EMOJIS: A Language of Symbols

😉......EM😀JIS......😊

"A Language of Symbols"

  

Emojis are ideograms and smileys used in electronic messages and web pages. They exist in various genres, including facial expressions, common objects, places and types of weather and animals.

Emoji is a Japanese term meaning pictographs (e=picture; moji=character). Originated in the late 90s, emojis have become widely political since their inclusion in mobile operating system. In 2015, Oxford Dictionary names an emoji the word of the year. It is not surprising that a pictographic script like emoji has stepped in to fill in the gap of communication as it is flexible, immediate and infuses tone beautifully. There is a sync between emojis and thoughts. 

 Today’s generation wants quick responses and emojis are quick and instantaneous, doing a marvellous job. But what makes them so popular? Is it just about being instant in your response or there is something missing in our communication? When words to describe the emotions gets lessened, use of emoji becomes prominent. Emojis are now considered by many to form their own language. As emoji continued to develop and grow as a language of symbols, there may also be the potential of the formation of emoji dialect. Emojis are being used as more than just to show reactions and emotions. But we must also not forget that our prime responsibility is to learn ‘language.’ Emoji has its value but it just provides the glimpse of emotion while words give the whole scenario.

 Research has shown that emojis are often misunderstood. This is related to how the actual emoji design is interpreted by the viewers. Small changes to a smileys look may completely alter its perceived meaning with the receiver. Emoji has no sentence structure yet, such as grammar. Thus, when used in communication, the same emoji sentence can be interpreted differently between different people. When we think that our emotions are in danger, we use emojis as rescuers. But if the emotions are strong and the words are powerful than there is hardly any use of emoji. 

  About 200 years ago, a teacher asked students of her class to interpret a parable of the Holy Bible, “when Jesus Christ reached the sea shore, it turned into red wine”. One of the students wrote just a line and that was, “the sea saw her master and blushed”. That student was Lord Byron, a famous English poet. Did he used any of the emoji to help him in penning down his thought? No, it was just a line. He used only words to express his thoughts that were self- explanatory. 

 Every generation has its own perception and media through which they can express and share their views. Emojis are just another media that is helping millions of people in this busy world to communicate with their folks. Emojis are just meeting the demand of the masses and are continuously evolving. Among all this, we must also not forget that Language is the vehicle of our culture. It defines our identity, express our history, defends our views, safeguards our traditional rights. Had it not been so essential, the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs would not have intervened in preserving the indigenous languages of the world.

Our world has evolved from local to global and we must not forget the contribution of the language. Languages are the flag bearers of our thoughts and emojis are just a mean to fill in the gap that is created when words fail to convey what one actually means.

 Emojis should not be considered as a replacement of the language but as a subsidiary of the language.

 Thank you