A Study Of Iconicity In English Newspapers And Periodicals

This thesis studies the use of the principle of iconicity in the understanding of English newspapers and periodicals, trying to dig out the motivation between form and meaning. The data for this study are mainly the political news reports issued in the last phase of 2004 American campaign, that is, from mid-September to early November. The 41 examples come from the most influential newspapers and periodicals in the U.S.A: The Washington Post, The Mew York Times and Newsweek. The major findings of this study are as follows.There really exists some motivation between the form and meaning of English newspapers and periodicals and many features of English newspapers and periodicals can be explained with the principle of iconicity. It is feasible to use the principle of iconicity to understand the hidden meanings in English newspapers and periodicals and arouse the English learners' interests in news reports.The contributions and values are:(1) This thesis cites many examples and proves that the theory of iconicity offers a new perspective and a theoretical basis for the interpretation of English newspapers and periodicals as well as the texts of other genres.(2) This thesis emphasizes the distinctions between iconicity in the lexical level and that in the syntactic level as well as the distinctions between the iconicity of linguistic signs and that of non-linguistic signs. It not only deals with linguistic iconicity but also points out the necessity to study the iconicity in layout and printing. The scope of iconicity research is thus greatly expanded.(3) The thesis not only elaborates on such common features as simplified forms, polite formula, euphemism, allusions, rhetorical devices, etc in the headlines, leads and main bodies of news texts, but also studies the application of iconicity in punctuations and vowels.The implications are:(1) A speaker or writer may not realize the hidden meanings unconsciously involved in his words and a reader may not be so sensitive to these hidden meanings. The perception of iconic features in a text depends on a reader. Therefore, learners of English should cultivate their ability in digging out the relationship between form and meaning so as to have a better understanding of the iconic features.(2) Iconicity is usually regarded as a sort of analysis from a microscopic perspective. Although the lack of such an approach does not prevent a reader from understanding the main idea of a news report, a reader will not be able to comprehend the hidden meaning that a journalist adds to the form and therefore can not appreciate the unique beauty of this practical style of writing.(3) It is noted that iconicity cannot explain every linguistic phenomenon. Linguistic signs and structures are often influenced by arbitrariness and intuitive choices. There is not always a correspondence between form and meaning. The thesis also points out although the perception of iconicity in news texts deals with the form, the emphasis of our comprehension should be laid on the meaning, the understanding of which is the ultimate goal of any interpretation.This thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction, stating the questions that the study is to probe into and the importance of the present study. The second chapter is a brief review of relevant literature, introducing Haiman's theory as the framework of the present study and summarizing the past relevant studies. The third chapter is research methodology, dealing with the selection of the data and the scientific basis of the selection. The third chapter analyzes some texts, trying to prove that the forms of the English newspapers and periodicals may have hidden meanings. This chapter is particularly concerned with the four main principles of iconicity, i.e., the iconicity of distance/proximity, the iconicity of quantity, the iconicity of order/sequencing and the iconicity of markedness. The fifth chapter draws the conclusion that using the main principles of iconicity can greatly promote the understanding of the hidden meanings inEnglish newspapers and periodicals. Finally the limitations and suggestions tor furtherstudies are pointed out.