浅析英语新闻标题的特点及其汉译策略

中文题目: 浅析英语新闻标题的特点及其汉译策略英文题目: A Study on Features and Translation of English News HeadlinesContentsAbstract(in Chinese).Abstract(in English) .I. Introduction.1II. A Brief Introduction on News Headlines .32.1 The definition of news headlines .32.2 The functions of news headlines .32.3 The classification of news headlines.4III. The Features of English News Headlines .53.1 Lexical features of English news headlines .53.1.1 Preference for short words .53.1.2 Wide use of abbreviations.63.1.3 Flexible use of journalistic coinages .73.1.4 Flexible use of vogue words .73.1.5 Emotive words .83.2 Grammatical features of English news headlines .83.2.1 Omission .93.2.2Tense .103.2.3 Voice .103.2.4 Punctuation.113.3 Rhetorical features of English news headlines.11IV. The Techniques of Translating English News Headlines .134.1 Literal translation .134.2 Balance translation .134.2.1 Adding words .144.2.2 Cutting words .144.2.3 Applying famous sayings and poem lines of English and Chinese .154.3 Adding connotations in the translation .154.4 Application of the original rhetoric into translation.164.5 Application of slangs and proverbs.17V. Conclusion.18Works Cited .20Acknowledgements .21摘 要本文旨在通过透析英文新闻标题的特点及其汉译特点，来帮助人们更好地理解和欣赏英文新闻标题。英语新闻在中西方交流上起重大作用，作为一条英文新闻的首要部分，英语新闻标题的质量通常决定读者是否会继续读完新闻的整个段落。由于新闻文体的特殊性，英语新闻标题在其长期的发展中形成了独具特色的标题语言。为了翻译好英语标题，翻译工作者不仅要熟知新闻标题的特点，同时还要掌握一定的翻译技巧使英语新闻标题以汉语的形式重现在中国读者面前。本文在吸取前人的研究经验的基础上，结合报纸，媒体等手段，提出自己的观点。本文首先介绍研究的主题及其重要性；其次介绍新闻标题的定义、功能以及分类；再次介绍英文新闻标题的措辞、语法和修辞特点；接着总结英语新闻标题的最佳汉译策略；最后对本研究总结并提出此研究中不足的地方。关键词：英语新闻标题；特点；汉译策略AbstractThis paper aims to reveal the features and translation strategies of English news headlines so as to help readers understand and appreciate English news headlines. English news plays a crucial role in the communication between the east and the west. The quality of the articles headlines mostly decides whether the people would continue to read the whole passage. Due to the special style of news, its headlines have long developed their own unique characteristics. In order to translate the English headlines well, translators are required to grasp the depth of the features of English headlines, and at the same time apply a variety of translation techniques to reappear the original meaning to Chinese readers. This thesis comes up with a new perspective by concluding study results from former distinguished experts and looking into materials from media and books etc. Firstly, this paper focuses on introducing the subject and significance of the study; secondly this paper lays emphasis on the definition, function and classification of news headlines; thirdly, it focuses on the lexical features, grammatical features, rhetorical features and how to use the punctuation in English news headlines; then it focuses on the E-C translation of English news headlines; at last it sums up the core view of the study and puts forward with the insufficiency of the paper.Key words：English news headlines; Features; E-C translation strategy1A Study on Features and Translation of English news HeadlinesSong Dandan(Faculty of Humanities, Tianjin Agricultural University)I. IntroductionWith the deepening of the opening up, the opportunity for communication between China and the outer world is increasing. To let the whole world get to know China better, a lot of information must be disseminated through the news media. A very real problem confronting people will soon be found is that whether they like or not, an increasing number of English newspapers, radio and television drama are burst into China. “A well known fact is that to learn English better only through reading some text books or some classic writings is far from enough.”(Li Xin 5) English is developing and updating continuously. There is no better means than English newspapers and other media to have a detail record on the changes in English. An easy way to master modern English is through journalistic English. Journalistic English is suitable for the newspapers, broadcasting, television, Internet and other forms of news reports, and is one of the most practical style in modern English, and is one of the criteria of the standard English language as well. A piece of English news is composed of a headline, a lead and a body. A headline is an integral part of news. The most important function of news headlines is to reveal to the readers the main content of the news with the concise and clear language in order that the readers would get the most information from it with the least time. In most cases, a news headline determines whether this piece of news would be read or passed by the readers. Among all kinds of reports in newspaper, how to attract readers is the main target of the news editors. Editors not only have to appeal the readers with attractive headlines, but also manage to set the headlines into the limited space. In order to achieve these, the news headlines must be brief, accurate and eye-catching. Because of these requirements, English news headlines have formed the unique characteristics.When reading the pieces of news, the readers not only have to be able to understand the news headlines, but also should develop the ability to appreciate and translate them. 2Only then can people get a better and accurate understanding of the vocabulary, grammar and rhetoric used in the headlines, thus get the true meaning. When it comes to the translation of English news headlines, there are three aspects should be taken into consideration. The first is to get an accurate understanding of the headline and appreciate the beauty of the headlines. The second is trying to reflect the features of the headlines and increase the readability. The third is that the translators should pay much attention to the readers ability to accept the translation of the English news headlines. Besides that, the language used in translation should not be too ordinary or too elegant.There are similarities and differences between Chinese news headlines and English news headlines. This paper mainly focuses on the main characteristics of English news headlines, including the lexical features, grammatical features and rhetorical features. There are similarities and differences between Chinese news headlines and English news headlines. As for the translation techniques, there are two requirements. The first is general requirement, the other one is the language used in the translation.3II. A Brief Introduction on News HeadlinesWhere there are people, there is news. Nowadays people are leading a fast-paced life. People are in such a rush in their life that they seldom see through every article; instead, people usually just flit across the paper and only catch a glimpse of the headlines of articles. If the title appeals to them, people will stop to read its content; if not, they will just skip over it to another. So an eye-catching headline is indispensable and vital to a successful news report. As is discussed that news headline plays a crucial and special part of a news report, it is important to know its definition, function and classification.2.1 The definition of news headlinesWhen reading a newspaper, one should first read a headline. Then what is a headline? How can people study on the headline if they even do not know what a headline is. So in the following there are different versions of definition of headline. The first is news headline is a head of 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. And there is another definition that a headline is a caption printed at the top of a page or article in a newspaper, usually in large heavy letters and often summarizing the content that follows it. Then two points can be found that are shared in the most definitions. The first is headline is a jargon of the newspaper. The second is a headline summarizes or makes comments on the news contents that follow. Whats more, headlines are always the most striking point of the total paper, fascinating readers to go through the whole pages.2.2 The functions of news headlinesAs it is known, news stories should carry importance, timeliness, unusualness and interest. As the pace of life is getting faster and faster, everything seems to be bidding for peoples attention, and newspapers are no exceptions. So a headline must lure its readers to spend enough time on the lead, if not the whole story. Even in the same and single newspaper, a better headline is likely to draw more attention to the specific story among those on the same page. “So a headline, if effectively made, must meet three requirements, to capture the essence of the event, to attract readers attention and to beautify the page on which it appears.”(Lu Juan 14) Thus can be drawn that the functions of news headlines 4contain three parts, the first is to help sell or advertise the news, the second is to summary the whole story, and the third is to facelift the physical appearance of a newspaper.2.3 The classification of news headlinesIf people read newspapers a lot, they will find that there are so many headlines appearing in different forms. A brief classification of news headlines is given in the following. Things will be different when seen from different angles. So it is with news headline classification. On different bases, news headline can be divided into different categories. According to the nature of headlines, it can be divided into straight headlines, question headlines, quotation headlines and feature headlines. Headline may have three parts; namely, the kicker, the main head and the deck. So according to the forms of headlines, it can be divided into single-deck headlines and multi-deck headlines.5III. The Features of English News HeadlinesA Chinese usually can not catch a clear meaning of English news headlines or even feel in a loss if it is the first time to read English news. It is because English news headlines possess unique characteristics.3.1 Lexical features of English news headlines“According to the role of the headline itself, also in order to meet the request of the time, editors always strive to indicate the main idea with limited words.”(Xie Yujie 71)On this account, the chosen words must be succinct, exoteric and simple. 3.1.1 Preference for short words“Less word, less space and more information is one of the principles of English news headlines.” (Zhang Jian 5) English news paper headlines often use short, accurate and vivid words instead of vague and abstract words. On one hand, these easily understandable words can increase the readability of the headline; on the other hand, they can reduce the space. With the purpose of nice and balance, editors use words with fewer syllables but with more extensive meaning. Such as “abandon” is not usually used in the news headlines. Instead “drop, give up, quit, skip or yield” were chosen. Another example is blast, crash, ram or smash is usually take the place of explode. There are some instances of news headlines containing this feature.(4) US refuse to back environment fund. Back in this news means support.(5) Easing traffic tops Beijing work agenda. Top here means easing traffic was made the first place in Beijing work agenda.(6) A Top Libyan Official Appears to Defect, as Rebels Defend Recent Gains. Top here means senior.It has been lasting several years to use short words in news headlines. It is the outstanding characteristic of using very short words in headlines. Many of the vocabularies in headlines are Anglo-Saxon words which are oral, simple, plain and lively. Whats more, they have been accepted by the public. Here are some examples of verbs usually used in English news headlines: aid = help/ assist, alter = change, ban = prohibit/ forbid, foil = prevent from, lop = diminish, map = work out, moot = discuss and so on.“Besides, short nouns with few letters are often found in English news headlines.”(Lv 6Yingna 214) For example, “accord” usually takes the place of “agreement”, “aim” is used to replace “purpose”. Here is a collection of nouns usually used in English news headlines. Ace = champion, aid- = assistance, arms = weapons, body = committee/ commission, clash = controversy, cool = uninterested, cop = policeman, deal = agreement, down = decrease, drive = campaign, envoy = ambassador, fete = celebration, firm = company, flop = failure, jobless = unemployment, man = representative, mart = market, nod = approval and so on.3.1.2 Wide use of abbreviationsEnglish news headlines must have the power to attract readers and indicate the main idea of the whole news, so editors pay much emphasis on concise. “As the column in the newspaper is narrow, choosing a long word is offensive to the eye. For this reason, abbreviations are largely used in English news headlines.”(Xu Wenmei 52)There are two kinds of abbreviations. “One is known as acronym, which means a proper noun that is constituted of two or more words and is extracted from the first letter of thes