Page 405 - 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. 405
the representation and reception of paraphrase
in newspaper headlines 405
bean / Pirati s Kariba which appears in the form Pirates of the river Dan-
ube / Pirati s Dunava was recognized by as many as 95 % of the younger
examinees, and by only 70 % of the older examinees. Another interesting
example is the paraphrase Lost in the institute / Izgubljeni u zavodu. The
younger examinees identified it mostly as Lost in translation / Izgubljeni
u prijevodu and the older examinees identified it as the proverb Lost in
time/space/universe / Izgubljeni u vremenu/prostoru/svemiru.
5. Conclusion
The usage of paraphrases in headlines is a very efficient way of draw-
ing the reader’s attention to the content of an article. In addition to hint-
ing at the theme of the article, headlines encourage the reader to be an
active participant in the interpretation of the text. Manipulation of
phraseological meaning usually provokes surprise, humour or irony in
readers and that is why headlines are strong stylistic tools.
The purpose of this study was to verify the frequency of ludic para-
phrases in daily (Slobodna Dalmacija and Vjesnik) and weekly newspa-
pers (Nacional and Globus) as well as to verify the knowledge and under-
standing of modified phrases used in headlines.
The research has confirmed the authors’ presumption that para-
phrases appear more frequently in weekly than in daily newspapers be-
cause of specific rules in discourse formation related to the style of a cer-
tain author and a weekly or daily newspaper. Daily newspapers are fo-
cused on informing the reader about everyday events, and in addition
weekly newspapers have entertainment features as well, manifested in
the use of figurative headlines. In general, serious sections and subjects
covered in Croatian newspapers automatically exclude the possibility of
the use of intentional paraphrase. However, the use of paraphrase does
not have to undermine the seriousness of the subject. On the contrary, it
could reveal the journalist’s enormous creativity.
As it was assumed, there are certain differences between the two dai-
ly and two weekly papers. The higher frequency of paraphrases in the
headlines in Slobodna Dalmacija should be observed in the broader con-
text of the existing differences between popular and quality newspapers
that are addressing different audiences. Unexpected differences appeared
in the structure of headlines in the political weekly newspapers Globus
and Nacional. The higher frequency of paraphrases in Nacional could be
explained by different ways of addressing the same audience.
It is clear from the research that journalists use all kinds of estab-
lished groups of words (phrases, movie titles, book titles, verses, classi-
in newspaper headlines 405
bean / Pirati s Kariba which appears in the form Pirates of the river Dan-
ube / Pirati s Dunava was recognized by as many as 95 % of the younger
examinees, and by only 70 % of the older examinees. Another interesting
example is the paraphrase Lost in the institute / Izgubljeni u zavodu. The
younger examinees identified it mostly as Lost in translation / Izgubljeni
u prijevodu and the older examinees identified it as the proverb Lost in
time/space/universe / Izgubljeni u vremenu/prostoru/svemiru.
5. Conclusion
The usage of paraphrases in headlines is a very efficient way of draw-
ing the reader’s attention to the content of an article. In addition to hint-
ing at the theme of the article, headlines encourage the reader to be an
active participant in the interpretation of the text. Manipulation of
phraseological meaning usually provokes surprise, humour or irony in
readers and that is why headlines are strong stylistic tools.
The purpose of this study was to verify the frequency of ludic para-
phrases in daily (Slobodna Dalmacija and Vjesnik) and weekly newspa-
pers (Nacional and Globus) as well as to verify the knowledge and under-
standing of modified phrases used in headlines.
The research has confirmed the authors’ presumption that para-
phrases appear more frequently in weekly than in daily newspapers be-
cause of specific rules in discourse formation related to the style of a cer-
tain author and a weekly or daily newspaper. Daily newspapers are fo-
cused on informing the reader about everyday events, and in addition
weekly newspapers have entertainment features as well, manifested in
the use of figurative headlines. In general, serious sections and subjects
covered in Croatian newspapers automatically exclude the possibility of
the use of intentional paraphrase. However, the use of paraphrase does
not have to undermine the seriousness of the subject. On the contrary, it
could reveal the journalist’s enormous creativity.
As it was assumed, there are certain differences between the two dai-
ly and two weekly papers. The higher frequency of paraphrases in the
headlines in Slobodna Dalmacija should be observed in the broader con-
text of the existing differences between popular and quality newspapers
that are addressing different audiences. Unexpected differences appeared
in the structure of headlines in the political weekly newspapers Globus
and Nacional. The higher frequency of paraphrases in Nacional could be
explained by different ways of addressing the same audience.
It is clear from the research that journalists use all kinds of estab-
lished groups of words (phrases, movie titles, book titles, verses, classi-
