【導(dǎo)讀】新聞英語標(biāo)題的特征與翻譯

　　

【正文】 headlines do not often use ellipsis and brackets. The function of dash is different in English and Chinese news headlines. In English news headlines dash has the function of connection and addition, and it can replace the verb “be”. In Chinese news headlines it can express the progressive and transition of the meaning. （ 1）假作真時??????（省略號，英語新聞標(biāo)題一般不用） （ 2）緩和對話希望（間隔號，英語新聞標(biāo)題一般不用） （ 3） Dog Bites Woman?s Nose Completely Off(所有格符號，漢語新聞 14 標(biāo)題一般不用 ) （ 4） Arafat Claims ?Never to Surrender?(單引號，漢語新聞標(biāo)題一般不用 ) Structural difference From the point of view of language form, there is not the difference between lower case and capitalization. The Chinese news headlines can be phrase, sentence, while the English news headlines take the form of noun+postmodifer and the simple sentence. Chinese news headlines can be classified as citation title+main title+subtitle, citation title+main title, main title+subtitle, main title. English news headlines can be classified as main title+subtitle, main title. （ 1）穿越赤道的時刻（偏正式結(jié)構(gòu)） （ 2）探索生命起源的奧秘（動賓結(jié)構(gòu)） （ 3） Soldiers killed in Afghan blast(名詞中心語 +后置修飾語 ) （ 4） Jordan Cautions on Return to NBA (簡單句 ) （ 5）（引題）天雨路滑 大意不得 （主題）廣州近日車禍頻繁 （副題）三月一日以來，平均每天十宗 （ 6）（主題） . Attacked （副題） Hijacked Jets Destroy Twin Towers and Hit Pentagon in Day of Terror Semantic difference English news headlines in general do not reveal so much information as Chinese ones because of their different languages. What? s more, English grammar is not so flexible as Chinese, though it has been simplified in headlines. 15 Chinese characters usually have meanings in themselves and Chinese grammar hardly needs any attention. Chinese is a highly condensed language. Most English words have several letters and usually they take up more space than Chinese characters. Thus within the same limited space, Chinese headlines have a better summarizing of news contents than English news headlines. All this contributes to the integrity of Chinese headlines. A Chinese news headline is a ministory in capsule form, while English headlines can only adopt accentuation, centering on the most important points of the news. Similarities between Chinese and English News Headlines They are the indispensable parts of the news and the generalization and abstract of news content. They can help readers decide which news worth to read and fully understand the news. When the readers get a piece of newspaper, they usually read the headlines first. And then they decide whether they should read the whole news. These people are called headline readers. So a good news headline plays an important role in a piece of news. For this reason, the editors, reporters and translators pay more and more attention to the translation of English news headlines. The news report should be just and objective, but many news headlines have obvious political color. The editors usually add their personal feelings into the news when they make the news headline. They try to influence the readers, opinions. All in all, both similarities and differences between Chinese and English news headlines should be taken into consideration in the translation. 16 Chapter 3 Translation of English News Headlines Based on the discussion of the features and functions of English news headlines, we have already had a basic knowledge of English news headlines. But when reading a newspaper we should not only understand the English news headlines but also translate it properly. So we need to know the criteria and method of English news headline translation. Difficulties of English News Headlines Translation Each style of translation has its own difficulties. The translation of English news headlines has much more difficulties. First, news report should be concise, which is the same with its translation. For translators, the first thing is to know the exact meaning of the words, then use the most appropriate words to express the meaning. But we must bear in mind that the words we use should be concise and clear, because the space of newspaper is limited. Second, coinages and new expressions emerge continuously. With the development of our society, a large number of new words emerge to meet the needs. If there are no equivalents in the target language, the translators must create them and the creations should be understood easily. It is hard work for translators. Third, the translation of English news headlines should be faithful to the original. The translators can not distort the truth freely, he must avoid subjectivity. Fourth, the language of news headlines should appeal to the reader? s attention. In journalistic English, there are some figures of speech we can use in the translation of news headlines. This should be reflected in the translation. And the translators should say things in a way that readers find easy to understand. Last, the limited time is the greatest difficulty to translators. As news 17 reporting report the latest things, which could easily bee out of date. As Andre Gide points out, “no matter how significant the event, how important the people involved news value diminishes with time.”(Itule, 2021:51) Thus translators do not have much time to weigh their words or to consult materials. To solve this problem, the translators must have all kinds of knowledge, learn more about culture of language, strengthen the consciousness of the current affairs and improve the language skills. A Brief Review on Translation Criteria On translation criteria, there have been heated discussions for thousands of years both at home and abroad. A number of great translators have tried to formulate some kinds of criteria to regulate and guide the translation practice. From Tyler to Yan Fu and then to Nida, they have proposed various criteria on translation. At