VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POST GRADUATE STUDIES DEPARTMENT

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1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POST GRADUATE STUDIES DEPARTMENT PHAN THỊ VÂN ANH A STUDY ON DIFFICULTIES AND STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH- VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF ADVERTISING SLOGANS (NGHIÊN CỨU CÁC KHÓ KHĂN VÀ CHIẾN LƯỢC CHO VIỆC DỊCH ANH-VIỆT KHẨU HIỆU QUẢNG CÁO ) THESIS SUMMARY Field: English Linguistics Code: Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lê Hùng Tiến HA NOI, 2011

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale Aims of the study The research questions The scope of the study Methods of the study The structure of the study:... 2 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT... 2 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND TRANSLATION THEORY Translation definition Translation methods: Translation equivalence Translation equivalence: Types of translation equivalence Translation process: Translation procedure: ADVERTISING AND ADVERTISING SLOGAN Advertising: Types of advertising: Language in advertisement Structure of an advertisement: Advertising Slogans Definition of advertising slogan Characteristics of ad slogans... 3 CHAPTER 2: STUDY INTO DIFFICULTIES & STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH-VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF AD SLOGANS STUDY OF MODIFICATION IN LEXICAL AND STRUCTURE IN TRANSLATION OF ADVERTISING SLOGANS Lexical addition Lexical omission Lexical adaptation Structural addition Structural omission Structural adatation STUDY OF TRANSLATING PUNS IN AD SLOGAN The phenomenon of puns in ad slogans i -

3 2.2. Translating puns in Vietnamese equivalent PROBLEMS AND DIFFICULTIES IN ENGLISH-VIETNAMESE TRANSLATING OF AD SLOGANS Unability to preserve nuance meaning Pun as a case of untranslatability Neologism as a case of untranslatability Cultural barrier STRATEGIES FOR TRANSLATING AD SLOGANS Recognizing the technique used Understanding background information of advertising slogans Dealing with unstranslable factors Preserving and reproducing typical qualities of ads slogan Applying the original slogan: SUMMARY CHAPTER 3: APPLICATION... Lỗi! Thẻ đánh dấu không được xác định. PART 3: CONCLUSION Recapitulations Suggested activities Limitations and suggestion for further study REFERENCES ii -

4 PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Translating ad slogans has gotten numerous studies and arguments. It is usually considered a creative process as suggested in the term transcreation; but how to do well this creative process is still a question. Personally, I am really attracted by ad slogans which might contain history or culture of a company as well as some curious story of language. I also found out a wide scope of interesting situations of mistranslating or ineffective translations or failures to fix to localization. Besides, my students face to the same problems when they work with commercials and especially with these brand tradelines. As the matter of fact, advertising slogans are considered brief, meaningful and full of nuances. Thus, translating them from English into Vietnamese language is really sophisticated and challenging work. It is not easy to be transferred these special ones without changing or fading out the shade of meaning. The question raised is that whether there are any techniques or which methods are useful for handle the difficulties. Furthermore, some earlier investigations only focus on interpreting the meaning and characteristics of ad slogans in borrowed words. However, there has not been sufficient and satisfied study to decode the difficulties and figure out strategies for translating advertising slogans. Even though it is never easy task, it is new and contributive to give a deep insight of the area. These wondering and interests promisingly provide me with many interesting facts, ideas and directions to implement this study. 2. Aims of the study - To provide vital understanding and significant characteristics of the language in advertising slogans - To find out typical translating tendencies and difficulties that translators deal with. - To suggest solutions and strategies to handle difficulties in translating ad slogans and to improve translating work 3. The research questions To achieve the aims, the research questions below are addressed: - What are major translating tendencies and typical characteristics in English- Vietnamese transcreation of ad slogans? - What difficulties or problems translators might deal with in translating English ad slogans into Vietnamese? - What are particular techniques or methods can be applied for translating ad slogans from English into Vietnamese? 4. The scope of the study The thesis involves English ad slogans and Vietnamese equivalents from television, newspapers, magazines and the Internet. They can be successful or fail in reality, interesting and special in message or organization, or connecting to famous products or services. All learners, teachers and translators, especially students studying translation are targeted audience. 5. Methods of the study -Comparative and contrastive methods - 1 -

5 - Quantative and qualitive methods - Review of published related theories - Analysis and synthesis of selected data 6. The structure of the study: The paper follows the standard formality of a typical post-graduated thesis. PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1. TRANSLATION THEORY 1.1. Translation definition Traditionally, translation means the replacement or substitution, of an utterance in one language by formally or semantically or pragmatically equivalent in another language. The relationship of equivalence between two languages involves various constrains such as: respectful to culture, addressee-conscious, purposive and creative. In translation, meaning is more important than structure and form; to preserve the meaning, the form must be changed if necessary. Deciding the translation principles depends on using translations for different purposes, by different methods, and with the help of different tools. Translation is complicated process, involving features: Context and co-text; Meaning, Type of text, Grammatical analysis, author s intention, Equivalence, Translation shifts, Target readership, Art and science Translation methods: Newmark proposes eight popular methods of translation: Word-for-word translation, Literal translation, Faithful translation, Semantic translation, Communicative translation, Idiomatic translation, Free translation, and Adaptation Translation equivalence Translation equivalence: Equivalence is identity (of meaning and form) when a target term is expected to be faithful reproduction of the ST Types of translation equivalence Quantitative approach: refers to numeracy equivalence One-to-one equivalence, One-to-many equivalence, Many-to-one equivalence, One-to-part-of-one equivalence, Nil equivalence Meaning-based equivalence: consist of Denotative equivalence; Connotative equivalence, Text-normative equivalence, Pragmatic equivalence, and Formalaesthetic equivalence Function-based equivalence: Nida refers two orientations: formal and dynamic equivalence 1.4. Translation process: It involves three main steps: Analysis: analyses the structure and its semantic elements in SL; Transfer: the message is transferred in the simple and clear form and structure; and Restructuring: with regards to the semantic and syntactic and stylistic points given to the final message in TL

6 1.5. Translation procedure: Two translation procedures, namely Technical procedure and Organizational procedure clarify How to analyze and translate and How to reevaluate and restructure in translation. 2. ADVERTISING AND ADVERTISING SLOGAN 2.1. Advertising: Concept of advertising is interpreted by following features: non-personal communication, kind of information which is usually paid and with purpose as a tool to promote desire for purchasing goods and services Types of advertising: There are many types basing on function, region, targeted markets, company demand, desired responses, and kinds of media used Language in advertisement Advertisement language is characterized mainly and significantly by following aspects: be persuasive; be Attractive and impressive; involving cultural factor; be Concise and selective. From Qualitative view, advertisement is highly self-estimation and self-praise. While from quantitative view, it is exaggeration language to entice and seduce the target customers Structure of an advertisement: An advertisement begins with The Appeal, followed by Value Proposition ends with a Slogan Advertising Slogans Definition of advertising slogan Slogan sums up the central message of the advertisers, reinforces the product s identity, placed together with a logo to symbolize for the product. Slogans have two basic purposes: To provide continuity to a series of advertisements in a campaign and to reduce an advertising message strategy to a brief, repeatable, and memorable phrase or very short sentence Characteristics of ad slogans In terms of text category, they are concise and clarified; under the category of grammatical features, they are full of frequent uses of comparative and superlative constructions; they consist repetition and non-sophistication and brandname involvement that belong to the category of lexical feature,; and traditionally in the category of rhetoric feature application of rhetorical devices (traditionally, figures of speech) are popular in slogans. From perspectives of meaning and function towards company and product, ad slogans considered: Focused and clear objective, Ability of appealing and inspiring audience, and The identifiable characters

7 CHAPTER 2: STUDY INTO DIFFICULTIES & STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH- VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF AD SLOGANS 1. STUDY OF MODIFICATION IN LEXICAL AND STRUCTURE IN TRANSLATION OF ADVERTISING SLOGANS In translating practice, translators might change or modify vocabulary features and structure in order to make the new TL slogan more expressive and natural. There are six modification tendencies found in translating process: 1.1. Adding lexical feature TL equivalent consists of new lexical features that don t exist in SL slogan: - Sometimes you ve gotta break the rules Burger King Thỉnh thoảng cũng nên phá lệ một chút - Pepsi s got your taste for life Pepsi (1981) Pepsi- hương vị tuyệt vời cho cuộc sống của bạn The purposes of adding new lexical features can be in three cases: (a) To enhance or improve the expressiveness; (b) To clarify or make the message more clear; and (c) To emphasize subjective sense or feeling of certainty or compulsory Omitting lexical feature Lexical omission is defined by the absence, in TL equivalent, of a lexical item in SL ones: - The pause that refreshes Coca-Cola (1929) Khoảng ngưng cho sự thư giãn - Have it your way Burger King Thưởng thức theo cách của bạn 1.3. Adapting lexical meaning Lexical meaning in SL and TL equivalent seem to be different but related in some senses. There are three levels of meaning adaptation. The first level belongs to referent meaning adaptation in which the translated word is the referent for original word: - Gotta have it Pepsi 1991 Trải nghiệm cùng Pepsi The second level refers that English word and its Vietnamese equivalent can be directly different but have the same denotation: - It s the real thing - Coca-Cola Hàng chính hiệu In the last cases, both are totally different in meaning: -What happen here, stay here L.V.Convention&Visitors Authority Đến đây, ở lại đây 1.4. Adding in sentence structure One structural unit in the original slogan but more than one structural unit in translated one: - Just do it - Nike Hãy làm điều bạn muốn 1.5. Omitting in sentence structure The number of structural unit in the translated slogans is cut down: - Now it s Pepsi for those who think Young- Pepsi (1961) Pepsi nước uống của tuổi trẻ - 4 -

8 1.6. Adapting in sentence structure Same number of structural unit in TL and SL text but different form: - A sentence is translated into a phrase: It s finger linkin good - KFC Vị ngon trên từng ngón tay - A phrase into a sentence: The original pure food drink Pepsi (1906) Nước giải khát tinh khiết đến tự nhiên - A question into an imperative: Got milk? American Dairy Association Uống sữa nhé! The following figure (Figure 1) presents the number of changing tendencies in lexical and structure in English-Vietnamese translation of ad slogans: Lexical Structure 0 Addition Omission Adaptation Unmodified Chart 1: Lexical and Structure modification in translating ad slogans from English into Vietnamese In general, the changing in vocabulary is much more than that occurs in structure. Only 23% (23 translated slogans) involves unmodified cases in lexical while the much larger number of 73% unmodified Vietnamese equivalents is found in structure category. In lexical area, the addition and omission of words occurs at satisfactory rate, 31% and 34% respectively. However, adaptation witnesses a significant proposition to 51 %. Meanwhile, the addition and omission in structure just make up very tiny number of 2% and 5% respectively. Structure adaptation is modestly counted for 17%. In terms of both vocabulary and structure, the number of adaptation cases stands at highest position; the second highest place is for addition cases and the lowest rate omission. These different numbers also reveal the favour and tendencies of translators in applying different translating techniques. From the chart, some conclusions can be summarized: Lexical features are more preferable and flexible to be modified. With the quite big proportion of vocabulary adaptation, translators tend to adapt and make slogans become more meaningful, natural, and alive in Vietnamese linguistic environment. In contrast, the modest number for addition and omission in slogan structure, it isn t typical or not preferable for translators to change the structure of original slogans. Discussing the effectiveness of applying three different translating tendencies, in general, translators can improve the original and create new and better translated - 5 -

9 slogans. In particular, Addition tendency is mainly for the sake of clarifying and emphasizing translated slogans content. However, omission aims to keep the translated slogan more concise and brief. Meanwhile, adaptation prioritizes the meaningfulness and attractiveness of new word choice or new structure. The root of these modifications, in nature, is due to semantic, socio-cultural, grammatical differences between SL and TL. 2. STUDY OF TRANSLATING PUNS IN AD SLOGAN 2.1. The phenomenon of puns in ad slogans There are 38 cases of puns found in 34 slogans of the one-hundred-list of ad slogans. The following illustrations represent for five most popular phenomena of puns: - Alliteration: two or more syllable, sound groups or letter in words of a phrase, as: Don t dream it, drive it Jaguar car - Intertextual wordplay: are based on songs, familiar sayings or famous speeches. For example, Impossible is nothing Adidas - Parallelism: similar arrangement of series of related words, phrases, or sentences: You ve got a lot to live, Pepsi s got a lot to give Pepsi Polysemy: same forms but distinctive meanings. For example, break with 2 meanings: break the Chocolate bar or take rest in: Have a break, have a Kit Kat - Kit Kat Chocolate - Portmanteau: is the coinage of two meanings in one word: Hellomoto Motorola The figure 2 presents the number of times each of 5 types of pun: 6% 32% parallel form intertextual Wordplay Portmanteau 45% Alliteration Polysemy 11% 6% Chart 2: Types and number of occurrences of wordplay The wordplay type with the highest amount of occurrences is Alliteration, with the 17 occurrences amounting to 45% of the cases. Parallel form has the second highest relative popularity with the 12 occurrences amounting to 32% of the instances of wordplay. The third most common type of wordplay was Intertextual wordplay with 4 instances (11% of the cases). Polysemy and Portmanteau are all in the minority: there are two cases for each (6 %)

10 Puns are really popular and help the slogans more effective and amusing. Though they can work well in original slogans, the phenomena result in certain problems for translation Translating puns in Vietnamese equivalent Translated Untranslated 5 0 Polysemy Paralellism Intertext Wordplay Portmanteau Alliteraton Chart 3: Number of translated and untranslated cases in five kinds of puns With only 13 translated cases in total of 38 puns, the number of untranslated wordplay is much more than the translated ones. This affirms the challenge and trouble to translate puns. In the chart, there are two different tendencies in translating pun phenomena. The first case namely translated tendency with representatives Parallelism and Intertext wordplay. There are only 1 case in Intertext wordplays and 2 in Parallelism in comparison with 3 and 10 translated cases respectively. They are shown in the examples: Parallel structure: Once driven, forever mitten Vauxhall Car Một lần từng lái, mãi mãi không quên Intertextual wordplay: Impossible is nothing Adidas Không gì là không thể These puns are transferable because the ways to build up them rely on message structure or ideas which are considered global and universal for human beings. The second tendency with 3 representatives: Polysemy, Portmanteauu and Alliteration, with 17 instances but no one translated. They are attached with language characteristics and rules. 3. PROBLEMS AND DIFFICULTIES IN ENGLISH-VIETNAMESE TRANSLATING OF AD SLOGANS 3.1. Unability to preserve nuance meaning Some slogans contain dual meaning, but in translation process, only one meaning can be transferred. To preserve the purpose and the most important meaning equivalence, translators have to make choice to give up the meaning - figurative sense. For example: Have a break, have a Kit Kat- Kit Kat can be translated Nào cùng nghỉ giải lao và thưởng thức Kit Kat nhé - 7 -

11 In the slogan, the word break itself has 2 meanings - breaking the chocolate, breaking from activity. Though the translated one seems to have rather close message, there is no way to find one Vietnamese word with two senses of meaning Pun as a case of untranslatability The translation of wordplays, are considered untransalated and challenging because of they are tightly tied to the original language. For example: It s not wwwhat you know about ecommerce, it s wwwho you know NTL Internet Company This advert is easily translated into TL as Vấn đề không phải bạn biết gì về Thương mại điện tử mà vấn đề bạn biết đó là ai. However, the problem is the use of graphological deviation: www at the beginning of website addresses used at the beginning of two words beginning with w referring to electronic business world. This sense of electronic world can be no way translated in Vietnamese version Neologism as a case of untranslatability The term Neologism is concept referring to a new word, term, or expression newly created. Look at exampled slogan which is also untranslated because its tactic of coining a new word: Aphreaudisiac- Perrier water There is an English word that has roughly the same pronunciation as the word here, i.e. aphrodisiac. The o in the middle of the original word is replaced by eau, the word for water in French which associates the idea of an aphrodisiac with Perrier water. These all senses of meaning and nuances can not be conveyed when being translated into Vietnamese Cultural barrier The differences from culture, geography feature, history and development level, between Western country - English and Oriental country - Viet Nam, may cause the slogan to sound unnatural in Target language environment: Firm and moist- Adolph s Meatloaf Mix Eat me- Flake Chocolate These slogans may work well in English speaking and free-oriented cultures with sexual innuendo that are considered hilarious and attractive to customers, because for western culture, the sexual or sensitive matter is common and popular. In contrast, they would not do so well in a culture that really values history, tradition and age. If translated, the slogan might evoke negative sense and even unacceptable as a cultural shock: Cứng và ướt and Hãy ăn tôi 4. STRATEGIES FOR TRANSLATING AD SLOGANS 4.1 Recognizing the technique used Translators need to percept the nature of slogans and are competent enough in language and in recognizing the techniques used in conveying message in SL. It is the reason why it is important to provide translators with the techniques by that slogan message is built and raised. The weasel claim: the terms used to say something, but actually they refer the opposite or nothing at all. Here is an example: Be all you can be US Army. The claim is "Be all. The weasel word "can be" appears substantial but is meaningless if analyzed

12 The unfinished claim: Ad slogans are full of comparison expressions which are often unfinished: Get more T-mobile We are different and unique claim: It is used in slogans for sake of the superiority and premium of products or services being advertised: Think different Apple computer Water is wet claim: present something that is true for any product of the same type: TV you can watch Nick-at-Nite So what claim: is similar to water is wet but different advantage that can not be found in other products of the same category: Television for women Lifetime Television Vague claim: this is rather ambiguous, aims at leading the audience to make inferences in different directions of effectiveness of products: It just feels right - Marda Endorsement or testimonial use: It involves famous people or authority to assert the quality and value of product: The cream of Manchester - Boddingtons draught beer Scientific or statistical claim: refer to scientific evidence as making the slogan more persuasive: Just 15 minutes can save you 15% or more on cat insurance- Geico auto insurance Compliment the consumer: Flattery language is used to praise the consumers: Nobody does it like you Hoover vacuum cleaner Rhetorical question: The slogan is raised as the form of a question but it is not necessary to answer. Want a better Internet? - AOL 4.2. Understanding background information of advertising slogans Lesson from different translated versions: Learning from the success or failure of translations in other countries is a good way to understand and keep away from the misleading. For example, the famous beer company Coor with slogan Turn It Loose translated in Spain by disaster slogan make it become loose i.e. getting diarrhoea Because a word can refer in many senses of meaning, both negative and positive, which can not be clear interpreted without context or because translators do not master source language. This failure of meaning shock in other languages is valuable lesson or references for translator avoid the misunderstanding and ridiculous translation. Understanding the background of slogans: It is vital to consider the relevant event or when, where, how slogan was created. The ad slogan of Adidas in good illustration: Just do it. In researching process in reality, this brief and general slogan can be transferred word-by-word in many ways like Chỉ cần hành động, Hãy làm điều đó, Cứ làm đi, Hãy hành động Hãy thực hiện điều đó, Hãnh mạnh dạn thực hiện điều bạn muốn. However, the slogan was considered said by Nike founder - Philip Hampson Knight with an encouraging and decision in a conference for deciding slogan for the campaign. Basing on this information the translator can reject some translated cases which capture the spirit of the slogan

13 Putting slogans in the whole advertisement-context: In the kind of product or service advertised the verbal features in ads as well as visual and audio features all that relating to context or co-text of ad slogans can help much for capture the message in slogans. Consider the slogan: Does she or doesn t she? Without any other information, how translator understands and translates it into another language? Maybe, the closest equivalent can be cô ấy có hay cô ấy không?. This is so general and unclear for both translators and the reader. The problem can be handled by providing its advertisement: By this context, picture, and full commercials, the translated can be understood as cô ấy có dùng sản phẩm nhuộm tóc hay cô ấy không dùng? Examining any strange feature: The strange feature can be the structure of message or as odd mark involved in slogan. For instance, the message structure in slogan: Impossible is nothing- Adidas, translated as Không gì là không thể it is not a comprehensive. Nothing is impossible, which is widely used means everything is possible. While, for impossible is nothing conveys a sense of encouragement and self-fulfillment to the consumer to dare to do or take action. The word nothing here means something or someone of no value or importance. Điều không thể không phải là vấn đề lớn! or Điều không thể không phải là điều quan trọng! (quan trọng là bạn dám làm, dám hành động) Dealing with unstranslable factors Adaptation: is a translation procedure whereby the translator replaces a social, or cultural, reality in the source text with a corresponding reality and more usual to audience in the target text. Let s see slogan: Twice as Much for a Nickel- Pepsi 1939 The word Nikel represents for the unit of currency which is popular in Western country. Even if transferred into Vietnamese equivalent as ba xu it is strange and exotic for Vietnamese people. By omitting the culture factor and adding another expression with same meaning as in: Cùng một giá nhưng hai lần nhiều hơn

14 Compensation: it is replacing the rhetorical aspects with other elements or forms in the source text. For example, the translator can compensate for an "untranslatable" pun in one part of a text by adding a new pun in another part of the translated text: It takes a linkin and keep on tickin Cứ đều đặn tích tắc đúng giờ The alliteration in Lickin and Tickin is compensated with the use of onomatopoeia words and reiterate words as đều đặn and tích tắc also make the TL slogan more expressive Preserving and reproducing typical qualities of ads slogan Word-by-word translating in early translated version: This first step of translating slogan translate directly what happen in your head about the slogan, listing out any ideas, words, phrases you have. It is a kind of word by word translation: - Intel inside Intel Có chíp Intel ở bên trong - Engineered like no other car in the world- Mercedes Được trang bị động cơ không giống với bất cứ xe hơi nào trên thế giới. In the early form, the meaning should be most close to original and involves meaning of all lexical features, and the structure should be in the same way the original message is organized. This helps translator comprehend the message, its atmosphere and some technique involved. Making equivalents concise: This emphasizes the quality of concision: Omitting the meaning of functional vocabulary; preserving the meaning of content vocabulary. Follow this principle, the example above can be edited as: (1) Có chíp Intel bên trong (2) Động cơ không có ở xe hơi nào khác By omitting the article (một), preposition (trên) and some other vocabulary (ở, được, trang bị, bất cứ), the new slogans evoke more concise and natural pleasure. Guaranteeing clarity quality: Unclear sense in original slogan is common matter because of limitation in language knowledge of SL or the shortage of understanding the whole context of ad slogans. Thus, the translated should avoid the ambiguity or generation in translated by adding the clarified features. For example, Intel inside Intel (a) Intel ở bên trong (b)có con chíp Intel ở bên trong (c) Có chíp Intel bên trong If translated as (a), it is not a full comprehension. Especially for some unprofessional people for hi-tech products, only Intel brandname doesn t make sense. The word chíp (b) or con chíp (c) is provided for the sake of clarifying the kind of product is advertised. Two later equivalents become more clear and understandable. Editing for appealing slogans: editing, to improve the translated version, requires both faithfulness and creation: Nothing escape- Konica. If it is translated as

15 "Không gì thoát khỏi máy ảnh Konica"- though, It is understandable and clarified, it is rather flashy and boast. To improve the meaning and also shorten the translated slogan as: Konica - Giữ lại tất cả Some techniques can improve the slogan translation are: Exchange between passive - active structures; Exchange between positive- negative structure; Sentence into phrase; Adding expressive word; and Adapt for more impressive word Applying the original slogan: This should be used when: It is impossible to transfer the slogan. Usually, it is the case there is no Vietnamese equivalent for the English slogan. The most typical example lying in the Coca-Cola ads: bamboocha. A word invented by Coca Cola Company as an exciting shout when enjoying Coca-Cola but it is adventurous to translated the slogan. It is impossible to preserve the meaning and nuance of slogans. The case of Sony slogan is an illustration: Make. Believe Sony. As discussed in full thesis, the slogan is meaningful and full of references. The vocabulary is understandable but to cover all reference and implication it is impossible for translation Understandable slogan and typical represent for famous company: Hellomoto - Motorola Just do it - Nike They are famous and can be understand for the public. There is not necessary to translated because there is no complex structure or strange words used in the slogan. The language in the kind of slogan is considered common. Especially it usually aim to the young and active people who tend to be fond of the novelty and feature originated from foreign country. 5. SUMMARY Firstly, many types of modification have done by translators in lexical items and message structure such as adding, omitting, and adapting. In which, message structures are the most respected. In contrast, the translators creativeness and activity are shown in the way modifying lexical items. By omitting un-necessities or adding new vocabulary, translators are able make equivalent more concise or clarified. Especially, translators seem to be flexible and adaptable in adapting the original lexical items to improve the expressiveness and meaningfulness. Secondly, puns such as Parallelism, Intertextual Wordplay, Alliteration, Polysemy, and Portmanteau, are popular and powerful in ad slogans. In which, two first ones are transferable because they are determined by message structure and ideas which are global and universal. In contrast, other kinds, governed by linguistic principles in English, are often impossible to find Vietnamese counterpart. Thirdly, the problems or difficulties can be closely related to other matters such as culture, neologism, and other cases of untraslatability. The core message and spirit can be well transferred into Vietnamese, but translators seem to be embarrassed in making equivalents for cultural and figurative factors. Finally, in terms of translation strategies, previously-mentioned principles of clarity and briefness and technique of comprehension, acculturation and

16 accommodation are equally valuable in English-Vietnamese translations. From recognizing techniques used, to involving background information to reproduce and edit for standard and effective slogans; for fulfilling all these stages, some translation strategies are proposed so as to preserve message or reproduce new expression. In this process, the free translation or ability for creating, as suggested by the tem - transcreation, is highly encouraged. PART 3: CONCLUSION 1. Recapitulations Translating is not usually an easy task; and translating special and unique discourse like advertising slogans is really challenging. Advertising slogans and their language have their own styles, for example, purposiveness, concision, meaningfulness and phonetic appeal. Successful translations are the ones which can preserve all these qualities. Thus, the work of translation requires so much effort in conveying so profound meaning and its nuances via Vietnamese. In addition, the translating process require translators the flexibility and creativeness It can be seen from the study that, for translating ad slogan, the methods of free translation and adaptation, which have been considered two most flexible methods in Newmark s theory, are applicable to make the most qualified and natural equivalents. The second chapter in part Development has made a lot of attempt to serve the purpose of answering the research questions addressed at the beginning of the study: The study has found out two major translating tendencies: applying the English original slogans and creatively translating them. The first tendency, applying English original slogan used for certain advertising slogans which can not or should not be translated into Vietnamese. Actually, this case counts for very small number. In the second one, namely transcreation, translators successfully make good equivalents in Vietnamese. Majority of Vietnamese equivalents can be considered well-qualified and creative but still faithful to original slogans characters. In particular, translators always try to preserve the content and message of English slogans. While, the creativeness is shown in flexibly modifying of language and structure; especially in transferring rhetorical devices. The faithfulness to message and creativeness in expression can be illustrated through the investigation into English ad slogans and their Vietnamese equivalents under three areas - lexical items, message structure and use of puns. Firstly, in terms of lexical and structure, there are six types of translating modifications: Adding lexical feature, Omitting lexical feature, Adapting lexical meaning, Adding in sentence structure, Omitting in sentence structure, and Adapting in sentence structure. In which, Adapting, with highest occurrences, tend to be more various and preferable than Omitting and Adding. This facts reveals the attempt of translators in preserving the original message and structure of English ad slogans. Furthermore, the modification in structure makes up very modest number. This also shows that there is the similarity in formality and the way constructing message between different language systems. On the other hand, with great number of occurrence, the

17 Adaptation in lexical or structure have presented as a useful technique to make the translated slogans expressive and natural in Vietnamese. In the second investigation regarding to translating rhetorical devices, the phenomenon of puns is considered most arresting and expressive in slogan, but difficult to be translated in Vietnamese equivalents. Five sub-types of wordplays are named as: Parallel form, Intertextual Wordplay, Portmanteau, Alliteration, and Polysemy. Obviously, puns or wordplays are very popular and help slogans more expressive and amusing. However, their extended meanings can be nearly impossible to translate in to another language. To solve the matter, translators have to be very sophisticated and flexible to not only transfer but create new rhetorical effect. The answer for second research question, identifying kinds of difficulty or problem in translating English ad slogans into Vietnamese, has been described and illustrated in part Difficulties and problems in ad slogan translating from English into Vietnamese. The part has been focused on studying data which are considered special, problematic, untransferable, or sensitive, to figure out how or why the TL slogans got successful or became unacceptable in TL countries. In translating practice, translators can face to various problems, such as: Unability to preserve nuance meaning of SL slogan, Untranslatability of Puns and Neologism and Culture barrier. The difficulties often happen in special slogans which contain dual meaning; exploit the wordplay phenomenon; involve new and unique linguistics terms; or contain the differences in background and moral values. The translated products in these cases are often unnatural, incomplete, poorly-qualified or even unacceptable and untransferable. These problems are resulted from some factors as: Translators lack of linguistic capability in SL or TL or both; The translators doesn t have thorough grasp of spirit, culture, society, religion of SL discourse; Lack of professional knowledge which the original slogans belong to. Also, there are some objective-factors of language nature between two countries: It is impossible for two languages as English and Vietnamese to have the same equivalence in terms linguistic regulations in phonetics, syntactics, lexical, grammars, and cultures. The last question, addressing particular techniques or methods to apply for English-Vietnamese translation of ad slogans, has been clarified in the part, namely Strategies for translating ad slogans. The part has suggested some techniques and methods to deal with the problems mentions previously. Strategies can be separated into 2 main procedures, one focuses on the recognition and perception of message and message structure such as how to recognize the technique build up message, and how background information helps translators to understand SL slogans; while another procedure prioritizes for the techniques rebuilding and transferring message in slogan into Vietnamese, for examples, how to deal with untranslating factors, and strategies preserving and reproducing typical quality of ad slogans. In general, these strategies are inclined to the free translation. In other words, priority for translating ad slogan is to create the final equivalents which both are able to preserve the core spirit of the original, and creative in improving expressiveness and aestheticism in equivalence. The equivalents should, at least, guarantee the similar effect and purposes as in the original, and especially should be more creative and natural in Vietnamese advertising environment

18 Translation is a flexible and sophisticated process, so there are two most important requirements the translators for a good translation are having exhausted comprehension of message, structure and typical quality for ad slogans, and being able to create to rebuild and preserve the spirit and the beauty from SL slogan into TL equivalents. In which, the creativeness is a significant qualification for good translators. 2. Suggested activities The study can be a helpful resource for understanding the typical characteristics of ad slogans and some standard requirements for translating slogans. In addition, The illustration and examples in thesis can be used as typical examples in translating lessons from initial level as word-by-word to more creative level as free translation. Finally and importantly, from the results or contributions found in this study, some kinds of practical exercises can be built up in order to apply in teaching and learning translation: Exercise 1: The importance of context and co-text in comprehending a text Exercise 2: The types of changes or modifications can be done in translation Exercise 3: Kinds of rhetorical device or wordplays applied in slogans Exercise 4: Translating procedures Exercise 5: Evaluate the equivalence 3. Limitations and suggestion for further study What has been shown above is just a preliminary study. The thesis is only a small investigation on the some common difficulties in translating advertising slogans and some strategies helping translators improve the translating work from English into Vietnamese. In order to have a full picture of translating ad slogans, suggestions for further research should be continued as follows: More exhausted study on the phenomenon of puns in slogans and techniques for translating rhetorical devices in advertisement. A deeper study on the common mistakes or mistranslating in translating advertising slogans Difficulty in and techniques for translating ad slogan from Vietnamese to English I hope that the study might contribute, to some extent, to the development of teaching and learning translation in a particular discourse as ad slogans in Vietnam at the current time. Also, any critical comments and suggestions from readers are highly appreciated

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