Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 2
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Will emoji become a new language?

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Newspaper | BBC News
Date | 13.10.2015
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | emojis, grammar, language threat
Summary | Linguist Neil Cohn explains why emojis cannot be considered a new language and why they shouldn't be seen as a threat to language. Emojis don't have the same characteristics as other languages. Emojis are used to complement words, as we would use gestures along speech. Sometimes, people use long sequences of emojis to communicate, but they are not a language since they lack a grammar. Cohn talks about his book The Visual Language of Comics and explains what visual languages are. The visual language of comics does not work the same way as emojis; it's a language that has a grammar.
Image Description | Photograph of a series of emojis on a screen, photograph of a hand gesture, sreenshots of text message conversations with emojis, and photograph of a library of comic books.
Image Tags | emojis, hand(s), smartphone, text

Emojis: As Japanese tire of emoticons, could their days be numbered elsewhere?

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Newspaper | The Independent
Date | 13.12.2015
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | emojis
Summary | Emojis are everywhere; they are a part of our daily interactions and have become a new language. The birthplace of emojis is Japan, but the little symbols are not as popular over there anymore. Japanese people don't like the style of Western emojis, which explains the fading popularity of emojis in Japan. Apple's emojis were designed in a more Western style, different from Japanese emojis. Diversity has been an important issue regarding emojis. We can use same-sex couples emojis and choose the color of emoji's skin, but people are still waiting to see red-haired emojis for instance.
Image Description | Digital images of emojis and photographs of smartphones showing text messages and emojis.
Image Tags | emojis, smartphone, text

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