Startseite Recontextualizing the basic law in South China morning post: a diachronic corpus-assisted discourse study
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Recontextualizing the basic law in South China morning post: a diachronic corpus-assisted discourse study

  • Ming Liu

    Ming Liu is an assistant professor at Department of Language Science and Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests cover critical discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, pragmatics, systemic functional linguistics, and intercultural communication. His recent publications have appeared in some international journals, such as Discourse & Society, Discourse & Communication, Language & Communication, Journal of Language and Politics, Text & Talk, Discourse, Context & Media, Lingua and Digital Scholarship in the Humanities.

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Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 28. Oktober 2025
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Abstract

The Basic Law serves as the foundation of Hong Kong’s governance and its unique status under Chinese sovereignty, yet its interpretation and implementation have often sparked debate and controversy since the 1997 handover. This study conducts a corpus-assisted discourse analysis of the recontextualization of the Basic Law in the influential English-language newspaper, South China Morning Post, over a 25-year period (1997–2022). The aim is to uncover diachronic changes in how the Basic Law has been recontextualized by integrating text mining with critical discourse studies. The findings identify three distinct periods of recontextualization, each characterized by particular patterns and approaches. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the Basic Law’s recontextualization and highlights the benefits of combining text mining with critical discourse analysis.


Corresponding author: Ming Liu, Department of Language Science and Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, E-mail:

Funding source: General Research Fund of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong

Award Identifier / Grant number: 15618225

About the author

Ming Liu

Ming Liu is an assistant professor at Department of Language Science and Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests cover critical discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, pragmatics, systemic functional linguistics, and intercultural communication. His recent publications have appeared in some international journals, such as Discourse & Society, Discourse & Communication, Language & Communication, Journal of Language and Politics, Text & Talk, Discourse, Context & Media, Lingua and Digital Scholarship in the Humanities.

  1. Research funding: This work was supported by General Research Fund of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (15618225).

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Received: 2025-02-10
Accepted: 2025-08-25
Published Online: 2025-10-28

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Heruntergeladen am 6.11.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/ijld-2025-2014/html?lang=de
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