A Linguistic & Semiotic Analysis Of Chinese Print Public Service Announcements

The dissertation has analyzed the verbal and visual contents of Chinese print PSAs from linguistic and semiotic perspectives. The primary purpose is to summarize the verbal characteristics of Chinese print PSAs at lexical, syntactic, and rhetorical levels and visual characteristics at sign-using and rhetoric levels. To this end, a content analysis coding instrument is established to investigate the occurrence rates of nouns, verbs, and adjectives; the occurrence rates of different kinds of sentences; the incidence and distribution of verbal rhetorical figures; the dominant type of advertising visual signs and the occurrence rates of visual metaphor and metonymy in Chinese print PSAs. The coding of 60 Chinese print PSAs show that, in terms of verbal content, Chinese print PSAs are characterized by frequent use of nouns and verbs, high occurrence rates of simple sentences, declarative and imperative sentences, and predominance of hyperbole and analogy. The predominance of adjectives, interrogative sentences, pun, and rhyme in commercials does not show in PSAs. In terms of the visual content, same as commercials, Chinese print PSAs are dominated by iconic and indexical visual signs and predominated by visual metaphors and metonyms.The findings generated in this study lead to a few conclusions that have important implications. First, this study shows that former linguistic and semiotic frameworks for analyzing the verbal and visual contents of commercials are applicable to Chinese print PSAs. Thus it provides future researchers with a new perspective. Second, the unique characteristics of Chinese PSAs pose a challenging but exciting topic for advertising researchers. Third, the similarities and differences between PSAs and commercials suggest that PSA designers can borrow ideas from commercial advertising practice.