The Emoji Code ─ The Linguistics Behind Smiley Faces and Scaredy Cats

Drawing from disciplines as diverse as linguistics, cognitive science, psychology, and neuroscience, The Emoji Code explores how emojis are expanding communication and not ending it.

For all the handwringing about the imminent death of written language, emoji—those happy faces and hearts—is not taking us backward to the dark ages of illiteracy. Every day 41.5 billion texts are sent by one quarter of the world, using 6 million emoji. Evans argues that these symbols enrich our ability to communicate and allow us
to express our emotions and induce empathy—ultimately making us all better communicators.

The Emoji Code charts the evolutionary origins of language, the social and cultural factors that govern its use, change, and development; as well as what it reveals about the human mind. In most communication, nonverbal cues are our emotional expression, signal our personality, and are our attitude toward our addressee. They provide the essential means of nuance and are essential to getting our ideas across. But in digital communication, these cues are missing, which can lead to miscommunication. The explosion of emoji, in less than four years, has arisen precisely because it fulfills exactly these functions which are essential for communication but are otherwise absent in texts
and emails. Evans persuasively argues that emoji add tone and an emotional voice and nuance, making us more effective communicators in the digital age.

PROFESSOR VYVYAN EVANS is an internationally renowned expert on language and communication. He received his PhD in Linguistics from Georgetown University, Washington DC., and has taught at the University of Sussex, Brighton University, and Bangor University. He has published 14 books on language, meaning, and mind, including The Language Myth: Why Language is Not an Instinct (2014) and The Crucible of Language: How Language and Mind Create Meaning (2015). Evans is a much sought-after public speaker, and frequently provides expert opinion on language to the written and broadcast media. His writing has been featured in The Guardian, Newsweek, New Scientist, and Psychology Today, among other publications.