Chapter 3 The Knight Bus

Harry was several streets away before he collapsed onto a low wall in Magnolia Crescent, panting from the effort of dragging his trunk. He sat quite still, anger still surging through him, listening to the frantic thumping of his heart. But after ten minutes alone in the dark street, a new emotion overtook him: panic. Whichever way he looked at it, he had never been in a worse fix. He was stranded, quite alone, in the dark Muggle world, with absolutely nowhere to go. And the worst of it was, he had just done serious magic, which meant that he was almost certainly expelled from Hogwarts. He had broken the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry so badly, he was surprised Ministry of Magic representatives weren't swooping down on him where he sat. Harry shivered and looked up and down Magnolia Crescent. What, was going to happen to him? Would he be arrested, or would he simply be outlawed from the wizarding world? He thought of Ron and Hermione, and his heart sank even lower. Harry was sure that, criminal or not, Ron and Hermione would want to help him now, but they were both abroad, and with Hedwig gone, he had no means of contacting them. He didn't have any Muggle money, either. There was a little wizard gold in the money bag at the bottom of his trunk, but the rest of the fortune his parents had left him was stored in a vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank in London. He'd never be able to drag his trunk all the way to London. Unless†¦ He looked down at his wand, which he was still clutching in his hand. If he was already expelled (his heart was. now thumping painfully fast), a bit more magic couldn't hurt. He had the Invisibility Cloak he had inherited from his father — what if he bewitched the trunk to make it feather-light, tied it to his broomstick, covered himself in the cloak, and flew to London? Then he could get the rest of his money out of his vault and†¦begin his life as an outcast. It was a horrible prospect, but he couldn't sit on this wall forever, or he'd find himself trying to explain to Muggle police why he was out in the dead of night with a trunk full of spell books and a broomstick. Harry opened his trunk again and pushed the contents aside, looking for the Invisibility Cloak — but before he had found it, he straightened up suddenly, looking around him once more. A funny prickling on the back of his neck had made Harry feel he was being watched, but the street appeared to be deserted, and no lights shone from any of the large square houses. He bent over his trunk again, but almost immediately stood up once more, his hand clenched on his wand. He had sensed rather than heard it: someone or something was standing in the narrow gap between the garage and the fence behind him. Harry squinted at the black alleyway. If only it would move, then he'd know whether it was just a stray cat or — something else. â€Å"Lumos,† Harry muttered, and a light appeared at the end of his wand, almost dazzling him. He held it high over his head, and the pebble-dashed walls of number two suddenly sparkled; the garage door gleamed, and between them Harry saw, quite distinctly, the hulking outline of something very big, with wide, gleaming eyes. Harry stepped backward. His legs hit his trunk and he tripped. His wand flew out of his hand as he flung out an arm to break his fall, and he landed, hard, in the gutter. There was a deafening BANG, and Harry threw up his hands to shield his eyes against a sudden blinding light†¦ With a yell, he rolled back onto the pavement, just in time. A second later, a gigantic pair of wheels and headlights screeched to a halt exactly where Harry had just been lying. They belonged, as Harry saw when he raised his head, to a triple-decker, violently purple bus, which had appeared out of thin air. Gold lettering over the windshield spelled The Knight Bus. For a split second, Harry wondered if he had been knocked silly by his fall. Then a conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus and began to speak loudly to the night. â€Å"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this eve–â€Å" The conductor stopped abruptly. He had just caught sight of Harry, who was still sitting on the ground. Harry snatched up his wand again and scrambled to his feet. Close up, he saw that Stan Shunpike was only a few years older than he was, eighteen or nineteen at most, with large, protruding ears and quite a few pimples. â€Å"What were you doin' down there?† said Stan, dropping his professional manner. â€Å"Fell over,† said Harry. â€Å"‘Choo fall over for?† sniggered Stan. â€Å"I didn't do it on purpose,† said Harry, annoyed. One of the knees in his jeans was torn, and the hand he had thrown out to break his fall was bleeding. He suddenly remembered why he had fallen over and turned around quickly to stare at the alleyway between the garage and fence. The Knight Bus's headlamps were flooding it with light, and it was empty. â€Å"‘Choo lookin' at?† said Stan. â€Å"There was a big black thing,† said Harry, pointing uncertainly into the gap. â€Å"Like a dog†¦but massive†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He looked around at Stan, whose mouth was slightly open. With a feeling of unease, Harry saw Stan's eyes move to the scar on Harry's forehead. â€Å"Woss that on your ‘ead?† said Stan abruptly. â€Å"Nothing,† said Harry quickly, flattening his hair over his scar. If the Ministry of Magic was looking for him, he didn't want to make it too easy for them. â€Å"Woss your name?† Stan persisted. â€Å"Neville Longbottom,† said Harry, saying the first name that came into his head. â€Å"So — so this bus,† he went on quickly, hoping to distract Stan, â€Å"did you say it goes anywhere?† â€Å"Yep,† said Stan proudly, â€Å"anywhere you like, ‘long it's on land. Can't do nuffink underwater. â€Å"Ere,† he said, looking suspicious again, â€Å"you did flag us down, dincha? Stuck out your wand ‘and, dincha?† â€Å"Yes,† said Harry quickly. â€Å"Listen, how much would it be to get to London?† â€Å"Eleven Sickles,† said Stan, â€Å"but for firteen you get ‘ot chocolate, and for fifteen you get an ‘ot-water bottle an' a toofbrush in the color of your choice.† Harry rummaged once more in his trunk, extracted his money bag, and shoved some gold into Stan's hand. He and Stan then lifted his trunk, with Hedwig's cage balanced on top, up the steps of the bus. There were no seats; instead, half a dozen brass bedsteads stood beside the curtained windows. Candles were burning in brackets beside each bed, illuminating the wood-paneled walls. A tiny wizard in a nightcap at the rear of the bus muttered, â€Å"Not now, thanks, I'm pickling some slugs† and rolled over in his sleep. â€Å"You ‘ave this one,† Stan whispered, shoving Harry's trunk under the bed right behind the driver, who was sitting in an armchair in front of the steering wheel. â€Å"This is our driver, Ernie Prang. This is Neville Longbottom, Ern.† Ernie Prang, an elderly wizard wearing very thick glasses, nodded to Harry, who nervously flattened his bangs again and sat down on his bed. â€Å"Take ‘er away, Ern,† said Stan, sitting down in the armchair next to Ernie's. There was another tremendous BANG, and the next moment Harry found himself flat on his bed, thrown backward by the speed of the Knight Bus. Pulling himself up, Harry stared out of the dark window and saw that they were now bowling along a completely different street. Stan was watching Harry's stunned face with great enjoyment. â€Å"This is where we was before you flagged us down,† he said. â€Å"Where are we, Ern? Somewhere in Wales?† â€Å"Ar,† said Ernie. â€Å"How come the Muggles don't hear the bus?† said Harry. â€Å"Them!† said Stan contemptuously. â€Å"Don' listen properly, do they? Don' look properly either. Never notice nuffink, they don'.† â€Å"Best go wake up Madam Marsh, Stan,† said Ern. â€Å"We'll be in Abergavenny in a minute.† Stan passed Harry's bed and disappeared up a narrow wooden staircase. Harry was still looking out of the window, feeling increasingly nervous. Ernie didn't seem to have mastered the use of a steering wheel. The Knight Bus kept mounting the pavement, but it didn't hit anything; lines of lampposts, mailboxes, and trash cans jumped out of its way as it approached and back into position once it had passed. Stan came back downstairs, followed by a faintly green witch wrapped in a traveling cloak. â€Å"‘Ere you go, Madam Marsh,† said Stan happily as Ern stamped on the brake and the beds slid a foot or so toward the front of the bus. Madam Marsh clamped a handkerchief to her mouth and tottered down the steps. Stan threw her bag out after her and rammed the doors shut; there was another loud BANG, and they were thundering down a narrow country lane, trees leaping out of the way. Harry wouldn't have been able to sleep even if he had been traveling on a bus that didn't keep banging loudly and jumping a hundred miles at a time. His stomach churned as he fell back to wondering what was going to happen to him, and whether the Dursleys had managed to get Aunt Marge off the ceiling yet. Stan had unfurled a copy of the Daily Prophet and was now reading with his tongue between his teeth. A large photograph of a sunken-faced man with long, matted hair blinked slowly at Harry from the front page. He looked strangely familiar. â€Å"That man!† Harry said, forgetting his troubles for a moment. â€Å"He was on the Muggle news!† Stanley turned to the front page and chuckled. â€Å"Sirius Black,† he said, nodding. â€Å"‘Course ‘e was on the Muggle news, Neville. Where you been?† He gave a superior sort of chuckle at the blank look on Harry's face, removed the front page, and handed it to Harry. â€Å"You oughta read the papers more, Neville.† Harry held the paper up to the candlelight and read: BLACK STILL AT LARGE Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today. â€Å"We are doing all we can to recapture Black,† said the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, â€Å"and we beg the magical community to remain calm.† Fudge has been criticized by some members of the International Federation of Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis. â€Å"Well, really, I had to, don't you know,† said an irritable Fudge. â€Å"Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it — who'd believe him if he did?† While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other), the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse. Harry looked into the shadowed eyes of Sirius Black, the only part of the sunken face that seemed alive. Harry had never met a vampire, but he had seen pictures of them in his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, and Black, with his waxy white skin, looked just like one. â€Å"Scary-lookin' fing, inee?† said Stan, who had been watching Harry read. â€Å"He murdered thirteen people?† said Harry, handing the page back to Stan, â€Å"with one curse?† â€Å"Yep,† said Stan, â€Å"in front of witnesses an' all. Broad daylight. Big trouble it caused, dinnit, Ern?† â€Å"Ar,† said Ern darkly. Stan swiveled in his armchair, his hands on the back, the better to look at Harry. â€Å"Black woz a big supporter of You-Know-‘Oo,† he said. â€Å"What, Voldemort?† said Harry, without thinking. Even Stan's pimples went white; Ern jerked the steering wheel so hard that a whole farmhouse had to jump aside to avoid the bus. â€Å"You outta your tree?† yelped Stan. â€Å"‘Choo say ‘is name for?† â€Å"Sorry,† said Harry hastily. â€Å"Sorry, I — I forgot –â€Å" â€Å"Forgot!† said Stan weakly. â€Å"Blimey, my ‘eart's goin' that fast†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"So — so Black was a supporter of You-Know-Who?† Harry prompted apologetically. â€Å"Yeah,† said Stan, still rubbing his chest. â€Å"Yeah, that's right. Very close to You-Know-‘Oo, they say†¦anyway, when little ‘Arry Potter got the better of You-Know-‘Oo† — Harry nervously flattened his bangs down again — â€Å"all You-Know-‘Oo's supporters was tracked down, wasn't they, Ern? Most of 'em knew it was all over, wiv You-Know-‘Oo gone, and they came quiet. But not Sirius Black. I ‘eard he thought ‘e'd be second-in-command once You-Know-‘Oo ‘ad taken over. â€Å"Anyway, they cornered Black in the middle of a street full of Muggles an' Black took out ‘is wand and ‘e blasted ‘alf the street apart, an' a wizard got it, an' so did a dozen Muggles what got in the way. ‘Orrible, eh? An' you know what Black did then?† Stan continued in a dramatic whisper. â€Å"What?† said Harry. â€Å"Laughed,† said Stan. â€Å"Jus' stood there an' laughed. An' when reinforcements from the Ministry of Magic got there, ‘e went wiv em quiet as anyfink, still laughing ‘is ‘ead off. ‘Cos ‘e's mad, inee, Ern? Inee mad?† â€Å"If he weren't when he went to Azkaban, he will be now,† said Ern in his slow voice. â€Å"I'd blow meself up before I set foot in that place. Serves him right, mind you†¦after what he did†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"They ‘ad a job coverin' it up, din' they, Ern?† Stan said. â€Å"‘Ole street blown up an' all them Muggles dead. What was it they said ‘ad ‘appened, Ern?† â€Å"Gas explosion,† grunted Ernie. â€Å"An' now ‘e's out,† said Stan, examining the newspaper picture of Black's gaunt face again. â€Å"Never been a breakout from Azkaban before, ‘as there, Ern? Beats me ‘ow ‘e did it. Frightenin', eh? Mind, I don't fancy ‘is chances against them Azkaban guards, eh, Ern?† Ernie suddenly shivered. â€Å"Talk about summat else, Stan, there's a good lad. Them Azkaban guards give me the collywobbles.† Stan put the paper away reluctantly, and Harry leaned against the window of the Knight Bus, feeling worse than ever. He couldn't help imagining what Stan might be telling his passengers in a few nights' time. â€Å"‘Ear about that ‘Arry Potter? Blew up ‘is aunt! We ‘ad ‘im ‘ere on the Knight Bus, di'n't we, Ern? ‘E was tryin' to run for it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He, Harry, had broken wizard law just like Sirius Black. Was inflating Aunt Marge bad enough to land him in Azkaban? Harry didn't know anything about the wizard prison, though everyone he'd ever heard speak of it did so in the same fearful tone. Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, had spent two months there only last year. Harry wouldn't soon forget the look of terror on Hagrid's face when he had been told where he was going, and Hagrid was one of the bravest people Harry knew. The Knight Bus rolled through the darkness, scattering bushes and wastebaskets, telephone booths and trees, and Harry lay, restless and miserable, on his feather bed. After a while, Stan remembered that Harry had paid for hot chocolate, but poured it all over Harry's pillow when the bus moved abruptly from Anglesea to Aberdeen. One by one, wizards and witches in dressing gowns and slippers descended from the upper floors to leave the bus. They all looked very pleased to go. Finally, Harry was the only passenger left. â€Å"Right then, Neville,† said Stan, clapping his hands, â€Å"whereabouts in London?† â€Å"Diagon Alley,† said Harry. â€Å"Righto,† said Stan. â€Å"‘Old tight, then.† BANG. They were thundering along Charing Cross Road. Harry sat up and watched buildings and benches squeezing themselves out of the Knight Bus's way. The sky was getting a little lighter. He would lie low for a couple of hours, go to Gringotts the moment it opened, then set off — where, he didn't know. Ern slammed on the brakes and the Knight Bus skidded to a halt in front of a small and shabby-looking pub, the Leaky Cauldron, behind which lay the magical entrance to Diagon Alley. â€Å"Thanks,† Harry said to Ern. He jumped down the steps and helped Stan lower his trunk and Hedwig's cage onto the pavement. â€Å"Well,† said Harry. â€Å"‘Bye then!† But Stan wasn't paying attention. Still standing in the doorway to the bus) he was goggling at the shadowy entrance to the Leaky Cauldron. â€Å"There you are, Harry,† said a voice. Before Harry could turn, he felt a hand on his shoulder. At the same time, Stan shouted, â€Å"Blimey! Ern, come ‘ere! Come ‘ere!† Harry looked up at the owner of the hand on his shoulder and felt a bucketful of ice cascade into his stomach — he had walked right into Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic himself. Stan leapt onto the pavement beside them. â€Å"What didja call Neville, Minister?† he said excitedly. Fudge, a portly little man in a long, pinstriped cloak, looked cold and exhausted. â€Å"Neville?† he repeated, frowning. â€Å"This is Harry Potter.† â€Å"I knew it!† Stan shouted gleefully. â€Å"Ern! Ern! Guess ‘oo Neville is, Ern! ‘E's ‘Arry Potter! I can see ‘is scar!† â€Å"Yes,† said Fudge testily, â€Å"well, I'm very glad the Knight Bus picked Harry up, but he and I need to step inside the Leaky Cauldron now†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Fudge increased the pressure on Harry's shoulder, and Harry found himself being steered inside the pub. A stooping figure bearing a lantern appeared through the door behind the bar. It was Tom, the wizened, toothless landlord. â€Å"You've got him, Minister!† said Tom. â€Å"Will you be wanting anything? Beer? Brandy?† â€Å"Perhaps a pot of tea,† said Fudge, who still hadn't let go of Harry. There was a loud scraping and puffing from behind them, and Stan and Ern appeared, carrying Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage and looking around excitedly. â€Å"‘Ow come you di'n't tell us ‘oo you are, eh, Neville?† said Stan, beaming at Harry, while Ernie's owlish face peered interestedly over Stan's shoulder. â€Å"And a private parlor, please, Tom,† said Fudge pointedly. â€Å"‘Bye,† Harry said miserably to Stan and Ern as Tom beckoned Fudge toward the passage that led from the bar. â€Å"‘Bye, Neville!† called Stan. Fudge marched Harry along the narrow passage after Tom's lantern, and then into a small parlor. Tom clicked his fingers, a fire burst into life in the grate, and he bowed himself out of the room. â€Å"Sit down, Harry,† said Fudge, indicating a chair by the fire. Harry sat down, feeling goose bumps rising up his arms despite the glow of the fire. Fudge took off his pinstriped cloak and tossed it aside, then hitched up the trousers of his bottle-green suit and sat down opposite Harry. â€Å"I am Cornelius Fudge, Harry. The Minister of Magic.† Harry already knew this, of course; he had seen Fudge once before, but as he had been wearing his father's Invisibility Cloak at the time, Fudge wasn't to know that. Tom the innkeeper reappeared, wearing an apron over his nightshirt and bearing a tray of tea and crumpets. He placed the tray on a table between Fudge and Harry and left the parlor, closing the door behind him. â€Å"Well, Harry,† said Fudge, pouring out tea, â€Å"you've had us all in a right flap, I don't mind telling you. Running away from your aunt and uncle's house like that! I'd started to think†¦but you're safe, and that's what matters.† Fudge buttered himself a crumpet and pushed the plate toward Harry. â€Å"Eat, Harry, you look dead on your feet. Now then†¦You will be pleased to hear that we have dealt with the unfortunate blowing-up of Miss Marjorie Dursley. Two members of the Accidental Magic Reversal Department were dispatched to Privet Drive a few hours ago. Miss Dursley has been punctured and her memory has been modified. She has no recollection of the incident at all. So that's that, and no harm done.† Fudge smiled at Harry over the rim of his teacup, rather like an uncle surveying a favorite nephew. Harry, who couldn't believe his ears, opened his mouth to speak, couldn't think of anything to say, and closed it again. â€Å"Ah, you're worrying about the reaction of your aunt and uncle?† said Fudge. â€Å"Well, I won't deny that they are extremely angry, Harry, but they are prepared to take you back next summer as long as you stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas and Easter holidays.† Harry unstuck his throat. â€Å"I always stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas and Easter holidays,† he said, â€Å"and I don't ever want to go back to Privet Drive.† â€Å"Now, now, I'm sure you'll feel differently once you've calmed down,† said Fudge in a worried tone. â€Å"They are your family, after all, and I'm sure you are fond of each other — er — very deep down.† It didn't occur to Harry to put Fudge right. He was still waiting to hear what was going to happen to him now. â€Å"So all that remains,† said Fudge, now buttering himself a second crumpet, â€Å"is to decide where you're going to spend the last two weeks of your vacation. I suggest you take a room here at the Leaky Cauldron and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Hang on,† blurted Harry. â€Å"What about my punishment?† Fudge blinked. â€Å"Punishment?† â€Å"I broke the law!† Harry said. â€Å"The Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry!† â€Å"Oh, my dear boy, we're not going to punish you for a little thing like that!† cried Fudge, waving his crumpet impatiently. â€Å"It was an accident! We don't send people to Azkaban just for blowing up their aunts!† But this didn't tally at all with Harry's past dealings with the Ministry of Magic. â€Å"Last year, I got an official warning just because a house-elf smashed a pudding in my uncle's house!† he told Fudge, frowning. â€Å"The Ministry of Magic said I'd be expelled from Hogwarts if there was any more magic there!† Unless Harry's eyes were deceiving him, Fudge was suddenly looking awkward. â€Å"Circumstances change, Harry†¦We have to take into account†¦in the present climate†¦Surely you don't want to be expelled?† â€Å"Of course I don't,† said Harry. â€Å"Well then, what's all the fuss about?† laughed Fudge. â€Å"Now, have a crumpet, Harry, while I go and see if Tom's got a room for you.† Fudge strode out of the parlor and Harry stared after him. There was something extremely odd going on. Why had Fudge been waiting for him at the Leaky Cauldron, if not to punish him for what he'd done? And now Harry came to think of it, surely it wasn't usual for the Minister of Magic himself to get involved in matters of underage magic? Fudge came back, accompanied by Tom the innkeeper. â€Å"Room eleven's free, Harry,† said Fudge. â€Å"I think you'll be very comfortable. just one thing, and I'm sure you'll understand†¦I don't want you wandering off into Muggle London, all right? Keep to Diagon Alley. And you're to be back here before dark each night. Sure you'll understand. Tom will be keeping an eye on you for me.† â€Å"Okay,† said Harry slowly, â€Å"but why?† â€Å"Don't want to lose you again, do we?† said Fudge with a hearty laugh. â€Å"No, no†¦best we know where you are†¦I mean†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Fudge cleared his throat loudly and picked up his pinstriped cloak. â€Å"Well, I'll be off, plenty to do, you know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Have you had any luck with Black yet?† Harry asked. Fudge's finger slipped on the silver fastenings of his cloak. â€Å"What's that? Oh, you've heard – well, no, not yet, but it's only a matter of time. The Azkaban guards have never yet failed†¦and they are angrier than I've ever seen them.† Fudge shuddered slightly. â€Å"So, I'll say good-bye.† He held out his hand and Harry, shaking it, had a sudden idea. â€Å"Er — Minister? Can I ask you something?† â€Å"Certainly,† said Fudge with a smile. â€Å"Well, third years at Hogwarts are allowed to visit Hogsmeade, but my aunt and uncle didn't sign the permission form. D'you think you could –?† Fudge was looking uncomfortable. â€Å"Ah,† he said. â€Å"No, no, I'm very sorry, Harry, but as I'm not your parent or guardian –â€Å" â€Å"But you're the Minister of Magic,† said Harry eagerly. â€Å"If you gave me permission†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No, I'm sorry, Harry, but rules are rules,† said Fudge flatly. â€Å"Perhaps you'll be able to visit Hogsmeade next year. In fact, I think it's best if you don't†¦yes†¦well, I'll be off. Enjoy your stay, Harry.† And with a last smile and shake of Harry's hand, Fudge left the room. Tom now moved forward, beaming at Harry. â€Å"If you'll follow me, Mr. Potter,† he said, â€Å"I've already taken your things up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry followed Tom up a handsome wooden staircase to a door with a brass number eleven on it, which Tom unlocked and opened for him. Inside was a very comfortable-looking bed, some highly polished oak furniture, a cheerfully crackling fire and, perched on top of the wardrobe — â€Å"Hedwig!† Harry gasped. The snowy owl clicked her beak and fluttered down onto Harry's arm. â€Å"Very smart owl you've got there,† chuckled Tom. â€Å"Arrived about five minutes after you did. If there's anything you need, Mr. Potter, don't hesitate to ask.† He gave another bow and left. Harry sat on his bed for a long time, absentmindedly stroking Hedwig. The sky outside the window was changing rapidly from deep, velvety blue to cold, steely gray and then, slowly, to pink shot with gold. Harry could hardly believe that he'd left Privet Drive only a few hours ago, that he wasn't expelled, and that he was now facing two completely Dursley-free weeks. â€Å"It's been a very weird night, Hedwig,† he yawned. And without even removing his glasses, he slumped back onto his pillows and fell asleep.

Multi-state E.coli Outbreak

A person having diarrhea with loose stools greater than 3 bowel movements in a day with or without abdominal cramps, who is a resident of Michigan, having onset of symptoms between the 15th of June and 15th of July and the   stool cultures yielding E.coli 157:H7. (Lautenbach, E., 2008).   (Multistate Outbreak of E.coli O157:H7 Infection, 2008)It is an infection leading to severe abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea. Non bloody diarrhea can also occur, or it may also be that the patient will have no symptomatic complaints. The causative organism is E.coli O157:H7 which has an incubation period of 3 to 8 days with a median of 3-4 days. (Lautenbach, E. 2008).   . In people in extremes of age groups I.e. elderly and children under 5 years of age, the infection can also lead to complications like Hemolytic uremic syndrome.AdvantagesBy including a lab test as criteria for case confirmation, the specificity of the case definition increases hence the power of the test increases and so do the chances to detect the source.DisadvantagesInvestigation: by making lab investigations like stool cultures and PFGE a criterion, people who had the symptoms but were not able to visit the doctor were not counted as having the disease, hence the sensitivity of the definition decreased.By only taking residents of Michigan into consideration, people who were visitors and might have got infected were excluded from the count.Slight alterations could be made to the case definition.Proposed Case DefinitionA person having diarrhea with loose stools greater than 3 bowel movements in a day with or without abdominal cramps. The person may be a resident or may have visited Michigan a week prior to having onset of symptoms between the 15th of June and 15th of July. A person with clinically compatible picture who is epidemiologically linked with a confirmed case of E.coli infection. The stool cultures yielding E.coli 157:H7.The lab testing requirement still has to remains, to ensure specifi city and power of the definition.Comparison between age groups:In the Michigan outbreak, it was noted that more than twice as many females were infected as were males. People in age groups of 20-39 and 40-59 were reported most frequent cases in the Michigan outbreak. Food net on the other hand reported nation wide distribution of cases almost equally in males and females, i.e. 162 to 178 respectively. They also documented that largest segmented of population infected in 1997 was in the age group of 1-9 years.This pattern shows that in the Michigan outbreak, the source most probably started with some sort of interaction between source and the adult females of age between 20-59years.  Inquiry about diseaseE.coli infection is mainly an oral-fecal transmission pathway. Hence poorly chlorinated water, unpasteurized milk are common fluid sources. Uncooked or improperly cooked beef another forms of meat are another likely source of transmission. Vegetables directly from farms or stores, which are not properly washed, like lettuce, spinach alfalfa etc are another source of infection. (Escherichia coli O157:H7, 2005).   Exposure to farm animals, or contact with infected people are also risk factors. In the United States infected children in daycare centers also a major source of spread. So questions pertaining to contact and handling of the above stated risk factors should be asked.Source of the outbreak according to the currently present evidence is alfalfa sprouts. Contaminated alfalfa seeds initially caused the outbreak and then the infection easily spread through person to person transfer. The leading hypothesis is that contaminated alfalfa sprouts or seeds of alfalfa sprouts were the initial cause of the outbreak.People who consumed these foods in the area of Michigan got infected with E.coli O157:H7 and then the infection were further transferred to other people with whom they came into contact.REFFERENCES:Escherichia coli O157:H7 (2005). Division of Bacteria l and Mycotic Diseases, Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved March 6, 2008, from http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/escherichiacoli_t.htmLautenbach, E. (2008).   Outbreak Investigation: Discussion Group. Pennsylvania department of health. Retrieved March 6, 2008, from http://www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health/lib/health/Outbreak_Investigation.ppt.Multistate Outbreak of E.coli O157:H7 Infection, (2008). Foodsafety.net  Retrieved March 6, 2008, from http://www.foodsafetynet.info/NEHA/EpiSlides/Ecoli_122803.ppt.   

Zero Translation of Brand Name of Electronic Product

Brand name translation is important for these companies to make their products acceptable in China. But brand name translation is more difficult than translation of other text types because of its features and functions. Among all translation theories, functionalist translation theory, proposed in Germany in 1970s, breaks through traditional translation theories and focuses on functions of translation action. It provides zero translation with theoretic support. Zero translation is appropriate for brand name translation because zero translation emphasizes the effect of translation.This thesis is going to introduce the difficulty of brand name translation, zero translation and functionalist translation theory with many examples of electronic product brand name to prove that zero translation is an effective method for translating brand name. Key words: Zero translation; Functionalist translation theory; brand name; electronic products I , , , ,20 70 , , : ; ; ; II Zero Tra nslation of Brand Name of Electronic Product Introduction During recent decades, China has become one of the largest markets in the world, and all international companies sell their products and services in China, including electronic products. In order to increase sales in China, many companies translate their brand names in Chinese to help Chinese consumers recognize and accept their products. However, there are many difficulties in translating brand names. On one hand, brand names and their translations must be informative and concise.On the other hand, there are unavoidable differences between the culture of SL and that of TL. Equivalence-based theory focuses on the translation and the equivalence of content. But if the translation of brand name is simple, it often cannot express the cultural meaning of brand name in SL or the characteristics of products, and users of TL cannot understand the brand’s meaning or imagine the product’s characteristics as users of SL d o. If the translation of brand name expresses the cultural meaning of SL fully, it usually cannot be simple and easy to be memorized.Thus, how to translate brand names is difficult. In 1970s, functionalist theory was put forward and it emphasized the purpose of translation rather than the equivalence of content. The purpose of brand translation is to transmit the information of products such as advantages of products and the culture of company to domestic consumers. In consideration of conciseness and cultural differences, many brand names are translated with transliteration and transference. In 2001, Professor Qiu Maoru brought about a new term, zero translation, after the study of non-translation by Professor Du Zhengming in 2000.In the view of Qiu, zero translation includes omission, transliteration and transference. In recent years, some studies have proved that zero translation is an effective method of brand name translation and it agrees with the functionalist translation the ory. Since 1970s, with the development of technology, a large number of electronic products, such as computers, mobile phones, digital 1 cameras, have been developed and produced, and they have succeeded in changing people’s life style and work pattern.This thesis is going to prove that zero translation is an applicable method of brand name translation by providing some typical examples and by analyzing the usage of zero translation in brand translation. Chapter 1 Literature Review 1. 1 Study of Du Zhengming Professor Du Zhengming defines zero translation as non-translation and he thinks that not only transferring the original form of SL into TL is a kind of non-translation but also transliteration is a kind of non-translation because non-translation is the opposite of translation and because translation is to translate meanings.Du negates zero translation as a special method of translation, and it was unacceptable by others that his concept of zero translation covered transl iteration and non-translation. 1. 2 Study of Qiu Maoru In 2001, Professor Qiu Maoru published an article named Translatability and Zero Translation in Chinese Translators Journal and brought forward the item, zero translation. â€Å"Zero translation means translating words in SL without using the ready-existing words in TL. It includes two meanings: 1. translating with a deliberate omission of words in SL; 2. ranslating without using the ready-existing words in TL. † (Qiu 26) It is the first time that zero translation appears and triggers more debates on the definition of zero translation.But the omission should not be considered as a kind of zero translation because it is different from transference and transliteration. The omission is used to keep briefness without losing cultural meaning of SL, but the other two are applied for avoiding losing cultural meaning, therefore the purpose of omission is different from those of the other two methods. 1. Study of Liu Mingdong 2 In 2002, Liu Mingdong divided zero translation into two kinds, absolute zero translation and relative zero translation on the base of the study of Qiu. The absolute zero translation means direct usage of original form in SL and it includes ellipsis and transference. Relative zero translation is to express words of SL with the appropriate usage of words in TL and it includes transliteration, sound-meaning combination translation, complementary translation, image translation, literal translation with notes and adaptation.Although Liu developed the concept of zero translation, he still did not clarify the definition of zero translation. 1. 4 Study of Zhang Mengya In 2011, Zhang Mengya, in an article discussing brand zero translation, divided zero translation into two kinds, narrow zero translation and general zero translation. The former is transference and the latter contains transliteration and complementary translation. She further analyzed zero translation under the functionalist tra nslation theory and thought that zero translation of brand name helped companies express their spirit based on the consumers’ cultural habits.Although the definition of zero translation is still unclear, translators have accepted the concept of zero translation and take it as a common translation strategy. This thesis will not focus on the definition or the classification of zero translation and it will analyze the usage of zero translation in brand name translati on to prove the applicability of zero translation. Chapter 2 Introduction to Brand Name In the modern society, the world has unprecedented prosperity of economy, which embodies the improvement of living standard, the decrease of unemployment and the production of various commodities.Meanwhile, competition is so fierce that all companies seek their own advantages to expand sales. Some companies with long history and virtue of excellent quality regard brand name as a significant advantage because it symbolizes recogni tion and faith of customers. What is brand name or trade 3 mark? â€Å"‘Brand name’ is the name given to a product by the company that makes it† (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 207) Brand name is a distinctive sign that help customers distinguish or identify particular products or services which produced or provided by a specific person, enterprise or a group of persons or enterprises.For example, in 1972, in order to change its brand name to a special one, Standard Oil Company in New Jersey spent million dollars and hired hundreds of people and they managed to discover a group of letters, Exxon, which had been never used in any language on Earth and thus would avoid ambiguity. When people see Exxon now, only Exxon Oil Company appears in their minds because Exxon has no other meaning but Exxon Oil Company and it is easy to be distinguished. This example shows some features of brand names such as conciseness, identification and novelty.In the following part, the author will discuss features of brand names. 2. 1 Features of Brand Name: Conciseness, Identification and Novelt y Brand name helps consumers to distinguish its products or services from others', therefore it must be so easy to be recognized that people are likely to notice its products among products of the same kind, in other words, brand name must be concise and distinctive. Identification helps people to be aware of differences between different products.For example, brand names of mobile products of Apple Company include iPhone, iPad, iPod and iTouch and the company plans to produce a television called iTV. It is easy to recognize products of Apple Company because their brand names begin with the letter I, and even some people think of Apple Company when they see any sign beginning with the letter I. Brand name should be short because it is hard to be remembered if it is too long. It is undeniable that a long brand name leave people deep impression, but they can hard ly distinguish it from similar ones.Because some shorter ones are imitated, for instance Hike imitates Nike and Kuma imitates Puma, let alone longer ones. Brand names are supposed to leave people deep impression as long as possible and some particular brand names always appear in their mind when they want to buy something. Novelty is a feature of brand name and it can not only avoid ambiguity just as the example of Exxon shows but also offer 4 people pleasant feeling and fresh impression. Nokia adopts Lumia as its next series of Window Phone because Lumia is easy to be pronounced in all languages and has no negative meaning in any culture. . 2 Functions of Brand Name As mentioned above, brand names are concise and novelty, as a way of identification. Those features are met to suit the functions of brands. 2. 2. 1 Informative Function Brand name is directly linked to product, showing people their features. But brand name usually shows only one of their features of product because it is short. Some brand names come from the location or the main founder of company. For example, BMW, the world-famous automobile brand, is the abbreviation of Bavarian Motor Works, which shows that the company is located in Bavaria.Nokia, one of the largest handset manufacturers in the world, is just the name of the small town in Finland where the company was created in 1865. Goodyear, the third largest tire maker, is named after Charles Goodyear, the inventor of vulcanized rubber. Sennheiser, the famous audio equipment manufacturer, is named after its founder, Fritz Sennheiser. Some others show the quality or the cultural meaning of product such as the effect of products and the goal of purchase.For example, Lux, a soap brand name owned by Unilever, stresses the effect of the soap, which lusters the skin, because the letter lux shares the same root word with the letter luster and it is the unit of illuminance. Pampers, the most famous brand of baby diapers owned by P;G, reflects the love from parents to children. These brands named after people and location have little cultural meaning and they just show the history or information of company. But others are created on the base of culture and their results of translation are meaningless if they are transmitted without the ground of culture. . 2. 2 Stimulating Consumption When a company launches new products, it must consider and identify target 5 customers to meet the particular need of them because people of different ages, nations and genders have various needs and preference. Even for the same kind of goods, for example mobile phone, different people have different needs. Females usually focus on the appearance, elders prefer to long standby time and teenagers intend to pursue high-end configuration and more functions. Thus, with the limit of cost, new products should highlight their different advantages.Similarly, brand names should also cater to target customers to stimulate consumption. Brand names of aut omobile should reflect the pursuit of speed or safety, for example, the letter Rover in Land Rover, an automobile manufacturer that specialize all-terrain vehicles, is the name of an ancient Nordic nation, representing bravery and riding waives. Volvo is a world-famous automobile manufacturer too and its brand name means rotating wheels, representing moving forward. However, cosmetic brand name should leave people, especially women, feelings of beauty and youth.People always imagine refreshing and cleanliness when they use products of Clean-Clear, and another brand name, Biotherm, shows perfect combination of human and nature, because bio represents human life and therm mineral springs. 2. 3 Common Methods of Brand Name Translation There are some common methods of brand name translation, including transliteration, literal translation, free translation and mixed translation. â€Å"Transliteration is a method which is used often. It refers to write a word, sentence, etc. n the alphab et of a different language on writing system†(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 2136) Many companies adopt transliteration because it can keep the pronunciation and exotic flavor of the original form closely. Some of brand names that adopt transliteration are Nokia as , Motorola as and Adidas as . Literal translation is the rendering of text from one language to another word-for-word and it expresses the meaning of words or characters of brand name. Therefore, literal translation is the most common because it convey message of brand name directly and keep fidelity of brand name.Apple as , Blackberry as ? 6 ?, and Red Bull as apply literal translation. â€Å"Free translation reproduces the matter without the manner or the content without the form of the original. Usually it is a paraphrase much longer than the original†(Newmark 46). This method maintains the original meaning and achieves fluent and natural expression in TT, but it sacrifices the original for m. Free translation has advantages in expressing functions and effects of products and in arousing identification of customers. For instance, Whisper as ? belongs to this method.Mixed translation combines transliteration with literal translation to preserve similarity of meaning and pronunciation. For example, Safeguard as and Head ; Shoulders as . 2. 4 Difficulties in Translating Brand Names The above part presents features of brand name, including conciseness, identification and novelty. When international companies sell their products or services in a foreign country, they usually translate their brand names into the local language because these foreigners are unfamiliar with products or brand names in foreign languages. Thus it is necessary to translate brand names.But translating br and names is more difficult than creating a new brand name because translation not only conforms to these features but also faces the difference of culture. The difference of culture has existed s ince the beginning of translation. Unlike translation of article, which can explain cultural differences by annotation, translation of brand name has no room for annotation because brand name must be short. Therefore translation of brand name always loses a part of information of the original form such as pronunciation, form and cultural meaning. For example, in China, Lux is translated as which only maintains pronunciation but has nothing to do with effects of product, therefore Chinese customers are unlikely to feel effects of product when they see this Chinese brand name. Like the translation of Lux, that of other brand names usually keeps pronunciation but neglects the cultural meaning. But it is true that some translators abandon cultural meanings deliberately to avoid conflict of culture because of special cultural preference and taboo. Arabs disfavor panda traditionally because panda looks like pig that Allah forbids Islamists to eat in the Quran. In western culture, peacock is 7 greedy and evil animal just as Lord Shen, who is a white peacock and the main villain in Kung Fu Panda 2, therefore peacock should not appear in brand names in western countries. In order to solve problems of the translation of brand names, translators have sought many translation strategies such as homophonic pun, transliteration and paraphrase, and a new concept of translation strategy has appeared since the beginning of 21st century. In the following part, the author will introduce this new concept, zero translation. Chapter 3 Introduction to Zero Translation 3. 1 The Concept of Zero TranslationThe concept of zero translation was mentioned firstly by Professor Qiu Maoru in 2001. In his article Translatability and Zero Translation, published in Chinese Translators Journal, Professor Qiu brought forward the new item, zero translation. In order to explain this item, he pointed out that zero translation meant translating words in SL without using the ready-existing words in TL and classified it into two kinds. The first one is translating with a deliberate omission of words in SL and the other one is translating without using the ready-existing words in TL. The first kind is used to olve problems of lexical and syntactical differences between two languages and it is called Omission by Zhang Peiji in A Course in English-Chinese Translation. But there is no lexical or syntactical problem in brand name translation because of the limit of length. The other kind includes transference and transliteration. Transliteration maps the sounds of source language to the best matching script of goal language, meaning English words are translated into Chinese characters and they have phonetic connection. Transference is a translation technique that employs foreign words directly in goal language.Professor Qiu thinks that both transliteration and transference belong to zero translation because they use no ready-existing words of TL. In 2001, Liu Mingdong further studied z ero translation on the base of result of study of Professor Qiu. Liu divided zero translation into two kinds, absolute and relative zero translation. Absolute zero translation is to use foreign words directly 8 without any change. Both transference and ellipsis belong to this kind. The other kind is to translate original words by using words or characters of goal language with artful change. It contains transliteration, sound-meaning combination translation, complementary translation, image translation and literal translation with notes and adaptation† (Liu 30) Liu realized that it was difficult to find an equal script of TL for all translation actions and that adopting zero translation is unavoidable. Although many scholars have proposed their own opinions on zero translation and had a heated discussion since the appearance of zero translation, widely accepted methods of zero translation contain transference, transliteration, sound-meaning translation and complementary transl ation. . 2 The Difference between Zero Translation and Non-translation Zero translation is different from non-translation, which is presented by Du Zhengming. He thinks that non-translation was opposite to translation. Defining zero translation as non-translation, Du stresses that the aim of translation is to convey meaning of original content and transliteration is not a method of translation because transliteration hardly expresses original meaning in TL. In his view, employing the original form of SL without any change belongs to non-translation too.But his viewpoint is not accepted widely. The discussion of zero translation and non-translation refers to that of translatability and untranslatability, which has been debated since May Fourth Movement. Proponents of translatability acknowledge difficulties in translation as the result of cultural differences, but such difficulties can be solved by translators. The task of translator is to achieve better effect of translation by expl oring new translation strategies. The idea of proponents of untranslatability is opposite.They emphasize the incommensurability between languages, which means that the information of one language cannot be conveyed fully in another language. What is more difficult than the incommensurability between languages for translators is the incommensurability on culture level and the latter one embodies in the former. They overemphasize deficiency and the uselessness of translation. But they absolutize the cultural 9 difference and something special in one language. Changing and reforming special information in SL are common in practice of translation and such information is only a small part of the context of SL.The fact of translation history for thousands years also refutes the untranslatability. From the above introduction, it is clear that zero translation is different from non-translation because non-translation negates the aim of translation and the practice of translators but zero tr anslation is an effective strategy to cope with untranslatability. In Zero Translation vs. untranslatability: On Essence of Zero Translation, Luo Guoqing stated that untranslatability was paradox and pseudoproposition. â€Å"Translation is cross-linguistic and bidirectional communication.Translators have ability to lead readers into the culture of SL to cognize the item of SL, which is progressive and respective sense of zero translation. â€Å"(Luo 120) In the age of information explosion, workload of translators has increased sharply and they are likely to face more untranslatable items. In such situation, zero translation is a good solution because it can not only prove efficiency but also realize communicational function. Zero translation approaches the original form with no or little change and provides better understanding of cultural meaning of SL for readers than traditional methods do. . 3 Usage of Zero Translation Before the concept of zero translation was proposed, its methods had been adopted in translation of, especially, proper names, abbreviation and words with special cultural meaning. Now, the writer is going to provide some examples of zero translation. 3. 3. 1 Translation of Proper Names Proper names include people's name, place name, terms and abbreviation. Because of differences of pronunciation and writing system, proper names are more difficult to translate than other words. In TL, there always is no equal part corresponding to words of SL.But they are the most active part of language, thus they 10 will be communication obstacles if they are not translated. The translation of proper names, which should consider SL and keep accuracy, often adopts transference, transliteration and complementary translation. The following part will discuss the translation of people's name, place name, terms and abbreviation. Terms are professional words in particular areas with characteristics of time and profession. Because their meanings changed with th e development of their own areas, translation of them must be accurate and zero translation is the best way to translate them.Examples of transference are DNA, SARS, USB and GPS, and those of transliteration include clone as , gene as and Hertz as . Although these examples look simple, zero translation manages to meet terms' requirement of accuracy and standardization. In Zero Translation: Translation Strategy of Standardization of Scientific and Technological Terms, Wang Juxiang and Sang Yuanwei concluded that standardization of scientific and technological terms are translated most precisely by zero translation. (Sang, and Wang 35) People's name and place name contain obvious cultural identity.Place name often indicates geographic feature, products and history of the place. In the past, Chinese names were transliterated on the base of Wade-Giles romanization, which was invented by Thomas Francis Wade, a British diplomat. But the accuracy of Wade-Giles system has weaknesses, for example Peking as and Chingtao as ? ? . With development of Standardization, people's name and place name are transliterated on the base of Pinyin such as Beijing as . Many translations have been fixed and some of them are Tom as , Alice as , London as .Because of cultural permeation, it is common for people to speak original names without any translation to express their friendliness. Most names are transliterated but some adopt sound-meaning translation, for example Cambridge as and New Delhi as . Such diversification of translation means that translation of name is becoming less strict and the world more open and inclusive. 3. 3. 2 Translation of Abbreviation An abbreviation is â€Å"a short form of a word or expression. â€Å"( Longman Dictionary 11 of Contemporary English 3) Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase.It is convenient for people to read and write. For example, people usually do not speak or write Orga nization of Petroleum Exporting Countries but its abbreviation, OPEC. Such words have clear meaning but are too long for communication. They are created with social and scientific progress to meet the need of communication and have been widespread. Such words include ATM, NBA, GDP and VIP, etc. People can translate every word of original form into Chinese characters and results of such translation are correct, but these translations are still too long, for instance , , .Therefore most abbreviations are transferred and some abbreviations are transliterated. Table 1 Translation of Abbreviation Abbreviati Original Form Translation on Zero Method Translation OPEC Organization of Petroleum Transference Exporting Countries OPEC Transliteration WTO World Trade Organization WTO Transference WHO World Health Organization WHO Transference CEO Chief Executive Officer CEO Transference GDP Gross Domestic Product GDP Transference TOEFL Transference TOEFL Test of English as a Foreign Langu age DNA Deoxyribonucleic Acid ? Transliteration DNA Transference 3. 3. 3 Translation of Words with Cultural Meaning Zero translation is an effective strategy to translate words with unique cultural meaning. Such words, created in the history and tradition of particular group of people, have obvious features of area, history and nation. They are difficult for 12 translators because there is no equal part in TL. For example, people of TL cannot have the same feeling of people of SL when they read or hear Avatar because, in culture of TL, there is no such a god or person like avatar. Thus it is better to adopt transliteration to solve this problem.In translating ancient poems, it is difficult to translate traditional musical instruments such as . This unique instrument always leaves people deep beautiful impression of young women. If it is translated as violin or other western instrument, foreign readers are likely to have incorrect feelings. Thus it is better to translate it as pi pa by pinyin. The study of zero translation needs theoretic support. In the following part, the writer is going to analyze zero translation under functionalist theory. Chapter 4 Introduction to Functionalist Translation TheoryTraditional translation theories focus on equivalence of text, which means the transmission of message, but neglect functions of translation such as cultural communication. Nida's theory of dynamic equivalence and that of functional equivalence break the limit of traditional translation theories, but they are inadequate to process cultural elements in ST. In 1970s, functionalist translation theory appeared in Germany and flourished. It deemphasizes the equivalence of text, puts translation action into cross-cultural communication and considers function of translation as the core of theory.There are four people making great contributions to functionalist theory. They are Katharina Reiss, Hans Vermeer, Justa HolzManttari and Christiane Nord. This part is going to introduce their studies. 4. 1 Katharina Reiss Reiss proposed a model of translation assessment based on functional relationship between ST and TT in the book Possibilities and Limits of Translation Criticism. She points out that function of text should be a criterion of translation criticism. Her theory adheres to equivalence-based theory and advocates that the ideal translation is the achievement of equivalence of content, language form and 13 ommunicative function. But in practice it is impossible to achieve such equivalence. She is aware of the fact that not all functions of TT are the same as those of ST, and the form of TT is unnecessary to be same as that of ST, which means translation action does not need to achieve equivalence in traditional theories. Thus the function of translation is more important than equivalence. Translation criticism should depend on the circumstance of text, not on the analysis of features of original text, which takes precedence over traditional th eories.She thinks that a text has many functions but only one is dominant and this one controls the whole translation action. The judge of text type helps translators to determine the level of equivalence that should be achieved and to select the proper translation strategy. Reiss divides text types into three kinds, informative text, expressive text and operative text. Brand name belongs to the last kind whose purpose is to lead readers to act in a certain way. â€Å"Therefore, both the content and form are subordinate to the extralinguistic effect that the text is designed to achieve.Operative text translation should be guided by the overall aim of bringing about the same reaction in the audience. â€Å"(Zhang 10) 4. 2 Hans Vermeer Vermeer put forward the most important theory of functionalist theory, Skopos Theory. Skopos is a Greek word, meaning aim or purpose. He thinks that translation, like other human actions, has particular purpose, which is the core of the whole action o f translating. Just as his teacher, Reiss, does, he considers that the purpose of translation determines which method should be used. ‘Skopos theory' focuses above all on the purpose of translation, which determines translation methods and strategies that are to be employed in order to produce a functionally adequate result†(Mundy 97). Skopos theory has three rules, the skopos rule, the coherence rule and the fidelity rule. The skopos rule means the result of translation enables translation of text to realize its functions in the situation it is applied and with people who use it. In other words, the aim of translation determines the action of translation and the result of 14 translation decides selected strategy.The coherence rule, also called intratextual coherence, means that TT must be natural and fluent in TL and be understood by receivers, given the culture and circumstance of them. TT is the transmission of ST, and the content of TT must bear relationship with tha t of ST. Such relationship is called fidelity. From the above introduction to skopos theory, it is clear that the most element of translation action is addressee. Because receivers' culture, knowledge and needs determine the method and the strategy of translation. The three rules should be applied in zero translation of brand name.The aim of brand name translation is to keep the flavor of brand name in ST, which is the first rule. The second rule is to make the result of translation acceptable and understandable in culture of TL. The last one, the fidelity rule, preserves features of original brand name as many as possible. Therefore zero translation of brand name must adhere to the three rules. 4. 3 Justa Holz Manttari Manttari further develops functionalist theory and expands the area in which functionalist theory is adoptable. In her theory, translational action is regarded as a complex action designed to meet particular needs.Translation, driven by purpose, is to transfer messag e with cross-cultural communication. She mainly studies translational action, roles in such action and circumstance in which translational action occurred. 4. 4 Christiane Nord Nord firstly systematizes functionalist approaches and introduces functionalist translation theory comprehensively in her book Translating as a Purposeful Activity: Functionalist Approaches Explained in 1997. She agrees with the above three scholars' theories and creates her own theory, function plus loyalty. In her opinion, translators would abandon useless part of ST after they clarify the purpose of translation.She stresses the importance of ST and thinks that translators should be responsible for ST writers, TT addressees and initiators, and such responsibility is 15 loyalty. Loyalty is different from fidelity because fidelity is just the relationship between ST and TT but loyalty is interpersonal relationship among translators, ST writers, TT addressees and initiators. Besides purpose of translation, tra nslators have to reach a balance among other groups. TT must achieve the purpose of translation such as cultural communication and satisfy ST writers, TT addressees and initiators as much as possible. . 5 Zero Translation of Brand Name in the Light of Functionalist Theory According to functionalist translation theory, translation is a purposeful action and different text determines different translation strategy and criteria. Breaking through traditional translation theory, functionalist translation theory emphasizes the importance of function in evaluation and action of translation. In translating brand name, â€Å"it is essential that in the target language the same effect be achieved as the original in the source language†(Reiss 41).As a new kind of translation method, zero translation can achieve functional equivalence furthest. Functions of brand name are transferring information of products and stimulating consumption. Translation of brand name must realize those functi ons of original brand name. In other words, translation of brand name helps people of TL to understand and accept products by transferring features of products and meaning of original brand name across cultural boundary and to persuade potential consumers to make a purchase. Zero translation is an effective method to translate brand name for following advantages.Zero translation transmits information of brand name with no loss or least loss of original form. It leaves customers of TL the same feelings as SL people have by lead TL customers to understand meaning of brand name in the circumstance of SL. Thus zero translation can preserve functions of SL brand name as much as possible. Another advantage is identification. Because zero translation keeps the form or the pronunciation of brand name in SL, it is easy to avoid confusion. For example, Windows, an operating system developed by Microsoft, once was translated as , but its owner was unwilling to use this translation because ? w as likely to mislead Chinese users to consider it as an operating system developed by domestic 16 companies, and customers lost original user experience and feelings. Therefore Microsoft insisted on transferring Windows in China. The next chapter is going to provide some examples of electronic products to prove the applicability of main methods of zero translation such as transference, transliteration and complementary translation. Chapter 5 Zero Translation of Brand Name of Electronic Products People's lifestyle and working pattern has been changed by electronic products including computer, digital camera and mobile phone, etc.These products bring about convenience and have been necessities for most people. In recent decades, many international companies produce and sell their electronic products in China. In order to compete with domestic products, those international companies apply different translation methods to make their brand names acceptable in China. Some Chinese intend t o buy products of foreign brand names because these products signify wealth and taste. In such situations, zero translation keeps form and pronunciation more completely than other translation strategies.The writer finds that zero translation is common in translating brand names of electronic products because zero translation preserves the original flavor of brand name and wins customers' favor. Transliteration is often applied to translate brand names, which are easy to be pronounced in Chinese and others are translated by transference and complementary translation. 5. 1 Transliteration Many foreign companies are named after its founder or the place where it was founded, and their meanings make no sense in Chinese culture. It is difficult and useless to transmit meaning of those brand names.Therefore transliteration is the best method if their phonetic symbols are similar with pronunciation of Chinese characters. Dell and Nokia belong to this kind. Some brand names reflect the his tory of company. For example Motorola 17 is the combination of â€Å"motor† and rola. Motor means the company produced cars and rola is the suffix of Victrola, the name of predecessor of Motorola. The literal meaning of such brand name will not help people of TL accept its product because of the lack of cultural ground. It is better to transliterate them to keep the pronunciation.Transliteration is also applied to translate brand name with special meaning. The former name of Sony Corporation was Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation, but it was too long. In 1958, the former name was changed to Sony. The Sony name was created by combining sonus, the original Latin for sonic, meaning sound, with sonny, denoting small size, or a youthful boy. It was chosen for its simple pronunciation th at is the same in any language. The feature of Sony is conciseness and its meaning. But if translators want to express its meaning, TT will be too long and lose its feature.In China, it is transliterated to ? ? , which preserves the conciseness and the pronunciation of Sony. The writer will list more examples of brand name of electronic products. Table 2 Transliteration of Brand Name Brand Name Transliteration Canon Nikon Olympus Casio Leica Philips Alcatel Semheiser Shure 5. 2 Transference Some brand names are difficult to transliteration because of the difference of pronunciation between two languages and to translate their literal meaning with the 18 limit of length or the lack of original feelings.For this kind of brand name, the best translation method is transference. Thinkpad, created by staff of IBM, combines think with pad. The pad is the notepaper used in IBM and the letter think is IBM's motto printed on the top of the note paper. Because the literal meaning of Thinkpad is ?, which makes no sense in China, it is better to keep its original form. Like the translation of Thinkpad, transference is also applied in translating Android, a mobile operation system developed by Google, Shuffle, a MP3 player produced by Apple, Nexus, a mobile phone designed by Google, and Palm, a mobile phone producer. . 3 Complementary Translation â€Å"Complementary translation in brand name translation is a method by which translated brand name is not only homophonic with the original, but also has specific meaning. † (Zhang 27) It keeps phonetic feature of brand name and change the form of TT with artful skills. For example, the translation of Galaxy, a series of mobile phone designed by Samsung, is . The literal translation of Galaxy is , but it cannot express its top status among mobile phones as does. The writer collects fifty foreign brand names of electronic products and analyzes their translation methods.Here is the result of the survey. Table 3 Result of a Survey on Methods of Brand Name Translation Translation Transference Transliteration Number Percentage Literal Free Mixed translation method Complementary translation tran slation translation 7 24 5 3 5 6 14% 48% 10% 6% 10% 12% Zero translation 72% 19 Conclusion In this thesis, zero translation is divided into two kinds, absolute zero translation and relative zero translation, like Liu Mingdong’s classification, but the former one is transference and the latter covers transliteration and complementary translation.The item, zero translation was brought about following the concept of untranslatability, which is undeniable to some degree because of the difference between culture of SL and TL. The aim of zero translation is to express effects of product and information pf producer in the culture of SL without any loss and zero translation is better than other translation strategy because it shows the cultural meaning in the form of SL. Zero translation focuses on the purpose of translation without the emphasis on equivalence of content, therefore zero translation corresponds the functionalist theory.By analyzing these examples of brand names of ele ctronic products, this thesis proves that zero translation succeeded in meeting requirements of brand translation, thus zero translation is an applicable method in brand translation. 20 Reference 1. Du, Zhengming. [ ], , , (? )2000. . : ?, 2000 2. Holz-Manttari, Justa. Translational Action: Theory and Method. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1984 3. Liu, Mingdong. [ ], ? . ? , 2002,(1): 29-32 4. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Researching Press, 2004 5. Luo, Guoqing. [ ]. :. , 2011,(2): 116-120 6. Mundy, Jeremy. Introducing Translation Studies Theories and Applications. London and New York: Routlege 2001 7. Newmark, Peter. A textbook of Translation. Shanghai: Foreign Language Teaching and Researching Press, 2001 8. Nord, Christiane. Translating as a PurposefulActivity-Functionalist Approaches Explained. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2001 9. Qiu, Maoru. [ ], ? . ? , 2001,(1): 2 4-27 10.Reiss, Katharina. Translation Criticism: The Potentials and Limitations. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2004 11. Sang, Yuanwei; Wang, Juxiang. [ ], : â€Å" †. , 2006(2): 32-35 12. Vermeer, Hans J. Skopos and Translation Commission. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2000 13. Zhang, Mengya. [ ], â€Å" â€Å", ? 21 , 2009 22 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to show my deepest gratitude to my tutor, Professor Liu Shizhu, who is a devoted, professional, resourceful scholar.He has helped me in more than one way during my college study as well as in my thesis writing. He lights the way for me. Thanks to his inspirational ideas, I chose translation of brand name as the thesis theme. In the writing process, he helped me with encouragements and guidance. I should say that without his help, there is no chance that this thesis would be present. In the second place, I would like to thank my family for their care an d support for me. There is nothing more valuable to me than the love from family members.I still remember the day when I got stuck on writing the thesis; it is my father’s words encouraged me to look ahead. I should thank my mother for her delicious dishes and I owe a lot to my grandfather. My family has taught me to be a decent person, a person values honor and cares for others. Last but not least, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all those who have helped me make this thesis possible and better. My lovely friends, my cheerful roommates, and the girl I want to spend my life with. They all help me, on the thesis or in my life. 23 24

Evita Peron Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Evita Peron - Essay Example She was the wife of Argentine president Juan Peron from 1946 to 1952 when she succumbed to cancer. Evita is considered as one of the most powerful women during the 1940s to 1950s; an era which was characterized by serious discrimination of women in different societies. Being the only woman with power to question and to rule during those times automatically rendered her much fame compared to other women. Other researches by Historians reveal that she was more powerful than male leaders, her husband inclusive. Fraser and Navarro, in their book, Evita: the Real Life of Eva Peron, explore the life of Eva from her birth in Argentina, Los Toldos 1919 May, 17 to the time of her death and burial as a First Lady, the wife of the Argentine leader (Nicholas & Navarro 94). Eva’s actions and steps give vivid review of the kind of a woman she was during her time. The first reason that shows that the woman had more power than other women and some men in the society is the issue of the Nazi a nd Argentina relationship during the cold war. Eva offered hiding places, in Argentina, to the Nazi people. This is an indication of the power the woman had. She managed to influence most of the Argentine government, including her husband to allow the Nazis hide within their territory. This implies her daring and brave character of taking risks. It was obvious that the Nazi enemies would have reacted by waging war against them, in case they discovered their decision. The end of the Second World War initiated and triggered powerful democratic tides on the street in different cities such as Buenos Aires threatening to Swamp Peron (Fraser and Navarro 34). The book reveals that Peron’s soldiers became angry because of his excess or total dependence on his wife for support; they forced him to resign because of this. This, analyzed, portrayed the amount of power that the woman had. She had a lot of influence on her husband, making the soldiers become angry (Nicholas & Navarro 34). The anger by the soldiers was due to the tradition that women had less power compared to their male counterparts. Their beliefs and stereotyping of women as powerless individuals forced them to terminate the closeness of the president to his wife. They went ahead and forced him to resign from the seat of vice presidency. Eva, seeing this, took the opportunity and used her persuasion power to rally support for her husband calling for his allies or friends in the worker’s union, military, and the police department. This led to riots in Casa Rosada giving the couple leeway to flee the city (Nicholas & Navarro 43). The navy discovered their hidden cottage and went to arrest them. Eva, on seeing this, went out of furiously out of control with anger and rage, and forced them to take away her husband, but left her behind. The reason why they left her had been the question and the debate of many Historians in Europe and the entire globe. Reliable and trustworthy sources like Fraser a nd Navarro, in their book, state an interpretation of this that it was the strange ego and brevity of the woman that scared them. Others would ask why they decided to take the husband. Was the husband not strong enough to defend himself? From the above illustrations, it is evident and undoubtedly true that Evita is exercising charismatic type of authority on the people. Her authority and power is not only derived from her position in the Argentine government as the First Lady, but also from her brevity and daring nature. The action of facing the soldiers with anger and fury is an indication that she is a brave woman who is ready to approach the male soldiers without fear. Besides, she is the only woman in the entire Argentina who has shown a lot of power and influence on the governance and ruling of her husband. Rational

Business Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Business Report - Essay Example This department coordinates the operations of the business. The aim of the firm is to maximize sales to increase revenue. Systems that are in this department include the Sales Recording System, and Business Operation System. The main functions of this department include management of transportation, inventory, warehousing, packaging, and security. Systems in this department include wholesale mode system, security management, warehousing coordination system and inventory system. This department ensures day-to-day supervision of receiving and distribution of funds within the organization. Maintenance of records if also a function here. Systems in this department include the cashier system and database recovery system. High Burry Suppliers has no computer on their premises, and all ordering takes place manually. This results to data loss. The business has no website and uses very little market except the word of mouth. HBS is on the road to becoming one of the top retailers in the country. There are various business information system that needs to be implemented to ensure this status. The first is Schedule Management System. This will help the top leadership in managing their tight schedules. Additionally, the system will be useful in the management of operations. The second is the Price Look-Up System and log-in system. This system will be useful in tracking down all the transactions within the firm. The third is the Operations Manager System. This system will be useful to the sales department since it is involved in the running of day-to-day operations. The system is crucial in making the company more productive and will work in collaboration with the Sales Supervisor System, which will be the fourth system to be implemented. The fifth system to be implemented is the Inventory System. This system will be useful in integrating information, transportation, and inventory. There are many benefits associated with this proposed information system.

Variables that Affected Voter Turnout Rates in the 2012 Presidential Research Paper

Variables that Affected Voter Turnout Rates in the 2012 Presidential Elections In the United States - Research Paper Example Did various demographic variables affect the voter turnout during the 2012 presidential elections of the United States? The 2012 presidential elections voter turnout rate was lower compared to the previous 2008 elections, as shown in the diagram below. According to many scholars and academicians, various demographic factors were responsible for the decreased voter turnout. This research, therefore, seeks to provide a concrete answer or response to this question, putting into consideration various demographic variables associated with elections and voter turnout rates. At this juncture, it is worth noting that the actual voter turnout was 66.65%, a figure that is arrived at after comparing the 129,067,662 individuals who voted out of the 193,653,908 registered voters (I.D.E.A 1). A number of scholars and academicians alike have attributed various factors, both demographic and demographic, to the decreased voter turnout rate in the year 2012. In his article, â€Å"why is turnout so low in United States elections†, Eric black has considered two major non-demographic factors. Black attributes the low turnout rates to the legal requirement of voter registration. According to him, many people are unable to vote simply because they do not like the cumbersome and complex procedure of voter registration. The other factor he considers is the voluntary voting, which allows people the liberty to choose whether to vote or not. The United States citizens are not compelled to exercise their civic and political right of voting, and therefore the voter turnout rates will always remain low. The Institute of Democracy and Electorate Assistance (IDEA) has also conducted a research and compiled data regarding the same issue.

Compare and contrast two slave narratives from two different states Research Paper

Compare and contrast two slave narratives from two different states - Research Paper Example This was cognizant to the fact that the slave’s slavery was largely examined in economic terms. Virginia is one of the States that was found in the southern part of America. Largely, the Southern States were more preoccupied with the cotton production than the Northern part. In the first half of the 1600s, Africans had already started occupying Virginia.2 This was, whether they were enslaved or not. At the same time, Europeans were also thronging Virginia because of its vast land that would help in Agricultural production. The demand of cotton in Europe increasingly became high and the needs for extra production became a necessity. The labor that was offered by the Native Americans became unsustainable. This was mostly because European diseases affected the native America and most of them died. Landlords were therefore left with no option but to turn the African as slaves. The enslaved individuals in Virginia plantations were made to drain swamps, burned stubble, raked fields and broke grounds as a preparation for the plantation. They were also forced to drain, hoe, flood, dry and weed the fields in many occasions before the crops could be ready for harvesting. Introduction of new crops made individuals land owners richer and richer. This also affected their acquisition of slave. They owned more and more slaves and further expanded their farming from rice to cotton and even to the growing of tobacco. The planters became cruel and tyrannical to the slaves and in most cases they forced their will on the slaves to do things they wanted done. In Virginia, particular in the farms of the rich planters, Slaves were toiled in groups of 20 to 25 and a supervision of one person as an overseer. At the peak of the seasons of harvest, work for slaves increased and they could even be forced to work for more than 15 hours in a day. The overseers could whip the slaves whenever they felt like they were not doing what

The effects of the Canadian residential school on the modern Essay

The effects of the Canadian residential school on the modern aboriginal people - Essay Example residential schools, they were subjected to different forms of torture ranging from physical to sexual abuse and provision of inferior education that was not competitive with the Euro-Canadians (Barth, 2008). Several effects of this treatment are being felt up to date by the modern aboriginals. One of the effects of this is the loss of the aboriginal culture that is passed down generations and this means that the modern aboriginals do not recognize fully their culture. The abuse these people passed through when young has affected their present whereby they become abusers or do not know how to maintain relations. Since the children did not get a chance to be nurtured properly by their parents since they were away in these schools, they also do not know how to nurture their own children. The abuse led them to have a low self-esteem and even feelings of worthlessness which has translated to a large number of them attempting suicide now that they are grown up (Episkenew, 2009). These effects will continue unless measures are taken sooner. Some of these measures are slow or not tailored to reverse some of these effects like culture loss which even with therapy will not come back (Austin and Boyd,

Theoritical Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Theoritical Questions - Assignment Example The key determinants to be considered in valuing convertible bonds are, the coupon rate offered, the time when the convertibility option can be exercised and the exercise price of the stock (Choudhry, 359). A bond warrant gives the holder of the instrument the right to â€Å"call† or â€Å"put† the bond whenever it wants. Moreover, unlike a convertible bond-wherein the underlying debt is repaid in cash or an equivalent amount of company stock--the warrant contract component of a warrant-bond can be sold separately to third parties while the original investor retains the straight bond component (Choudhry, 396). Dividends are usually paid by corporations after the taxes have been deducted from the overall earnings of the company. However, in many countries, the investors may get taxed on the dividend payments that they receive. Therefore, the companies may plough back some of the earnings to avoid these taxes. Taxes decrease the cost of capital as the tax benefit comes with respect to coupon payments to bond holders. It helps to decrease the overall weighted average cost of debt (Ehrhardt and Brigham, 519). Rationality is the key towards investing in the financial markets. Most investors are more often rational in their behavior while investing than not. However, there are many instances in which irrational behavior and repeated errors in judgment have been documented or witnessed in the financial markets. Irrational behavior can be exploited by finding out the overvalued and undervalued stocks, and investing accordingly. Trade credits, Bank over Drafts and Commercial Papers are few examples of short term financing sources that can be used by companies to pay salaries, coupon payments or other miscellaneous expenses (Shim and Siegel, 133). Depending too much on some of these short term sources finance often give a wrong signal and may

Mgt checkpoint 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mgt checkpoint 3 - Essay Example The article also considers the personnel professionals to be responsible for managing substance abuse in the work place. This include offering guidance and counseling to people affected by substance abuse. Employees are able to perform and meet their expectations if they are free from destructive habits. Most employees get involved in substance abuse due to work related issue such as stress. Personnel professional such as supervisors are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that employees within an organization perform to their expectations. Supervisors are therefore responsible for ensuring that employees within their organization lead a life that is free from substance abuse. Supervisors within an organization face issue of diversity in their daily responsibilities. Substance abuse is common factor that contribute to the diversity of employees within an organization. Supervisors can use information contained in Smits and Pace article to formulate policies for the management of substance abuse in their workplace. The information can also be used to articulate workers such that they avoid getting involved in drug abuse. This will greatly help the organization to meet its

Admission Essay Example for Free

Admission Essay The various choices that we make in our lives greatly affect the way we dictate our future. These decisions catapult us towards our own individual vision and mission in life. The education that we get is only one aspect to attain success. Knowledge without hard work and dedication is only a half-hearted gesture. Equipped with these reasons, I would like to present myself to my classmates in graduate school. I know that each one in this class has their own unique reasons why they are pursuing such degree. Personally, I took this course because I wanted to use all the skills and objectives towards my development and use it as a tool towards the stepladder of my career. During this time of increasing challenges and high competitiveness when it comes to the work environment, each one must have the adequate skills to have an advantage over my fellow counterparts. By doing this, I can be dynamic in my professional career and also feel a sense of fulfillment in everything that I do. Looking at my previous experience, I can say that I have had my fair share of success and trials in my career as an accountant. See more: Social process essay My previous educational achievements date back in 2003 wherein I finished my Bachelor’s degree in Economics at Northeast (Dongbei) University of Finance and Economics. My interest in mathematics then brought me towards the field of Accounting wherein I finished my Becker CPA Review Scholarship in 2006 at University of Missouri with a GPA of 3. 82. These educational attainments provided me with the firm theoretical background that I can use as I engage as a professional in various work environments. The next big challenge for me is the taking up the licensure examinations for it tested my ability of analysis, retention and other related skills. After months of hard work and perseverance, I passed my CPA exams at Missouri in February 2007 and garnering an average of 90. 7. Also, the next year, I took and passed my Actuarial examination that happened last May 2008. This event gave me the opportunity and privilege to practice my profession and get a stable job that can help me further my career. After the grueling examinations at my licensure exams, I had now to tackle the real challenges brought about by the workplace. Last 2007, I was a staff accountant at Glen Martin Engineering in Boonville. I was designated towards auditing, reviewing, analyzing and preparing reports that mattered to the company. Moreover, I effectively monitored the inflow and outflow of goods and capital inside as I try to account various orders. Currently, I am affiliated with G4S International in New York. My job description is relatively the same with my previous employment; however the new one also focuses on issues such as revenue forecast, bank reconciliation, and monthly and annual task reports. This is how I want my classmates to know who I am. I continuously strive for betterment and have the adage that â€Å"to be the best among the rest, one must never stop learning and believing in possibilities†. By knowing your own weaknesses, you can be able to exert extra effort to provide the best of your capabilities. Due to this, I also aspire that the course can be able to do the same for students. It must be able to provide the necessary avenues to enhance our skills and provide an efficient strategy to realize this. In the end, I urge my fellow classmates to give their best in everything that is being given to them. They must constantly strive towards not only on their individual development but also on others. By doing this, not only can they uplift their individual capabilities, but also foster an effective and effective classroom environment. My name is Xue Bai and I deem to have a good semester with each one of you.

Break Before University Essay Example for Free

Break Before University Essay It goes without saying that people like having the things they don’t have. Students always want to have a break after a long time they were very busy with studying, especially before they come to universities – a new environment with lots of challenging. It’ll be not good for a student to have a year break before going to university because it’s really a waste of time, and they might forget their knowledge. Today, both of adults and children always try to learn hard. Knowledge is unlimited; we never have everything in our mind. We learn bit by bit every day. If one stops working for one day, one eventually loses his knowledge. For one year, people can learn a lot of knowledge and experience, and you’ll be worse than others. Secondly, if you have a break for one year, it will take you more than one year to come back your work. In some case, the inertia is so great that one can’t go back to school.  Last but not least, one might forget your lessons easily when one doesn’t practice. When one comes to a university, one’ll continue learning your program in high school in a different way. One’ll have to learn by himself more than following teachers. It takes a lot of times to learn this new habit. Taking a long break seems like a cool idea, but I will not jeopardize my college education. A student will have to coup with many problems after such a break. One should consult his teachers and his parents before making that decision.

Study Of Injection Mold Temperature And Cooling Time Engineering Essay

Study Of Injection Mold Temperature And Cooling Time Engineering Essay Majority of complicate plastics products are formed by the injection molding process. Faster production rate and repeatability are the key elements. Although most of the injection molding machines are highly sophisticated in terms of process control yet the control of mold temperature is the most neglected aspect. The mold cooling time contributes a major portion (usually 30 to 60%) of total cycle time. Reduction in mold cooling time is directly associated with profitability. The effect of mold temperature on cooling time and product quality is very important to understand. Here an effort has been made to analyze various aspects of mold cooling. Introduction Injection molding is one of the most favorite processing methods among the polymer processors that has revolutionized the polymer processing. Continuous research work carried out by the injection molding machines manufacturers is the key behind the success of this processing technique. Todays injection molding machines are one of the most sophisticated in terms of process control. Various processing parameters like injection pressure, injection speed, hold on pressure, cavity pressures etc. are very precisely controlled by close loop control. Latest developments in the field of microprocessors/ microcontrollers technology resulted in PLCs, with very short scan time, for quicker response. Many other developments like advancements in plasticizing screw design, mould safety, all electrical actuators, robotic part removal etc. came into existence in early nineties [1]. Although a lot had happened at the technological front, still the control of mould temperature is the most neglected aspect of injection moulding technology. In spite of well known relationship between mould temperature and cooling time, in other words mould temperature has great effect over cycle time (that ultimately leads to profitability), no serious efforts has, however, been made to extend the advancements in process control up to the mould. As on today most of the processing industries involved in injection moulding business, especially in Asian countries are using either a cooling tower or refrigerated chilling plant and seldom a mould temperature controller for engineering/ specialty polymers. In fact moulders usually do not bother about the mould temperature. In most of the cases, setting of cooling time and adjustment of mould temperature is an experience driven exercise that may not always land up at optimum solution [2]. In this paper an effort has been made to take a deeper insight of various aspects of mould temperature and cooling time by modeling and simulation route. An innovative design concept of mould temperature controller is also discussed which is in its early developing stage. Heat Transfer in Injection Mould Heat transfer in injection mould is quite complex in nature. It involves conductive and convective type of heat transfer, although negligible heat loss from mould takes place in form of radiation [3]. The solidification process for molten polymer mass inside mould involves a complex heat transfer mechanism. In order to simplify the problem of heat transfer associated with turbulent fluid flow, here an assumption is made defining a constant temperature between the cavity wall and cooling channels of mould. However in actual practice a temperature gradient will exist depending upon the thermal conductivity of mould steel. The typical heat path in the cooling stage of injection molding is that heat is conducted from hot polymer to the comparatively cold mold, and then conducted through the mold to the cooling line, where it is removed by convection through coolant [7]. In injection molding, in order to reduce the cycle time, the coolant undergoes turbulent flow. Rapidly flowing fluids are fully turbulent when Re >10,000 the transfer of heat is very efficient. Slowly flowing fluids are laminar when Re For turbulent flow, Equation 1 is used to calculate the heat convection coefficient [5], à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (1) Where: d; diameter of cooling hole (m), V; coolant velocity (m/s), à Ã‚ ; coolant density (kg/mâ‚ ¬Ã‹â€ ), ÃŽÂ ¼; viscosity, h; convection heat transfer coefficient (W/m.K), k; thermal conductivity (W/m ².K), L; perimeter of the cooling hole (m). For this case, Re is > 10,000, so the flow is fully turbulent. A simulink model was developed to simulate the variation of mold temperature from start up to approximately 1 hour and 23 minutes run with following conditions [6]; Table 1: Conditions for Simulation Initial Melt Temperature 523 deg.K Initial Mold Temperature 298 deg.K Ejection Temperature 364 deg.K Mass of Mold 200 kg Specific Heat of mold (P-20 steel) 461.2 J/kg k Cycle Time 30 sec Injection Time 5 sec Cooling Time 20 sec Material ABS plastic, Grade: Cycolac GPM550 Thermal Conductivity of ABS 0.22 (W/m.deg.K) Specific Heat of ABS 2352.4 (J/kg.degK) It is usual practice among molders to run injection molding machine for few (10 20) cycles without flow of coolant in mold to increase the molds surface temperature up to the required mold temperature [7]. This is usually done to avoid short shots, flow lines and other possible molding defects. A dead zone has been incorporated in simulink model for 450 sec (about 15 molding cycle). This effect can be seen in plot. Initially the rise in temperature is rapid (up to 450 sec) compared to rest of the part of plot. Fig 1: Graphical representation of Model using Simulink Fig 2: Simulation Result for mold temperature for more than 150 cycles from startup. It is clear from the plot shown in fig 2, that under the conditions as defined in table 1, mould will take about 1hour to reach steady state temperature of about 320 deg.K Dependence of Cooling Time over Mould Temperature Cooling time is defined as the time required to reduce the temperature of molten polymer up to ejection temperature. Usually ejection temperature of moulding is few degree (20 30 degC) below the heat deflection temperature (HDT) of material to insure distortion free removal of moulded part. Cooling time starts just after complete filling of cavity up to ejection. A rough estimation can be made for the cooling time, using the correlation given below; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (2) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (3) s; part thickness (cm), ÃŽÂ ±; thermal diffusivity (cm.sq/ sec), Tm; melt temperature ( °C), Tw; mold temperature ( °C), Te; ejection temperature ( °C), K; thermal conductivity (W/m- °K), à Ã‚ ; density (gm/cc), Cp; Specific heat (KJ/Kg- °K) It is clear from simulated result shown in fig. 2 that mould temperature is not a constant, in fact it is not only a variable from startup temperature to steady state temperature but also it changes during each cycle, fluctuating about cycle average temperature [5]. In order to simulate the cooling time for one injection cycle the instant energy balance equation for cooling of given geometry of part can be written as; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (4) This equation can be solved using finite element method with suitable boundary conditions i.e. constant boundary temperature or constant heat flow rate. For simplification of problem, a square shaped, ABS plastic part has been chosen. The two dimensional drawing and 3-D view of the part under analysis is given below; Fig-3: Two Dimensional orthographic view and three dimensional view of ABS Plastics part under analysis. ABS plastic material was selected for above geometry of part, the processing conditions and properties of the polymeric material are given below; Table-2: Processing conditions and properties of material Initial Melt Temperature 523 deg.K Initial Mold Temperature 323 deg.K Ejection Temperature 345 deg.K Material ABS plastic, Grade: Cycolac GPM550 Density 1005 (Kg/mâ‚ ¬Ã‹â€ ) Thermal Conductivity 0.22 (W/m.deg.K) Specific Heat 2352.4 (J/kg.degK) In order to simplify the analysis and to reduce the simulation time, the analysis was done in 2 D. Transient thermal analysis was carried out using ANSYS 5.4. For the analysis 4-node thermal solid (PLANE55) element type was selected. Fig-4: Temp distribution at t = 50sec at mold temp = 312 K The 2 D model was suitably meshed and analysis was done with different mold temperatures, given in table 3. Polymer melt temperature and part ejection temperature were kept same. Table 3: Polymer melt temperature vs. simulated cooling time Polymer melt Temperature = 523 deg.K Part ejection temperature = 345 deg.K Mold Temperature (deg.K) Cooling Time (Sec) 312 62.5 323 70 333 92.5 343 130 Cooling time was graphically calculated at a point where the part temperature was below HDT i.e. 345 K, for each of the run. ANSYS Post processor was used to obtain the cooling time vs. temperature data. (A). Mould Temp = 323 K, Ejection Temp = 345 K and Cooling Time = 70 sec (B). Mould Temp = 312 K, Ejection Temp = 345 K and Cooling Time = 62.5 sec (C). Mould Temp = 333 K, Ejection Temp = 345 K and Cooling Time = 92.5 sec (D). Mould Temp = 343 K, Ejection Temp = 345 K and Cooling Time = 130 sec Fig-5: Dependency of cooling Time over Mold Temperature It is clear from the above plots that the temperature gradient (between melt and mould) is a diminishing quantity during every moulding cycle. In other words we can say that rate of heat transfer from melt to coolant is maximum at the start of cooling time and reaches to its minimum value at the end of cooling time. This diminishing rate of heat transfer is responsible for longer cooling time resulting higher cycle time [8]. Mould Cooling At Constant Heat Transfer Rate The cooling time may be defined as the ratio of total heat to be removed (so that ejection temperature is below HDT), to rate of heat removal from the mould via coolants flowing in cooling channels of the mould. As mentioned above that diminishing temperature gradient (due to cooling of polymer melt inside the mould) is responsible for diminishing rate of heat removal during every moulding cycle. In order to have deeper insight, we apply heat balance to mould; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (5) It is clear from Fig. 2 that the temperature of mould increases initially and ultimately reaches to steady state average constant temperature within few hours depending upon the size of mould and moulding. At this stage the rate of heat accumulation in mould will be negligible, therefore at steady state condition of mould; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (6) (i). Rate of Heat Input Rate of heat input to the mould may be considered as impulse input, since the most of the polymer melt (about 90% of shot weight) is injected in very short span of time (), comparatively very less than actual injection and hold time. The heat input rate to the mould; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (7) m = shot weight, Cp = specific heat at nozzle temperature. (ii). Rate of Heat Removal For simplicity we can assume the design of mould to be cylindrical, where four cooling channels are at 100 PCD, concentric with cylindrical shape of cavity as shown in Fig. 6, Fig 6: Top view Cylindrical Mould The rate of heat removal from the mould is function of heat transfer by conduction and convection (we can neglect the heat transfer by radiation). For the cylindrical design of mould and moulding, the conductive and convective heat transfer can be written as [9]; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (8) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (9) Ksteel; Thermal conductivity of mould steel (W/m- °K), Dmold Dpart; Diameter of cylindrical mould and moulding (m), Dchannel; Diameter of cooling channel (m), h; Convection heat transfer coefficient (W/m.K), Therefore, the net rate of heat transfer will be; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (10) It is obvious from equation no. (10). that rate of heat removal (q) will continuously reduce because the Tmelt will tend towards the Tejection. The trend of melt temperature curve with time will be as shown in fig 5. There may be two different methods to keep the rate of heat removal (q) constant i.e. reduction in coolant temperature (Tcoolant), parallel with (Tmelt) so that temperature gradient is constant during entire cooling cycle. This method has some practical difficulties like limitation of very fast changing temperature of coolant, thermal shock to the mould and lots of energy drain from coolant to atmosphere. In the next approach to maintain constant heat removal rate, the flow rate of coolant can be increased with time to increase the value of film transfer coefficient (h). Booth of these problems were modeled using Matlab and simulated results are discussed. The following boundary conditions and data was used for simulation; Table 4: Boundary Conditions and data Parameters Value Dmold 100 mm Dpart 15 mm Ksteel 36.6 W/m degK Dchannel 10 mm L 1.5 meters Tmelt 523 degK Tejecion 364 degK Cp 2352.4 (J/kg degK ) for ABS Cycolac GPM 5500 Grade Shot Weight (m) 100 gms Tcoolant 283 degK Result and Discussion Simulation result for constant heat removal rate achieved via transient coolant temperature, are shown in fig. 8 and fig. 9. The heat removal at diminishing rate curve is of the same pattern as obtained by using Ansys FEA package, shown in fig. 5. Fig 7: Heat removal from mould at constant and diminishing rate. Fig 8: Melt temperature, Coolant temperature vs. Cooling Time. The cooling time is approximately 120 sec in this case whereas for constant rate heat removal cooling time is about 60 sec. That much saving in cooling time is at cost of having arrangement for mould cooling that can vary from 323 degK to 175 degK within 1 minute. Reducing the mould temperature up to 175 degK has many engineering problems; mould sweating will be tremendously high at that temperature. In next step, flow rate of coolant was varied keeping the coolant temperature constant at 283 degK. Fig 9: Melt temperature, Heat removal rate and Film Heat transfer Coefficient vs. Cooling Time Fig 10: Reynolds No. and Coolant Flow Rate vs. Cooling Time The cooling time in this case found to be approximately 80 sec. and the coolant flow rate was initially 400 lpm that was ramped up to 1600 lpm within 80sec of cooling time. The shape of melt temperature curve with time is not a straight line which is identification of constant rate heat removal, but still there is a lot of saving in cooling time. To achieve that much saving in cooling time extremely high turbulent coolant flow rate (Re is approximately 3500000 at the end of cooling time) was used. Conclusion The mould temperature and coolant flow rate have great effect over the heat transfer mechanism from mould. Proper adjustment of coolant temperature and flow rate can be useful in reducing the cooling time. Transient coolant flow rate may be used to reduce the cooling time and such mold temperature controllers can be made for achieving reduction in cooling time and ultimately reducing cycle time.