郭宇菲：Mapping the language-in-identity configuration in Hong Kong today

       Yufei Guo：Mapping the language-in-identity configuration in Hong Kong today.《International Journal of Multilingualism》,21 Sep 2025

      ABSTRACT ：This study explores the cognitive process through which language is progressively engaged in the flow of identity construction under power relations, based on an empirical study on Hong Kong’s media discourse from 2017 to 2022. Drawing on the concepts of collective identity and indexicality, we analyse the indexical meanings of Cantonese, Putonghua, Simplified Chinese characters and Traditional Chinese characters. The findings uncover four modalities within Hong Kong’s language-in-identity landscape amid changing sociopolitical conditions, highlighting the heterogeneity and dynamics of Hong Kong’s language-in-identity process. In terms of theoretical contributions to the broader fields of language and identity research, the study shows that a ‘successful’ deployment of linguistic resource in identity construction relies heavily on reprocessing certain language ideologies that are already embedded within the society in question.

     KEYWORDS ：Language ideology; collective identity; media; discourse; Hong Kong