The Secret Language of Newspaper Headlines in Britain
-
Upload
ammar-mustafa-mahadi -
Category
Documents
-
view
214 -
download
0
Transcript of The Secret Language of Newspaper Headlines in Britain
-
7/29/2019 The Secret Language of Newspaper Headlines in Britain
1/5
VDBE - English 2001-2002
---The secret language of newspaper headlines in
Britain---
Pre-reading: what would the articles under these headlines be about?
JAIL MUM CAN KEEP HER BABY
LEAD RISK IN CITY GROWN VEGETABLES
BIN BABE RESCUED IN JAWS OF CRUSHER
Being able to use a language, like English, fluently, implies
understanding its words, the way they are pronounced and written, and
the way they are ordered into meaningful units through grammar. Butthat is not all. You also have, what is generally referred to as
"background knowledge", or "knowledge of the world".
If you don't know a thing about cricket, you won't be able to understand
a conversation or an article on that topic. The same lack of
understanding may occur in discussions involving the House of Lords,
the Commonwealth, snooker, BBC and other features of Britain's
cultural traditions, which, as you may know, are very well preserved. Being able to understand the language of the news, implies not only
being acquainted with British culture, but also with recent events. A
headline like "FIRST FEMALE SUCCESSOR TO THE THRONE" will only
make sense if you know who is meant here. (=
___________________________)
And this is only the beginning! Grammar, vocabulary and spelling of
headlines are determined by the special nature of a paper: a headlinetries to inform the reader of what has just happened, of what is
happening at the present moment, or of what will happen in the near
future. And it tries to do so briefly, simply and attractively.
Headlines often provide us with striking examples, because their aim is
basically to attract the reader's attention. Generally, style and language
of the headline, and indeed of the entire article will be influenced by
the type of reader who it is intended for, but normally editors of bothquality and popular papers prefer descriptive words in their hadlines,
1
-
7/29/2019 The Secret Language of Newspaper Headlines in Britain
2/5
VDBE - English 2001-2002
often with puns and other stylistic devices such as alliterations. But
they should reach their aim in an economical way, without waste. So
headlines often look like telegrams; structural elements have been
omitted and semantic elements have been stressed.
An article telling the reader that the President of the United States of
America has promised the British Prime Minister to give his support to
the defence of Great Britain, will be given a headline such as:
US PRESIDENT PLEDGES SUPPORT TO BRITISH PM
All the words that aren't really necessary to understand the message
have
been left out. Very often only nouns and verbs carry the meaning of the
sentence. The remaining words will often be abbreviated to their initials
(PM for Prime Minister) or shortened to more informal equivalents
("pledge" replaces "promise")
Another device of leaving out irrelevant words is to form "noun chains",
in which prepositions and articles have been omitted.
They should be read in the reverse order, if you want to make them
out: "The president of the United States of America" is turned into "U.S.
President"; forecast of the weather will be "weather forecast".
Obviously journalists also use simplified grammar. They adjust the rules
for the use of the tenses in English, when they invent headlines. For
recently completed actions, they use the simple present, instead of the
present perfect.
The headline:
ENGLAND BEATS FRANCE:
doesn't mean that the English team has the habit of beating the French
every time they meet, but only that they succeeded in doing so this
time.
The present participle instead of the present continuous is used for
present and immediate future actions:
QUEEN LEAVING FOR JAPAN:
2
-
7/29/2019 The Secret Language of Newspaper Headlines in Britain
3/5
VDBE - English 2001-2002
Future actions are rendered by "to+infinitive", which is a shortened
form of "be+to+infinitive". Parts of the verb "to be" are usually left out.
Reading exercise: skimming
1. Language = knowledge of:
(1) ____________________________
(2) ____________________________
(3) ____________________________
(4) ____________________________
(5) ____________________________
2. The language of the news = knowledge of the language +
knowledge of
____________________________
3. The language of newspaper headlines:
1) Headlines: aim at _____________________
are influenced by _____________________
2) their language:
a. vocabulary: d___________________________
st___________________________
headlines = ____________________________________________
structure words: ______________________________________
stress on n__________ and v_____________
absence of _____________________________b. grammar:
recently completed action: ___________________________________________
future action: ________________________________________________________
future intention: _____________________________________________________
Vocabulary-exercises
3
-
7/29/2019 The Secret Language of Newspaper Headlines in Britain
4/5
VDBE - English 2001-2002
Find words or expressions that mean the same as (the ex. is
built up in the order of the text)
* 1. to cause to be necessary, to require :
2. a subject :
3. a shortage, an absence :
4. to have as a necessary part or result :
5. characteristics :
* 6. to have met, to know :
* 7. the purpose :
8. complete :
9. the responsible person of a newspaper :
10. an amusing use of a word or phrase :
that has two meanings or of words with
the same sound but different meanings
11. a trick :
12. to drop :
13. of meaning in language :
* 14. to promise :
15. not very important :
16. to understand with difficulty :
17. clearly :
18. to adapt :
2. Use some of the previous words in the following sentences
1. "Is she sorry?" "___________________ not! Look at her mad behaviour.
2. Wet weather is a _____________________ of life in Scotland.
3. He made this _______________ : "Seven days without water make one
weak."
4. In writing this report I have ___________________ all unnecessary details.
5. Rights _______________ duties. It's not enough to speak, you should also
act!
6. The missile has a heat-seekign _________________ which enables it to find
its target.
4
-
7/29/2019 The Secret Language of Newspaper Headlines in Britain
5/5
VDBE - English 2001-2002
7. The job ___________________ travelling abroad for three months each
year.
8. The government _______________ to re-house the refugees. Will they
keep their promise?
9. If he can do the job well, his age is not important. It's
__________________.
10. I can't ___________________ how to use this new camera! It's really
complicated.
5