A STUDY OF SPANISH-CHINESE BRAND NAME TRANSLATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ECO-TRANSLATOLOGY

Abstract

As an essential component of brand image, brand name assists consumers in recognizing and differentiating a product or service, and has a direct impact on the product’s sales. Therefore, translation of brand names is of the utmost significance. This study analyzes the Spanish-Chinese translation of brand names from an eco-translatology perspective to discover how translators adapt to the translational eco-environment. Seventy-seven brand names from Spanish-speaking countries and registered in China are evaluated comprehensively from linguistic, cultural, and communicative dimensions. The analysis discovers that from linguistic dimension, the majority of translations maintained the original pronunciation or meaning, which is beneficial for the promotion of the brand. From cultural or communicative dimension, minority are easy to read and recall, have meaningful connotations that reflect the product’s features, and capture consumers’ attention. Additionally, the study summarizes five translation methods for Spanish-Chinese translation of brand names and examines advantages and disadvantages of each method from a three-dimensional view, enabling translators to make more informed decisions on brand name translation.