A Study on the Emoticon from the Perspective of Interpersonal Pragmatics_英语论文

摘要

随着数字媒体时代的到来,互联网与智能手机推动传统的“面对面”交流方式向以电子计算机为媒介的通信方式转变。随着网络表情符号在即时通信软件上的广泛应用,网络表情符号使用者的需求不断增加,形式多样的网络表情符号应运而生。本论文主要探讨了新型网络表情符号变体（emoji,表情贴纸,表情包）的联系与区别,并从对网络表情符号的情感；作用与理解和人际交流三方面梳理了以往相关研究成果。理论研究部分从人际语用的角度出发,以人际交往中的面子观、礼貌观与情感观为切入点, 在相应的理论框架下对网络表情符号的人际语用功能进行了初步的探究分析。对网络表情符号在人际交流中语用功能的研究,能更好地推动该新型语言现象在语用视角下的理解,对未来的相关研究具有一定的借鉴意义。

关键词： 网络表情符号  语用学  人际语用学 

Abstract

With the world stepping into the Digital Age, the Internet and smart phones have changed the traditional face-to-face communication to electronic computer-mediated communication (CMC). As emoticons gain more extensive usage in Instant Messaging (IM) applications, the need for emoticon users are increased and various forms of emoticons are created. The thesis distinguished the similarity and differences of the new variants of emoticons (emojis, sticker emoticons and the internet memes) and outlined the previous research work on emoticons from three aspects (emoticons as emotion marker, affects and interpretation of emoticons, communicative and interactional functions of emotions). Then the thesis discusses the theories of interpersonal pragmatics and interpersonal relationship from the angles of face, politeness and emotion. In the data analysis part, the thesis further interprets the pragmatic functions of emoticons and comes to the general conclusion. Studying the interpersonal pragmatic functions of emoticons in language use helps contribute to the better understanding of the new language phenomenon with pragmatic insights and provide implications for relevant studies in further.

Key Words: Emoticons; Pragmatics; Interpersonal Pragmatics 

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Background 1

1.2 Significance 1

1.3 Layout 1

2. Literature Review 3

2.1 Emoticon 3

2.1.1 Instant Messaging 3

2.1.2 The Origin of Emoticons 4

2.1.3 Different Styles of Emoticons 4

2.2 The Development of Emoticons 5

2.2.1  An Introduction to Emojis 5

2.2.2  Sticker Emoticons 7

2.2.3  Introduction to Internet Memes 8

3. Functions of Emoticons 11

3.1  Emotion Marker 11

3.2 Affects and Interpretation 12

3.3  Communicative and Interactional Functions 13

4. Interpersonal Pragmatics 14

4.1 The Pragmatics 14

4.2 Interpersonal Pragmatics 14

4.3 Interpersonal Relationship 15

4.3.1 Face 15

4.3.2 Politeness 17

4.3.3 Emotion 18

5 Data Analysis 21

5.1  Face and Politeness 21

5.1.1  Function as Rapport Booster 21

5.1.2  Add Nuance and Intimacy in Social Greetings 21

5.1.3  Perform as Positive Politeness Strategies 22

5.1.4  Perform as Negative Politeness Strategies 24

5.2  Emotion 26

5.3  Summary 27

6 Conclusion 29

Bibliography 30