Special Grammar and Language of Newspaper

Special Grammar of Newspaper

Newspaper uses a different style of language for reporting. Most of the time newspaper use indirect or implied expressions in the news title to create enthusiasm and expectation in readers. A common feature of the newspaper language is its underton and sarcastic sense, which they convey through attractive news titles. For making a news title attractive and catchy, newspaper prefers to use idiomatic compounds and rhetoric expressions. News title in English-language newspapers can be very difficult to understand. One reason for this is that news titles are often written in a special style, which is very different from ordinary English. In this style there are some special rule of grammar which are often used in unusual ways (Swan, 1996:359).

News titles in English language newspaper are usually short and they tend to leave out all the inessential word, such as articles and auxiliary verbs, and to be as generally economical as they can. Certain words are very common in news titles, such as: deal, cost, ban, hit, get, clash (http://archive.1september.ru/eng/ 2002/08/4.htm). Simple tenses are very frequent in news titles. The infinitive form is used to express the future and the auxiliary in passive forms are always dropped leaving past participle.

Because the use of special grammars in the news title sometimes mislead readers. So the news title writers try to write titles that are easy to understand by using short and active verb, thinking of more ways to attract the reader, avoiding words that could be read as either a noun or a verb, examining the connotations, context, and unintended meaning, finding the precise verb that summarizes the action.  

In the newspaper, the grammars used are sometimes different from usual structure especially in a news titles writing. The following are special grammar in the news title (Swan, 1996:360-361)

a.       News titles are not always complete sentences. Many news titles consist of noun phrases with no verb

Constitution rebuff not end of Europe

b.      News title often contain strings of three, four or more nouns, nouns earlier in the string modify those that follow.

Debt management and govt’s financial reporting.

News title like these can be difficult to understand. It sometimes helps to read them backwards.

c.       Headlines often leave out articles and the verb be.

Letter from Michigan to Acehnese children (= A letter ….)

Miss Indonesia Artika in high demand in Bangkok (=Miss Indonesia Artika is in …)

d.      In news titles, simple tense are often used instead of progressive of perfect forms. The simple present is used for both present and past events.

Germany agrees to provide74.3m for Aceh and Nias (= … has agreed …)

Govi restarts nationwide unleaded gasoline compaign (= … is restarting …)

The present progressive can be used, especially to talk about changes. Be is usually dropped.

e.       Many news title words are used as both nouns and verbs, and nouns are often used to modify other nouns. So it is not always easy to work out the structure of a sentence. Compare :

Us cuts aid to third world (=The us reduced its telp…cuts is a verb, aid is a noun)

Aid cuts row (=There has been a disagreement about the reduction in aid. Aid and cuts are both nouns)

Cuts aid rebels (=The reduction in aid is helping the revolutionaries cuts is a noun, aid is verb)

f.       News titles often use infinitives to refer to the future.

City to construct inner city toll roads next March.

For is also used to refer to movement or plans.

Troops for Glasgow? (=Are soldier going to be sent to Glasgow ?)

g.      Auxiliary verbs are usually dropped from passive structures, leaving past participle.

For arrested with 176 kg of Marijuana (=for people have been arrested …)

Note that forms like held, attacked are usually past participles with passive meanings, not past tenses (which are rare in the news tile of newspapers)

Compare :

·         Aid row : President attacked (… the President has been attacked)

Aid row : President attack critics

(=… the President has attacked her critic)

·         Boy found safe (=The missing boy has been found safe)

Boy finds safe (=A boy has found a safe)

h.      A colon (:) often used to separate the subject of a news title from what is said about it.

Made in China: here, there, and everywhere

Quotation marks (‘…’) are used to show words were said bay somebody else, and that the newspaper does not necessarily claim that they are true.

Illegal fees’ double RI export cost.

A question mark (?) is often used when something is not certain.

Crisis over by September ?

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