报刊论文

Grammar Features and Rhetorical Devices of English

Newspaper Headlines

Abstract: Although various media are in development, newspaper is still one of

the major media for us to get information. People do not have enough time to read the whole news, they just look through the headline of the news to guess what it is talking about, because the headline of newspaper is the concentration of its content. English newspaper headlines have their own special features, culture backgrounds, they‟re different from the daily English we used, there are still many difficulties in understanding English newspaper headlines even for some English majors.. This paper focus on the grammar features and rhetorical devices of English newspaper headlines, which can help us to have a better understanding in reading.

Key words: Newspaper headline；Grammar features；Rhetorical devices

I. Introduction

As a saying goes, \"Read the newspaper, read the headline; read the book, read the

cover.” [1] The headline plays a very special and important role in newspaper. It‟s the „eye‟ of the news. Once we pick up a newspaper, it will make the first impression on us. There's a definition of news headline.

“A news headline is caption printed at the top of a page or article in a newspaper, usually in large bold letters and often summarizing the content that follows it.” [2]

News paper headlines are usually specially designed to be short, concise, and informative to convey different kinds of information. Without some knowledge of news headline features, We may be confused by the headlines like “Kuwait---Midas of the Persian Gulf”, “Tick, Tock ,Tick,,,Talk”, ect. This paper has summarized the study of newspaper development in recent years and presents the Grammar features, Rhetorical devices of English newspaper headlines in details.

II. Grammar features of English Newspaper Headlines

The tense of English newspaper headlines is changeable, the passive voice is frequently used. So there includes four parts about grammar features of English newspaper headlines.

2.1 Tenses

Generally speaking, there are three kinds of tenses of English newspaper headline, simple present sense, simple future sense and present continuous sense . [3]

2.1.1 The simple present tense is widely used to describe something happening in the present or in the past. It can highlight the things that already happened and brings them a sense of reality and freshness. The tense is used to save space and increase freshness and immediacy.

e.g. Longevity star Dies at 110

Thailand Calls fir IMF Rescue Plan Bomb Injures 26 on Paris Train

2.1.2 To refer to the future, the structure „be + to do‟ is more frequently used in headlines, and the word „be‟ is often omitted to save space.

e.g. Japan to help elderly jobless (Japan is to help the elderly jobless)

2.1.3 The present progressive tense is sometimes used, mostly to describe something that is developing, and the auxiliary is often omitted. e.g. Thames approaching danger level India Mending Fences

2.2 Omission

A headline is originally a complete sentence, but to make it concise, some grammatical parts or words are frequently left out, especially the function words, such as articles, personal pronouns, this, that, and, to be, etc. [4]

2.2.1 Omission of definite article “the” & indefinite articles “a”, “an”

e.g. 37 Killed in Italian Plane Crash (37 Killed in an Italian Plane Crash)

Chinese Stocks Sink to Record Low amid Growing Inflation Concerns (The Chinese Stocks Sink to a Record Low amid the Growing Inflation Concerns)

2.2.2 Omission of “and”

e.g. Laurel, Aquino Cut Ties (Laurel and Aquino Cut Ties)

2.2.3 Omission of link verb “be”

e.g. Political Efforts Vital to Reform—Party Leader (Political Efforts Are Vital to

Reform—Party Leader)

2.3 Voices

Active voice is generally used in headlines, because rhetorically it makes headlines more colorful and appealing. Passive constructions are also sometimes used in headlines to draw readers‟ attention, however the auxiliary is omitted and only the past participle is left.

e.g. Journalist Fired in Spy Debate (A Journalist Is Fired in a Spy Debate)

Iraq‟s Olympic Rep Kidnapped (Iraq‟s Olympic Rep is Kidnapped)

2.4 Punctuations

The purpose of using punctuations in headlines is to draw readers‟ attention. The frequently used punctuations are: comma, semi-comma, question marks, quotation marks, and colon, and full stops are seldom used.

2.4.1 Commas (,) are used to substitute the coordinating conjunction „and‟.

e.g. US, Russia Fail to Agree on WTO Membership (US and Russia Fail to Agree

on WTO Membership)

Guangzhou Fair Closes, Trade Booms (The Guangzhou Fair Closes and Trade Booms)

2.4.2 Colons (:) are used to replace „say‟, introducing a quotation; or „be‟, functioning as explanation or supplement of the previous content.

e.g. Chinese Cooks: Masters of Turning Turnip into Flower (Chinese Cooks Are

Masters of Turning a Turnip into a Flower)

2.4.3 Question marks (?) are used to introduce a question, or to express what is likely to take place in the future, or implies doubts about what has been reported.

e.g. What Declining Registration Rate for Post-Grad Exam Mean? Containment:

New Iraq Policy?

2.4.4 Exclamation marks (!) are used to emphasize a point or express exclamation about the content. (surprise, shock, anger, excitement,…)

e.g. US Army Recruit Get New Order: No Smoking!

III. Rhetorical Features of English Newspaper Headlines

To achieve vividness and humor and to entice (persuade) and appeal to more readers, various rhetorical devices are employed in headlines. Rhetorical devices of English newspaper headlines mainly have six kinds. They are as follows.

3.1 Imitation

e.g. The Son Also Rises (To Save or Not to Save)

The Road That Must be Taken (Do as Maoris Do) The Great Mall of China (Candidate in the Wind)

3.2 Metaphor

e.g. A Dove Taking Wing

Whitewater May Drown Democrats Trouble Brewing 3.3 Alliteration

Alliteration is the repetition of initial identical consonant sounds in successive or

closely associated syllables, esp. stressed syllables

e.g. Pride and Prejudice

Sense and Sensibility

Kill or Cure?

3.4 Rhyme

Rhyme is the repetition of an identical stressed vowel sound, followed by identical consonant sound but preceded by different consonants e.g. Masculine rhyme: Foe/toe

Feminine rhyme: Revival/arrival Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble 3.5 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.

e.g. Why is the river so rich? It has two banks.

Why are monkeys as talkative as women? Each monkey has a tail

3.6 Idiom

e.g. Rome is not built in a day. Third time lucky.

IV .Conclusion

Above all, in a fast changing world, news media is the best channel of knowing every field. English newspaper headlines can use different kinds skills of grammar 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，《新闻报刊标题特点初探》，湘潭师范学院报,1995 [2].张琼，《英语新闻的标题特点》,湖南经济管理干部学院报,2001 [3].汤慧，汤毅，《新闻标题特点小议》,2002 [4].端木义方，《英美报刊阅读教程》,1994