A Contrastive Study of Chinese and American Political Speech Acts of Condemning from the Perspective of Ethical Pragmatics

Political condemnation plays an important role in upholding international morality, conveying political statements and guiding public opinions.Based on an explanation of the connotations of political condemnation, this study examines the similarities and differences between Chinese and American condemnations in their content and linguistic forms.In terms of content, Chinese condemnations mainly focus on "violent conflicts" and advocate peaceful development and legal system, while American condemnations mostly relate to "global issues" and promote effective governance and moral order.In terms of linguistic forms, both Chinese and American speech acts of condemning are realised by means of internal strategies such as overstatement, intensifiers and amplifiers.Yet, there are significant differences in various aspects of alerters and supportive moves in external strategies to adjust the force of speech act of condemning.Furthermore, the study explores the cultural paradigms and moral orders behind these results from the perspective of ethical pragmatics.The study provides insights for the assessment and dissemination of political language use.