Characteristics and Translation of English Advertisement ABSTRACT
With increasing communication in the world and acceleration of economic globalization, English
advertisement has found its way into people’s lives. No matter whether we like it or not, we have
to face it. But how to understand, assess and make English advertisement is a challenge to most
of us. Under this situation, it is very indispensable to translate the advertisement timely, correctly
and efficiently to promote the information exchange both at home and abroad in order to
improve the economic development.
Advertisement is not only an economic activity promoting sales and services, but also a cultural
carrier, which sets great influences on our life styles and consumption habits. And the tradition,
belief and value of a culture, to a great extent, affect not only the psychology and behavior of
both producers and customers, but also the advertisement itself. So, it is very important for us to
know the characteristics of advertisement.
Beginning with the nature and characteristics of advertisement, Chapter one introduces
definition, elements and classification of advertisement. Chapter two introduces language
characteristics of English advertisement, simple sentences, interrogative sentences，imperative
sentences，conditional sentences and elliptical sentences are frequent used in English
advertisement. Chapter three discusses the translation methods of English advertisement, which
include: literal translation and free translation.
Key words: English advertisement characteristics translation
摘 要
随着世界各国交流的日益广泛和经济全球化进程的进一步加快，英语广告已成为人们生活不可缺少的一部分。不管我们喜欢与否，都要和它打交道。如何理解，评估并创作英语广告，这对我们大多数的人来说是一个富有挑战性的课题，在这一种情形之下, 广告翻译是不可缺少的, 正确效率的翻译促进国内和国际的数据交换和经济发展。
广告是一种经济活动，是对商品和服务的一种促销手段，但广告同时又是一种文化载体，它像是一只无形的手左右着人们的生活方式和消费习惯。广告文化具有明显的大众性、商业性、民族性和时代性的特点。一定的文化传统、信仰和价值观在很大程度上左右着商业经营者以及消费者的心理和行为，进而影响广告活动本身。所以，了解广告的特征也非常重要。
本文将从广告的本质与特征入手，第一部分介绍了广告的定义，元素和分类。第二部分介绍了英语广告的语言特征。简单句，疑问句，命令句，条件句和省略句通常被用于英语广告当中。第三部分主要讨论了英语广告的翻译方法，它包括直译和意译。
关键词：英语广告 特点 翻译
Introduction
In modern society, the newspaper, magazines, TV, radio, network and some other media show us
various kinds of information about goods and services. With the development of our society,
advertisements have become an important part of our modern society. Turn on radio, you hear
advertisements; turn on TV, you see advertisements; skim and scan newspapers, you see also
advertisements; even at the doorway you can get advertisements. Advertisements follow you like
shadows. And under the trend of globalization, English advertisement has become more and more popular and important for English works as an international language. Now our country has
joined the WTO and more and more world famous companies come to invest in China. The trade
and product exchange between china and other countries increase a lot.
Advertisement has entered into every aspect of human life. Every day, people are exposed to a
large number of advertisements no matter whether they like them or not. But what is
advertisement? What elements does an advertisement consist of? How are advertisements
classified? And what is the significance in the study of advertisement? These are the questions of
which we must have a good idea before we proceed to explore the language features or
characteristics of English advertisement.
I overview of advertisement
Next paper of this chapter introduces definition, elements and classification of advertisement.
1.1 Definition of advertisement
In English, the word “advertise” has its origin in Latin, meaning “to inform somebody of
something ”, “to bring into notice ”or “to draw attention to something”, etc. Abert Lasker, father
of modern advertisement, said that advertisement was “salesmanship in print”. This definition
was given a long time before the advent of radio and television. In the past, the nature and scope
of advertisement were considerably different from those today. The definition indicates that the
ultimate objective of advertisement is to sell. Obviously, it is not an all-round definition for it can
not cover all advertisements.
Definitions of advertisement are many and varied. An advertisement may be defined as a public
notice designed to spread information with a view to promoting the sales of marketable goods
and services, or defined as a vital marketing tool as well as a powerful communication force. It is
the action of calling something to people’s attention especially by a paid announcement. Also,
advertisement can be defined as a kind of paid, non-personal communication through various
mass media by business firms, nonprofit organizations, and individuals who are in some way
identified in the message and who hope to inform or persuade members of a particular audience.
Although advertisement can be defined in many different ways, the essential points concerning
its definition may be summarized as follows: advertisement is a kind of extensive communication
of information usually highly paid for and strongly pursuance in nature. Advertisement contains
messages or information about marketable products and services, or ideas, norms, and values.
Advertisement messages are designed particularly, ingeniously and meticulously, and are made
known through various media to the general public or particular groups of people.
1.2 Elements of advertisement
An advertisement is composed of different components, which are verbal or non-verbal.
The verbal components consist of the headline, sub-headline, the body copy, trademark and
slogan. The non-verbal elements are made up of illustrations, advertisement music,
advertisement sounds, color and layout. Each element plays a role in successful advertisement.
However, an advertisement has no need to include all the normal elements. Sometimes, some
elements are sufficient. The following elements are discussed, not because they are more
important, but because the language features in such elements are more conspicuous and much
easier to be noticed by the general public. The purpose of the sub-headline is to make the
transition from headline to body copy. Some headlines need no sub-headlines. The body copy
tells the complete sales story. The purpose of the body copy is to provide clarification of the
headline and proof of claims, point out other competitive advantages, and gives the prospective
