How emojis are changing the way we communicate
Emojis represent a collection of thoughts that is actually inventive and thoughtful. Far from taking away from language, emojis actually add to the repertoire of emotions and ideas
Published: 02:07 PM,Jul 23,2023 | EDITED : 05:07 PM,Jul 23,2023
We have all used emojis by now – smiley faces, hearts, winks, and red hot angry faces. The best? The eye roll for when nothing else will do.
Language experts have studied the various ways in which the way humans communicate has changed over time, and emojis are seen to be another chapter in the rich and long history of language evolution. Even purists who think that language must only consist of grammatically complete sentences cannot avoid the ever-present emojis anymore – they are such a part of our language landscape.
We are all aware of the Mesopotamian cuneiforms which consisted of pictures and shapes which could be easily etched into clay and stone.
In addition to administrative logs, the great epic Gilgamesh was also written using cuneiform. So, using pictures to tell a story is not exactly new.
What is new, of course, is inserting pictures in the middle of texts on electronic devices. While Gen X, and those before them, have grown up with more written words in their flip phones, computers, and pagers, those after that have only seen smartphones and increasing choices of emojis.
Interspersing pictures in the middle of a sentence is not a big deal for them. These pictures are often used for emphasis, to substitute an elaborate idea, or just for fun.
Does this compromise our use of language?
Not at all, according to most linguists. Forbes magazine quotes Dr Anne Framroze: “Emojis are a kind of representational language, and all languages evolve. This is nothing new. Words have always taken up new meanings, meanings that reflect the texture and contours of the time and place in which they’re used.”
Emojis, however, cannot stand on their own. It is impossible to create a sentence with pictures unless it is some kind of challenge to decipher the meaning. Cognitive scientists have found that humans do not always attribute the same meaning to pictures, so the possibility to miscommunicate or misunderstand is still quite high. Nouns can be projected in an emoji but grammatical considerations like tenses and prepositions cannot be, potentially leading to confusion.
Closer home, Oman was part of a Unicode Consortium which looked into how a single Arabic script could be used online, creating a code that would merge many dialects. Emojis which represented Arabic culture were also discussed and integrated.
There is much research on the use of emojis in the Arab world, with the face with tears of joy, the red and black heart, and the face with hearts as eyes being some of the most popular.
Emojis are just another facet of the rich way in which language is used. Purists may think of how its use is diluting traditional words and sentences, but civilization has always moved through human imagination and creativity.
Using emojis to represent a collection of thoughts is actually inventive and thoughtful. Far from taking away from language, it is actually adding to our repertoire of emotions and ideas.
Sandhya Rao Mehta is Associate Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, Sultan Qaboos University.
Language experts have studied the various ways in which the way humans communicate has changed over time, and emojis are seen to be another chapter in the rich and long history of language evolution. Even purists who think that language must only consist of grammatically complete sentences cannot avoid the ever-present emojis anymore – they are such a part of our language landscape.
We are all aware of the Mesopotamian cuneiforms which consisted of pictures and shapes which could be easily etched into clay and stone.
In addition to administrative logs, the great epic Gilgamesh was also written using cuneiform. So, using pictures to tell a story is not exactly new.
What is new, of course, is inserting pictures in the middle of texts on electronic devices. While Gen X, and those before them, have grown up with more written words in their flip phones, computers, and pagers, those after that have only seen smartphones and increasing choices of emojis.
Interspersing pictures in the middle of a sentence is not a big deal for them. These pictures are often used for emphasis, to substitute an elaborate idea, or just for fun.
Does this compromise our use of language?
Not at all, according to most linguists. Forbes magazine quotes Dr Anne Framroze: “Emojis are a kind of representational language, and all languages evolve. This is nothing new. Words have always taken up new meanings, meanings that reflect the texture and contours of the time and place in which they’re used.”
Emojis, however, cannot stand on their own. It is impossible to create a sentence with pictures unless it is some kind of challenge to decipher the meaning. Cognitive scientists have found that humans do not always attribute the same meaning to pictures, so the possibility to miscommunicate or misunderstand is still quite high. Nouns can be projected in an emoji but grammatical considerations like tenses and prepositions cannot be, potentially leading to confusion.
Closer home, Oman was part of a Unicode Consortium which looked into how a single Arabic script could be used online, creating a code that would merge many dialects. Emojis which represented Arabic culture were also discussed and integrated.
There is much research on the use of emojis in the Arab world, with the face with tears of joy, the red and black heart, and the face with hearts as eyes being some of the most popular.
Emojis are just another facet of the rich way in which language is used. Purists may think of how its use is diluting traditional words and sentences, but civilization has always moved through human imagination and creativity.
Using emojis to represent a collection of thoughts is actually inventive and thoughtful. Far from taking away from language, it is actually adding to our repertoire of emotions and ideas.
Sandhya Rao Mehta is Associate Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, Sultan Qaboos University.