VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY,HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE-STUDIES **************************************** NGUYEN THI ANH NGUYET LEXICAL AND STRUCTURAL AMBIGUITY IN HUMOROUS HEADLINES IN ENGLISH ELECTRONIC NEWSPAPERS (Sự Không Rõ Ràng về Nghĩa của Từ và Cấu Trúc trong Tiêu Đề Hài Hước trên Báo Điện Tử Tiếng Anh) M.A. Thesis – Program I Linguistics Code: 602215 HANOI - 2011 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY,HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE-STUDIES **************************************** NGUYEN THI ANH NGUYET LEXICAL AND STRUCTURAL AMBIGUITY IN HUMOROUS HEADLINES IN ENGLISH ELECTRONIC NEWSPAPERS (Sự Không Rõ Ràng về Nghĩa của Từ và Cấu Trúc trong Tiêu Đề Hài Hước trên Báo Điện Tử Tiếng Anh) M.A. Thesis – Program I Linguistics Code: 602215 SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN MINH CUONG M.A. HANOI - 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART 1 – INTRODUCTION ..………………………………......1 1.Rationale ……......................……………………………………………..……. 1 2.Aim of the Study ………………………………………………………………. 2 3.Scope of the Study ………………….…………………………………………. 3 4.Method of the Study ………………..…………………………………………. 4 5.Design of the Study ……………………………………………………………. 5 PART 2- DEVELOPMENT...………………………………….....6 Chapter 1 – Theoretical Background 6 1.1 Ambiguity in English ………………………………………………….……. 6 1.1.1 Concepts of Ambiguity …………………..………………………….……. 6 1.1.2. Types of Ambiguity …………………………………………………….….7 1.1.2.1 Lexical Ambiguity ………………………………………………………. 7 1.1.2.2 Structural Ambiguity ……………………………………………. ……...9 1.1.2.2.1. Class Ambiguity ………………………………………………. ……..11 1.1.2.2.2 Syntactic Ambiguity …………………………………………….…… .12 1.1.2.3 Phonological Ambiguity ………………………………………………...12 1.2. Humor in Language ……………………………………..……………….… 13 2.1. Definition of Humor …………………………………….…………………..13 2.2. Context of Humor ………………………………..………………………….13 Chapter 2: A general Description of Electronic Newspaper Headlines 16 2. 1. Electronic Newspapers ………………………………………………..…….16 2.2. What is meant by Headlines? ………………………….………………….…16 2.2.1. What is a Headline? …………………………………………… ……..……17 2.2.2. The Differences between a Headline and the Headlines …………….…...17 2.3. Functions of Headlines………………………………….……………… ……18 2.4. The Language of Headlines …………………………………………… …....19 2.4.1. The Vocabulary of the Headline Writer ………………..…………………19 2.4.2. Language Devices in Headlines…………………………………………….20 2.4.3. What the Headline Writer Omits ………………………………………….21 2.4.4. How the Headline Writer Reorganizes Language ………………………..22 Chapter 3: The Study 24 3.1 Methodology …………………………………………… …………………… 24 3.1.1 Samples. …………………………………………… …………………….… 24 3.1.2 Procedure. …………………………………………… ………………….… 24 3.2 Data analysis. …………………………………………… ……………..…….. 25 3.2.1. Lexical Ambiguity in English Electronic newspapers Headlines .……... 25 3.2.1.1 Nouns …………………………………………… ……………………........25 3.2.1.2 Verbs …………………………………………… ……………………….....28 3.2.1.3. Prepositions …………………………………………… ……………….…30 3.2.2. Structural Ambiguity in English Electronic newspapers Headlines …… .31 3.2.2.1Class ambiguity……………………………………… ……………….…….31 3.2.2. Syntactic Ambiguity ……………………………………… …………...…...33 3.3 Implications. …………………………………………… …………………… 36