Abstract]HeadlinesarequiteessentialforEnglishnews.Theyarethewindowsofnews.Thispaperdescribesthetypesofheadlinesandalsoexplainsthefeaturesofheadlines.Firstly,introductionofclassificationsofheadlinescangivereadersaperceptualknowledge.Secondly,inordertogivereaderssomerationalknowledgeaboutheadlines,thispaperthenexplainscharacteristicsofvocabulariesinheadlines,ie.shortwords,shortenings,quotations,proverbs,wisdoms,idiomsareoftenusedinheadline.Italsogivesexamplesofrhetoricalcharacteristicssuchasmetaphor,contrast,rhyme,pun,metonymyandparadoxandsoonsoforth.Finallythepaperconcludestenseandvoicefeaturesinheadlinesandsumsupthemostimportantfeatureofheadlines:omission.Newsmediaisthebestchannelofknowingeveryfieldincludingpolitics,economics,science,culture,andsociety.ThispaperaimstohelpEnglishlearnersknowEnglishnewswellandreadnewsefficiently.

[KeyWords]English;headline;feature

【摘要】英语新闻标题在报刊英语中占有十分重要的地位，可谓是新闻的概要，也是新闻的窗口。本文就新闻标题进行了全面的归类和分析。首先，描述标题在形式上的分类和意义上的分类，让读者对新闻标题有一定的感性认识；然后再进一步说明标题用词短小，喜欢用缩略词和截短词及典故；再对新闻标题善用各种修辞手段：比喻，对比，押韵，双关，借代，矛盾修辞法进行举例分析；又归纳了时态语态在新闻标题中的变换省略和替代；最后对新闻标题最大的特色：省略详加叙述。至此，希望读者已经对英语新闻标题有了理性深入的了解。阅读新闻是对了解当今政治，经济，科学，文化，和社会等信息最有效的方法，而对英语新闻标题的理解掌握，则使英语新闻的阅读更有效率。

【关键词】英语;新闻标题;特点

1.Introduction

Apieceofnewsiscomposedbythreeparts:headline，leadingandbodyamongwhichaheadlineistheepitomeandhighlightofthecontentofnewspapersandperiodicals.

Headlinesprintedonthepapersarethewindowsofthenewsanditcanletreadersknowitisworthreading.itisessentialforreaderstounderstandheadlinestodecidewhichcolumnshouldbereadwhilewhichnot.

Inthispaper,featuresofusingvocabulary,tenseandvoice，omissionofwordsandusingofvariousrhetoricofheadlinesfromEnglishnewspapersandperiodicalsareapproachedforthepurposeofgivingabetterunderstandingofthecontentsofnewsandimprovingEnglishlearners’readingability.

2.Typesofheadlines

2.1Categoriesaccordingtotheirforms.

2.1.1flushleftheadline

Inaflushleftheadline,everywordtakesuponelineandbeginsattheveryleft.ThatisthecommonformofmodernEnglishnewspapers.Thefollowingexamplecanshowyouwhatisaflushleftheadline.

e.g.IMF

WILL

HAVE

SAY

2.1.2Bannerheadline

Everyheadlinewordinitislargeandboldandthewholeheadlineoftencoversseveralcolumns.Itisalsocalledfirstlargeheadlineandoftenusedinfrontpageforitsattraction.

e.g.HousePassesBushPlantoCutTaxes

2.1.3dropformheadline

Itlookslikealadder.Thereareseverallinesinitandthefollowinglinedrawsbackseverallettersfromtheaboveone.Beautyandniceareitsmerits.

e.g.FBIAgreestoCease

ItsIllegalSurveillance

OftheResearchInstitute

2.1.4InvertedPyramidheadline

Itisalsopopularfornicelooking.ItformsaPyramid-lookingheadline.

e.g.FactoryWalkout

ThreatOver

Sacking

2.1.5Doubleheadline

Thiskindofheadlineisusedmostlyforthereportofbigevents.Ithastwolines:oneismainheadlineandtheotherauxiliaryheadline.

(1)e.g.1ExpecttoGotoU.S.

CastrotoFreeThousandsofPrisoners

(2)e.g.2ItIsn’ttheCowThatAreMad

It’sthePeopleThatAregoingMad

2.1.6Jumpheadheadline

Theheadlineisdividedintotwoparts:originalheadandjumphead.Aoriginalpartisinonepage,butafterthebodyjumpspages,theoriginalheadwillbechangedintoajumpheadwhichusesdifferentwordsfromoriginalonetoexpressthesamemeaning.

e.g.PentagenPlans

SystemtoFlight

RussiaSatellites

(original)

U.S.PlansWeapon

AgainstSatellites

(jumphead)

2.2Categoriesaccordingtotheirmeanings

2.2.1Straitheadline

Thiskindofheadlinetellsusstraitaboutthesubjectsofnews.Thisisthemostcommononeandiseasytounderstand.

(1)e.g.1RailroadWorkersStrikeinArgentina.

(2)e.g.2ManJailedforMurder

(3)e.g.3OilTankerFire

2.2.2Questioningheadline

Questionmarksoftenbeseeninthiskindofheadlinesbutmostofthemdonothavemeaningsofquestioning.Theyoftengiveaclueofpossibilityorwriter’sdoubtabouttherealityofsomefacts.

(1)e.g.OilPricetoRise？

(2)e.g.NewCabinetToday？

(3)e.g.JonesPlannedtoKillBush？

(4)e.g.PoliceAllowedJailBreak？

2.2.3Featureheadline

Itisoftentousefeatureheadlinewhenapieceofnewsisunusualorreaderswillbequiteinterestedinit.Suchheadlinesarenoteasytounderstand，sometimesthewholenewsshouldberead.

(1)e.g.DownintheMouth，NewsforDentists.

Thisreportisaboutakindofvaccine,whichisstudiedoutandwillbeusedforpreventingteethdecay.

(2)e.g.、TheManWhoReignoverUK’sQueen

Reignmeansruleoveranditisonlyusedforaqueenoraking.Sotheconnectionof“man”and“reign”maygetreadersconfused,thentheymaybeeagertofindwhy.Notuntilthewholenewsareread.TheyfindthemanisjustacaptainofashipnamedQueenMary.

2.2.4.Orationheadline

Thiskindofheadlinecanbedividedinto：

(ⅰ)Useofsayingsasheadlines

e.g.“WeOweOurLivestoOurPilot”

(ⅱ)Quotewordsfrominterviewersorreportersorotherpeopleheardbywriters.

(1)e.g.“WeHavetoSaveOurPeople”

(2)e.g.“Wewon’tQuit”

(ⅲ)Chooseonesentence，somewordsoronewordfromthewholenewsasaheadline.

(1)e.g.IHaveADream

(2)e.g.MugwumpBritain

“MugwumpBritain”criticizeBritainisadouble－dealer.SheatonehandkeepsaspecialrelationshipwithU.S.butattheotherhandsheclaimstobeasidewithwestEurope.

(ⅳ)Somewordsinaheadlinewithquotationmarksareusuallynottheiroriginalmeanings.

e.g.NorseInvasion

TheheadlinedoesnotindicatetheinvasionbynorthEuropeinancient.ItreallytellsthatNorwaymengoshoppingandtouringinalargegroupasinvasion.Sothissocalledinvasionisnotitsoriginalmeaning.

3.Featuresofusingvocabulariesinheadlines

Headlinesofnewstendtousespecialwordswhichweallknowindailybutmaygetconfusedwhenmeettheminnews.

3.1Shortwordsareoftenused.

Editorsdisgustlongwordsbadlywhichnotonlytakeuplinesbutalsoseemedugly.Forthesakeofniceandbalance，editorslikeshortwordstogeneralizenews.

e.g.aid－assistancefoe－opponent;enemy

bid－attemptnab－capture

pact－agreementwed－marry

probe－investigationrap－accusation,charge

rout－defeat,completelyset－ready

“Ithasbeenlastingseveralyearstouseshortwordsinnewsheadlines.Mncken，anAmericanlinguist，said‘itistheoutstandingcharacteristicofusingveryshortwordsinheadlines.’inhiswork‘AmericanEnglish’.SimilarexamplesasabovearesomanyinmodernEnglishnewspapers.”[1]p48

“Itisworthsayingthatsinglesyllablesbeginningwithexplodeareusedmoreforitsshortnessandpower，suchasbid，bust，pop，cut，chop，kill，curb，gut，mug….ManyofthevocabulariesinheadlinesareAnglo－Saxsonwordswhichareoral，simple，plainandlively.What’smore,theyhavebeenacceptedbythepublic.”[2]p48

“YetvocabulariesofEnglishheadlinessometimestendtoshortsothattheylackofaccuracy.Thatshouldnotbelearned.”[3]p48

3.2Useofshorteningswidely.

InEnglish，therearethreekindsofshortenings:acronyms，alphabetismsandclippings，whicharewidelyusedinheadlinesfortheirshortnessandconciseness.

(1)e.g.AutoChieftoGet$219M

(2)e.g.MergerHelpsChryslerCEO

(Auto－automobilecompany,M－million,CEO－ChiefExecutiveOfficer）

3.3Useofliteraryquotations，proverbs，wisdoms，idioms.

Terry.L.Fredenkson，inhis“JournalEnglish”hesaididiomsarefullofheadlines.Theyareusedwidelyaswellaschangedtheirformsveryoftentogiveasenseofbeinghumorandalive.

(1)e.g.AllRoadstoVenice

(ChangingformofallroadsleadtoRome)

(2)e.g.FarewelltoArms

Ittellsaboutthecommunistparty’ssecretaryofsovietunionadvisedUSpresidenttodestroynuclearweaponscompletely.Itquotesthenameofafamousbook,“AFareWelltoArms”.

(3)e.gRefugeesinDiceStraits

“Indicestraits”isanidiommeansinadifficultordangeroussituation.

3.4Useofneologismandforeignwords

Thiskindofuncommonwordcanalsostrikestheeye.Editorsknowreadersareunfamiliarwiththesewords,sotheyalwaysgiveexplanationinacontext.Neologismandforeignwordsalwaysconnectedwithplacesandcontentsthatarereported.

(1)e.g.YenbenefitsfromEuropeanfunds

YenisJapanesemonitoryunit.

(2)e.g.‘Beriozka’bringsRussianForkDance

“Berioaka”isRussian“Beriozka(birchtree)Company”

3.5Newwordsandwrongspellings

“Togiveastrikingandfreshfeeling,editorstendtousenewwordsandwrongspellings.

(1)e.g.TheOrangemostestDrinkintheWorld

Orangemostestismadeupbyorange+most+est,“most”and“est”arebothusedtogethertostressthequalityoftheorangedrink.

(2)e.g.WeKnowEggsactlyHowtoSellEggs

Eggsactlyisasimilarsoundofexactlyandrelativetoeggs.Thisuniquewordformationgamecandoubtlesslycatchreaders’eyes.”[4]p115

3.6Imitation

3.6.1Changletters

Thisistheeasiestwaytoimitationbychanginglettersofawordorsomewordswearefamiliarwith.

e.g.ManBehavingDadly

ThetextintroducesanEnglishTVprogram“ManBehavingBadly”inwhichthelastscreenshowsabadmangotasonandbecomeadad,sothewriterreplacethebadlyintodadly.

3.6.2Addletters

e.g.Gooooooal!ButPitytheGuyBetweenthePosts

Addfive“O”andthepictureofkickinginishere.

3.6.3Addhyphens

Ahyphencandivideawordintotwoparts,fromwhichnewsenseappears.

e.g.Cat-astrophicMistakeoverFishyMisery

4.Usingofrhetoricinheadlines.

Thiskindofheadlinesusevariousrhetoricmeanstoattractreaders.

4.1Metaphor

e.g.AHouseinTwoParts

ThisisaheadlineofareportdiscussingCanadiancountrysystem.Thisreportintroducemainexistingdifferencesinlanguage,law，culturalandconceptbetweenEnglishspeakingCanadaandFrenchspeakingCanada.TherebyillustratetheunsteadyofCanadiansystem.“AHouseinTwoPart”issuitableaswellasvivid.

4.2Contrast

e.g.U.S.isLongonGameShows，ShortonForeignNews

ThisisapressonU.S.TVprogram.Itisdistinctlycontrastandirony.

4.3AlliterationandConsonance

(1)e.g.SoldiersSalarySoars

“S”isthebeginningletterofeverywords，andthisisalliterate.

(2)e.g“TheGreatWhiteWait’’

“Ine.g2.“white”indicatesnowandletter“T”istherhymeendingofthreewords.”[5]p36

“Alliterationandrhymeheresoundswellandgiveaspecialatmospheretocatchreaderseyes.”[6]p139

.4Puns

Punsareofteninirony，humorousheadlines.Iftheyareusedproperthistrendwouldbestronger.

(1)e.g.“TheSunSetsFortheLastTime”

“IttellsusanEnglishnewspaperinHongKongcalledsunisstopcomingout.The‘sun’hereisapun.”[7]p111

(2)e.g.“AfricanStatesmanStillSowingSeedsforFuture”

“ThisreportisaboutJuliusNyerere，presidentofTansonia，whoissowingseedshappilyinhishometownwhereisfarfrombigcitiesafterretired.ButAfricaisunsteadythusmanyinternationalleadersgoallthewaytolearnfromhimthewaysofsavingacountry.SoheisstillsowingseedsforthefutureofAfrica.‘Sowingseeds’isapuninthisheadline.”[8]p349

4.5Metonymy

Whenusingmetonymy,thepersonorthethingawriterwanttowritearenotshowndirectlyinaheadline，butbyborrowingotherthingsconnectedtoindicatethemindirectly.

(1)e.g.ARoyalPainFortheCrown

HerecrownisnottherealcrownbutindicatetheQueen.

(2)e.g.UncleSam’sIsland

UncleSamisnearlyknowntoall.ItisanotherinformalsayingsofAmericangovernmentorAmericans.

Metonymycanavoidrepeatingcertainwordsandstrengthentheaffection，soitisusedlargelyinmodernnewspaper，evensomeofmetonymiesbecometobepublicwords,suchasWhiteHouse,BuckingHamPalace,DowningStreet,MotorCity,andsoon.

4.6Paradox

(1)e.g.：ForRamadan，JerusalemisQuietbutTense

（安静却不平静，斋月期间的耶路撒冷）

(2)e.g.SurgeryWithouttheSurgery?!

（动手术不用刀了?！）

Aparadoxcanmakereadersthinkfromtwo－sidewaysandletthemunderstandnewsdeeply.Tounderstandthiskindofheadlinewellweshouldchewthemtwiceorevenmore.

5.Tenseandvoiceofheadline

Verbsshowactions.Apieceofnewswillbereinforcedandanimousifaverbisusedproperly.Asforourforeignreaders,althoughitsmerits,itismoredifficulttounderstand.Verbshavetheirowntenses.Soareonesinheadlines.Butheadlinesmustshortandaccurate,sotheverbsinthemhavespecialtenseshowingmethods.Englishheadlinesdonotusepasttensebutpresenttense,thusreadersfeeltheyareinthesituationandthenewsisintime,thiscalledJournalisticPresentTense,thesameasHistoricalPresentTenseinliterature.Aboveall,headlinesoftenusethreekindoftense.

5.1Useofthesimplepresenttense

(1)e.g.wegetupatsix

(Theyusuallydoasthis.)

(2)e.g.Sheisanurse

(Presentsituation.)

Innews,presenttenseisoftenusedtodescribethingshappenedjustnow,thatistosay,itisusedtoinsteadofpasttense.

Englishlearnersshouldpayattentiontothissituation,donotconsiderpresenttenseinheadlinesastheyusuallyare.

ebackGivesChinaASensationalThomasCapWin

(TheComebackgaveChinaasensationalThomasCupWin.)

5.2Useofthesimplefuturetense

Thesimplefuturetensedescribesthingswillbehappeninthefuture.Theformsoffuturetenseare“will(shall)do”,“begoingtodo”“betodo”“beabouttodo”andsoon.ButinEnglishheadlines“betodo”forminwhich“be”isomittedisusedmost.Soinheadlines“todo”formsexpresswriters’predictionoffuturetrends.

(1)e.g.BandstoGatherForJazzFestival

(BandsaretogatherforJazzFestival.)

(2)e.g.LastTwoIraqHostagestoGoFree

(ThelasttwohostagesinIraqaretoGoFree.)

5.3Useofthepresentprogressivetense

PresentProgressiveTenseemphasizescertainthingisdoingatpresenttimeanditsresultisnotknownatnow.Also“be”isusuallyomittedfortheneedofshortness.

(1)e.g.Sino--BritishPartnershipProgressing

(Sino--BritishPartnershipisProgressing)

(2)e.g.SignsofRiftsAppearinginArgentina’sJunta

(ThesignsofriftsareappearinginArgentina’sJunta.)

5.4Useofpassivevoice

Whenverbsinheadlinesshouldusepassivevoice,the“be”in“be+participle”formandtheoperatorfollowed“by”areusuallyomitted.Thustheonlyleftpastparticiplecangiveapassivemeaningdirectlyinheadlines,learnersmustnotconfusedpassivevoiceaspasttense.

(1)e.g.DemolitionRegulationWelcomed

(Demolitionregulationiswelcomed.)

(2)e.g.Girlof18RapedafterThreatwithBreadKnife

(Agirlof18wasrapedaftersheisthreatedwithabreadknife.）

(3)e.g.12ReportedKilledinaSuicideBomb

(Itwasreportedthat12personwaskilledinasuicidebomb.)

“Infact，afterlearnersreadmore，theywillfondactivevoiceisusedfarmorethanpassivevoice.Onlywhenobjectisemphasize，passivevoiceisused.”[9]p80Pleasepayattentiontothis.

Tenseandvoiceofaheadlinecanbeconcludedinonesentence，presentparticiplecanexpresstheprogressivemeaning,pastparticiplethepassivevoice，infinitiveformthefuturetense.

(1)e.g.Gun－SafetyEducationFacingManyHurdles

(2)e.g.AircraftCarrierNamedAfterPresidentReagan

(3)e.g.HouseToVoteonErgonomicsRules

Aswereadtheseheadlineshowcanwedistinguishwhatkindoftenseandvoicethepresentparticiple，infiniteandpastparticipleindicate？Firstly，learnerscandecidebytheirknowledge.Secondlyleadingcanbereadforfurtherunderstanding.

Itshouldbenotedthatothertenseattimesareusedinorationorquestionheadlines.

(1)e.g.IWasNotHisMistress

(2)e.g.WeWon’tQuit

(3)e.g.TonesPlannedtoKillBush？

Thesetensesmainlyusedtoemphasizethetime.

6.OmissioninHeadlines

“Economyandcompressionarethemostimportantfeaturesofheadlines.”[10]p108Inordertomeettheneedoflargeamountofinformationinmodernsociety,Englishnewspapereditorsatonehandenlargetheirvolume，addingmoreinformation，attheotherhandcuttingthenumberofwordsinonepieceofnewstosaveplacebutcontainmoreinformation.Thatiswhythefunctionwordshavingnorealmeaningsarealltendtobeelectedinheadlines.

Waysofomissionarevarious:

6.1Mostofthewordsdeletedarefunctionwords.

“Thedeletedwordsareoftenarticles,linkverbs,prepositions,conjunctions,auxiliarywordsandpronouns.”[11]p341

(1)e.g.ChinaHappyForMiddleEast

（Chinahappyforthemiddleeast.）

(2)e.g.Charles,32SeeksBride

（PrinceCharles,whois32yearsold,islookingforsomeonetomarry.）

(3)e.g.Microsoft，EricssonFormingJointVenture

（MicrosoftandEricssonformingjointventure.）

(4)e.g.AlaskanOilforJapan？

(WilltherebealaskanoilforJapan?)

(5)e.g.IrishGroupKillsex－chief

（TheIrishgroupkillsitsex－chief.）

Whereasnotallofthearticlescanbeomitted.

(1)e.g.WestPointMakesaComeback

“Makeacomeback”isanidiomso“a”mustberemained.

(2)e.g.HowAmericaSeestheWorld。

Infrontof“world”theremustbea“the”.

(3)e.g.KillInTheNameOfGod

“The”shouldbehereforthesakeofdefinitconnection.

6.2Usepunctuationstosavepages

6.2.1”commacanbeinsteadof‘and’”[12]p140

(1)e.g.Tailand,MalaysiaInkSeareaty.

（TailandandMalaysiainkaseatreaty.）

(2)e.g.WomanKillsHusband,Self

（Awomankillsherhusbandandherself.）

6.2.2Useofcolon

“Said”or“say”canbeinsteadbycolonsordoublequotationmarkstogiveameaningthatsomeonesayssomethingorsomeconclusionsaredrawn;

“tobe”sometimesisreplacedbyacoloninheadlines.

(1)e.g.Hu:WeShouldSupportThirdWorldCountries

（Husaysthatweshouldsupportthethirdworldcounties.）

(2)e.g.Chinesecooks:mastersatturningaturnipintoaflower.

（Chinesecooksaremastersatturningaturnipintoaflower.）

6.2.3Useofsinglequotationmarks

Singlequotationmarkscanquotesomeone’ssaying;orthewordsinsideofthemhaveadeeporothermeanings.Singlequotationmarksareofteninsteadofdoublequotationmarksfortheyareshorter.

(1)e.g.TeenKillerWasAngryYoungMan.

(2)e.g.ChinaDemandsU.S.Stop‘Interfering’onHumanRights

(3)e.g.BushUnveilsA‘CanDo’Budget.

6.3Tosavepages，abbreviationsandacronymsareused.

6.3.1.Abbreviations

Theabbreviationsoftenreadinheadlinesarelikefollows:

Afr.－Africaapp.－appendix

Amt.－amountappox.－approximately

6.3.2.Acronyms

“Acronymsarethewordsformedfromtheinitiallettersofagroupofwords.Theycansavespaceandbeautifytheheadlinesinpicturesquedisorder.”[13]p27

Acronymscanbedividedintothreetypes:

(ⅰ)NamesofagentsororganizationssuchasCPPCC（TheChinesepeople’spoliticalconsultativeconference）andPLO，WTO…

(ⅱ)NamesofsomethingthatweuseveryoftensuchasAIDS，UFO,PC…

(ⅲ)Nounsforcareers，positionsorcreditslikePM(primeminister),MP(memberofparliament),GM(generalmanager),PA(personalassistant).

6.4Usingnouns，participlesandshortadjectivetoembellishwordstoreplacelongadjectiveorclauses.

(1)e.g.PoisonGasFearHauntsCity

（Afearofpoisongasishauntingthepeopleinacertaincity.）

(2)e.g.3HeldOverCollegeHorrorCrash

（3peoplearebeingdetainedbythepoliceconcerningahorrifyingcrashatacollege.）

6.5Useofnumbersbutwithoutofthefollowingnouns.

(1)e.g.41DieasSchoolCollapses

（41studentsdieasschoolcollapses）

(2)e.g.Mullerchargedinfondlingofboy，14

(Mullerwaschargedinfondlingofaboyof14yearsold.)

7.Conclusion

Aboveall,inafastchangingworld,newsmediaisthebestchannelofknowingeveryfieldincludingpolitics,economics,science,culture,andsociety.ToreadEnglishnewsisthebestwaytogetintouchwithmodernEnglishandunderstandingheadlineswellcanhelpreaderscomprehendthewholenewsandthusreadnewsefficiently.Thoughitbenefitsyoualot,tounderstandheadlinesisnotsuchaseasyasABC.Ifyouarereallyeagertoknowwellofheadlines,thehistoryandculturesofEnglishcountries,theworksofEnglishwriters’,theEnglishidiomsandwisdomsthatallthesekindsofknowledgeshouldbemastered.Thisneedsyouworkhardandpersevere.

Note

Exceptforthosemarkedinreferences,theotherexamplesareselectedfromEnglishDigest,EnglishSalonandChinaDailyinrecentyears.

References

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