Abstract

Previous studies on translating English beverage advertisements are mainly from the perspectives of cognition, pragmatics, functional equivalence and so on. However, there are few analyses based on adaptation theory. This thesis discusses the phenomenon of cultural adaptation while translating English beverage advertisements. The research shows translators should consider the differences between Chinese culture and English culture while translating English beverage advertisements. Translation should adapt to historical culture, ethnic beliefs, customs, cultural taboos and so on. This study has certain contributions to enriching the strategies of translating English beverage advertisements.    

Keywords:  English beverage advertisements  translation  cultural difference  Cultural adaptation 

摘要

对英语饮品广告翻译进行的研究主要基于认知、语用和功能对等等视角，鲜有从顺应论角度进行的分析。本文讨论了英语饮品广告翻译中的文化顺应现象。研究表明，在翻译英语饮品广告时，译者要充分考虑中英文化的差异，要顺应中国的历史文化、民族信仰、风俗习惯和文化禁忌等。本研究对于丰富饮品广告翻译策略有一定的贡献。

关键词: 英语饮品广告；翻译；文化差异；文化顺应

Chapter One Introduction
1.1English Beverage Advertisements
English beverage advertisements are just those in English which advertise beverages in English speaking countries. English advertisements are cultural products and spiritual products which relate to people’s thoughts, feelings and psychological status, which can reflect some information of English speaking countries. The connotation of English advertisements is inheritance of ethnic culture which relates to cultural psychology, religious belief, values and so on (Hou Hongfeng, 2013).
As the necessities of people’s life, English beverage advertisements have their own characteristics. In order to attract consumers, these words are full of uniqueness(Ge Lingling, 2005). Firstly, words in advertisements are very emotional, and can well render the taste of beverage. Words are always vivid, and they have positive emotional evaluation on the beverages in advertisements, just like the advertisement of Nestle coffee “The taste is great!”(Nestle coffee). Secondly, there are lots of newly made words in English beverage advertisements, these words are interesting and vivid, so they can attract consumers and give them a deep impression. Thirdly, the use of spoken language. The aim of advertisements is to make people remember the product, so the advertisement should be easy to remember. Spoken language is familiar to most people, so advertisements using spoken language can attract consumers more easily, just like the advertisement of Maxwell “Good to the last drop ”(Maxwell Coffee).