Cognitive Approaches to Specialist Languages

Stylistic Devices and Creativity in Popular Science Headlines 311

by means of Polish everyday expressions, consider: Star-Eater – Czarne
dziury, The Next Breadbasket – Afryka obfitoĞci, The Ship-Breakers –
Bangladesz and Mindsuckers – ZwierzĊce zombi.
It is noteworthy that in National Geographic headlines intensifiers can
also be identified, for example: Crazy Far – ObáĊdnie daleko (here the
intensifiers are used in both languages), Ultimate Trek – W nieznane (here
the intensifier is used only in English) and Big Fish – Taaka ryba (here the
intensifier is used only in Polish). Moreover, the use of sayings in English
headlines can also be observed, for instance: Failure is an Option – Wiwat
poraĪka (here the meaning of the headlines in the two languages is
different, but in both cases frozen linguistic expressions have been
employed) or Once Upon a Dragon – Smok z Komodo (here part of the
linguistic expression ‘once upon a time’ has been employed in English).
In English headlines one can also identify 2 rhetorical questions, for
example: Can Coal be Clean? – WĊgiel and Will the Walls Fall? –
Damaszek. It needs to be mentioned that the use of imperative
constructions is infrequent since only one such construction has been
found: Just Press Print – ĝwiat z 3D (here the imperative construction is
used only in English). In addition, one instance of a word play can be
found: Cowboys on the Edge – Patagonia (here on the edge means ‘in
danger of extinction’ but in some other contexts it can also means ‘on the
edge of something’). The table below illustrates the use of stylistic devices
in the translation of headlines from the table of contents.

15 English novel metaphors – 0 metaphors in Polish

13 English novel metaphors – 13 novel metaphors in Polish

0 English novel metaphors – 4 novel metaphors in Polish

6 English conventional metaphors – 0 metaphors in Polish

7 English alliterations – 0 alliteration in Polish

4 English compounds – 0 compounds in Polish

1 English intensifier – 1 intensifier in Polish

1 English intensifier – 0 intensifiers in Polish

0 English intensifiers – 1 intensifier in Polish

2 English sayings – 2 sayings in Polish

2 English stimulating questions – 0 stimulating questions in Polish

1 English imperative construction – 0 imperative constructions in Polish

1 English word play – 0 word play in Polish

Table 3. Translation of stylistic devices employed in the headlines
from the table of contents.