Semiotics of Emoji

Emoji have gone from being virtually unknown to being a central topic in internet communication. What is behind the rise and rise of these winky faces, clinking glasses and smiling poos? Given the sheer variety of verbal communication on the internet and English's still-controversial role as lingua mundi for the web, these icons have emerged as a compensatory universal language.

The Semiotics of Emoji looks at what is officially the world's fastest growing form of communication. Emoji, the colourful symbols and glyphs that represent everything from frowning disapproval to red-faced shame, are fast becoming embedded into digital communication. Controlled by a centralized body and regulated across the web, emoji seems to be a language : but is it? The rapid adoption of emoji in such a short span of time makes it a rich study in exploring the functions of language.

Professor Marcel Danesi, an internationally-known expert in semiotics, branding and communication, answers the pertinent questions. Are emojis making us dumber? Can they ultimately replace language? Will people grow up emoji literate as well as digitally native? Can there be such a thing as a Universal Visual Language? Read this book for the answers.

1. Emoji and Writing Systems

Defining Emoji
Writing Systems
Writing as Social Practice
Stylization
Research Method

2. Emoji Uses

Phatic Function
Emotive Function
Standardization
Ambiguity
Culture-Coding

3. Emoji Competence

General Features
The Emoji Code
Core Emoji
Peripheral Emoji
Compression

4. Emoji Semantics

The Thesaurus Effect
Framing
Connotation
Facial Emoji
Blending
The Power of Images

5. Emoji Grammar

Calquing
Conceptualization
Syntactics
Rebus Writing
Overview

6. Emoji Pragmatics

Pragmatic Competence
Salutation
Punctuation
Other Pragmatic Functions
Some Relevant Questions and Findings

7. Emoji Variation

Cross-Cultural Variation
Usage According to Nation
Cultural Coding
Visuality
Adjacency Pair Variation
Cartoon Style Literacy

8. Emoji Spread

Emoji-Only Writing
Emoji Translations
Emoji in Advertising
Effort

9. Universal Languages

Artificial Languages
Blissymbolics
The Emoji Code

10. A Communication Revolution?

The Global Village
Emoji as Trend
The Future of Emoji

References

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