Cognitive Approaches to Specialist Languages

Stylistic Devices and Creativity in Popular Science Headlines 309

WĞciekáa pogoda, Niespokojne geny – this is also the case of personification,
Nocne ogrody, Teatr BoĪy, Czarna Despotia, Cyfrowa wioska, Zabytek
cyfrowy, Zielona inwazja, StraĪacki nos, Miedziane záoto, Turystyka
nuklearna, ZwierzĊce zombi, Wiwat poraĪka, Afryka obfitoĞci, Chleb na
pustyni (there is an element of a paradox), Król spinozaur, Król lew,
Morza do uprawy and Lekarze na torach). It is noteworthy that the last 4
instances of novel metaphors contain an element of a paradox since one
does not usually celebrate failure, Africa is a poor continent, there is no
bread on a desert in most cases and doctors are usually not on the tracks.
The table below exemplifies the rhetorical devices used in National
Geographic Polska:

Stylistic devices in National Geographic Polska headlines 169

(January 2013 – December 2014)

novel

metaphors

compounds conventional

metaphors

simile intensifiers alliteration

23 1 2 1 4 2

Table 2. Stylistic devices used in National Geographic Polska headlines
in the table of contents (January 2013 – December 2014).

The quantitative and qualitative data presented above make it clear that
rhetorical devices are more common in the headlines of the American
edition than the Polish one. Moreover, one can observe the predominance
of novel, unconventional metaphorical expressions in both language
versions. Therefore, the following conclusions may be drawn; first of all,
Polish headlines are more informative and academic like, while American
ones are more expressive and pop culture oriented. In both language
versions novel metaphors predominate which contributes to the intriguing
function of headlines in both languages.

Stylistic devices in the translation of National Geographic

headlines from the table of contents section

(January 2013 – December 2014)

In this section the headlines of ninety-one National Geographic articles and
their translations (that appear in the table of contents) have been analyzed
with respect to such rhetorical figures and grammatical constructions as:
novel and conventional metaphors, word play, sayings, compounds,
intensifiers, rhetorical questions and imperative constructions. As far as