Chapter 10
Emoji as graphic discourse markers
Functional and positional associations in German WhatsApp®
messages
We investigate emoji as graphic discourse
markers in German WhatsApp® messages. As comparably novel devices in
the rapidly evolving domain of digital messenging, emoji provide an
interesting example to observe change in progress. We present a
corpus study and an experimental study. Main results are (i) an
overall salience of subjective and intersubjective discourse
meanings for emoji, with (ii) a general advantage for the former,
especially for emoji that iconically include more active elements,
while (iii) dominance relations can be modulated by left- vs.
right-peripheral positions in favor of subjective vs.
intersubjective meanings, respectively. By approaching emoji as
discourse markers, the studies contribute to our understanding of
their pragmatic contribution and provide novel evidence on
positional-functional associations for pragmatic markers.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction: Pragmatic markers in WhatsApp® messages and the dynamics of
LP/RP differences
- 2.Emoji as graphic discourse markers
- 3.A corpus-linguistic investigation into emoji in WhatsApp®
messages
- 3.1Empirical basis: The RUEG corpus
- 3.2Discourse-marking emoji in WhatsApp® messages
- 3.3Discourse contexts and functions
- 4.The discourse interpretation of emoji: An experimental study
- 4.1Methods
- 4.1.1Participants
- 4.1.2Material
- 4.1.3Procedure
- 4.2Results
- 5.Conclusions
-
Acknowledgments
-
Notes
-
References
-
Appendix
References (52)
Al Rashdi, Fathiya
2015 Forms
and Functions of Emojis in WhatsApp Interaction among
Omanis. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Albert, Georg
2020 “
Emojis
und soziale Registrierung
(enregisterment).” In
Register
des Graphischen, ed.
by
Jannis Androutsopoulos, and
Florian Busch, 183–213. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Androutsopoulos, Jannis
2020a “
Auslassungspunkte
in der schriftbasierten
Interaktion.” In
Register
des Graphischen, ed.
by
Jannis Androutsopoulos, and
Florian Busch, 133–158. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Androutsopoulos, Jannis
2020b “
Digitalisierung
und soziolinguistischer Wandel: Der Fall der digitalen
Interpunktion.” In
Deutsch
in sozialen Medien. Interaktiv – multimodal – vielfältig:
IDS-Jahrbuch 2019, ed.
by
Konstanze Marx,
Henning Lobin, and
Axel Schmidt, 75–94. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Androutsopoulos, Jannis, and Florian Busch
(eds) 2020 Register
des Graphischen: Variation, Interaktion und Reflexion in der
digitalen
Schriftlichkeit. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Annamalai, Subashini, and Sobihatun Nur Abdul Salam
2017 “
Undergraduates’
Interpretation on WhatsApp Smiley
Emoji.”
Jurnal Komunikasi,
Malaysian Journal of
Communication 33 (4): 89–103.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bai, Qiyu, Qi Dan, Zhe Mu, and Maokun Yang
2019 “
A
Systematic Review of Emoji: Current Research and Future
Perspectives.”
Frontiers in
Psychology 10: 2221.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Beeching, Kate, and Ulrich Detges
2014 “
Introduction.” In
Discourse
Functions at the Left and Right Periphery: Crosslinguistic
Investigations of Language Use and Language
Change, ed.
by
Kate Beeching, and
Ulrich Detges, 1–23. Leiden: Brill.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Beißwenger, Michael, Marcel Fladrich, Wolfgang Imo, and Evelyn Ziegler
2020 “
Die
Mobile Communication Database 2 (MoCoDa
2)
.” In
Deutsch
in sozialen Medien. Interaktiv – multimodal – vielfältig:
IDS-Jahrbuch 2019, ed.
by
Konstanze Marx,
Henning Lobin, and
Axel Schmidt, 349–352. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Beißwenger, Michael, and Steffen Pappert
2019 Handeln
mit Emojis: Grundriss einer Linguistik kleiner Bildzeichen
in der WhatsApp
Kommunikation. Duisburg: Universitätsverlag Rhein-Ruhr.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bieswanger, Markus
2013 “
Micro-linguistic
Structural Features of Computer-mediated
Communication.” In
Pragmatics
of Computer Mediated
Communication, ed.
by
Susanne Herring,
Dieter Stein, and
Tuija Virtanen, 463–485. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Blakemore, Diane
2004 Relevance
and Linguistic Meaning: The Semantics and Pragmatics of
Discourse
Markers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Blühdorn, Hardarik, Arnulf Deppermann, Henrike Helmer, and Thomas Spranz-Fogasy
2017 Diskursmarker
im Deutschen: Reflexionen und
Analysen. Göttingen: Verlag für Gesprächsforschung.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cramer, Henriette, Paloma De Juan, and Joel R. Tetreault
2016 “
Sender-intended
Functions of Emojis in US
Messaging.”
Proceedings of
the 18th International Conference on Human Computer
Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services,
MobileHCI: 504–509.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Dainas, Ashley R., and Susan C. Herring
2021. “
Interpreting
Emoji
Pragmatics.” In
Approaches to Internet Pragmatics: Theory and Practice ed.
by
Chaoqun Xie,
Francisco Yus, and
Hartmut Haberland 107 144 Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Danesi, Marcel
2017 The
Semiotics of Emoji: The Rise of Visual Language in the Age
of the
Internet. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Degand, Liesbeth, and Benjamin Fagard
Detges, Ulrich, and Richard Waltereit
2014 “
Moi
je ne Sais pas vs. Je ne Sais pas
moi: French Disjoint Pronouns in the Left vs.
Right
Periphery.” In
Discourse
Functions at the Left and Right Periphery: Crosslinguistic
Investigations of Language Use and Language
Change, ed.
by
Kate Beeching, and
Ulrich Detges, 24–46. Leiden: Brill.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Dresner, Eli, and Susan C. Herring
2013 “
Emoticons
and Illocutionary
Force.” In
Perspectives
on Theory of Controversies and the Ethics of
Communication, ed.
by
Dana Riesenfeld, and
Giovanni Scarafile, 81–90. Basel: Springer.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Dürscheid, Christa
2020a “
Zeichen
setzen im digitalen
Schreiben.” In
Register
des Graphischen, ed.
by
Jannis Androutsopoulos, and
Florian Busch, 31–51. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Dürscheid, Christa
2020b “
Schreiben
in sozialen
Medien.” In
Deutsch
in sozialen Medien. Interaktiv – multimodal – vielfältig:
IDS-Jahrbuch 2019, ed.
by
Konstanze Marx,
Henning Lobin, and
Axel Schmidt, 35–49. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Dürscheid, Christa, and Christina M. Siever
2017 “
Jenseits
des Alphabets: Kommunikation mit
Emojis.”
Zeitschrift für
Germanistische
Linguistik 45 (2): 256–285.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Fraser, Bruce
2006 “
Towards
a Theory of Discourse
Markers.” In
Approaches
to Discourse Particles, ed.
by
Kerstin Fischer, 189–204. Oxford: Elsevier.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Fraser, Bruce
2009 “
An
Account of Discourse
Markers.”
International
Review of
Pragmatics 1 (2): 293–320.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Frick, Karina
2017 Elliptische
Strukturen in SMS: eine korpusbasierte Untersuchung des
Schweizerdeutschen. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gawne, Lauren, and Gretchen McCulloch
2019 “
Emoji
as Digital
Gestures.”
Language@
Internet 17 (2).
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Glikson, Ella, Arik Cheshin, and Gerben A. van Kleef
2017 “
The
Dark Side of a Smiley: Effects of Smiling Emoticons on
Virtual First
Impressions.”
Social
Psychological and Personality
Science 9 (5): 614–625.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gullberg, Kajsa
2016 Laughing
Face with Tears of Joy: A Study of the Production and
Interpretation of Emojis among Swedish University
Students. Lund University: Centre for Languages and Linguistics.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Imo, Wolfgang
2012 “
Wortart
Diskursmarker?” In
Nichtflektierende
Wortarten, ed.
by
Björn Rothstein, 48–88. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Jakobson, Roman
1960 “
Linguistics
and
Poetics.” In
Style
and Language, ed.
by
Thomas A. Sebeok, 34–45. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Krause, Thomas, Ulf Leser, and Anke Lüdeling
2016 “
graphANNIS:
A Fast Query Engine for Deeply Annotated Linguistic
Corpora.”
Corpus Linguistic
Software
Tools 31 (1): 1–25.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lamontagne, Jeffrey, and Gretchen McCulloch
2017 “
Wayyy
Longgg: Orthotactics and Phonology in Lengthening on
Twitter.” Paper presented at
the
Linguistic Society
of America Annual
Meeting
, Texas, January.
Ljubešić, Nikola, and Darja Fišer
2016 “
A
Global Analysis of Emoji
Usage.”
Proceedings of the
10th Web as Corpus
Workshop: 82–89.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Marx, Konstanze, Henning Lobin, and Axel Schmidt
(eds) 2020 Deutsch
in sozialen Medien. Interaktiv – multimodal – vielfältig:
IDS-Jahrbuch
2019. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
McCulloch, Gretchen
2019 Because
Internet: Understanding the New Rules of
Language. New York: Riverhead Books.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Na’aman, Noa, Hannah Provenza and Orion Montoya
2017 “
MojiSem:
Varying Linguistic Purposes of Emoji in (Twitter)
Context.”
Proceedings of the
55th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational
Linguistics – Student Research
Workshop: 136–141.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Pappert, Steffen
2017 “
Zu
kommunikativen Funktionen von Emojis in der
WhatsApp-Kommunikation.” In
Empirische
Erforschung internetbasierter
Kommunikation, ed.
by
Michael Beißwenger, 175–211. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Provine, Robert, Robert Spencer, and Darcy Mandell
2007 “
Emotional
Expression Online: Emoticons Punctuate Website Text
Messages.”
Journal of
Language and Social
Psychology 26 (3): 299–307.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sergeant, Philip
2019 The
Emoji Revolution: How Technology is Shaping the Future of
Communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Siebenhaar, Beat
2018 “
Funktionen
von Emojis und Altersabhängigkeit ihres Gebrauchs in der
Whats-App-Kommunikation.” In
Jugendsprachen:
Aktuelle Perspektiven internationaler
Forschung, ed.
by
Arne Ziegler, 749–772. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Siever, Christina M.
2015 Multimodale
Kommunikation im Social Web: Forschungsansätze und Analysen
zu
Text-Bild-Relationen. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Stark, Elisabeth, Simone Ueberwasser, and Anne Göhring
2014–2020 Corpus
“What’s up,
Switzerland?”. Zurich: University of Zurich.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Thurlow, Crispin, and Michele Poff
2013 “
Text
Messaging.” In
Pragmatics
of Computer-Mediated
Communication, ed.
by
Susan C. Herring,
Dieter Stein, and
Tuija Virtanen, 163–189. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs
2010 “
Revisiting
Subjectification and
Intersubjectification.” In
Subjectification,
Intersubjectification and
Grammaticalization, ed.
by
Kristin Davidse,
Lieven Vandelanotte, and
Hubert Cuyckens, 29–71. Berlin: De Gruyter.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs
2020 “
A
Constructional Perspective on the Rise of Discourse
Markers.” Paper presented
at Abralin ao Vivo – Linguists
Online, June.
[URL]
Ueberwasser, Simone, and Elisabeth Stark
2017 “
What’s
up, Switzerland? A Corpus-based Research Project in a
Multilingual
Country.”
Linguistik
Online 84 (5): 105–126.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Walther, Joseph, and Kyle D’Addario
2001 “
The
Impacts of Emoticons on Message Interpretation in
Computer-mediated
Communication.”
Social
Science Computer
Review 19 (3): 324–347.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wiese, Heike
2020 “
Language
Situations: A Method for Capturing Variation Within
Speakers’
Repertoires.” In
Methods
in Dialectology XVI, ed.
by
Yoshiyuki Asahi, 105–117. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wiese, Heike, Artemis Alexiadou, Shanley Allen, Oliver Bunk, Natalia Gagarina, Kateryna Iefremenko, Esther Jahns, Martin Klotz, Thomas Krause, Annika Labrenz, Anke Lüdeling, Maria Martynova, Katrin Neuhaus, Tatiana Pashkova, Vicky Rizou, Christoph Schroeder, Luka Szucsich, Rosemarie Tracy, Wintai Tsehaye, Sabine Zerbian, and Yulia Zuban
2019 RUEG
Corpus (
Version
0.3.0) [Data
set]. Zenodo.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by (2)
Cited by 2 other publications
Wiese, Heike
2023.
Prozesse an der Schnittstelle von Form und Bedeutung. In
Deutsche Sprache der Gegenwart,
► pp. 275 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Labrenz, Annika, Heike Wiese, Tatiana Pashkova & Shanley Allen
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.