基于语料库的英语新闻标题词汇分布量化研究

A Corpus-based Study of Word Distribution in English News Headlines

基于真实的新闻英语语料,采用语料库研究方法,量化分析英语新闻标题词性和构词法两个维度的分布特征,发现英语新闻标题中名词比重占绝对优势,达53%;动词多为不加后缀的短小词;标题中阿拉伯数字词大量使用,体现了语言经济原则。四种主要的构词法中词缀法的构词能力最强,缩略法次之,复合构词法和转换构词法分列第三和第四。标题中不同构词法的使用使其词类丰富多样,可读性强,易于传播。同时,对词汇分布特征所产生的文体效果做出归因分析。

This study explores the distribution features of news headlines from the dimensions of word class and word formation. A corpus-based analysis of authentic data yielded the following findings:( 1)nouns in news headlines accounted for 53% overwhelmingly while verbs were midget words without affixes;( 2) there was a heavy use of Arabic numerals in news headlines,embodying the economic principles of language; and( 3) among the four major types of word formation,the productivity order was affixation,abbreviation,compounding and conversion respectively. It was further found that use of different word formations would enhance both the word diversity and readability of news headlines,thus facilitating transmission. Finally,attribution analysis results confirmed the word distribution features.