Structure Features and Rhetorical Devices of English Newspaper Headlines 报刊学英语论文.doc

Structure Features and Rhetorical Devices of English Newspaper Headlines Abstract: With the development of mass media, newspaper is one of the major media for us to get information all over the world. Nowadays English newspaper is very popular and read all over Chine. However, many people still have difficulty in understanding English newspaper headlines even for some English majors. This is because English newspaper headlines have their own special features, culture backgrounds and different from the daily English we used in many aspects. This paper will then focus on the lexical, structure features and rhetorical devices of English newspaper headlines, which can help us to have a better understanding when we are reading newspapers. Key words: Newspaper headline, Lexical features, Structure features, Rhetorical devices.摘要：随着传媒的发展，报纸逐渐成为我们获取世界各地的信息主要媒介。现在，英文报纸的阅读更是非常流行。然而，许多人仍是很难理解英文报纸的标题，即使是英语专业的学生。这是因为英语报纸的标题有着它们自己独有的特点，文化背景和日常英语与我们在很多方面的不同。本文将重点放在词汇，结构特点和修辞在英语报纸中的特点，当我们在读报纸，它可以帮助我们有更好的理解。关键词：报纸的标题，词汇特征，结构特点，修辞。1. Introduction Every time we pick up a newspaper, what come into our sight will be lots of news headlines. A headline has become an indispensable part of newspaper. The editor means to attract the readers attention through headlines. As a result, news paper headlines are usually specially designed to be short, concise, and informative to convey different kinds of information. We may be confused by the headlines like “Caters War on Waste”, “UFO Sighted”, “Smugglers Get Jail and Fines”, “Weekly Mag for Stamp Lovers to Be Launched”, ect. Yet without some knowledge of news headline features, it is not easy for us to read English newspaper. This paper has summarized the study of newspaper development in recent years and presents the lexical features, structure features and rhetorical devices of English newspaper headlines in details.2. Lexical Features of English Newspaper Headlines Lexical features of English newspaper headlines can mainly include four parts. They are exemplified as follows. 1 Abbreviation Abbreviation, which is used in a large quantity in English newspaper, means “A shortened form of a word or phrase used chiefly in writing to represent the complete form”. Generally speaking there are 3 kinds of Abbreviations used in the newspaper. Abbreviation for organizations Examples: UNESCO = Uinted Nations Educational, Scientific and Culture Organization PLO = Palestine Liberation Organization IOC = International Olympic Committee NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration APEC = Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ConferenceFIFA = Federation Internationale de Football Association Abbreviation for profession and career Examples: MP = member of parliament PM = prime minister GM = general manager PA = personal assistant Abbreviation for our familiar things Examples: UFO = Unidentified Flying Object DJI = Dow-Jones Index AIDS = Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome GMT = Greenwich Mean Times Laser = Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of RadiationRadar = Radio Detection and Ranging Sonar = Sound Navigation RangingTOEFL = Test of English as A Foreign LanguageIELTS = International English Language Testing System2 Shortening Shortening of different words in newspaper aims to spare more space or to cut down the length of the headlines. Examples: grad graduate hosp hospital cig cigarette Cell cellular Sec second Reps representativesInfo information Intl international Deli delicatessenHi-fi high fidelity Hi-tech high technology 3-D three dimensional G-7 Group of seven A-bomb atom bomb V-day victory day 3 Compound Compound words in English newspaper are usually formed by two or over two words. By compounding, we can make complicated structure simpler, whats more, save space. Examples: “Plan to aid school dropouts extended” ( China Daily, Feb.5.1998 ). Here “school dropouts” refers to “the student who drops out of school”. “Li stresses corruption fight” (China Daily, Feb.6.1998). Here “corruption fight” refers to “fight against corruption”.4 Informal and Small Words Newspaper headlines are likely to use informal and small words because small words have more meanings than big words and can be used in many cases. In news English these words are refered to as “synonyms of all work”.Examples: aimpurpose, design, object intention, etc. meetassembly, convention, congregation, exam,etc, pactcompact, contract,agreement,convention dealnegotiationm,transaction,bargain,etc.3. Structure Features of English Newspaper Headlines Structure features of English newspaper headlines can be divided into two aspects. They are as follows: 1 Omission Omission is one of the major features of English newspaper headlines. Generally speaking, omission can be classified 4 types. Omission of articles Examples: Italian Ex-mayor Murdered ( = A Italian Ex-mayor Was Murdered ) Tenth of British Mackerel Catch Ground into Feed (= A Tenth of the British markerel Catch Ground into Feed ) Omission of conjunction and pronoun Examples: USA, Vietnam Resume Talks ( = USA and Vietnam Resume Talks )Have Dollars, Will Sell ( = If You Have Dollars, Will Sell ) Omission of “be ” and auxiliary verbs Examples: Three Dead after Inhaling over Gas ( = Three Are Dead after Inhaling over Gas )Married Women to Get Care Allowance ( = Married Women Are to Get Care Allowance ) PNCs world views praised ( = PNCs world views were praised ) Omission of verbs Examples: Ballots, Not Bullets ( = Algerians Want Ballots, Not Bullets )Pom peii Reported Seriously Damaged ( = Pom peii Reported to Have Benn Seriously Damage)2 Use Noun to Replace Adjective, Phrase, and Verb Nouns are frequently used in newspaper Headlines to replace different words to form various structures. So nouns are the most animated words in news headlines. Examples: Yugoslav pianist stirring music world ( “music world” = “musical world” ) Corruption Reports Against Police Rise ( “corruption reports” = “reports on corruption complaints ”)Female axe murderer executed ( “female axe murdered” = “ a female murderer who killed with an axe ” ) Export growth to beat crisis ( “growth” is used to replace “grow” )4. Rhetorical Devices Of English Newspaper Headlines Rhetorical devices of English newspaper headlines mainly have six kinds. They are as follows.1 ImitationExamples: The Son Also Rises To Save or Not to SaveThe Road That Must be Taken Do as Maoris Do The Great Mall of China Candidate in the Wind iPod, therefore, i am2 MetaphorExamples: A Dove Taking Wing Whitewater May Drown DemocratsTrouble Brewing待添加的隐藏文字内容33 Alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of initial identical consonant sounds in successive or closely associated syllables, esp. stressed syllables.Examples: Pride and Prejudice Sense and SensibilityKill or Cure? Carrots and Clubs?Solitary Soldier Tiger Tied Virtual Villains4 Rhyme Rhyme is the repetition of an identical stressed vowel sound, followed by identical consonant sound but preceded by different consonantsExamples: Masculine rhyme: Foe/toe meet/fleet make/brakeFeminine rhyme: Revival/arrival mountain/fountainEye rhyme: Brain Gain/Drain Dream Team Wheels and DealsBubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble Its More Than a War5 Pun Pun is an expression that achieves emphasis or humor by contriving an ambiguity, two distinct meanings suggested either by the same word or by two similar sounding words.Examples: Why is the river so rich? It has two banks.Why are monkeys as talkative as women? Each monkey has a tail(tale).Why is that female movie star so cool? She has many fans.Which can run faster, heat or cold? Heat, because everyone can catch cold.What is the worst weather for mice?When it rains cats and dogs.Why is the bride always unlucky on her wedding day? Because she can never marry the best man.What is mind? It doesnt matter.What is the matter? Never mind.6 Idiom Examples: Rome is not built in a day. Third time lucky. The seven-year itch.Conclusion To sum up, English newspaper headlines can use different kinds skills of lexical features, structure features and rhetorical devices to create many effects. Besides the features mentioned above, there many other features in English newspaper headlines for us to analyze. Understanding the headlines of the news is a gateway to understand the whole news, so news headlines is an area worthwhile for us to go deep into. References:1.刘金明, 1995, 英语报刊新闻标题特点初探 , 湖潭师范学院学报2.张琼, 2001, 英语新闻的标题特点, 湖南经济管理干部学院报3.汤慧, 汤毅, 2002, 英语新闻标题特点小议, 江汉石油学院学报4.端木义方, 1994, 英美报刊阅读教程, 南京大学出版社