【Abstract】：Automobile trademark translation serves as a symbol of company and product while epitomizing corporate image. Previous studies have analyzed automobile trademark from different perspectives and on various focuses. The present study will explore the structural adaptability and contextual adaptability in automobile trademark translation. This study is aimed to confirm the explanatory power of Adaptation Theory and to offer guidance for translation practice in this field.
　　【Key words】： Adaptation Theory； automobile trademark translation； English-Chinese
　　translation of brand names
　　1.Introduction
　　Automobile trademark， the name that a auto company uses on its products and that cannot legally be used by another company， takes a prominent position in promotion. Automobile trademark translation then shoulder the responsibility to transfer the original carriers to fit targeted context to the largest extent. Previous studies have analyzed automobile trademark translation applying various translation methods and strategies from dynamic perspectives. Ren （2010） analyzed E-C translation of trademarks with Equivalence Theory； Li （2014） studied foreign automobile brand name from the perspective of Skopostherie. They have exposed trademark translation on wide fields applying different theories and made contribution to the understanding and studying of trademark translation. However， they fail to focus on a specific studying area such as automobile trademark translation for further analysis and also miss out to some extent the application of a relatively new but approved feasible theory -- Adaptation Theory.
　　The present study will explore automobile trademark translation from the perspective of Adaptation Theory， presenting a preliminary attempt at capturing the structural objects of adaptability and contextual correlates of adaptability to show how adaptation happens in the area of auto trademark translation. The findings of the study will contribute to the current knowledge on the application of Adaptation Theory and may contribute to the supplement of study gap for translation practice in this field.
　　2.Literature Review
　　Trademarks serve as the highlight of products， occupying a remarkable position in fitting consumers’ psychology and arousing purchasing desire. Trademarks are of various diversities for the variety of products in the market. Previous studies on trademark translation are as follow：
　　Su（2008） studied Adaptation Strategies in translation of English brand names into Chinese based on the framework of Adaptation Theory proposed by Verschueren（1999）.Su（2008） combined quantitative and qualitative analysis， in which 168 examples were collected and 155 in them were applied adaptation strategies. Conclusion claimed the practicability and constructibility of Adaptation Theory in translating brand name and explaining translation practice. Also， translator should place customer’ need and social factors in the primary place when making linguistic and contextual choices. 　　Huang（2010）gave 32 examples of official translations from automobile， digital equipment， food and other industries， and analyzed their translation techniques and methods from the perspective of Memetics.Huang（2010） proposed that trademark translators should grasp the associative meaning of different psychology from different nations， knowledge of psychology and respect for alien culture as well as simplicity and understandability in translation are two other basic principles for trademark translation.
　　Ren（2010） analyzed the E-C translation of trademarks from the perspective of rules of Equivalence Theory proposed by Eugene A. Nida（1986）. Fifty-one English brand names were listed and analyzed due to four different translation methods their translator used. Ren（2010）argued that， to optimize equivalence， not only the equal transition of referential meaning but also flexible interlanguage pragmatic adjustments， which were based on targeted context and in all-around levels， were worthy of consideration.
　　Zhang（2013） collected 209 brand names of female consumer goods from official websites， magazines and department stores. Structural and contextual adaptation realization during translation process is shown by a adaptation model. She claims that the Adaption Theory is practical and feasible for translation practice as it maybe useful in various kinds of linguistic structure as well as contextual correlates.
　　After general analysis of previous relevant studies， the author finds that many articles writes about the translation methods and principles based only on description of listing extensive examples rather than focusing on a certain field such as automobile translation. Also， many studies applying dynamic translating methods and strategies from different perspectives but seldom study auto trademark translation from the perspective of Adaptation Theory which has been proved to be feasible and relatively new in explaining translation phenomena according to studies the author have listed above.Thus， the author will extend her study based on previous studies’ strengths and weaknesses and hope for further progress.
　　3. Methodology
　　Verschueren （2000） pointed out that language use is a dynamic process of continuous making of choice as to satisfy language users’ communicative needs. As translation is a special form of language use， automobile trademark translation should be a process of choice-making adaptation.
　　3.1 Structural Adaptation in Automobile Trademark Translation