the trademark of a commodity is a sign (words, graphics, letters, numbers, colors, three-dimensional signs, etc.) used to distinguish products or services provided by individuals or collectives. It is the concentration of the distinctive features of a commodity and a core component of commodity culture. It not only provides a logo for the goods, but also instills the brand impression of self and self into customers. Good trademarks can bring great wealth to enterprises, while bad trademarks may make enterprises lose the business opportunities they could have. Therefore, trademark is an important marketing means and tool in marketing. It has an influence and function that can not be ignored in realizing the marketing objectives of enterprises. In the international market, trademarks are often regarded as simplified enterprise names by the market and customers, and trademarks become the symbol of enterprises. Nowadays, the economic exchanges between China and the world are in a very frequent and close period. A large number of China-made products are being exported to all parts of the world, and foreign products are also pouring into the domestic market. At this time, how to translate trademark names vividly is particularly important. However, due to the great differences between Chinese and western cultures, even the same thing in Chinese and English may contain different pragmatic meanings and cultural connotations. Therefore, in the specific translation process, we need to consider the appropriateness of translation from a cultural perspective and make appropriate adjustments and adaptations.

1. Problems in the translation of trademark names caused by cultural differences

In the long process of human history, all ethnic groups have gradually formed their own unique historical background, religious beliefs, racial system, customs, customs and cultural traditions. People are bound to have differences in ways of thinking, aesthetic tastes, consumption concepts and values. Language is not only a part of culture, but also a carrier of culture, reflecting a nation's colorful cultural phenomena. Cultural factors include many aspects, such as geographical environment, social history, political economy, customs, religious beliefs, aesthetic orientation, values and ways of thinking. In the process of translation, the cultural differences between China and the West will mainly lead to the following incongruities:

1 The referent in the source language simply does not exist, is rare or neglected in the target language culture.

2 The source culture has a clear entity in concept, while the target culture is indistinguishable or just the opposite.

3 The same referent in the target language may be referred to by words with different literal meanings.

As a kind of language, brand names must contain their own cultures and have different cultural characteristics. The problems caused by cultural differences in trademark name translation mainly include the following aspects:

1. Cultural differences cause the information conveyed by trademark names to be incomplete or vague. Due to cultural differences, people's association with the same word is also very different, and some information hidden under the surface of the trademark name is lost in the process of translation. For example, "Yuanyang" brand pillow was translated as "Mandarin Ducks Pillow" by the translator. Mandarin ducks are often paired and love each other on the water. It is said that once they are paired, they will stay together for life. Therefore, they have been regarded as a symbol of loving couples in China since ancient times, and they have a beautiful meaning of loving each other and growing old together. Lu Zhaolin, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, once wrote such a beautiful sentence as "I'd rather be a mandarin duck than a fairy" in the poem "The Ancient Meaning of Chang 'an". Therefore, using "Yuanyang" as the trademark name of the pillow can easily arouse people's beautiful association. However, when westerners see "Mandarin Ducks", they will only realize that it is the name of a bird, without any other association. At this time, the most critical metaphorical meaning of the trademark has not been passed.

2 cultural differences cause incorrect information conveyed by trademark names. In China, there are many trademarks with the word "dragon" in their names, because the dragon is a symbol of the Chinese nation, which is formed by gradually absorbing the most magical parts of totem animals of various clans with the characteristics of deer, snake, tiger, eagle, carp and other animals. The word "dragon" in English has a completely different image and figurative meaning from dragon. Dragon is an evil winged monster, huge and clumsy, dark gray in color, with huge wings. It spits fire in its mouth and devours people and animals. It is very ugly and horrible, and it also has the meaning of "cruel man and shrew". satan in the Bible story is considered as "the great dragon". Therefore, if the dragon in the brand name is translated into dragon, what westerners associate with is definitely not the Swiss beast in China's mind, but the fierce and cruel beast they know, which greatly reduces the image of the whole product.

second, the skills and methods of trademark name translation

the translation of trademark name is not simply to convert the name of a business cabinet from one language to another, but to pay attention to the cultural differences in the process of translation, taking into account the cultural background of the target market consumers' knowledge, language, national customs, religious taboos, aesthetic tastes and so on, and truly show the deep meaning of the brand connotation. Translator Eugene? Nida also said: "To do translation well, it is even more important to master two cultures than two languages, because words are meaningful only when they are used in a specific culture." The translation of trademark names mainly adopts the following methods:

1 transliteration. The so-called transliteration method refers to finding words with similar pronunciation according to the pronunciation of the original brand name for translation without deviating from the norms of the target language and causing false associations and misunderstandings. This translation method has great universality, retains the rhythm of the original brand name, and is full of exotic flavor, thus attracting consumers' attention. In general, this method is mostly used for trademarks named after people or places, or other situations where no corresponding consistent expression can be found in the target language, such as Walt Disney (Walt Disney? Disney) production company, Nokia. Of course, sometimes we will make some adjustments to individual words on the basis of pure transliteration and replace them with words with similar pronunciations. Through such adjustments, the translated names of trademarks are more vivid and can convey the characteristics of products. A classic case is Coea-Coht, whose Chinese translation is "Coca Cola", which not only conforms to the rhythm of the original name, but also makes people know that the commodity is a beverage in as one pleases. But also fully conveys a feeling of dripping wet after drinking the beverage, which is very attractive to consumers. This makes the translated words colorful and icing on the cake on the basis of respecting the original words. It is memorable, which is also an example worth learning.

2 literal translation. Literal translation is to directly convert the source language into the target language. Literal translation is often used when the source language and the target language are basically equivalent in function. Humans living in different regions have formed their own different cultures due to various natural and cultural factors, which are different but also * * *. This nature is the basis of translation. Therefore, in some cases, one language can find a completely equivalent description or vocabulary in another language. For example, when "Microsoft" is translated into "Microsoft", "micro" and "soft" correspond to "micro" and "soft" in Chinese respectively, which coincides with the company's product "software"; "diamond" brand watches are translated into "diamond", and there are countless examples.

However, literal translation is often the most likely to cause ambiguity or misunderstanding due to different cultures. Sometimes, even if things in one language can find an equivalent description in another language, they have completely different cultural connotations. This is because there are differences in understanding, color and numbers between Chinese and Western cultures. The translation of "dragon" mentioned in the previous article belongs to this situation. For another example, violet stands for romance in Chinese, but pansy in English refers to "unmanly and feminine men" or "men who engage in homosexuality". Imagine, if the "Violet" brand men's shirts are translated into PansyShirt and sold in the British market, it should be difficult to open up sales.

3 free translation. Free translation refers to a newly created name in order to convey the connotation of the product to consumers without sticking to the form of the original word. This is because there are differences between Chinese and western cultures. If we pay too much attention to the form of the original trademark name, it will lead to the loss of meaning. For example, when walkman first entered the China market, if the manufacturer turned it into a "walker", I don't think many customers would be interested in it. However, the clever manufacturers re-created it and called it "Walkman", which fully demonstrated the functions and characteristics of the products and was full of novelty, and won the China market in one fell swoop. This kind of free translation can be a complete re-creation of new words, or it can be a re-creation on the basis of retaining some phonology of the original words. Either way. Translators are required to give full play to their imagination, not only to show the characteristics and functions of commodities, but also to arouse consumers' beautiful associations on the basis of respecting the two cultures of the source language and the target language.

In short, the differences between Chinese and Western cultures make the translation of trademarks extremely challenging. In order to do a good job in trademark translation, translators need to be familiar not only with their own culture, but also with the culture of other countries. In the process of translation, we should respect the differences between the two cultures, embody the connotation of trademarks as much as possible in a vivid, imaginative and creative way, convey the charm of commodities, and be a good messenger of commodity trade exchanges.

(Author: Jiangsu Nanjing Vocational and Technical College of Special Education)