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Part of
Pragmatic Markers and Peripheries
Edited by Daniël Van Olmen and Jolanta Šinkūnienė
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 325] 2021
► pp. 277–300

Chapter 10
Emoji as graphic discourse markers

Functional and positional associations in German WhatsApp® messages

ORCID logo | Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
ORCID logo | Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

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.

Keywords: discourse markers, intersubjective function, subjective function, emoji, WhatsApp® messages, messenging, Computer-meditated communication (CMC), right and left periphery
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
Published online: 13 October 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.325.10wie
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