FEATURES OF PRECEDENT NAMES IN ENGLISH NEWS HEADLINES

Abstract

Abstract. The article examines the role of precedent names in English news headlines and their stylistic potential in modern media discourse. Special attention is given to the ways precedent names function as compressed cultural markers that activate background knowledge and influence the interpretation of news events. It is argued that journalists use precedent names to intensify expressiveness, create evaluative meanings, and establish intertextual links between the reported event and culturally significant images. The article also emphasizes that the successful decoding of such headlines depends on the reader's cultural competence and familiarity with precedent sources.