Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Mohammad Dabir-Moghaddam ¹
• Hossein Raeesi ²

¹ Professor, Department of Linguistics, . Allameh Tabataba'i University.Tehran , Iran

² PhD student in Linguistics, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Stylistic devices are highly used to write interesting news headlines. However, a review of literature shows that very few studies have been conducted on their usage in a sport context. Therefore, this study has sought to investigate the stylistic devices used in the Iranian sport newspaper headlines. To do so, a total of 185 headlines containing stylistic devices from eight sport newspapers collected during a three-month period were classified according to Leigh’s (1994) Model. According to the findings of the study, the two stylistic devices allusion and pun together accounted for over half of the total number. Also, personification, paradox, repetition, and quotation were found to be the least used devices. The findings also indicated that though stylistic devices have served aesthetic functions and have caused the written language to become much closer to colloquial speech, they are sometimes found to be difficult to understand, requiring background knowledge on the readers’ part.

Keywords

• Headlines
• Leigh’s Model
• rhetoric
• sport newspapers
• stylistic devices