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1、-范文最新推荐- 从语言学视角浅析网络表情符号英文论文_英语论文 AcknowledgmentsFirst and foremost, I am most grateful to my supervisor, Professor Zhao Xiaoling, whose useful suggestions, incisive comments and constructive criticism have contributed greatly to the completion of this thesis. She devotes a considerable portion of he
2、r time to reading my manuscripts and making suggestions for further revisions. Her tremendous assistance in developing the framework for analysis and in having gone through the draft versions of this thesis several times as well as her great care in life deserve more thanks than I can find words to
3、express.I am also greatly indebted to all my teachers who have helped me directly and indirectly in my studies. Any progress that I have made is the result of their profound concern and selfless devotion.Last but not least, I owe much to my friends and classmates for their valuable suggestions and c
4、ritiques which are of help and importance in making the thesis a reality.AbstractWith the development of society and the progress of science and technology, people have been more used to communicating on the Internet. In network communication, people usually exchange information and convey feelings
5、and ideas by using a keyboard-input text sequence as the main carrier of information. This is how Internet emoticons come into being. Although Internet emoticons look simple, but behind it there lay profound theories. With the clever use of signs and punctuations, it creates a new symbol, and by imi
6、tating human expression, it conveys a rich variety of meanings.Internet emoticons as an auxiliary means of communication have become an integral part of online communication. It makes the ice-cold words easier to be understood by the people, and it even becomes a new language. So this article will b
7、riefly analyze the Internet emoticons from the aspect of Linguistics, and try to uncover the hidden secrets behind it.The thesis consists of four parts. The introduction focuses on the types of Internet emoticons and the critical studies on Internet emoticons. Chapter two presents a semiotic analysi
8、s aiming to explain some basic questions about Internet emoticons. Chapter three focuses on another aspect of linguistic study of Internet emoticons, namely a pragmatic analysis aiming to solve the deeper interpretation of Internet emoticons. The Conclusion part summarizes the main points and clarif
9、ies the findings as well as the significance of the thesis. 2 A Semiotic Analysis of Internet Emoticons . 42.1 Signs and Meaning.42.2 The Signifier and Cultural Borders42.3 Emoticons52.4 The Denotation of :).62.5 The Connotation of :).62.6 Myth.73 A Pragmatic Analysis of Internet Emoticons83.1 Verba
10、l and Nonverbal Communication83.2 The Differences between Verbal and Nonverbal83.3 The Positioning of Emoticons103.4 Expressives.113.5 The Generation Process123.6 The Interpretation Process134 Conclusions.16Bibliography181 IntroductionWith the development of society and the progress of science and t
11、echnology, people have been more used to communicating on the Internet. This type of communication relying on the Internet is network communication. In network communication, people usually do not exchange information and convey feelings and ideas through the sound language (here does not consider o
12、nline video chat), but using a keyboard-input text sequence as the main carrier of information.Internet emoticons have been used for at least 30 years in the network communication. Scott Fahlman was the first documented person to use the emoticons :-) and :-(, with a specific suggestion that they ca
13、n be used to express emotion. The text of his original proposal, posted to the Carnegie Mellon University computer science general board on 19 September 1982, was thought to have been lost, but was recovered 20 years later by Jeff Baird from old backup tapes.Internet emoticons can be roughly divided
14、 into two classes, western style and Japanese style. Usually, emoticons in Western style have the eyes on the left, followed by nose and the mouth. The two character version :) which omits the nose is also very popular. Users from Japan popularized a style of emoticons that can be understood without
15、 tilting one’s head to the left, such as (*_*) and (")(-_-)(").Apart from its interesting appearance, there hide more profound reasons in why Internet emoticon is so trendy. When people are communicating on the Internet, they cannot see each other’s face, so basically they cann
16、ot ensure they have fully understood what they say. For instance your colleague sent you an email saying he was happy as you did not come to work today. Maybe it’s just a joke between friends but you take it seriously because you didn’t notice the smiley in the end of the sentence. This
17、is why we need Internet emoticons. On the other side of the earth, Joan Gajadhar and John Green (2005) did an experiment within a group of students, analyzed the data and obtained that nonverbal communication adds nuance or richness of meaning that cannot be communicated by verbal elements alone.In
18、terms of the impacts of Internet emoticons on message interpretation in computer-mediated communication, Joseph B. Walther and Kyle P. D’Addario (2001) indicated that Internet emoticons’ contributions were outweighed by verbal content, but a negativity effect appeared such that any negat
19、ive message aspect—verbal or graphic—shifts message interpretation in the direction of the negative element. In the article Emoticons and Online Message Interpretation, Daantje Derks, Arjan E. R. Bos and Jasper von Grumbkow concluded that to a large extent, Internet emoticons serve the s
20、ame functions as actual nonverbal behavior. It involved the content of linguistics, but is also not deep.As to nonverbal communication, Argyle (1970) raised that non-verbal codes are used to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships. It is considered more polite or nicer to communicate atti
21、tudes towards others non-verbally rather than verbally, for instance in order to avoid embarrassing situations. Actually the first scientific study of nonverbal communication was Charles Darwin’s book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. He argued that all mammals reliably show e
22、motion in their faces. Seventy years later Silvan Tomkins began his classic studies on human emotions in Affects Imagery Consciousness volumes 1-4. Rudolf Laban and Warren Lamb raised body movement analysis in the world of dance to a high level.In my view, the main problems of the related research i
23、n the past are: For one thing, few of them discussed the causes of Internet emoticons from pragmatics and the related people’s cognitive psychological aspects, therefore they cannot give an accurate positioning of the essence of Internet emoticons. For another, they restricted the research to
24、semiotic factors such as its forms and structure characteristics, lacking of rational thinking about the generation and interpretation of the cognitive process of Internet emoticons. So it is worthwhile and meaningful to dig deeply into the linguistic significance of Internet emoticons. For these tw
25、o problems, this article will attempt to discuss the Internet emoticons from two parts. The first part is semiotic analysis aiming to explain some basic questions about Internet emoticons. The second part is pragmatic analysis aiming to solve the deeper interpretation of Internet emoticons. By so do
26、ing, the thesis is intended to solve the following two questions: How Internet emoticons make meaning? What is the essence of Internet emoticons? Hopefully, this study will deepen the understanding of Internet emoticons and facilitate uses of them in daily communication. The sign is entirely invente
27、d by human beings, and it is arbitrary constructed which is a reflection to reality. Signs do not have a meaning or make sense in itself. Their meaning is only created by their cultural context. Signs are generally not interesting themselves, but what they are standing for is the most important part
28、. In other words, signs are not information to be verified whether they are true or not, but instead are clues about what various things could mean. This process of signification, the “translation” from the sign to its meaning, might be called meaning making.2.2 The Signifier and Cultura
29、l BordersAccording to semiotics, each sign or everything that is taken as a sign by anyone consists of two parts. This model was founded by Ferdinand de Saussure. The “signifier” is the form of a sign; the “signified” is the concept that the sign stands for. The picture below
30、 illustrates this concept.The interpretation of signs is closely related to the culture. Here is an easier example to explain this point. If a Finn writes “joulupukki”, this is a signifier standing for Santa Claus. But even though Santa Claus might be well known in most other countries i
31、n this world, only Finnish people will be able to decode this sign. For others, it might just be a nice combination of letters.To sum up: signs are an man-made constructs which are used to express meaning. But most signs can only be interpreted correctly in the culture context. The author of this th
32、esis would like to use Erving Goffman‘s “framing” concept (Goffman 1974) to explain the process of signification in a less abstract way. He describes a cultural system where individuals are framing situations in a certain way to make sure that the recipient can reinterpret the situ
33、ation and understand it in the same way. This is exactly what is going on in the process of meaning-making regarding communication by signs.2.3 Internet Emoticons 2.5 The Connotation of :)After the “framing” is correctly decoded, the next step is analyzing the connotation of the :). It&r
34、squo;s a smiling face, which suggests that the writer is happy in some way. At least at first sight it can be said that it is a positive signal, not at all a negative one.It’s common sense that a smiling face is a positive sign. But still, a :) added to a sentence must have some deeper meaning
35、 than just “I’m happy”. To explain these, the results from denotation and connotation are not sufficient. We need to further apply the concept of myth:“The first (denotative) order (or level) of signification is seen as primarily representational and relatively self-contained
36、. The second (connotative) order of signification reflects “expressive” values which are attached to a sign. In the third (mythological or ideological) order of signification the sign reflects major culturally-variable concepts underpinning a particular worldview.” (Chandler, sem06
37、.html)2.6 MythThe :) which has been decoded as a smiling human face, brings some positive signal. However, as an essential element of texts in computer-mediated communication, there should be something more to be analyzed than just “the author is happy”. So what does it really mean, and
38、how it is commonly “framed” by the recipient as the way the writer wants it to be understood?The key to having the sign :) making sense lies in myth:“Myths can be seen as extended metaphors. Like metaphors, myths help us to make sense of our experiences within a culture” (Cha
39、ndler, sem06.html)Usually when understanding the Internet emoticons used in an online message, they are interpreted as some special added features. They are not simply taken as a message “I am happy”, but differ a lot in different situations. This means: a smiling face not necessarily st
40、ands for friendliness or happiness. It might also mean falseness, a hidden lie, etiquette or simply superficiality. The first difference is that individuals use a single channel when communicating verbally versus multiple channels when communicating nonverbally. No one can say his first and last nam
41、e at the same time. This is an impossible task. But any healthy man can pat the top of your head with your right hand, wave with your left hand, smile, shrug your shoulders, and chew gum at the same time. Although it is goofy and awkward, the ability to do this demonstrates how people use multiple n
42、onverbal channels simultaneously to communicate.A second difference between verbal and nonverbal communication is that verbal communication is distinct (linear) while nonverbal communication is continuous (in constant motion and relative to context). Distinct means that messages have a clear beginni
43、ng and end, and are expressed in a linear fashion. We begin and end words and sentences in a linear way to make it easier for others to follow and understand. If you pronounce the word “cat” you begin with the letter “C” and proceed to finish with “T.” Continuous
44、means that messages are ongoing and work in relation to other nonverbal and verbal cues.Think about the difference between analog and digital clocks. The analog clock represents nonverbal communication in that we generate meaning by considering the relationship of the different arms to each another
45、(context). Also, the clock’s arms are in continuous motion. We notice the speed of their movement, their position in the circle and to each other, and their relationship with the environment (is it day or night?).A third difference between verbal and nonverbal communication is that we use verb
46、al communication consciously while we generally use nonverbal communication unconsciously. If you ever heard the statement as a child, “Think before you speak” you were being told a fundamental principle of verbal communication. Realistically, it’s nearly impossible not to think be
47、fore we speak. When we speak, we do so consciously and intentionally. In contrast, when something funny happens, you probably do not think, “Okay, I’m going to smile and laugh right now.” Instead, you react unconsciously, displaying your emotions through these nonverbal behaviors.
48、In detail, for real communication, the specific form of verbal communication is spoken language, while in the network communication it becomes silent written words, or more precisely the word sequencing; the nonverbal communication elements in reality is laughing, crying and coughing etc, while in network communication it is emoticons that act as the same role. Below is the table which illustrates the rela