Phraseological Substitutions in Newspaper Headlines: "More than Meats the Eye"

260 Pages·2014·1.328 MB·English

by  Sylvia Jaki

Phraseological Substitutions in Newspaper Headlines
Human Cognitive Processing (HCP)
Cognitive Foundations of Language Structure and Use
This book series is a forum for interdisciplinary research on the grammatical struc-
ture, semantic organization, and communicative function of language(s), and their
anchoring in human cognitive faculties.
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Editors
Klaus-Uwe Panther Linda L. Thornburg
Nanjing Normal University Nanjing Normal University
& University of Hamburg
Editorial Board
Bogusław Bierwiaczonek Elżbieta Górska
Jan Dlugosz University, Czestochowa, Poland / University of Warsaw
Higher School of Labour Safety Management, Martin Hilpert
Katowice
University of Neuchâtel
Mario Brdar
Zoltán Kövecses
Josip Juraj Strossmayer University, Croatia
Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary
Barbara Dancygier
Teenie Matlock
University of British Columbia
University of California at Merced
N.J. Enfield
Carita Paradis
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics,
Lund University
Nijmegen & Radboud University Nijmegen
Günter Radden
Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersen
University of Hamburg
University of Copenhagen
Francisco José Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez
Ad Foolen
University of La Rioja
Radboud University Nijmegen
Doris Schönefeld
Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr.
University of Leipzig
University of California at Santa Cruz
Debra Ziegeler
Rachel Giora
University of Paris III
Tel Aviv University
Volume 46
Phraseological Substitutions in Newspaper Headlines. “More than Meats the Eye”
by Sylvia Jaki
Phraseological Substitutions
in Newspaper Headlines
“More than Meats the Eye”
Sylvia Jaki
University of Hildesheim, Germany
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Amsterdam / Philadelphia
TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
8
the American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jaki, Sylvia.
Phraseological Substitutions in Newspaper Headlines : “More than Meats the Eye” /
Sylvia Jaki.
p. cm. (Human Cognitive Processing, issn 1387-6724 ; v. 46)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Figures of speech. 2. Journalism--Language. 3. Newspapers--Language. I. Title.
PN227.J35 2014
070.401’4--dc23 2014013840
isbn 978 90 272 2400 2 (Hb ; alk. paper)
isbn 978 90 272 6987 4 (Eb)
© 2014 – John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any
other means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O. Box 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa
Table of contents
List of figures ix
List of tables xi
List of abbreviations xiii
Acknowledgements xv
chapter 1
Introduction 1
chapter 2
Phraseological units and their modification 5
2.1 Characteristics of phraseological units 6
2.1.1 Polylexicality 6
2.1.2 Fixedness 7
2.1.3 Idiomaticity 10
2.2 Types of phraseological units 12
2.3 Modification 17
2.3.1 Definition, terminology, function 17
2.3.2 Main types of modifications 19
2.3.3 Delineation of modification, variation, and errors 31
chapter 3
Phraseological modification in newspaper headlines 35
3.1 The newspaper headline as a text type 35
3.2 The popularity of phraseological modification in newspaper headlines 39
3.3 The humorous potential of lexical substitutions 45
3.4 Research background and research question 51
3.5 Material and methods 57
chapter 4
The reception of modified phraseological units
in newspaper headlines: an association test 65
4.1 The processing of unmodified idioms: evidence
from psycholinguistic research 67
4.2 The association experiment: test design 76
vi Phraseological Substitutions in Newspaper Headlines
4.3 Influencing factors on the interpretation
of modified phraseological units 82
4.3.1 The reconstruction of the canonical form 84
4.3.2 The influence of the substituens and the substituendum
on the associations 86
4.3.3 The influence of the literal/phraseological level 91
4.3.4 The influence of the written context 93
4.3.5 The individuality of the interpretation process 96
4.4 Summary 102
chapter 5
A reception-oriented analysis of the relation
between substituens and substituendum 105
5.1 Research background 106
5.2 The relation between substituens and substituendum in the database 113
5.2.1 Paronymy 114
5.2.2 Semantic relations 118
5.2.3 Purely contextual relations 124
5.3 The influence of the relation between substituens
and substituendum on the recognition of the canonical form:
evidence from the association test 126
5.4 Recognition experiment 130
5.4.1 Test design 130
5.4.2 Results 138
5.4.3 Discussion 144
5.4.4 The producer’s perspective 149
5.5 Summary 150
chapter 6
The meaning of substitutions: an analysis in terms
of conceptual blending 153
6.1 Traditional models of meaning manipulation
with lexical substitutions 153
6.2 A cognitive perspective: Conceptual Integration Theory 157
6.2.1 Presentation of the theory 157
6.2.2 Blending in modification theory: state of the art
and implications for the current analysis 164
6.2.3 Analysis of the database with the help of conceptual blending 167
6.2.4 Lexical substitutions and humour 188
6.3 Potential limits of CIT for the analysis of lexical substitutions 193
6.4 Summary 197
Table of contents vii
chapter 7
A new model of interpretation 199
7.1 Insights from research on newspaper text comprehension 199
7.2 A model of interpretation for lexical substitutions 201
7.3 Flexibility for different types of lexical substitutions 207
7.4 Summary 209
chapter 8
Conclusion and outlook 211
References 217
Name index 237
Subject index 241

List of figures
Figure 1. Test items 78
Figure 2. Exemplary power point slide used for the association test 81
Figure 3. Recognition rate for the canonical forms 85
Figure 4. Types of associations for group 1 87
Figure 5. Types of associations for group 2 87
Figure 6. Categorised associations for group 1 88
Figure 7. Categorised associations for group 2 89
Figure 8. Ratio recognised canonical forms/associations related
to the canonical form 90
Figure 9. Breakdown of comprehension 94
Figure 10. Selected associations for Auf Preis komm raus
and Quatsch mit Quote 95
Figure 11. The relations between substituting and substituted elements
in the database 113
Figure 12. Semantic relations in the German database 119
Figure 13. Distribution of associations in the formal similarity-group 128
Figure 14. Distribution of associations in the semantic relations-group 128
Figure 15. Distribution of associations in the purely contextual relations-group 129
Figure 16. Mean recognition rate and standard deviation per test item 140
Figure 17. Mean recognition rate and standard deviation per participant 141
Figure 18. Stylised model structure 142
Figure 19. Ranking of the tested factors 145
Figure 20. Schematised conceptual integration network 159
Figure 21. Input spaces for Mit Kind und Hegel 169
Figure 22. Input spaces for Ohne Schweiz kein Preis 170
Figure 23. Integration network for Mit Kind und Hegel 172
Figure 24. Integration network for Fry in the Ointment 175
Figure 25. Integration network for Im Angesicht des Erbrechens 180
Figure 26. Integration network for Like a bat out of shell 180
Figure 27. Integration network for Dummheit schützt vor Kasse nicht 186
Figure 28. Integration network for Ohne Schweiz kein Preis 190
Figure 29. Integration network for Like a Bat Outta Heaven 191