Lexical Feature Variations between New York Times and Times Supplement News Headlines
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Date
2010-01-??
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英語學系
Department of English, NTNU
Department of English, NTNU
Abstract
2004年《紐約時報》與《聯合報》合作開始發行《台灣紐時周報》。本文探討《紐約時報》與《台灣紐時周報》新聞標題之詞彙特色轉換策略，專注於文體之正式程度與難易度。語料為2008年3月至10月間前後共8個月出版之《台灣紐時周報》全部的新聞標題及相對應之《紐約時報》標題。運用文本調查、文體分析的方式確立《紐約時報》、《台灣紐時周報》標題之詞彙特色。結果發現口語詞彙、成語、俚語、專門用語、非英語字詞出現在《紐約時報》標題之頻率均遠高於出現在《台灣紐時周報》標題之頻率，降低了《台灣紐時周報》標題言談情境之非正式程度，使其傾向於中庸之正式程度。同時也發現下列四項從《紐約時報》到《台灣紐時周報》之標題詞彙特色轉換模式：非正式程度降低、第一人稱轉為第三人稱、難度降低、從誘導轉為告知。這些轉換模式反應出標題作者對讀者的基本認知。
In 2004 The New York Times (NYT) launched a weekly Time Supplement (TS) with Taiwan's United Daily News. This article is intended to explore lexical featurevariations between TS headlines and NYT headlines as a discourse strategy, focusing on variations of lexical formality and accessibility. A textual survey and stylistic analysis were conducted on a corpus comprising (i) all the TS news articles published during the eight months ending on October 31, 2008, and (ii) all the corresponding NYT news articles. An attempt was made to establish and analyze the lexical features that characterize TS and NYT headlines. Colloquialisms, idioms, slang expressions, technical terms, and non-English words were found in far more NYT headlines than TS headlines. These lexical feature variations decrease the informality of TS headlines but increase their accessibility to general TS readers, making the writing and reading of TS headlines stylistically less informal or more neutral. Four patterns of dictional variations from NYT to TS headlines were detected: from more to less informal, from first-person to third-person viewpoint, from less to more accessible, and from persuasive to informative. These variation patterns reflect what the headline writers perceive to be the norms for the respective readerships.
In 2004 The New York Times (NYT) launched a weekly Time Supplement (TS) with Taiwan's United Daily News. This article is intended to explore lexical featurevariations between TS headlines and NYT headlines as a discourse strategy, focusing on variations of lexical formality and accessibility. A textual survey and stylistic analysis were conducted on a corpus comprising (i) all the TS news articles published during the eight months ending on October 31, 2008, and (ii) all the corresponding NYT news articles. An attempt was made to establish and analyze the lexical features that characterize TS and NYT headlines. Colloquialisms, idioms, slang expressions, technical terms, and non-English words were found in far more NYT headlines than TS headlines. These lexical feature variations decrease the informality of TS headlines but increase their accessibility to general TS readers, making the writing and reading of TS headlines stylistically less informal or more neutral. Four patterns of dictional variations from NYT to TS headlines were detected: from more to less informal, from first-person to third-person viewpoint, from less to more accessible, and from persuasive to informative. These variation patterns reflect what the headline writers perceive to be the norms for the respective readerships.