A Comparative Study on Translating Advertisement in Print Media

Abstract

This paper focuses on translating advertisements that appear in print media (Newspapers) and this type of translation which falls into the category of Technical translation carries some significant features that occur in translating them into either Sinhala or English. In this process the problems that occur in translating them are also given consideration. It should be noted that, the advertisements that appear in Sinhala and English weekend newspapers such as Lankadeepa, Dinamina, Sunday Observer and Sunday Times are subjected to this study using comparative methodology. However, a content analysis is done in order to identify those specific features. Thus it is revealed that the use of the same words appear in the original advertisement, use of mixed language, short forms, creating new words and addition and omission are seen. Thus, all these significant features are capable of dragging the attention of the reader, which is the main responsibility of the translator in this type of translation.