Abstract:With regard to the first-rate importance of a brand name to a company in identifying a company’s offering and distinguishing it from others, a good translation of a brand name is a necessary ingredient in the recipe of a company’s success. According to Eugene A. Nida’s Functional Equivalence theory, a brand name in the target language should also fulfill the same communicative functions as in the source language. Accordingly, in brand name translation we should not only follow the general linguistic rules but also achieve its function as a symbol for a company. Therefore the present research is dedicated to a close analysis on how the application of the word-formation processes performs as an effective way to achieve functional equivalence in Chinese brand name translation. It includes a brief introduction of the functions of a brand name, the word-formation processes in English, and Nida’s functional equivalence theory as a base for the study. With this base and some authentic English translations for Chinese brand names, the paper carries out a detailed analysis on how the five most frequently used word-formation processes, i.e. acronyms, compounding, borrowing, blending and coinage, are applied with the three essential translation techniques respectively in Chinese-English brand name translation. This research reveals that word-formation processes are virtually practical in translating Chinese brand names into English to achieve its communicative and marketing functions. The findings of this research are expected to illustrate also the advantages of applying word-formation processes in Chinese-English name translation.
Key words: word-formation processes, trademark translation, functional equivalence
摘要:本论文主要关注并分析英语构词法在翻译中文品牌中的应用。随着全球化的出现和发展，许多大型公司需要发展海外市场。而这意味着要有与该产品中文名相对应的英文名---即把公司的中文品牌合理、对等的翻译成一个能代表该公司的英文。主要内容包括：该品牌目前的官方翻译，此翻译中所运用的构词法及其与企业的内在联系。除此之外，本研究还将以尤金·奈达的功能对等理论说明中文品牌及其英文翻译在形式和功能上的关系，进而阐明这种翻译方法的优点和翻译与英文构词法之间的联系。本研究的焦点在于名称翻译中采用频率最高的五种构词法：首字母缩略，复合词，外来词，拼缀法与新造词。该研究将着重举例阐述这五种构词法具体的应用和该名称翻译中中英两语间的关系。此外，本研究期望通过实例分析，体现构词法在名称翻译中的应用及该名称翻译的优点。
关键词：英语构词法，商标翻译，功能对等
