Fighting the COVID-19 pandemic with words:an investigation of pragmatic presuppositions in Chinese anti-pandemic slogans  

作　　者：Junhua Mo Renquan Heng 

机构地区：[1]School of Foreign Languages,Soochow University,Suzhou,China

出　　处：《Language and Semiotic Studies》2022年第4期216-241,共26页语言与符号学研究（英文）

基　　金：This research was funded by the Social Science Foundation of Soochow University(Grant Number:NH33711320);the Higher Education Teaching Reform Foundation of Soochow University(Grant Number:5731502420).

摘　　要：Slogans play an important role in Chinese society.Numerous slogans have been created and used in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.As an eyecatching linguistic phenomenon,anti-pandemic slogans have sparked heated debates not only among the general public,but also in the academic sector.This study is focused on the pragmatic presuppositions in Chinese anti-pandemic slogans.By adopting a mixed approach(quantitative and qualitative),it finds that six types of pragmaticpresuppositions are used inChinese anti-pandemic slogans.Among them,the behavioral presuppositionsrank first in frequency of use,factive presuppositions second,stative presuppositions third,belief presuppositions fourth,cultural presuppositions fifth and emotional presuppositions sixth.The pragmatic presuppositions of these slogans can serve four major functions,which are persuading people to act properly,spreading scientific knowledge,warning people against wrongdoings and bolstering people’s confidence.However,there are sporadic occurrences of misusing pragmatic presuppositions in the so-called“hardcore”slogans.This study concludes that knowledge of pragmatic presuppositions is essential to a correct understanding and a proper creation of Chinese anti-pandemic slogans.

关 键 词：Chinese anti-pandemic slogans functions misuses pragmatic presuppositions types 

分 类 号：H03[语言文字—语言学] R563.1[医药卫生—呼吸系统]