Informativity and headline translation : a study of selected BBC English headlines and their Arabic counterparts

Abstract EN

Of the seven standards of textuality forwarded by Beaugande (1980), informativity and its three orders seem to be the most relevant to media, more specifically headline, translation, as media is entirely concerned with conveying information to the reader.

Due to the main function of headline of persuading the reader to the news story, a headline is usually upgraded through form and content to the third order where cognitive processes intervene for the purpose of rehearsal.

Informativity is then redefined and its three orders are readdressed to suit the purpose of the current study.

To verify this hypothesis, eight BBC English headlines along with their Arabic translations are subjected to analysis.

The study has shown that translation fidelity is often violated for the purpose of inviting readers to the news story.

This is achieved through a variety of semantic, syntactic and stylistic devices.