The Study of Store Name Translation from Chinese to Thai Language in Sathorn District, Bangkok

Abstract

The study of store-name translation from Chinese to Thai language in Sathorn district, Bangkok, is aimed to study and analyze the store-name translation strategy from Chinese to Thai language in Sathorn area. It was found that there were 115 store names written in both Chinese and Thai. Various translation strategy were found as follows: 1) Creating new store name was the most used method. This strategy emphasized on creating new Thai store-name with either similar or different meaning from Chinese name to avoid the mispronunciation. 2) Transliteration strategy was the 2nd mostly used strategy. This strategy would transfer sounding of Chinese words into Thai words. It did not emphasize on the interpretation or clarification of the word meaning but focused on the conveying of the uniqueness of Chinese store names. 3) Literal translation strategy is the lowest popular strategy. This strategy was direct translation or word-for-word translation using language skills of both Chinese and Thai to find the connection of the word conversion. It focused on keeping the meaning, the respect of the original store name and also the harmonious adaptation of the target language. The findings of this research were from the study of the business store names which were translated from Chinese to Thai and then classified into translation strategy. The translation strategy and the analysis of target language reflected the values of dialect and dialect assent. Beside from the connection of translation, the translation strategy also expressed the true intention of the founder by focusing on the accurate translation and the respect of original text.