Quote:
Originally Posted by Asbjorn
I think it is 宝马 in China, right? So why do they use the traditional character on the headrests? Are these cars indeed for the HK or TW markets (where they write 馬 instead of 马) ?
EDIT: Just checked the three websites. The horse-edition is only mentioned on the BMW website for CN. Nothing appears on the front pages of the sites for TW or HK...
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PRC uses the simplified script so technically speaking, it would be written as 宝马 in all of BMW's official publications on mainland China and as 寶馬 in Hong Kong and Taiwan . I just happen to prefer to use traditional script as my default as that is what i grew up learning & prefer. Same meaning, same words, different standardization (much like American English vs British English, color vs. colour, etc.)
For the purposes of academia or publications on the internet, both are acceptable as representations of the Chinese language.
If a publication is specifically catered to a certain market, then the scripts should be consistent with their national standards (simplified in Mainland China & Singapore / traditional in HK, Taiwan, Macau), although these days you see a lot of both due to much economic & cultural interaction with the Mainland's rise.
Good question as to why Horse is written as 馬 instead of 马. Although the PRC has gone through simplification through language reform, it is still common to use the "old" characters for ceremonial, historical, and decorative purposes (i.e., calligraphy, temples/museums, brand names/logos)
In fact, you'll often find storefronts with signage that is written in traditional characters. A common example of this usage is in a favorite brand of cigarettes on the Mainland, Chunghwa (trad: 中華／simp: 中华）.
To wrap it up, given the above factors, its easy to understand why BMW chose to use the traditional character for horse instead of the PRC standard simplified. To evoke cultural and aesthetic significance.