Emojis – Transcending Language Barriers

With smartphones becoming social lifelines, emojis have turned into a universal language. Colorful smileys, winks and hearts are taking the world by storm, acting as a visual representation of feelings, ideas and events for millions across the globe.

Interesting Facts about Emojis

  • It was in 1990s when the first emojis (approximately 176) were developed in Japan for use in the first mobile phone internet system.
  • Apple introduced emojis as an international keyboard in its operating system (iOS) in October 2011 whereas, Android introduced emojis across most operating platforms by July 2013.
  • According to an update by the Unicode Consortium, there are now 1,085 officially-recognized emojis in circulation.
  • As reported by Instagram, more than half of all Instagram posts include at least one emoji.
  • According to a research conducted in the UK, approximately 80% smartphone users made use of emojis in their text messages on a daily basis, while 40% sent text messages containing emojis alone.
  • According to some language experts, emojis can be considered an emerging language that might compete with English language as far as global usage is concerned.
  • The analysis of emojis has been supported by the Oxford English Dictionary. In 2015, they made the “tears of joy” emoji as their Word of the Year.

Can emojis be considered a language?

They may be a great communicative system but emojis lack the characteristics of a true language. For instance, two people may not always interpret a string of emojis in the same way. However, they are certainly an interesting supplement to language.

How Emojis help in Transcending Language Barriers?

A simple wink or sad face can even help transcend language barriers. Even if two people don’t understand each other’s languages, they can use emojis to communicate emotions, actions or impressions that maybe otherwise difficult to express in each other’s dialects.

Whether or not emojis can be considered a language in their own right, they certainly represent an interesting and entertaining evolution of language worldwide.

Learn a New Dialect – Communicate Better

Besides having fun with emojis if you wish to learn a new language for better communication, you can check out AlterGyan’s Indian and foreign language apps. We have a series of language apps that have been created specifically to help you learn a new dialect in a fun and interesting manner.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *