中英新闻标题翻译毕业论文

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1、本科生毕业论文设计中英新闻标题翻译作者姓名：王群指导教师：杨丽华所在学部：外语学部专 业：英语班级（届）：2009届3班二一三年四月二十二On the Translation of Chinese and English News Headlines By Wang Qun Supervisor Prof. Yang Lihua A Thesis Submitted to the Foreign Languages School In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Bachelor of Arts At He

2、bei Normal University April 22,2013ContentsAbstract (English).iiAbstract (Chinese). iiiIntroduction.1Chapter 1 Brief Introduction of English News Headlines.31.1 Definition of English News Headlines.31.2 Functions of English News Headlines.41.3 Features of English News Headlines.6Chapter 2 Comparison

3、 Between Chinese and English News Headlines.10 2.1 Differences between Chinese and English News Headlines.10 2.2 Similarities between Chinese and English News headlines.15Chapter 3 Translation of English News Headlines.16 3.1 Difficulties of English News Headlines Translation.163.2 A Brief Review on

4、 Translation Criteria.17 3.3 Criteria of English News Headlines Translation.183.4 Strategies and Tactics of English News Headlines Translation.20Conclusion.25Bibliography.26AbstractWith deepening of the reform and opening up policy and entry into the WTO ，the Chinese are eager to know the world. A l

5、arge number of information is transmitted by news media especially news reports. The essential part of news report is headline. Sometimes people dont have enough time to read the whole news from the beginning to the end, most readers would like to know as much as they can in the shortest time. There

6、fore , it can be concluded that the headline plays a very important role on news reporting, and we must pay more attention to the translation of news headline.This paper mainly introduces some translating skills according to the features of English news headlines. There are three parts in this paper

7、. In chapter one, it introduces the definition, function, classification and features of English news headline. In chapter two, it introduces the differences and similarities between English and Chinese news headlines. The problems appeared in English news headline translation are introduced in the

8、last chapter. In the end of this paper, it has a conclusion of the content . To sum up, this paper hopes to find a appropriate way of English news headline translation by discussing of the features, functions and the criteria of English news headline translation.Key words: journalistic English; head

9、lines; features; criteria; translation tactics摘 要随着改革开放的进一步深化以及中国加入世界贸易组织，中国与西方国家的交流与联系也越来越频繁。中国需要更多的了解世界，世界也需要更好的了解中国。其中有大量的信息必须通过新闻媒体进行传递，这种信息传递的最重要的一条途径是阅读英语新闻报道。因此英语新闻报道的翻译理所当然地成为这种相互交流的重要途径。而标题是新闻报道最关键的部分，因为大多数读者都希望能在最短的时间内获取最多的信息。由此可见标题在新闻报道中具有独特的地位，因此我们应该更加重视新闻标题的翻译。本论文共分三章。本文结合英语新闻标题的主要特点，通过

10、具体的例子，介绍了英语新闻标题的翻译技巧。第一章对英语新闻标题做了基本的介绍,让读者对英语新闻标题有了初步的了解和认识。第二章主要介绍中英新闻标题的相同点和不同点，并通过实例加以论证。最后一章，也是最重要的一章，首先介绍了在英语新闻标题翻译中存在的问题。最后针对这些问题介绍了英语新闻标题翻译所应遵循的原则。在最后对本文所提到的英语新闻标题的翻译原则和技巧以及其它的内容做了总结。总之，本文试通过对英语新闻标题特征，功能以及翻译原则的探讨，希望能找到一条对新闻英语包括英语标题翻译具有特定翻译规则的途径。关键词：新闻英语；标题；特征；翻译原则；翻译技巧及策略22IntroductionNowaday

11、s, news is everywhere in our daily life. The news made us understand what is going on around us. Reading newspapers has become one of these things, which people must do in daily life. All this tells us that newspaper has become more and more important. As an indispensable part of news, headline play

12、s an important role. It is a guide to news content. At the same time they can attract he attention of the readers, so the quality of headlines is very important to news. And news translation, especially its headlines, is a big problem. It is difficult for a translator to translate news headlines pro

13、perly. As is often seen in newspapers or magazines, some translated versions are too awkward to read. Some are so confusing that the readers do not know what the news is talking about and can not understand at all. So the quality of the translated versions is very important. In fact, there have been

14、 many books or articles on news translation. Besides, a number of translators, at home and abroad, have already changed their attention to the study of news translation and achieved some results. Some famous translation scholars in this field such as Liu Miqing(刘宓庆)，Xu Mingwu(许明武), Chen Hongwei(陈宏薇)

15、, Chen Mingyao(陈明瑶), Zhang jian（张健） and Liu Qizhong（刘其中）have made their contribution to the translation of English news headlines. Liu Miqing holds that news translation should be accurate and translators should rigorously control their work. Chen Hongwei argues that translators should be flexible i

16、n the translation because there is no fixed structural mode for news reports. Chen Mingyao suggests that adaptation should be used to translate soft news. Zhang jian concludes that there are three steps in news translation, i.e. to precisely understand news reports, to properly handle original chara

17、cteristics and to consistently improve news readability. There are other translation scholars making their efforts to translate news or news headlines through comparing linguistic and cultural characteristics in the East and the West.Today more and more translators have begun to change their attenti

18、on to the translation of English news headlines, which indicates that news headlines translation becomes more and more important. “But until now, there has been no published textbooks dealing with news translation in China. It is rather rare to find related articles regarding news translation in aca

19、demic journals.”(刘其中，2004：3) This paper will study the translation of English news headlines, which will make a great contribution to information transmission and exchange. It mainly studies the features and tactics of English news headlines translation, which will help the readers fully understand

20、the English news headlines. Chapter 1 Brief Introduction of English News HeadlinesNow in the information age, news begins to play a more and more important role in our daily life. It provides people with the latest news in the world. A piece of news is usually composed of a headline, a lead and a bo

21、dy. Especially, the headline is the eye of a piece of news. Because people do not have enough time to read through the whole news, they just look through the headline of the news to guess what it is talking about. So it is important to understand the definition, function and feature of a news headli

22、ne.1.1 Definition of English News HeadlinesWhen reading a newspaper, one should first read a headline. As an indispensable part of news, headlines are compared to the eyes of news. Many journalists, scholars and books have defined the concept of a news headline. So this paper has collected some diff

23、erent versions of definition of a news headline.“A news headline is caption printed at the top of a page or article in a newspaper, usually in large bold letters and often summarizing the content that follows it.”(Encarta Dictionary)“A head of a newspaper story or article，usually printed in large ty

24、pe and devised to summarize the story or article that follows.”(Longman Dictionary of the English Language)“A head of a newspaper story or article usually printed in large type and devised to summarize, give essential information about, or let readers in reading the story or article that follows.”(W

25、ebster Third New International Dictionary)“报纸新闻标题用来概括，评价新闻的内容，帮助读者阅读和理解新闻。”（辞海）“A headline is any line or collection of lines of display type that precedes a story to introduce or summarize it.”(Westly, 1972:141)From the above, we can know that news headlines are defined according to their roles, fu

26、nctions and features. So in order to fully understand the definition of a news headline, we have to first know the functions and features of a news headline.1.2 Functions of English News HeadlinesWe should pay attention to the functions of English news headlines. It is important for us to understand

27、 the news headlines. Generally speaking, English news headlines have the following functions: summarizing the news, attracting readers, attention, commenting on the news and dressing up the page.1.2.1 Summarizing the newsNaturally, people buy newspapers in order to get the information that they want

28、 to know, but there are kinds of different newspapers published every day. Even a newspaper has several pages with each containing many items. Most of people do not have enough time to read through the whole newspaper. Therefore, many readers have formed the habit of scanning news headlines, which m

29、akes possible rapid news comprehension. Thus the first and most important purpose of headlines is to let the readers understand the news quickly.Readers can grasp the essentials of news. Good news headlines should contain such elements of a news event such as the time, place, cause, result and backg

30、round.1.2.2 Attracting readers attentionAs the beginning of the news, a news headline is designed to fulfill many functions especially that it must attract the readers attention. A headline, which does not arouse interest at first glance, is not a good one. A bad headline will make the readers eyes

31、feel bad and change immediately to another news on the same page or even to another newspaper. When readers open a newspaper, the first thing that catches their eyes is the headline. So the determining factor as to whether a certain news will be read or passed by is usually the headline. Good headli

32、nes are excellent advertisements for the news. They are striking; they attract attention; they arouse interest; they lead the readers into the news, which is what every good headline should do.1.2.3 Commenting on the newsThis function is most obvious in the commentary and column headlines. Newspaper

33、s, as the propaganda tool, are sure to express their opinions in headlines when they try to persuade readers. Editor s comments on news facts are expressed together with the news information directly or indirectly. When compiling news headlines, the editors inevitably reveal their opinions, attitude

34、s and stances as regards the news events. The comments will help the readers in understanding news and guiding public opinions. 1.2.4 Dressing up the pageWe know that package is very important for the product. A piece of news and its headlines just like the product and the packaging. Only when the h

35、eadlines get the attention of the readers, the headline can be regarded as a good one. So the final purpose of headlines is to stimulate the reader, s artistic sense. In the process of newspaper production, special printing skills are often used to enhance the visual effect of newspaper in order to

36、attract readers attention. News headlines are printed in varied fonts, size, colors and structures to decorate or beautify the newspaper pages. A dull headline makes a dull page. But when headlines are well written and well placed in forms that have been thoughtfully designed, the pages are clear an

37、d good looking. In other words, the headlines can break the monotony of a newspaper page and serve as an eye-releaser for the readers. 1.3 Linguistic Features of English News HeadlinesIn order to understand an English news headline, we must know the features of them. We can study its features from t

38、he lexical and grammatical level.1.3.1 Lexical features of English news headlinesNews headlines require a high degree of brevity, which leads to the special lexical preference. The most distinctive aspects of news headlines in lexical preference are listed as follow:1.3.1.1 Short words or midget wor

39、dsEnglish news headlines often use short words to replace long ones. Usually, English newspaper has not enough space for the headlines. And that is to say, the space for headlines is very limited, so using short word can save a lot of space. Besides, short words or midget words have much larger sema

40、ntic category, and are also more lively and flexible.News reporter or writer prefers short words to long ones due to one journalistic principle: “Saying a lot in least space”. (Mencher Melvin, 1994:324) The following are some of the most frequent used short word in English news headlines.aid-help/as

41、sist end-terminate nod-approval blast-explodeBesides verbs, which are usually seen in English newspaper headline, short nouns are also very common in English newspaper headlines. For example,ace-champion cop-policeman firm-company ties-relationsIn general, short words can convey and describe their o

42、wn meanings more vividly and relevantly. In addition to the effectiveness and forcefulness, short words are used in the headline in order to save the space.1.3.1.2 Conversion of parts of speechAs is known that conversion of parts of speech is common in English news headlines. There are some short no

43、uns, which are used as verbs or other parts of speech. The following words seem simple, but please pay attention to their parts of speech, which are used unusually.（1）bag(n.)-v. China bagged 11of 12 gold medals in table tennis.名词转动词（2）table( n.)-v. Eight countries tabled a proposal on measures to re

44、duce the risk of war.名词转动词1.3.1.3 Abbreviations and acronymsAbbreviations and acronyms are frequently used in news headlines. Abbreviation is the shortened form of certain words of many letters. Acronym is made of the first letter of many words for a certain unit of meaning. They are used instead of

45、 complicated and long words, thus saving more space and balancing the sentence structure. In English newspapers the common types of abbreviation are initialing, clipping and acronymizing. e.g.co.-company amt.-amount BBC-British Broadcasting CorporationFBI-Federal Bureau of Investigation VIP-Very Imp

46、ortant People1.3.1.4 Vogue wordsBecause a newspaper is to inform the reader of the latest news, any new objects or ideas, or hot topics should be included in it. Headlines, the gist of the news, would certainly reveal them in order to catch the reader, s attention. As a result, vogue words become an

47、 indispensable part of headlines vocabulary. e.g.（1）Restaurant as a front for money laundering(洗钱).（2）Foot and mouth curbs (口蹄疫) may cause herbs to starve.1.3.2 Grammatical features of English news headlinesHeadline has its own grammatical features. When those rules are violated, they make the reade

48、rs feel confused. Besides, an English news headline distinguishes itself from other styles of writing by its special characteristics on the grammar level. These characteristics can be classified as the following: tense, omission, voice and punctuation.1.3.2.1 tenseAs is known that English news headl

49、ines are of high brevity, not all tenses are used in news headlines. The most commonly used tenses in English news headlines are the simple present tense and the present progressive tense.Usually in a news report, what is reported actually happened in the past, but present tense is preferred to make

50、 the readers feel freshness and immediacy and to save more space without “ed”.（1）Bomb Kills two (=The bomb killed two people)（2）Rail Chaos Getting Worse (=The rail chaos is getting worse)1.3.2.2 OmissionFrom the point of view of syntax, the most obvious feature of headlines is omission. The headline

51、s can be shortened by omitting all the functional words including articles, prepositions, conjunctions and copulative verb “be”. e.g.（1）Republican to push farm housing (=The Republican Party is to push the farm housing)（2）Deposits, loans rising in HK (=The deposits and loans are rising in Hong Kong)

52、1.3.2.3 VoiceHeadline writers prefer the active voice to the passive, in other words, writing headlines with somebody saying something or doing something rather than having it told to them or done to them.But sometimes passive voice is used because the acceptor is much more important than the operat

53、or of an act in order to call the readers, attention. When the passive voice is used, the verb “to be” is always omitted. Journalist fired in spy debate (=A journalist is fired in a spy debate)1.3.2.4 PunctuationNot all punctuation can be found in English news headlines. When a certain punctuation i

54、s used in English news headlines, it is used to differentiate parts of a complex sentence and to save more space using a punctuation instead of a word.Comma is used to replace the conjunction “and”. Dash is usually used before an indirect quotation. Colon is not only used before a direct quotation i

55、nstead of the word “say”, but also used to replace the word “be”. e.g.（1）Australia, US Seek More Ways to Promote Trade (=Australia and US Seek More Ways to Promote Trade)（2）Bush: US Vows to Cure Recessionary Woes (=Bush Says that US Vows to Cure Recessionary Woes)This chapter briefly introduces the

56、definition, function and feature of English news headlines. It will be helpful for the readers to understand the English news headlines.Chapter 2 Comparison Between Chinese and English News HeadlinesThe first thing that we do before translating is that we must know the differences and similarities b

57、etween Chinese and English news headlines. The similarities are brevity and truthfulness. Due to the different cultural backgrounds and cultures, they have different characteristics. Differences between Chinese and English languages really influence Chinese and English news headlines.2.1 Differences

58、 Between Chinese and English News HeadlinesFirstly，we must know the difference before we start to translate. We can learn the difference from such respects，like lexical, tense, rhetorical, punctuation, structure and semantic level.2.1.1 Lexical differenceFrom the view of lexical, Chinese news headli

59、nes prefer to use verbs while English news headlines prefer nouns. The similarity is that they all use abbreviations, midget words and vogue words.（1）开放 搞活 改革 致富（连用四个动词）（2）Britain “Flagship” Detention Center Abandoned (连用四个名词) The first example is Chinese news headline，it uses four verbs，and there a

60、re four nouns in the second example. 2.1.2 Tense difference At the point of view of grammar, English news headlines would like to use the present tense, the present progressive tense and the future tense which are obvious to read. While Chinese news headlines often use the past tense. The mark of the tense is not obvious. Chinese language doesnt have non-finite verbs, but it can modificate by structure. The omission also has some differences between Chinese and English. The subject can be removed in Chinese headlines, but cant in English news headlines.（