We argue that in QCD near the chiral limit, at all temperatures below the
chiral phase transition, the dispersion relation of soft pions can be expressed
entirely in terms of three temperature-dependent quantities: the pion screening
mass, a pion decay constant, and the axial isospin susceptibility. The
definitions of these quantities are given in terms of equal-time (static)
correlation functions. Thus, all three quantities can be determined directly by
lattice methods. The precise meaning of the Gell-Mann--Oakes--Renner relation
at finite temperature is given.Comment: 25 pages, 2 figures; v2: discussion on the region of applicability
expanded, to be published in PR