A Study Of Chinese-English Translation Of Commercial Advertisements Based On Register Theory

With the globalization accelerating, more and more businesses have come to be operated internationally. At the same time, these businesses are increasingly dependent on advertising to promote their products in foreign markets, for a good advertisement can not only lead to consumers'buying action, but also help to establish a company's image. As a result, it becomes an urgent task for translators to find appropriate theory so as to direct their translation practice.The present thesis aims to explore the English translation of Chinese commercial advertisements from the angle of register theory, which is one of the most important theories of Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar. This theory has been considered to be effective in dealing with translation problems and many functionalists have successfully applied it into translation studies.According to Gregory (1980:466), "The establishment of register equivalence can be seen as the major factor in the process of translation". Halliday also insists that the register features of the source text should be properly reproduced, showing the corresponding field, tenor and mode in the target text. There are three parameters of register, that is, field, tenor and mode. So, problems involved in the translating process include locating equivalent terminology in the appropriate field and achieving TL expressions in the appropriate tenor and mode. However, owing to cultural and linguistic differences between Chinese and English, there exist different register features between Chinese and English advertising texts and sometimes it is impossible to completely replicate the source text registers in the target text. In such a case, since both Chinese and English advertisements are designed to catch readers' attention, persuade them to buy the products or services advertised and establish companies'images, the guiding principle is to establish functional equivalence—achieve the same function or aim among the target readers as ST intends to achieve. So, when there are similarities between the conventions of English and Chinese texts, the register features of ST may be presented in TT. And when there are discrepancies between them, the register features of TT can be demonstrated with the function or aim of the original text remained. Register equivalence is also established in this sense.Guided by this, the author summarizes the similar and different register features between Chinese and English advertisements, thus providing a foundation for presenting translating strategies which highlight the register features. The stress is put on a series of translation strategies on how to achieve register equivalence in terms of the three variables of register, namely field, tenor and mode. The paper ends with a conclusion that register theory is also applicable to advertising translation.