SEMIOTIC FORMS AND MEANINGS IN SELECTED COVID-19 POSTERS OF THE NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic is a new virus linked to the same family of viruses as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Existing studies on COVID-19 discourse bothered on pragma-semiotic, stylistics and critical Discourse Analysis with insufficient scholarly attention on social semiotics. This study, however, paid attention to semiotic analysis of selected COVID-19 posters of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, examining the linguistic meaning signifiers and specific meanings of the visual signs behind the selected COVID-19 Posters. The COVID-19 poster of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) was subjected to a qualitative analysis using Kress and Leuween’s (2006:14) semiotic approaches. Five COVID-19 posters were purposefully selected for their richness in the use of semiotic resources to communicate meaning. The descriptive research design was employed for this study as the most suitable for the attainment of the study objectives. Data were subjected to semiotic analysis. Results revealed that the linguistic meaning signifiers in the posters are words, phrases and sentences. Although most of the sentences are short, the messages are easily read and understood. The typographic features such as lowercase, uppercase, bold type were used to make emphasis in persuading the people to support the fight against COVID- 19 pandemic. For the meaning of visual signs, the study revealed that the ideational (representational), interpersonal (interactive) and textual (compositional) resources are realized in selected NCDC’s campaign posters on Covid-19 prevention as well as their communicative functions. This study concludes that both the verbal and the visual language of the Covid-19 posters are used to communicate a strong warning on how to prevent contracting the deadly virus by simply observing the safety protocols. Further studies can be carried out from a viewpoint of cognitive linguistics.