系统功能语法视角下中英英语新闻标题的比较研究_英语论文

A Comparative Study Of English Headlines In Uk And China:From The Perspective Of Systematic-Functional Grammar

摘要

随着信息化时代的到来和社会节奏的加快，新闻与我们的关系越来越紧密。而新闻标题作为对紧随其后的新闻内容的概括和评论，是新闻的点睛之笔。前人对新闻标题的研究主要集中在语言特色、语法特点及翻译内涵等角度。本文以英国泰晤士报和中国日报的语料来源为例，运用系统功能语法对中英两国的英文新闻标题进行比较研究。

本文采取比较分析的方法，分别从英国泰晤士报和中国日报挑选2016年热点事件的新闻标题（共400条）进行比较研究。每则新闻标题都是运用韩礼德（1978）系统功能语法中的三大元功能（概念功能、人际功能、语篇功能）分别对新闻标题从及物性、语气、情态和主位结构进行比较，分析中英媒体在不同的立场下选择新闻标题时的异同。分析发现，从系统功能语法分析，泰晤士报和中国日报大多数标题都使用肯定陈述语序。但受作者本身的知识结构、价值观和对新闻报道专业性等因素的差异以及受媒体立场和利益驱使不同的影响，在新闻标题选词上存在不同，反映出不同报纸的观点和立场。即使是对同一新闻的报道，泰晤士报和中国日报也因政治、经济、文化背景的不同存在着新闻标题选词、句法和侧重点的差异。本文在理论上丰富了系统功能语法对新闻标题的研究。实践意义上，能帮助读者以后更准确地解读新闻标题以及其背后的含义。

关键词：新闻标题；系统功能语法；差异

Abstract

With the advent of information age and the increasing speed of life pace, we have a closer relationship with news nowadays. Headline plays a highlight role in the news and is the main focus of studies. Most previous studies concentrate on the linguistic features or rhetorical devices of headlines. This paper will apply the theory of Halliday’s（1978）Systematic Functional Grammar to conduct a comparative study based on the selected headlines from the Times and China Daily .

This paper has selected a total number of 400 headlines from the Times and China Daily, all of which are important news happened in 2016. Each item of these headlines has been analyzed under the framework of transitivity, mood and modality and theme in order to compare the similarities and differences of English headlines in UK and China. It is found that the majority of headlines in the Times and China Daily are used in declarative positive sentence and are written in a formal order. But the choice of words in headlines from both newspapers can reflect different opinions and views of the writers as well as the standing points and interests of different newspapers. Dramatic differences can be seen even when these two newspapers report the same event. According to these findings, this paper is of theoretical and practical significance. Theoretically, this paper extends and enriches previous studies on headlines based on Systematic Functional Grammar. Practically, this paper enables readers to have a better understanding of headlines and its hidden ideology.

Key words: headline; systematic functional grammar; difference

Contents

Acknowledgments I

Abstract(Chinese) II

Abstract(English) III

Introduction 3

Chapter 1 Literature Review 4

1.1 Definition of headlines 4

1.2 Previous studies on headline at home and abroad 4

Chapter 2 Theoretical Framework 6

2.1 Ideational function 6

2.1.1 Material process 6

2.1.2 Mental process 6

2.1.3 Relational process 7

2.1.4 Behavioral process 7

2.1.5 Verbal Process 7

2.1.6 Existential Process 7

2.2 Interpersonal function 8

2.2.1 Mood 8

2.2.2 Modality 8

2.3 Textual function 9

Chapter 3 Method 10

3.1 Research questions 10

3.2 Data collection 10

3.2.1 Data source 10

3.2.2 Data Category 10

3.3 Data Analysis 11

Chapter 4 Results and Discussion 13

4.1 Ideational function: transitivity analysis 13

(1) Similarities 13

(2) Differences 14

4.2 Interpersonal function: mood and modality analysis 15

(1) Similarities of mood Analysis 15

(2) Differences of mood analysis 16

(3) Similarities of modality Analysis 17

(4) Differences of modality analysis 17

4.3 Textual function: theme analysis 18

(1) Similarities 18

(2) Differences 19

Conclusion 20

References 21