PRAGMATIC STUDY OF ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES IN SELECT NIGERIAN NATIONAL DAILIES

ABSTRACT This study investigates the pragmatic features of entertainment headlines in selected Nigerian national dailies, focusing on how linguistic strategies shape meaning and influence public perception. Drawing from forty headlines published between January and December 2024 in The Punch, The Guardian, Vanguard, and The Pulse, the research applies Searle’s Speech Act Theory to identify and categorise illocutionary acts. The analysis reveals that assertive speech acts dominate (70%), functioning as vehicles for presenting information and framing public narratives. Commissives (12.5%) highlight commitments and personal agency, expressives (12.5%) foreground emotions and psychological states to foster empathy, while directives (5%) strategically invite engagement or challenge reader perspectives. The findings demonstrate that entertainment headlines go beyond information delivery; they pragmatically perform persuasive, emotive, and narrative functions that reinforce cultural values and shape audience interpretation. By employing devices such as presupposition, implicature, and contextual cues, journalists craft headlines that attract attention, influence attitudes, and construct celebrity identities. The study concludes that entertainment headlines in Nigerian newspapers are not neutral linguistic artefacts but carefully constructed communicative tools that blend factual reporting with persuasion and identity construction. The research contributes to scholarship in pragmatics and media discourse, while offering practical insights for media practitioners to enhance clarity, engagement, and credibility in entertainment reporting.