Translation Methods of English News Headlines

高菲

【Abstract】As a communication tool， news can help people transmit information of all fields in the worldwide to narrow the distance among countries. A good news headline can not only show the subject clearly， but also can arouse the deeper interests of the readers. The thesis concludes the language features of English news headlines and then concludes the common translation methods of English news headlines through some examples， such as， literal translation， free translation etc. in the English news headlines， which makes the translation of English news headlines more accurate and brings more convenience to the translation of English news headlines.

【Key words】news headline； features； translation methods

1. Introduction

News can promote the communication of various countries in politic， economic， culture and other aspects. News headline is the most important part in a piece of news. A good news headline can not only make the content clear， but also can arouse the readers attention and make them go further in reading the news. So when reading a piece of news， people always focus more on the translation of news headline.

2. The Translation Methods of English News Headlines

Since the translation of the English news headlines is an important part， so the translators must have a good command of the translation methods of English news headlines， and can use them skillfully.

2.1 Literal translation

Literal translation is always used when the original text is very easy. Literal translation keeps not only the content of the text， but also the form of the text. It can clearly show the meaning that the author wants to show and the translator can not add or reduce any ideas of him.

e.g. Xi calls for “more tolerance and patience” toward netizens. （From the website of China Daily， their website can be seen in bibliography）

This is a piece of news on April 20th， 2016 from China Daily. It is translated as “習主席呼吁對網友更寬容更耐心” This news is literal translation. The English news headline can express the content of the news clearly， so the translator doesnt need to use other translation methods， but the readers can understand without more thinking.

2.2 Free translation

People can know from the title “Free translation” that the translation must be very free， and should not be limited. If people cannot conclude the content of the English news headlines or it is very different from some Chinese habits by literal translation， free translation will be a better choice.

e.g. Obama says being president is a “serious job”—one Trump wont get. （ibid）

This news is translated as “奧巴馬不看好特朗普當選美國總統” If the translator just translate the news directly as “奧巴馬說當總統是一項嚴肅的工作，特朗普是不行的”， it will be very difficult to understand. But the translator translates it freely， so the meaning of the news can be expressed clearly through the English News Headline.

2.3 Addition approach

English news headlines must be succinct and short enough， so when we translate it into Chinese， sometimes in the process of our translation， we should add some necessary information.

2.3.1 Addition of subjects

In order to make the news headlines short， the author always omit the subjects in English news headlines. In the translation of English news headlines， we need to add some subjects in order to make clear what the author wants to express.

e.g. “The Real James Bond？”（ibid）

And it is translated as “誰是真正的邦德？”， in the translation of this news headline， the translator adds the logical subject “who”. It can make the meaning of the news headline clearer.

2.3.2 Addition of verbs

In some English news headlines， the author just omits the verb in it to make the news headline look succinct. But in the process of translating the news headlines， the translator must add some verbs or the readers can not know what happened from the headline.

e.g. S. Korea， Japan， China education ministers meet for 1st time （ibid）

The English news headline is expressed as “中日韓教育部長首次會面——討論教科書應該如何記錄戰時歷史”， but there is no verb in the English news headline， the author omitted “（how to） record”. If the Chinese readers just read the English news headline， it will be very difficult for the readers to know that the purpose of the meeting of S. Korea， Japan， China education ministers is to discuss how to record the history of the World War.

2.3.3 Addition of quantifiers

In some English news headlines， the author always omits some quantifiers because it is not very important. But if we translate the English news headlines into Chinese， we must add the quantifiers or the sentence will not be coherent.

e.g. China Announces Plans To Launch Second Space Lab Tian gong-2（ibid）

This English news headline is translated as “中國宣布今年發射天宮二號空間實驗室和神州十一號飛船” We can see from the Chinese news headline that the author add the quantifier “號”， so that Chinese people can understand it easily.

2.3.4 Addition of indefinite articles

Some English news headlines do not need some indefinite articles， but the readers can also understand it easily. But in Chinese news headlines， the translators add some indefinite articles， so that the Chinese news headlines will become clearer.

e.g. Dont leave your kid alone with your iPad — 7-year-old spends over $5K playing Jurassic World. （ibid）

2.3.5 Addition of background information

We all know that there are some cultural differences between China and the United Kingdom. So sometimes it will be difficult for the readers to understand it if there is no explanation. So at this time we need to add some explanation to tell the readers.

e.g. Artist Yan Su dies of illness at age 86. （ibid）

In the process of translation， the translator added “藝術家閻肅今晨病逝享年86歲 代表作《敢問路在何方》” maybe some people do not know Yan Su， but once the translator adds some explanation， the readers will know it is Yan Su who sings the song.

2.4 Reduction approach

Reduction is a very common translation method of English news headlines. Because of the limitation of the room， so it is very common to see the authors reduce some unimportant parts in the translation of English news headlines.

2.4.1 Reduction of function words

Function words are not very important in English， so they are always reduced. For example： Google， Amazon and Face book may be forced to reveal their European revenue and taxes under new EU laws for multinational companies （ibid）

This news was translated as “歐盟跨國公司新法：谷歌，亞馬遜和臉譜恐面臨歐洲收益強制性披露”， we can see from the Chinese news headline that the translator translated “revenue and taxes” as “收益” instead of “財政收入和稅收”

2.4.2 Reduction of pronouns

Pronouns are not important either in English or Chinese， so they are also reduced to save some room for the news headlines.

e.g. PLA eases restrictions on mobile Net use （ibid）

The translator reduces “on” in the translation， and the news headline is translated as “解放軍放松部隊移動網使用管制” We often use pronouns to express the object exactly， but sometimes in Chinese， we do not need to add pronouns but can still express what we want.

2.4.3 Reduction of link verbs

There are link verbs in English， but when we translate them into Chinese， they are often omitted.

e.g. How old is too old to celebrate Valentines Day？ （ibid）

In this English news headline， there is a link verb “is” and the translator translated it as “多老才不能慶祝情人節？”. In Chinese， link verbs always have no exact meanings. So the translators just translate the verbs.

2.5 Translation of rhetoric in the news headlines

In order to make the news headlines more vivid and more attracting， the author always uses some figures of speech.

e.g. No fans？ No fret！ “賽場沒人氣，咱可沒生氣”（rhyme）（ibid）

This news headline uses the rhetoric—rhyme. It is short and readable. Its translation is also very wonderful.

3. Conclusion

Since the news headlines are very important in news， so people must have a good command of it and know the right methods to translate it. The present author also wants to make some contribution to the translation of English news headlines and can promote the communication among China and other countries by providing some convenience for the translation of English news headlines.

References：

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