The Linguistic Features of English Sports News Headlines
理論探討
作者：吳麗麗
【Abstract】English Sports news headlines are an indispensable part in news and the “eyes” of the English sports news. To understand and translate English sports news， it is better to understand its headlines first， because a headline is a summary of news and it concentrates the main and most valuable contents of news. It directly decides whether the readers are willing to continue to read the news or not.
【Key words】English sports news headlines linguistic features；definition of English sports headlines
1 Introduction
News can be without a lead and background information， but cannot be without a headline. A headline is the title or caption at the top of a news paper or magazine article， usually set in large and bold type， indicating the nature of the article below it. The purpose of a headline is to attract attention and encourage the reading of the following news.
2 Introduction to English Sports News Headlines
As the “window” of news， headlines give prominence eye-catching effect. So reporters always rack their wits about the headlines to catch more attentions of the readers and potential readers to attract his/her attention on what is most important and attractive to read. Various definitions of news headline have been proposed， however， there is no single one universally recognized. A line of words printed in large letters as the title of a story in a newspaper， or the main points of the news that are broadcast on television or radio. （Cambridge International Dictionary of English， 1995：654）
3 Linguistic Features of English Sports News Headlines
Rhetorical devices are frequently in English news headlines to produce a sense of entertainment for readers when they skim through the items. The usual of speech found in English news headlines are alliteration， antithesis， metonymy， parody， pun， rhyme， etc. aiming at creating musical sound as well as vivid images to let the readers obtain spiritual enjoyment.