Features of Language of Newspapers By Rashid Mahmood
Features of Language of Newspapers By: Rashid Mahmood
Punctuation (1) n Commas are usually absent: q initially placed adverbials: n q Up to now Mr. Comet’s generalized…. between coordination: n Air is a compressible fluid and a first requirement is that the motion of compressible fluid should be understood quantitatively.
Punctuation (2) n Inverted commas are frequently used for direct, or indirect quotation or to spotlight terms for particular attention; as in q n …precision suggested by the term ‘prediction’ is attained regularly. Dashes are used to mark parenthetic phrases: q Navy officials said yesterday it was unlikely that more than a handful--and perhaps as few as one or two -- would suffer any serious punishment for their role in the misconduct.
Grammar (1) n n If the news is urgent it may have a quicker rhythm and shorter sentences, and if it has been covered before it may have a slower rhythm and longer sentences. Most of the sentences, in this variety of English, are statements with the normal order of S P (O) (C) (A), though initial A is not uncommon.
Grammar (2) n Occasional questions are used, especially in feature news items, to direct the reader's attention to what is to follow and keep the pace of the news from dragging, or to simply assert something that is obviously hard to deny e. g. n n Under such circumstances, how can we live peacefully? Commands are few, but they do sometimes occur. n America's white leaders, take note.
Grammar (3) n What is distinctive of this variety of English is the use of inverted sentence structure, especially when the source of authority is used at the end of the sentence: n n The suspect was arrested on the scene, said the police. When the sentence is not inverted, conjunction that is still deleted; as in: n Police said the suspect was arrested on the scene.
Nominal Group n Use of heavily modified nominal groups: The presence of much complex pre- and postmodification of the nominal group e. g. n n n Thousands of National Guard troops and police deployed in riot gear to stop the spread of looting and destruction A pall of acrid smoke from hundreds of fires A dusk-to-dawn curfew for the entire city
Grammar (4) n n The use of expanded simple sentences i. e. simple sentences expanded by subordinating structures following the main clause. This is clearly an effort to pack more information into a sentence while keeping it easy to understand. The present tense form used in reporting speech to present existing status quo: n n Mr Bivens said he favors the proposal. The president said he will be discussing the issue.
Lexical Features (1) n n n The general trend is to use simple, accurate and vivid words. Preference for journalistic words and set expressions : With long time of use, many short common words have acquired a special flavor of journalistic writing, such as aid (for help ), back (for support ), boost (for increase ), check (for control ), cut (for reduce ), drive (for campaign ), drop (for abandon ), goal (for objective ), link (for connect ), near (for approach ), probe (for investigation ), riot (for disturbance ), stance (for stand ), unveil (for make known ), etc.
Lexical Features (2) n These midget words are most frequently used in headlines, as they are space-saving and flexible in meaning. For instance: n n aim can mean purpose, design, object, intention; bid can mean appeal, offer, endeavor, attempt; deal can mean negotiation, bargain, transaction; plea can mean supplication, petition, application, entreaty, appeal;
Lexical Features (3) n n Neologism Words with extended meaning: n n such as Korea 's Pentagon (Ministry of Defense), Japanese Watergate (political scandal), Baker's shuttle diplomacy (his busy come-and-go of diplomatic intercourse); Nonce-words: n n The official government position still inclines to delay the most difficult decisions as long as possible-- the old time -is-on-our-side attitude. It was a do-anything-to-keep-your-life situation
Lexical Features (4) n Coinage: n n Reaganomics (Reagan's economics), money-wise (with regard to money), supercrat (bureaucrat in the highest position), bells (pants with wide flaring bottoms), egg (bomb), Words borrowed extensively from sports, military, commerce, science and technology, gambling etc: n n n Dr Kissinger's sales trips (his shuttle) in the Middle East are really necessary. It is even less certain that the Congress would back him in a showdown with Mr Gegin. Cast-iron proof was given to show that he was innocent.
Lexical Features (5) n n Extensive use of abbreviations: Owing to space limit, newspaper reporting makes wide use of clipped words, blends, initials, and acronyms: n Govt (government), ad (advertisement), auto (automobile), coke (coca cola), nukes (nuclear weapon), Viets (Vietnamese), telecast (broadcast on TV), ABC(American Broadcasting Corporation), EEC (European Economic Community), UN (the United Nations), NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
Lexical Features (6) n Reporters do not use I me, my, us, or our in a news story except when quoting someone. So instead of: n n He is well qualified for the position. The decision was unjust. The speaker said our city was a nice little town. we have n n n He is a graduate of Michigan and has ten years of experience. Black leaders said the decision was unjust. The speaker said Cleveland was a nice little town.
Discourse Patterns(1) n n The narrative prose writer picks the end of his/her story as the point of major emphasis whereas the news-writer simply reverses the structure and tells the most important things first. In ordinary prose the events are arranged in chronological order: the whole story becomes clear step by step, gradually building a climax. In news writing, the events are arranged in the order of their 'newsworthiness', with the most noteworthy flashed before the reader in the opening sentence, which is called the lead , as contrasted with the body of the story.
Discourse Patterns(2) n This way of writing is often referred to as Inverted pyramid , and the order in which newsworthy facts are organized is referred to as 'logical order'. The order of importance is measured by reader appeal. The lead is the 'showcase' of all materials contained in the story, the subsequent parts of the story developing in logical order to support the lead.
Discourse Patterns(3) n Ideally every news story should answer the questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and for a good measure, How? And they should be answered as quickly as possible. This does not mean, however, that all the answers should be crammed in the lead as used to be the practice in the past. Now the tendency, as is shown in the samples, is to keep the lead to a minimum--no more than 40 words, featuring one ‘Wh' which is much more important than the others.
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