A Study Of Cultural Value And C-E Translation Of Domestic Automobile Brand Names From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

As one of the effective ways for consumers to learn about products,domestic automobile brand name has characteristics of metaphorical thinking,national identity and simplicity.It also has the functions of enhancing recognition,market influence,market positioning and stimulating consumption.On this basis,translated automobile brand name also has the functions of cross-cultural communication and meeting consumer cultural expectations.Domestic automobile brand name translation has become an important part of the enterprise’s huge intangible assets and comprehensive strength,so it is an indispensable step to explore more effective translation principles and methods through the study of cultural value in C-E translation of automobile brand names.Because of the coexistence of commercial value and cultural value in automobile brand name,there are various influencing factors,which need to be analyzed by means of more explanatory theory.Relevance theory,proposed by Sperber and Wilson based on Grice’s relevance principles,is concerned with communication and cognition.Their student,Gutt,further developed relevance theory and applied it to translation studies.Relevance theory regards translation as a cross-cultural,cross-linguistic communicative activity and focuses on the integration of cognitive environment and stimulating information in pursuit of optimal relevance,while Gutt believes that a successful communication depends on the intended context provided by the communicator.Relevance theory can coordinate many factors,such as language,culture,psychology,cognitive environment and social background,and interpret the significance of cultural value to the formulation of translation principles and methods.Therefore,this paper studies the cultural value in C-E translation of domestic automobile brand names with relevance theory.At current stage,the research on brand name translation is not enough at the cultural level.And,most of the studies are based on the study of E-C translation of foreign brands,the translation examples demonstration are mostly descriptive,and the explanation in theory is insufficient.At present,few scholars study on the translation of domestic brand names,especially the cultural value in the translation of domestic automobile brand names from cultural perspective.In view of the limitations of the existing research and the importance of brand name translation,first of all,adopting the qualitative research method,this paper analyzed more than 200 well-known domestic automobile brand names both in Chinese and English,and summarized the naming characteristics and functions of translated automobile brand name.The third step,relevance theory as a guidance,this study in accordance with concrete translation cases,explored the role of cultural value in the formulation of translation principles and methods in order to find a new entry point for the study of domestic automobile brand name translation.The above mainly answers three questions:(1)what is the cultural value in domestic automobile brand name?(2)what are the problems in the current translation of domestic automobile brand names?(3)how can relevance theory is applied as a guidance into the domestic automobile brand name translation to realize the coexistence of cultural and commercial values?It is found that there are four problems in the translation of domestic automobile brand names:(1)poor communication effect;(2)indistinct cultural identity;(3)weak cultural readability;(4)insufficient commercial value.Therefore,under the guidance of relevance theory,this paper tries to put forward corresponding translation principles and methods,which include:(1)relevance orientated translation principle;(2)style orientated translation principle;(3)consumer psychology orientated translation principle,translation method includes literal translation,free translation,transliteration plus literal translation and zero-translation.Under the framework of relevance theory,it can not only realize the close coexistence of commercial and cultural value,but also achieve the commercial function of automobile brand name translation in product propaganda and sales.And,various social,humanistic factors and other factors should be considered in the process of C-E translation of domestic automobile names,and translation strategies should be used flexibly.