Some Analysis on News Headline’s Features and Styles 英语论文.doc

some analysis on news headlines features and stylesabstract with the process of the globalization, more and more english newpapers are placed on chinese peoples tables. therefore, english headline becomes one of the reflections of their cultural characteristics of the english speaking countries. this paper will present a general summary of english news headlines features and styles. meanwhile, many concrete examples are attached to each feature to illustrate it clearly.key words english news headline features styles1 .introductionas chinas reform and opening policy progress and china has more contact with the outside world, we must be well-informed of what happens in other countries. one important way to achieve this end is to read english language newspapers. however, reading english language newspaper is not only an effective way to gain proficiency in english language, but also an access to know the english-speaking countries culture. as an applied language variety, journalistic english has its unique features at various language level, such as lexical level, grammatical level, and rhetorical level and it is independent from general english. these features pose challenges to chinese students. once these linguistic rules and principles are understood, many of the difficulties will disappear. english news headline is one of the active elements of journalistic english.newspaper headline is the heading printed in large letters above a story in a newpaper. it is the most important part of a news story for several reasons. firstly, it usually summaries the whole story so the hurried reader can get the gist of the story at a glance. secondly, the headline draws the readers attention to the story. a good headline should be attractive, and be able to catch the readers attention once his eyes fall upon it. thirdly, the headline helps the reader evaluate the news. since the headline summarizes the story, is expresses the theme, topic or subject of the story. by reading headlines, readers can decide whether the story is interesting or whether it is worth reading. the varieties help make the whole layout of the newspaper diversified, striking, proportionate and harmonious, thus achieving the desired effect.in this paper, i would like to study journalistic english through some analyses on english news headlines which is one of the essential elements of it. the emphasis is on the features and styles of news headline. however, it is impossible to ignore the study on the classification and functions of english news headline.2.functions of news headlinesa good news headline is a good piece of news itself. it gives the first impression of a news item and offers the most valuable information. it plays a significant role in reading newspaper. therefore, news headline, in a great extent, prescribes the content of a news item. generally speaking, the functions of news headline mainly shows in three aspects: arousing the readers interest; beautifying the newspaper page and indicating how important each news item is. among them, the most important function is indicating the most valuable parts of a news item to readers. new headline shows the readers the most significant content of a new report in fewest words and most conspicuous forms. only in this way, readers can choose the news which is necessary to read or know the important information as soon as possible through browsing the newspapers. for the time-limited people, they can obtain the general information with the help of skimming the news headline. readers can make choice to read new items according to the headlines. in modern society, the business-occupied people only read news headlines because of the rapid pace of city life and variety of newly born newspaper and magazines. in conclusion, news headline plays a significant role in the time-limited world. it helps people get information as soon as possible without wasting time.3.classifications of english news headlinesnews headline in newspaper appears in front of the readers eyes in various styles and forms. actually there is not a certain statistic to show how many kinds of headlines. the following are commonly seen in most english language papers and the classifications are according to different standards.3.1 in terms of forms and contents3.1.1 straight headlineit is the easiest news headline for the readers to understand. this kind of news headline usually highly summarizes the news item and represents readers the most valuable content. from this, the readers can get an impression of the directness and vividness of english language. now let us have some examples to illustrate it.a.girls die in blazeb.taiwan recognizes mainland currency3.1.2 headlines that contain a question(1) indicating things are likely to happen in the future, such as,a.oil price to riseb.opec to raise oil output?(2) doubting about the reality of some affairsa.korea unity in fire year?b.a europe “with one voice”?c.police allowed jailbreak?those who know the situation or have the common sense would suspect the above news item and their possibilities.(3)representing the reasons of a specific eventa.murder on campus: can it be averted?b.why congress dont work?from above, we can come to a conclusion naturally that the appropriate use of question type news headline can have an unexpected effect and the readers interest can be aroused more easily than statement types because of its diversification and uncertainty.3.1.3 headlines that contain a quotation(1) using the reasonable words from people as a news headlinelets share a typical example:” we owe lives to our pilots”. this news headline is a sentence said by someone.(2) directly using words from the interviewer or a spokesmana.”we have to save our people”b.”we dont quit”c.un chief talks here “ positive”(3) using words or opinion without improvement as a headlinethere is an example to make the point:” vietnam: us planning another war”(4) the meaning of the words with a quotation mark usually differs from its general meaning.norse “invasion”3.1.4 feature headlinesfeature stories should have feature headlines. the feature headlines are marked by language that can touch a readers curiosity, amazement, skepticism or humor. they reflect the tones of the stories rather than summarize the facts in them, e.g.once-destitute village waves straw into gold3.2 from language and worlds technologyfrom the language and words technology, the news headline can be divided into the following types:3.2.1 precisea .starstruck(time)b.mugwump britain(the spectator)c.anything but beef(the economist)d.battle for brains(financial times)the examples above use only one or two words. however, all of these news headlines represent the themes of these news items.3.2.2 long and prolixa.it must be a victory which peace can be built(the sunday times)b.heavy loses are reported in fighting in south lebanon and along the coast( the sunday times)these two news headlines can be rewritten in much briefer ways like this:a.peace can be built only on a victoryb.heavy loses for fighting in lebanonthis type of news headline is limited to appear in newspaper because of the restriction of the page make-up.3.2.3 plain and ordinarya.taiwan recognizes mainland currency(south china morning post)b.kyrgyz troop free 4 u.s. hostages (the washington post)3.2.4 from classicalthis kind of news headline is in the form of quotations or from the classical works. some old sayings, proverbs and idioms are commonly used in this type of new headline. for example:a.pride and prejudicefilm location(geographical magazine)b.farewell to arms (times)c.a tale of two hearts(newsweek)d.liberty is the true mother of invention(u.s.news & world report)3.2.5 artful forms with decorationrhetoric is used in this type of news headline, such as metaphor, rhyme, iron, exaggeration and pun with the prupose of acquiring certain effects. with the help of rhetoric, the news report can be vivid, humorous, and ironic so that the readers could have the experience of enjoying reading. therefore, this kind of news headline can not be understood promptly. only when the readers finish reading the whole news report can they obtain the theme of the news.3.3 according to its formsaccording to its shape of news headline, there are different headline forms in english newspaper. this is, of course, to obtain varieties in newspaper design in order to arouse the interests of readers, avoid dullness and save space. the line of a headline must not appear too crowed with type or too empty or grossly unbalanced. if a headline is made up of several different forms, each part should be a full statement and should stand alone.3.3.1 cross line or keylinethis is the most traditional headline from which occupies only one or two columns arranged in one single line. usually it is recommended to mark a brief new story, e.g.markets brace for more volatility3.3.2 flush-left headlinesu.n.agencywarns ofu.s.surgeof deaths3.3.3 drop or step headlinemany new york clubsand offcie buildingsviolate the fire laws3.3.4 inverted pyramid forma special summer and forecastof federal and state taxdevelopment3.3.5 centered headlinedeath gap widensbetween citiesand the county3.3.6 banner headline or streamerthis is a big headline which runs across the whole printed paper. it is used to denote the importance new, e.g.opec ministers agree to drop the price of oil3.3.7 jump headthere are some news stories that are not completely carried out on one page. instead they are contained on other page. in such a case, another headline should be added. this kind of headline is called jump headline, e.g.on page onechinese firmto open in lafrom investorson page twonew firmto fosterstrategies4 features and styles of news headlinesthe language of newspaper headline is special and has its own characteristics on lexical, grammatical, and rhetorical levels. it is characterized by its brevity, attractiveness, and clarity. the brevity of a headline is achieved through the use of short words, abbreviation and acronyms. some times words are even omitted. a headline is attractive because it uses vivid, fresh language and avoids dull and trite words. therefore, various rhetorical devices can be found in headlines. its clarity is achieved by using exact words and avoiding involved, confusing or ambiguous ones. these language features pose a great challenge to foreign learners of english when they begin to read english.4.1 lexical features of new headlines4.1.1 acronyms and abbreviationit is made up from the first letters of the key words in a phrase. for instance:a islamic press to u.k. tv firm( islamic press is to use the united kingdom television firm)b china backs me peace process( me=middle east)another type is the title of some careers or positions. whats more, names of some famous things. for example:gatt (general agreement on tariffs and trade)plo(palestine liberation organization)shortening is another feature of english news headlines.ecopolitics=economy and politicsuni=universitypc= percent4.2 grammatical features of news headlines4.2.1 omission and ellipsissyntactically speaking, every news headline is a completed sentence. when expressing, the notional words are used and the functional word are omitted. articles and verb to be are avoided regularly. next are prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs and pronouns. functional words such as adverbs, linking verbs, auxiliary verbs and prepositions are omitted with the purpose of making the headlines briefers and more impressive. sometimes, even the notional words and the principle clause are not used based on the premise of not affecting the understanding of the readers.omission of articlesa plane crash kills 18 on boards( a plane crash kills 18 on boards)b 8 soldiers dead in attack(8 soldiers are dead in an attack)omission of conjuntionsa poverty, pregnancy linked(poverty and pregnancy are linked)b china, france set up partnership(china and france set up partnership)omission of the verbs and auxiliary verbsa egypt to turn desert into parks(egypt is to turn desert into parks)b global environment protection to be discussed in london(global environment protection is to be discussed)auxiliary verbs in passive voice are commonly omitted in news headlinesa lushan listed on the world heritage(lushan is listed on the world heritage)b japans run for u.n. criticized( japans run for u.n. is criticized)linking verbs are omitted sometimesa nations at odds over expansions of nato(nations are at odds over expansions)b clinton ready to make a deal( clinton is ready to make a deal)4.2.2 simplification of tense use in news headlinein english, the differences between things happened in the past and a thing which is happening right now largely depends on the changes of tenses. english news headline, without expectation, are like this. however, news headline has its unique characteristics in using. for example, the use of tense is simplified largely. because of the restrictions of the news headlines, it is impossible to use all types of tenses in english grammar. nearly all news headlines are expressed in present tense. most of the events in news story happened not long before or just now. even some events reported in newspaper are would-be events in the future. this kind of tense use gives readers a feeling to experience the events by themselves. this method is called journalistic present. that is to say, present tense can be used to narrate the past tense. there are three typical tenses used in news headline: present tense, future tense and present progressive tense.simple present tense used in news headlinesamoroso undergoes keen operationmilan-parmas new us $ 32 million brazilians are marciro amoroso, the series as top scorer last season, has undergone a keen operation in the us and will miss the start of the new season ( the china daily, july 31, 1999)simple future tense used in the news headlinesa telecom firm to sell task (