Abstract：Abstract: Judgement is the primary function of criminal judicial verdicts, while attitude is the most important language resource to realize this function.This paper analyzes the attitude expressions in 200 Chinese criminal verdicts and finds that: judgement is the most important way for Chinese criminal verdicts to express attitude, followed by appreciation, while affect is the least frequently used. Most of the attitude expressions are negative in meaning, indicating that a negative attitude towards people or things is the basic discourse pattern of Chinese criminal judicial verdicts. Judgements of social sanction are much more than those of social esteem. Within social sanction, judgements of legality are much more than those of propriety and veracity. Judgements of legality is helpful for criminal judicial verdicts to pass judgements on whether the defendant is guilty, what crime is constituted, what penalty should be imposed, or whether the defendant should be acquitted.
Key Words: Chinese criminal verdict; appraisal; attitude; interpersonal function
