Pragmatic Function of the “Doge” Emoji on Weibo

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.220131.120How to use a DOI?

Keywords

“Doge” emoji; Weibo; pragmatic function; Speech Act Theory

Abstract

Emoji have become a pervasive communication tool through the proliferation of social media, it has several functions to facilitate the achievement of the communicative goal. Previous research concluded several functions of emoji. However, limited attention has been given to the function of a specific emoji. Thus, this research focuses on the pragmatic function of “Doge” emoji on Weibo. Based on earlier studies and Speech Act Theory, this study argues that “Doge” emoji has four functions, which are indicating humor, indicating irony, avoiding arguments and softening conflicts. To test this hypothesis, 104 Weibo users were invited to complete a questionnaire to judge the function of “Doge” emoji which is used on Weibo. Based on the analysis of the results, this research concluded that when used on “Weibo”, Doge emoji has four functions. In addition, “Doge” emoji can express more than one function at the same time in one utterance. Third, the function of emoji connects closely with the context. It would transform with a change of context. Finally, it would cause misunderstandings when using “Doge” emoji since it could express several meanings.

Copyright

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.

Open Access

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Simin Xiong
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/02/01
TI  - Pragmatic Function of the “Doge” Emoji on Weibo
BT  - Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Education, Language and Art (ICELA 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 653
EP  - 658
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220131.120
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.220131.120
ID  - Xiong2022
ER  -