English News Headlines： Characteristics and Translation

【Abstract】：Headline is the key part of a piece of news allowing the readers to have a general knowledge of news content. Nevertheless， for translators there is no established practice that can be applied into news headlines translation. Through the study of the characteristics of English news headline， this paper intends to offer some effective methods in the translation of English news headlines， and thus enhance the cross-cultural communication.

【Key words】： English news headlines， characteristics， translation methods

Introduction

Headlines is the ‘window’ of a piece of news. Therefore， editors always try their best to make headlines as attractive as possible， including using a large mount of special strategies. So only when translators grasp the features of news headlines， can they have a better understanding them and improve translation qualities.

I. Features of news headlines

Summarizing news items in concise words， news headlines are usually considered the vital part of a piece of news， hence. The translation of news headlines becomes much more challenging for translators who would fail to perfectly present the news headlines in Chinese unless they have an in-depth knowledge of features of them.

1.1. Lexical Features

As we all know， a news headline should provide its readers with as much information as possible within a short length.

1.1.1. Using Midget Words Abbreviation

To save spaces， midget words and abbreviation， specially words with less letters or single syllable but broad meanings are frequently used in news headlines. Besides， nouns and noun phrases are preferred because nouns are strong at conveying information， more flexible in grammar， and can be as expressive as a complete sentence. For instance：

Superkids？ 超級兒童之謎

Abbreviations including clipped word， initialism and acronym are commonly used in news headlines. For example：

EU， Cuba to hold political dialogue meetings in June

歐盟與古巴將在6月舉行政治對話會晤

1.1.2. Conversion of Parts of Speech

In news headlines， there are some short nouns or adjectives which are used as verbs and vice versa. Besides， commonly the noun phrases are employed to replace adjectives and attributive clauses to make headlines short but punchy. For example：

The Match Ended In 1-1 Tie.（tie：v→n）

Russia Top Soldier Eyes Seat of Power. （eye：n→v）

1.1.3 Neologisms

As news are short-lived， freshness is the essence of its language， and that’s why compared with other literary forms， one of the significant distinction of journalistic English is the endless outpouring of neologisms. For example：

Selfie--自拍

gutter oil--地溝油

1. 2 Grammatical Features.

1.2.1 Tense： Present tense VS Past tense.

In English news headlines， present tense is widely used while， generally， past tense is applied less frequently. The main tenses of verbs applied in news headlines includes： 1） present tense， usually used to indicate the events that have happened； 2） future tense， often used in infinitive forms to express events that are going to happen； 3） present continuous tense， performed by the present participle of verbs. For example：

Japan Hawks Ruffle Dovish Feathers.

日本鷹派激怒鴿派

In College， Choose To Thrive.

在大學，成功靠選擇

1.2.2 Voice

Active voice has the priority in journalistic English， because it appears to be more convincing and appealing and can make headlines more powerful. For example：

The Food Safety Movement Grows Tall. （ The Huffington Post Jun，20，2014）

食品安全運動日漸高漲

1.2.3 Omission

Omission is one of the most distinct characteristics. Usually， news headlines are not complete sentences. For example：

Political Efforts Vital To Reform

Ever Been Cyber-vetted？

1.3 Rhetorical Features

In order to be impressive， vivid and ironic， figures of speeches are employed in news headlines.

1.3.1 Alliteration and Rhyme

Alliteration is an effective way in drafting news headlines to make special effect while， rhyme can add readability to a news headline and make it easy to remember. For example：

Protestant Protest （ The Sunday Times）

Soldiers Salaries Soar

1.3.2 Metaphor.

Metaphor is frequently applied in news headlines to produce special effects. For examples：

“Down in the mouth\" news for dentists \"Down in the mouth\" here means \"sad\"

Carlo Ponti in hot water again \"in hot water\" here means \"in trouble\"

1.3.3 Quotation

In news headlines， well-known proverbs， idioms， words from masterpieces and celebrities are often used. For example：

Where there is a will， there is a way （China Daily May 7， 2003）

This proverb shows the great confidence the whole Chines people have when struggling against SARS

1.3.4 Pun

The application of pun in news headlines usually makes them have a sense of humor. For example：

No Bill， No Bell. （The Times， April 2000）

This news headline is about a meeting between the president of the United States and the Israel’ Prime Minster. But in this meeting， the two parties did not reach an agreement on some affairs. In this news headline “Bill” represents Clinton and “Bell” represents Mr Netanyhu. The no interaction between the two persons like calling each others’ name， indicates the bad atmosphere during the meeting.

II. Translating Strategies of News Headlines

The news evens are closely related to society， the nature world and the history of human beings. The subjects involved in news are so wide that words with special meanings in news headlines are bound to be show up one after anther. Therefore， in the process of news headline translating， translators should have an accurate understanding of the headline， keep characteristics of the original language and add more readability to the translation work at the same time； and take the features of the target language into consideration.

2.1 Literal Translation VS Free Translation.

Literal translation is applied when the manner of English and Chinese language has no or minor difference while free translation is used when literal translation fails to deliver information in news headlines. When doing the literal translation， translators should be sure that the translation work will make sense for the readers， and the manner of the original work should be kept. For example：

Whisper It Softly： It’s OK To like Germany

悄聲說，喜歡德國又何妨

However， when literal translation fails to deliver the information， or perform the intention of original writers， or the language is not compatible with the Chinese language， it it better to use free translation. For example：

By Their Colors You Should Know Them

歐洲色彩時尚

The translator used free translation to point out the content in the news item.

2.2 Addition

Basic or background information are given in Chinese news headlines such as a person’s name， identity and nationality or the places the events took place， but in English news headlines， there are no such information sometimes. Therefore translators should appropriately add these information according to news content and the real situation. With the additional words or sentences， it is much easier for Chinese readers to understand news headlines. For example：

China Demands For Bombing Probe And Apology.

中國要求北約就炸中國駐南使館事件進行全面調查和道歉

2.3 Transformation of Language Forms

Since the main task in translation news headlines is to extract the news content， accuracy is the top priority during the translation. Sticking to original text too much will make the translation obscure， hence， translators need to make some adjustment. For example：

“Do You wish to Proceed？”

生死之間

Tranquility Is Shattered by Violence

暴力打破了寧靜

2.4 Dealing with Rhetorical Devices

Conciseness makes news headlines eye-catching， and the employment of various rhetorical devices allows news headlines to deliver the hidden information effectively Considering this， translation works are supposed to reproduce the same effect as the original text do. For example：

After the Booms. Everything Is Gloom

繁榮不在，蕭條寄來

In this translation， “boom” rhymes with “gloom”， the effect of which is realized through the Chinese character “來” and “再”.

Pilot’ Final Flight （alliteration）

特拉格納的告別 （free translation）

Conclusion

This paper has made an investigation of English news headline on the lexical， grammatical and rhetorical levels so as to reveal their relations with the translation of English news headline. The translation of news headlines requires special translation principles and methods because journalistic English is quite different from English of other styles.

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