Markers and Tactics of Verbal Aggression Used by Football Fans: Based on Material from a Chinese Internet Platform

The article aims to analyze the verbal markers and tactics of aggression used by foot-ball fans on Chinese-language Internet platforms. Using psycholinguistic and compo-nent analysis, the study examines the concept and sociocultural aspects of speech ag-gression as a destructive type of verbal behavior aimed at causing psychological harm to opponents, as well as the various forms in which verbal violence is expressed. Draw-ing on existing linguistic and psychological classifications of speech aggression, the ar-ticle identifies implicit forms of verbal aggression in football fan discourse – including indirect and covert expressions of negative emotions and intentions (irony, sarcasm, insinuations, veiled threats, intimidation, concealed accusations) – and explicit forms of verbal violence, such as direct insults employing invective vocabulary and overt threats. Particular emphasis is placed on invective vocabulary as the primary means of expressing direct speech aggression, predominantly in the form of direct nominations containing offensive references to personal traits, abilities, biographical details, ap-pearance, and other perceived deficiencies of the opponent. The findings demonstrate that verbal aggression in football fan discourse is manifested both implicitly and ex-plicitly, serving to produce intentional or unintentional perlocutionary effects.