Page 393 - Gabrijela Kišiček and Igor Ž. Žagar (eds.), What do we know about the world? Rhetorical and argumentative perspectives, Digital Library, Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana 2013
P. 393
the representation and reception of paraphrase
in newspaper headlines 393
serves to fulfill most of the headline’s functions (Ivas, 2004). Recogni-
tion of figurativeness reveals the reader’s level of education and cultur-
al awareness, as well as a capacity for abstract thinking. In addition,
headlining is challenging for the reporter because he/she has to keep in
mind the audience addressed, presume their level of cultural experience
and also successfully attract attention, entertain or disturb the audience.
Even when it is not clearly figurative, the headline takes on this func-
tion because of its positional prominence in regard to the addressed text.
Figurative devices in the headline additionally assert its independence
from the text body. The headline or newspaper article does not neces-
sarily have to employ figurativeness: the frequency or lack of figurative
language use depends on the type of news and also on the journalist’s
style and skill. These characteristics generate differences between news-
papers.
The most common type of figurative speech in a headline in addi-
tion to metaphor and metonymy is paraphrase.
1.2. Paraphrase – the History of the Term
The term paraphrase derives from the Greek word paráphrasis mean-
ing description, loose translation. It signifies the fundamental rhetorical
process of statement development, and functions as a macro-structural
stylistic figure. In both cases paraphrase refers to rewriting, retelling, re-
working of a sentence or statement (Bagić, 2007).
In the 20th century the term paraphrase became obsolete in lan-
guage and literature. Aestheticians, literary theorists and linguists to-
day often discuss paraphrase with negative connotations, defining it as a
simplification of serious discourse. A pejorative meaning can frequently
be found in everyday communication, as we think about paraphrase as
chaotic, bulky and imprecise commentary (Bagić, 2007). Many linguists
have adopted a broader definition of paraphrase. They define it as a re-
statement of a text in another form or in other words, often to simplify
or clarify meaning. For example Crystal (2003) says that it is a term used
in linguistics for the result or process of producing alternative versions
of a sentence or text without changing the meaning. One sentence may
have several paraphrases, e. g. The dog is eating a bone, A bone is being eat-
en by the dog, It’s the dog who is eating a bone, and so on (Crystal, 2003:
336). Most semantic theories would treat all these sentences as having a
single semantic representation. Linguists use syntactic paraphrase as a
major procedure for establishing certain types of transformational rela-
tions (Crystal, 2003: 336).
in newspaper headlines 393
serves to fulfill most of the headline’s functions (Ivas, 2004). Recogni-
tion of figurativeness reveals the reader’s level of education and cultur-
al awareness, as well as a capacity for abstract thinking. In addition,
headlining is challenging for the reporter because he/she has to keep in
mind the audience addressed, presume their level of cultural experience
and also successfully attract attention, entertain or disturb the audience.
Even when it is not clearly figurative, the headline takes on this func-
tion because of its positional prominence in regard to the addressed text.
Figurative devices in the headline additionally assert its independence
from the text body. The headline or newspaper article does not neces-
sarily have to employ figurativeness: the frequency or lack of figurative
language use depends on the type of news and also on the journalist’s
style and skill. These characteristics generate differences between news-
papers.
The most common type of figurative speech in a headline in addi-
tion to metaphor and metonymy is paraphrase.
1.2. Paraphrase – the History of the Term
The term paraphrase derives from the Greek word paráphrasis mean-
ing description, loose translation. It signifies the fundamental rhetorical
process of statement development, and functions as a macro-structural
stylistic figure. In both cases paraphrase refers to rewriting, retelling, re-
working of a sentence or statement (Bagić, 2007).
In the 20th century the term paraphrase became obsolete in lan-
guage and literature. Aestheticians, literary theorists and linguists to-
day often discuss paraphrase with negative connotations, defining it as a
simplification of serious discourse. A pejorative meaning can frequently
be found in everyday communication, as we think about paraphrase as
chaotic, bulky and imprecise commentary (Bagić, 2007). Many linguists
have adopted a broader definition of paraphrase. They define it as a re-
statement of a text in another form or in other words, often to simplify
or clarify meaning. For example Crystal (2003) says that it is a term used
in linguistics for the result or process of producing alternative versions
of a sentence or text without changing the meaning. One sentence may
have several paraphrases, e. g. The dog is eating a bone, A bone is being eat-
en by the dog, It’s the dog who is eating a bone, and so on (Crystal, 2003:
336). Most semantic theories would treat all these sentences as having a
single semantic representation. Linguists use syntactic paraphrase as a
major procedure for establishing certain types of transformational rela-
tions (Crystal, 2003: 336).
