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

Abstract 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 eye-catching 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 pragmatic presuppositions are used in Chinese anti-pandemic slogans. Among them, the behavioral presuppositions rank 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.