| News acts as the window to the outside world for the public. News headline plays a vital role in news transmission and it is viewed as the “eye†of the news article. A great number of linguists home and abroad have contributed their efforts to the study of news headlines. Their researches mainly concern editing, translation, comprehension and linguistic features of news headlines. However, there are few studies on the meaning construction of news headlines. On the basis of Conceptual Blending Theory, this thesis tentatively studies the meaning construction process of news headlines.The purposes of this thesis is to corroborate that Conceptual Blending Theory, one of the most influential cognitive theories advocated by Gills Fauconnier and Mark Turner, can serve as a cognitive operation to reveal the cognitive mechanism in the process of meaning construction of English news headlines. By virtue of employing the Conceptual Blending Theory in the meaning construction process of English news headlines, this study will demonstrate that meaning of news headlines can be illustrated based on the four-space network model, and will provide an alternative perspective to the understanding of English news headlines.This thesis is based on the analyses of the meaning construction process of ten pieces of English news headlines within the blending network models, and the major findings are as follows: Firstly, meaning construction is a process of conceptual blending. In the blending process, mental spaces are essential in comprehending languages. In addition,knowledge and experience common to news writers and readers is a key factor in the meaning construction process. Secondly, through categorized analysis of the meaning construction process of English news headlines, the thesis proves the explanatory power of Conceptual Blending Theory. Thirdly, the employment of Conceptual Blending Theory in meaning construction helps readers understand news headlines and obtain information better and faster. |
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