四川师范大学文理学院本科毕业论文
Language Features and Translation Strategies of
English News Headlines
英语新闻标题的语言特点及其翻译
学生姓名 刘 佳
院系名称 外 语 系
专业名称 英语（师范）
班 级 2008级 4班
学 号 200812105216
指导教师 王 允（讲师）
答辩时间 20xx年4月9日
英语新闻标题的语言特点及其翻译
学生： xxx 指导教师：xxx(职称)
摘要：新闻英语旨在向人们提供整个国际社会中各个领域的最新信息，而标题在新闻 道中具有独特的地位,因此在整个新闻英语翻译中标题翻译的作用不可忽视。新闻标题 在新闻报导中起着独特的作用：提炼新闻事实精华，评价新闻是否可读，吸引读者关 新闻故事本身。它用简约的文字浓缩了新闻报道中最精华、最值得关注的内容。一般 说，好的新闻标题都具有以下特点：简约、醒目、概括、风趣。新闻英语标题作为新 报道的开门点睛之笔,具有特定的文体、语法和修辞特点.新闻英语标题的翻译在整篇 闻报道的翻译中具有极其重要的地位,其特点、结构、翻译技巧和要求颇有深入探讨的 必要。
关键词：英语新闻标题；特点；翻译技巧
Language Features and Translation Strategies of English News
Headlines
Abstract：Journalistic English serves as a way to widen one’s knowledge of international characteristics and translation of news headlines. The headline plays a significant role in… headline has a series of characteristics: brief, conspicuousness, general and humor. ……… ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. ……………………………………………………………………………………………....... ………………………………………………………………………………………………...
Key words: news headline; characteristic; the strategies of translation
Contents
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1
PartⅠ The Definition, Function and Classification of News Headline ........ 2
1.1The definition of headline .......................................................................... 2
1.2 The functions of news headline ................................................................. 2
1.2.1 Advertising or selling the news ........................................................ 3
1.2.2 Summarizing the news content ........................................................ 3
1.2.3 Beatifying the physical appearance of a newspaper ........................ 3
1.3 The classification of news headline ........................ 错误！未定义书签。
1.3.1 The classification according to the nature of headlines错误！未定义书签。
1.3.2The classification according to the forms of headlines错误！未定义书签。
Part Ⅱ The Language Features of English News Headlines错误！未定义书签。
2.1 The lexical features of news headlines .................... 错误！未定义书签。
2.1.1 The preference for short words ...................... 错误！未定义书签。
2.1.2 The use of abbreviations and acronyms ......... 错误！未定义书签。
2.1.3 The conversion of parts of speech .................. 错误！未定义书签。
2.1.4 The neologisms .............................................. 错误！未定义书签。
2.2 The grammatical features of news headlines .......... 错误！未定义书签。
2.2.1 Tense and voice .............................................. 错误！未定义书签。
2.2.2 Omission ......................................................... 错误！未定义书签。
2.2.3 Punctuation ..................................................... 错误！未定义书签。
2.3 The rhetorical features of news headline ................ 错误！未定义书签。
2.3.1 Alliteration ...................................................... 错误！未定义书签。
2.3.2 Assonance and metaphor ................................ 错误！未定义书签。
2.3.3 Pun .................................................................. 错误！未定义书签。
2.3.4 Parody and antithesis ...................................... 错误！未定义书签。 Part Ⅲ The Translation of News Headlines ............... 错误！未定义书签。
3.1 The criteria of headline translation.......................... 错误！未定义书签。
3.1.1 The general criteria of translation .................. 错误！未定义书签。
3.1.2 The criteria of headline translation ................ 错误！未定义书签。
3.2 The strategies of news headline translation ............ 错误！未定义书签。
3.2.1 Literal translation ........................................... 错误！未定义书签。
3.2.2 Translation of punctuation.............................. 错误！未定义书签。
3.2.3 Addition approach .......................................... 错误！未定义书签。
3.2.4 Flexible translation of rhetoric ....................... 错误！未定义书签。
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 5
Bibliography ......................................................................................................... 6
Introduction
Journalistic English is significant when the promotion of communication is concerned. With the gradual deepening of the opening policy, China’s entry into the WTO, and the emergence of the global village, the Chinese people are more eager to know the world than they were ever before. Reading English newspapers or Chinese translation of news stories from English media, which has become a daily must for many people, is widely regarded as a way to widen one’s scope of knowledge. So as a bridge for more information, the role of news translation goes well without saying.
As the start of news stories, News headlines hold a key position. Nowadays the pace of living becomes more rapidly, many people do not have enough time to read the whole reports, and instead, they usually scan the news headlines to select the useful information. Because the language of newspaper headlines that is intensively compact and cleverly designed to serve the major purposes of telling the news, drawing attention and establishing character. Considering this fact, the author places special emphasis on the grammatical characteristics of news headlines and the translation tactics.
Generally speaking a good headline is characterized by conciseness, originality and attractiveness. It is probably for this reason that beginners to journalistic English have no idea of what the report says at the first sight of its headline and feel it difficult to comprehend and translate the headline. But if they get into a full knowledge of the features of English news headline, it won’t be a big problem for understanding and translating English news headline.
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PartⅠ The Definition, Function and Classification of News
Headline
1.1 The definition of headline
When reading a newspaper, one should first read a headline. Then what is a headline? So in the following there are some different versions of definition of a headline collected. Then a working definition of headline in this paper is given after the analysis of all the provisions.
The concept of “a news headline” has been defined by numerous journalists and scholars. For instance, Bruce H.Westley, in his News Editing (Second Edition), wrote, a headline is “any line or collection of lines of display type that precedes a story to introduce or summarize it.”(Westley, 1972:141) And authoritative English dictionary defines a headline as follows: The heading printed in large letters above a story in a newspaper.
Another enduring definition of news headline is offered by Longman Dictionary of the English Language, which goes “a head of a newspaper story or article, usually printed in large type and devised to summarize the story or article that follows”.
The present writer also agrees with the definition offered by Webster’s Third New International Dictionary: “A head of a newspaper story or article, usually printed in large type and devised to summarize, give essential information about, or interest readers in reading the story or article that follows.” (Webster, 1961:1042) 夹注中如是中文作者只用其姓拼音即可,如：（Wang,1961:1042）
In a word, a headline is the heading printed above a story or article, usually printed in large letters or different type and devised to summarize, comment on or interest readers into reading the story or article that follows.
1.2 The functions of news headline
The news headline is the fundamental part of any piece of news. In a time when it’s harder to get people’s attention, good writers always spend too much time and creative energy working on their headlines because they know that the headline is one of the most important parts of their work. According to Bruce H.Westley, a headline, if effectively made, must meet three requirements—to capture the essence of the event, to attract readers’ attention and to
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beautify the page on which it appears.
1.2.1 Advertising or selling the news
That is to say, it should interest the causal reader to such an extent that he will read the story. A headline which does not arouse interest at first glance fails of its purpose. The determining factor as to whether a certain story will be read or passed by is usually the headline. The reader’s eye sweeps rapidly over a page, stopping momentarily at each headline. Almost instantaneously the reader decides, from this briefest of glances, whether or not he will read a story. Therefore a good copyreader gives considerable thought to the headline which he prepares for any story, long or short, trivial or significant, dull or interesting. Good heads are excellent advertisements for the stories. They are striking; they compel attention; they arouse interest; they lead the reader into the story, without the slightest effort on his part, which is what every good headline should do. In a word, a good head sells as well as tells.
1.2.2 Summarizing the news content
Naturally readers buy newspapers in order to keep posted on daily happenings, but to serve kinds of purposes; today’s English newspapers are getting fatter with a great number of pages. For example, a daily newspaper has ranged from about 20 pages to about 80 or 90 pages. And newspapers on Sundays sometimes include more than 200 pages. Literally no one can read all the stories processed every day. Therefore, many readers have formed the habit of scanning headlines, which makes possible rapid news comprehension. Thus one of the most important purposes of headlines is to inform readers quickly, which means that a well-designed headline immediately tells them the gist of the accompanying story.
Considering the following:
Baker to Brief Bush on Iraq Debt Progress (AFP, Dec.29, 2003)
贝克将向布什汇报伊拉克债务问题进展
According to the report, US envoy, James Baker, headed home to brief President Bush on progress towards reducing Iraq’s crippling debt after he won pledges from China and Japan to help ease that burden. Just glance at the headline and the readers will know what the story is about. And if they consider the accompanying article worth perusal, careful readers will slow up for more details.
1.2.3 Beatifying the physical appearance of a newspaper
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Headlines, with their variety in size and type, do much to make the modern newspaper page attractive. Today headlines introduce contrast, bringing black type and white space as a relief to the dull gray of the body type. Headlines properly placed bring balance, symmetry, and typographical beauty to a well-arranged page. Dull headlines make a dull page. As often compared with shop windows, headlines must be well-written and well-placed in style that has been thoroughly designed, the pages are clear and good-looking. In other words, the headlines break the monotony of a newspaper page and serve as an eye-releaser for the reader.
…
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Conclusion
To sum up, the present paper has made an investigation of English news headline on the lexical, grammatical and rhetorical levels so as to reveal their relations with the translation of English news headline.
The present author first gives a working definition for headline. A headline is a line or lines of concise words outside a newspaper story or article, usually printed in large or different type and devised to summarize or make comments on its contents. Then the present author expatiates on the features of English news headline on grammatical, lexical and rhetorical levels and examples are provided to support, because it is helpful for translation to master the knowledge of the special features of a news style.
At the last chapter, the present author concentrates on discussion the different strategies to translate various kinds of headlines. In the headlines, the language is very accurate, brief, and concise, and sometimes, in order to appeal to the readers’ interests, some literary devices are applied in it. The criteria, principles and methods have special requirements to news reporting translation in practical translation on the basis of the general translation theories…..
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