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Emoji in different spheres of communication
https://doi.org/10.30515/0131-6141-2025-86-2-96-107
Abstract
The article examines polycode texts containing emoji. Moreover, it characterises the structure of individual utterances, and determines the role of emoji in conveying factual information. Cognitive-discursive and communicative-pragmatic methods enabled an analysis of linguistic material which included emoji statuses from the "VKontakte" social networking service, advertising headlines of electronic newsletters, emoji rebuses in online quizzes, online tests using emoji, adaptations of W. Shakespeare’s works translated into Russian. The article aims to identify the distinctive features of emoji functions in polycode texts of the Russian-language segment of the Internet. The texts are related to various communicative spheres including Internet communication, advertising, education, entertainment, art, and others. The study proceeds from the thesis that emoji have an extended sphere of functioning in the Internet communication context. The analysis of linguistic facts shows that emoji can be used as signs of duplication, explication, or substitution of the verbal part of the utterance depending on the communication situation and the type of referential correlation between their verbal and visual components. Moreover, emoji can also perform genre-forming (emoji statuses, emoji rebuses) and text-forming functions. The examination of sources containing information about emoji enabled the author to identify differences in the conception of emoji in scientific, popular science, reference, and methodological literature, which indicates that emoji as elements of polycode texts are still a novel phenomenon. As a result of the study, it is concluded that emoji actively participate in the production of utterances which are thematically heterogeneous and that these signs can be multifunctional depending on the communication sphere and situation.
Keywords
text linguistics,
multimodality,
polycode text,
emoji,
internet communication,
Russian internet language
Supporting agencies: The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, grant No. 23-28-00368, https://rscf.ru/project/23-28-00368/
About the Author
S. G. Busareva
National Research Nizhny Novgorod Lobachevsky State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Sabina G. Busareva, senior lecturer
Nizhny Novgorod
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Review
For citations:
Busareva S.G. Emoji in different spheres of communication. Russian language at school. 2025;86(2):96-107. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.30515/0131-6141-2025-86-2-96-107
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