Geoffrey Leech, a British linguist, wrote Semantics in the mid-1970s. In order to show that the meaning of words adapts to the effect of language communication, he divided semantics into rational meaning, connotative meaning, social meaning, emotional meaning, reflective meaning, collocation meaning and thematic meaning. Among them, Leach uses associative meaning to summarize connotative meaning, social meaning, reflective meaning, collocation meaning and emotional meaning, which belongs to irrational meaning. The so-called associative meaning refers to the real life experience that people associate with when using a language, and it is the expression of personal feelings when using a language. Broadly speaking, it shows the social and cultural characteristics of specific language users and their environment, so it is also called social and cultural significance by linguists.
Here are some examples to illustrate the application of associative meaning in trademark translation. In terms of trademark naming, the famous brand bicycle "Flying Pigeon" in China uses the word "flying" to imply its speed. The word "pigeon" itself contains the meaning of loving peace, so it is a successful trademark. Unfortunately, its English translation is indeed a flying pigeon. Pigeons have two kinds of expressions in English: pigeon and pigeon. The former is a weak bird, which is often the object of hunting; The latter is a symbol of peace. Therefore, flying pigeons are more in line with the effect pursued by the original trademark.
Language use will change with the change of dialects, such as regional variation and social variation. Time variation, expression field or industry variation, status variation, communicator's personality and role variation. In a word, the use of language is closely related to social significance. There are some trademark words named after place names and names in both Chinese and English trademarks. Due to their specific cultural environment, these technical terms have specific social significance. For example, Fuling mustard tuber, Kweichow Moutai, Yunnan Baiyao, West Lake Longjing tea and French Bordeaux wine. These products have a long history and profound cultural heritage. They not only show the geographical origin of products, but also show the excellent quality of specific products.