. A good brand name should be catchy, distinctive in pronunciation, formation and other aspects so as to attract the consumers " attention at first glance and stimulate their purchasing motivation and ultimately achieve sales of the product. Some brand names have very fascinating pronunciation such as YoYa“悠雅”, Chic Choc“奇可俏可” and Clearamp; Clean“可伶可俐”.

4.3 Functions of cosmetic brand name

Generally speaking, impressive, informative, aesthetic and vocative functions are four functions of cosmetic brand name.

Impressive function the basic function of a cosmetic brand name. Cosmetic brand name should have features of novelty and attractiveness so that it can make the product different from other products, making a deep impression on customers and stimulating their desire of purchase, especially for women. Take H2O “水芝澳” for example, H2O originally is the name of water in chemistry. When it is used as a cosmetic name. It’s quite impressive, and their customers can easily remember it, which make the product well-known around the world.

Brand name is, by nature, an essential part of advertisement, which is made for popularity of product. So the informative function should be ranked the top among the four functions. Without information, a cosmetic brand name is meaningless. To be appealing, a powerful brand name should manifest certain attributes and characteristics of the commodity and inform the consumer of its effect, function and value, which may arouse the consumers’ interest. Take Maxam for example, the translation “美加净” create a favorable and fantastic feeling in the receivers that the product can help women stay beautiful and young forever, which provokes women’s desire of purchasing perfectly.

The aesthetic function means that the consumers could be enchanted in the aesthetic atmosphere created by an elegant brand name with beautiful words. A good cosmetic brand name should not only offer information about the product, but also impress consumers deeply and allure them to consume with fascinating brand name and good-looking package of the product. As the main consumer groups, it seems that women are more sensitive when consuming. Translator should put emphasis on their aesthetic and understanding modes. For instance, Maybelline is a famous cosmetic brand name. When it is translated into Chinese “美宝莲”, people naturally have aesthetic association because “美” means beauty, and charm, while “莲” in Chinese stands for purity since there is an old saying that“出淤泥而不染，濯清涟而不妖”, which is a classic image of “莲” and has been spread among ancient poets for centuries.

The vocative function means that brand name is so attractive that it draws consumers’ attention and make them have desire to purchase the commodities. The vocative function is closely associated with the other functions. In other words, vocative function is based on impressive, informative, aesthetic functions to realize the ultimate goal of cosmetics so that they can be appealing enough to provoke consumers’ desire to purchase and finally earn great profit in the fierce market competition.

Application of Skopostheorie to The Translation of Cosmetic Brand Name

A brand name can be seen as a way of promoting in fierce competition. A powerful brand name is the symbol of high reputation and good quality, which is closely relevant to market shares and thus earns profits for a business. In the framework of Skopostheorie, “The end justifies the means” (Reiss and Vermeer, 1984:101; Nord, 2001:29) Therefore, various methods can be chosen by the translators as long as they can better serve the practical purpose to stimulate the receivers’ desire to purchase. The typical methods to translate cosmetic brand names are known as transliteration, literal translation, phonosemantic translation and zero-translation.

5.1 Transliteration

Transliteration means translating the words in the brand names according to the sound and pronunciation. Transliteration is the most popular strategy in the translating of cosmetic brand names. In the respect of form, this approach of translation keeps the exoticism or original flavor of the brands to the greatest extent. Moreover, this method can better preserve the sonority and novelty of the original name, which may arouse consumers’ preference. As we all know, developed countries such as France, America, Italy play a leading role in fashion, compared with the other developing countries such as China. It’s known to Chinese consumers that developed countries can produce high quality of cosmetics with comparatively less chemical materials by employing advanced technology and equipment. As mentioned in the previous part, brand names are often named after they designers’ and celebrities’ names or the places.

When the transliteration method is adopted, the sense of uniqueness of foreign brand names can easily distinguish the cosmetic brand from other products. For example, the following cosmetic brand names are named after the founders’ or the designers’ name:

Givenchy–纪梵希

Channel–香奈儿

Giorgio Armani–乔治.阿玛尼

Bobbi Brown–芭比布朗

Bulgaria–宝格丽

Elizabeth Arden–伊丽莎白.雅顿

Paul Smith–保罗.史密斯

In addition to those discussed above, the other cosmetic brand name also can be transliterated. For example, the French cosmetic brand name Lancome, is translated into “兰蔻” in Chinese. “兰” is a kind of grass in China and has been highly adored by poets, and some people who received high education in ancient China. “兰” primarily is regarded as a fine quality of virtue and which is praised as one of the four flowers that are worshiped as man of honor. “兰” represents noble character. In addition, it is also used to describe the elegance of the female, as in the Chinese phrase “兰质蕙心”. “蔻” conveys the idea that the adolescence of a girl is like a blooming cardamom, which is derived from the poem “娉娉袅袅十三余，豆蔻梢头二月初”. The combination of “兰” and “蔻” can easily make association of a bunch of orchids with tenderness and brightness when it is used as a part of a name. The brand name is so unforgettable that can attract the attention of customers and stimulate the desire of purchasing at the first glance. Lancome was viewed as a successful example of transliteration. Another example is Revlon. When it is translated into “露华浓”, which derives from Li Bai"s poem for the pretty concubine Yang Yuhuan “云想衣裳花想容，春风拂槛露华浓”, the brand wins preference of Chinese customers successfully.

5.2 Literal translation

According to Peter Newmark, “literal translation attempts to render, as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow, the exact contextual meaning of the original. ”（Newmark 39）In other words, literal translation means that the translation of brand name is based on their literal meanings. It requires the maintenance of the original meaning to the largest extent, aiming at the realization of the distinctive informative aesthetic and vocative functions. As a meaning or methods, literal translation set the priority on the lexical and pragmatic meaning of cosmetic brand names with less attention to the phonological features of the source cosmetic brand names. This approach conveys the connotation of the original name directly and exactly.

For example, Color Zone is a brand of color makeup with a definite position for young girls in cities and clear intention to show girls’ youth and vigor. Color Zone now has been said to have thousands of wonderful products in different sorts and colors. When it’s translated into “色彩地带” literally, the consumers in both original market and target market can get the equal information about the product of being colourful. Both the original brand name Color Zone and the translated version “色彩地带” can help consumers image a picture of fashionable girls wearing colorful makeup at ease. The two brand names go well with each other, and is seen as a great success of literal translation.

More examples following this are “Doctor Bai” “Doctor Li” “Skin Doctors” and “Dr. Magic”. These brands are literally translated into “白医生” “李医生” “皮肤医生” “魔法医生”. These brand names sound like trustworthy doctors who can cure skin problems. Both the original names and translated versions of this product can produce no negative meanings and achieve the same purpose to meet Chinese consumers’ expectations for beauty. So they are acceptable and popular in Chinese market.

Literal translation is the most popular translation strategy when the source language and the target language have the same positive meaning. They can arouse the interest of receivers, especially those females who are considered to be extremely sensitive at fashion and beauty. There are more examples as follows.

The Body Shop–美体小铺

Pretty Rally—汇美舍

Queen Hellen—海伦皇后

Love Passport–爱情护照

The Water Shop—美肌水

Angel Heart—天使心

Love Forever–永爱

Prescriptive–配方

Banana Republic–香蕉共和国

After analysis of these cases, we can come to a conclusion that literal translation is a greatly effective way in the process of brand name translation for the fact that it cannot only contain the original meaning of the source language, but also meet the aesthetic requirement of the target language. However, the translator should also consider cultural differences between the original language and the target language. Take the brand Ghost for example, if it were translated into “幽灵” directly, it would be a nightmare for Chinese people. They may turn back immediately, let alone buy it. However, if the translator remedy it as “魅影”，it would be a good brand name with the implication of charm and attractiveness.

5.3 Phonosemantic translation

As the name shows, phonosemantic translation refers to the way to integrate the methods of literal translation and transliteration. Since both transliteration and literal translation have default in translation of brand name owing to cultural differences and linguistic cause, the combination of these two methods appears. It’s an approach that translator selects the words in the target language which have the similar pronunciation with the original names and at the same time translate part of the brand names meaningfully into the target language. The advantage of this method lies in the fact that this translation can remain the exotic flavor as well as render a positive association. For example, the American skincare brand name “Johnson Baby”, which has a definite position for babies, is translated into “强生婴儿” in Chinese. The pronunciation of “强生” is similar to that of the original brand name “Johnsons” , and “婴儿” is the literal translation of “Baby”. Other examples translated in this way are HR which are translated into “赫莲娜”，“ La mer” into “海蓝之谜”, “Whitia” into “白娣颜” and so on. This technique combines virtues of both transliteration and literal translation. Consequently, the outcome is more satisfactory and successful.

5.4 Zero translation

Zero translation is a translation strategy which means not to translate the phrase of the source text and keep the original names of the brands in the source language. In this way, the brand names can be exceptionally concise and eye-catching so that they can be recognized easily by the target consumers when entering the target market and satisfy those consumers who are found of foreign styles. For example, “SK-II”, a famous luxury brand belonging to Pamp;D company, is far more mysterious and thus more appealing to the receivers compared with its Chinese equivalent “美之匙”. There are some similar samples, such as “ZA”, “VOV”, “Skinfood” “DHC” and so on. For the manufacturer who intends to expand business in the global market, zero translation would be a very successful choice.

The above study gives the author much enlightenment that when translating a cosmetic brand name, all strategies should be compared and thoughtfully considered in order to achieve a better realization of the practical purposes. Brand name translation is one way of advertising. Translators should fully consider the factors that have influence on cosmetic brand name translating. All in all, whether a cosmetic brand name is translated accurately or what strategy is adopted to translate all depend on what goal to achieve. In terms of Skopostheorie, the end justifies the means. In order to make Chinese products thrive in the global market, more people could be involved and more research should be done about the area of cosmetic brand name translation.

6. Conclusion

Advertisement is a means of propagating products for companies. This study makes an analysis on the translation of cosmetic brand names from the perspective of Skopostheorie and makes attempts to probe into the application of Skopostheorie to the translation of cosmetic brand names. To complete this case, a systematic review of the guiding theory Skopostheorie has been introduced and a sum of more than 80 brand names have been chosen from a corpus of more than 2000 cosmetic brand names. In this thesis, translation strategies and skills are explored from the aspect of Skopostheorie in translation of cosmetic brand names. Through this research, some new findings have been obtained.

First of all, it frees the translators from the restriction of the source-text- oriented theory and such dilemmas. It ensures that the translator has the right to freely choose suitable translating strategies on the basis of the specific and original goal. Under the guidance of Skopostheorie, the author proposes some practical methods such as transliteration, literal translation, phonosemantic and zero translation. Secondly, Skopostheorie provides a new horizon for translation studies. The theory defines translation as a intentional and interpersonal human action. Cosmetic brand name translation is clearly goal-oriented, and calls for a full consideration of many factors, including values and aesthetic association, Skopostheorie is guiding theory for the translation of cosmetic brand names.

However, for the fact that cosmetic brand name translation is quiet a complex process, together with the limited time and personal competence, it’s inevitable to have some limitations. Firstly, this analysis covers relatively narrower scope compared with the studies on translation of brand name conducted by other scholars because it just focuses on the translation of female cosmetic brand names. Secondly, in addition to cultural factor, the translation of cosmetic brand name is influenced by a variety of elements, such as linguistics, culture, psychology, aesthetics, cognition and so on. This research just focuses on cultural aspect. So there exist some restrictions. The author will work harder in the future so as to make a greater progress in this field.

To sum up, the author is fully aware that the translation of cosmetic brand names is not an easy job, because translation is a science that calls for great patience and initiative. With the development of globalization and international communication, Chinese cosmetic products suffer from fierce competition. The author does hope that the present research will draw some attention of more manufacturers and translators in this field, and further exploration will be conducted.

Works Cited

Keller, Kevin Lane. Strategic Management. The Prentice Hall, Inc. 1998

Newmark, Peter. A Textbook of Translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2001

Nord, Christiana. Translation as A Purposeful Activity--Founctional Approaches Explained. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2001

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