Emojis: A Grapholinguistic Approach

A social semiotic perspective on emoji: How emoji and language interact to make meaning in digital messages

“…While the theoretical framework of SFL and MDA methods differ from more prevalent pragmatics-informed explorations of emoji semiosis, a number of points of intersection between the two approaches were found. Methodologically, an MDA approach to analysing how emoji and language interact to make meaning is congruent with work informed by similarly intermodal frameworks such as the adapted rhetorical structure theory employed by Ge and Herring (2018) and the grapholinguistic approach of Dürscheid and Meletis (2019). In terms of results, convergent ideational couplings appear to realise the 'mention' function described by Herring and Dainas (2017), while the dynamics of proximal attitudinal prosody, where attitude realised by emoji 'washes' across co-occurring language, largely corresponds to Danesi's (2016) 'adding tone' function.…”

“…Accordingly, while the method adopted here begins by analysing linguistic and emoji semiosis monomodally, description of meanings construed across texts reflects a unitary interpretation. In this regard, the MDA approach parallels the context-sensitive approaches described in the previous section, such as the rhetorical structure theory-informed approach employed by Ge and Herring (2018) and the grapholinguistic approach taken by Dürscheid and Meletis (2019).…”

“…In response, some scholars have adopted analytical frameworks that aim to describe how emoji make meaning in combination with linguistic resources. In this vein, grapholinguistic research on emoji advocates context-specific interpretation of their meaning (Dürscheid and Meletis, 2019). Accordingly, Dürscheid and Meletis (2019) state, 'this renders the emoji graphematically ambiguous, as the specific linguistic unit it refers to is not fixed but variable and determined by the context or the reader's interpretation of a given text in which it is used' (p. 174).…”

“…In this vein, grapholinguistic research on emoji advocates context-specific interpretation of their meaning (Dürscheid and Meletis, 2019). Accordingly, Dürscheid and Meletis (2019) state, 'this renders the emoji graphematically ambiguous, as the specific linguistic unit it refers to is not fixed but variable and determined by the context or the reader's interpretation of a given text in which it is used' (p. 174). Similarly, accommodating co-occurring language into their analytical framework, Ge and Herring (2018) adapt rhetorical structure theory to analyse how emoji sequences relate to their accompanying co-text rhetorically and logically, concluding that in some respects, emoji appear to be 'developing into an independent language' (p. 15).…”