“Hisense”, High Sense ;“Haier”, Higher :Brand Names Can Create Productivity

As a Chinese proverb declares,"The beginningof wisdom is to call things by their right names."For an entrepreneur,the beginning of his success isto call his brand by a right name.A brand needs agood name as much as the mankind does.A

Principles of Translating Brand Names and Cultural Taboos in Translating Brand Names

Translation of brand names is a form of intercultural communication. Whether we translate the Chinese brand names into the English ones or translate the English brand names into the Chinese ones, language laws, cultural psychology, aesthetic interest and some other factors will be involved. According to the principle of equivalence theory, the translated brand names should achieve a perfect linguistic unity among sound, form and meaning. Based on the translation principles, the translators should also pay attention to some forbidden zones.

Literal and Free Translation of Chinese-English Brand Names

The present paper is intended to describe the two normal methods—free and literal translation used in translating brand names; in the meantime, some common mistakes are discussed in the process of translation. As to the free and literal translation, the paper discusses some common approaches, or techniques used in the process, which affect the effects of the brand names a lot and have direct influence on the results of the target brand names. In view of the common mistakes, the paper points out some customs, habits, religious beliefs, living environment and cultural factors, which may lead to failures in translating brand names.

An Experimental Pragmatic Study of Readers’Preferences for Methods Used in Translating Chinese Brand Names

This survey investigated different methods for translating Chinese brand names into English.Results of Pre-investigation show that five methods are most frequently used in translating Chinese Brand Names into English:English,Pinyin,Coinage,Acronym,and English+Pinyin.Two further experiments were conducted.The results of Experiment 1 indicated that participants evaluated translations produced using English as their most favored and English as the most appropriate method to translate Chinese brand names,showing low interest in translations by Pinyin and Coinage.The results of Experiment 2 further supported the English method as the most favored one in comparison to the Acronym and English+Pinyin,methods,and likewise in the methods used to translate different categories of brands.A“Mother-Tongue”Effect is observed in translation.This study concludes that English is the most effective method for translating Chinese brand names.

On the Translation of Automobile Brand Names from the Prospective of the Functional Equivalence

Translation of automobile brand names has important implications for the promotion and marketing of products and strengthening its competitiveness.This article studies four translation methods of automobile brand names,including transliteration,literal translation,free translation and transliteration combined with a literal translation,which is under the Nida’s equivalence theory and masters the origins and characteristics of automobile brand names and summarizes the different effects that methods have on the automobile brand names.