Abstract: A headline is the center of English newspaper. It plays a significant role in attracting the readers’ attention. Since not everyone has enough time and patience to read the news from beginning to end, lots of people only read the titles. Therefore, the English newspaper headlines determine the value of the newspaper articles. This paper is aimed at illustrating the linguistic features and rhetoric of the English newspaper headlines from the aspects of definition, classification and functions to provide more insights into English newspaper headlines for readers.

Key words: English newspaper headlines; linguistic features; figures of speech

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 Significance of the Research-1

1.2 Structure of the Research-1

2. Literature Review-2

2.1 Definition of English Newspaper Headlines-2

2.2 Classification of English Newspaper Headlines-3

2.2.1 Classification in the Field of Nature-3

2.2.2 Classification in the Field of Columns-3

2.3 Functions of English Newspaper Headlines-4

3. Linguistic Features of English News Headline-4

3.1 Lexical Features of English Newspaper Headlines-5

3.1.1 Preference for Midget Words-5

3.1.2 Employment of Abbreviations and Acronyms-6

3.1.3 Word Coordination-7

3.2 Grammatical Features of English Newspaper Headlines-8

3.2.1 Omission-8

3.2.2 Simple Present Tense-9

3.2.3 Punctuation-10

4. Rhetorical Features of English Newspaper Headlines-11

4.1 Personification-11

4.2 Metaphor and the Simile-11

4.3 Puns-12

4.4 Antithesis-12

4.5 Metonymy-13

4.6 Irony-13

4.7 Other Rhetoric-13

5. Conclusion-14

Bibliography-15

Acknowledgements-16