LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 20:3 March 2020
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Language and Its Substitutes in Social Media

1. Dr. Ahmed Abdullah M. Alhussami
2. Madhukar V. Bhise

Abstract

Language, as a social phenomenon, is considered to be the most common tool used by human beings for the purpose of communication. We constantly communicate with people for different purposes in all spheres of our life: at home, school, market, work, etc. In their communicative roles, people interact with each other for different purposes not only to affirm their status but also to exchange their life needs. Communication may, however, take different directions such as downwards, upwards, horizontal and like a grapevine, but we are not in a position to discuss this aspect. Sometimes communication takes the form of a sign language instead of real words or verbal forms, especially in digital communication. It is now under the shadow of globalization that people start using some symbols, emoticons, icons, emojis and shapes while communicating with each other. Some of the icons, emojis, symbols, etc. being provided in WhatsApp, Facebook and Tweeter have become commonly used in everyday digital conversation to express a meaning to a receiver. The question that presents itself is, 'Do all these icons, emojis, symbols, etc. carry the same meanings to people of different educational, religious or cultural background? This paper endeavors to answer this question and generalizes the results that will be drawn from the study.

Keywords: Language substitutes, Social Media, Globalization, Communication, Language, Symbols.

Introduction

As a social phenomenon, language is in constant development and of rapid growth due to its use for the purpose of communication. Because of urgent need to communicate, speakers of a language come in contact with speakers of another language. As a matter of fact, language is the most useful tool for the purpose of communication among human beings. In fact, the use of language as a tool for communication seems to lend itself to grandiose and sometimes vaporous pronouncements, but it is hardly an exaggeration to say that the social order, as it is constituted in human societies, is predicated on the capacity for linguistic communication. In fact, without this capacity the nature of human social life would be radically different. In their paper, Language and Social Behavior, Robert M. Krauss and Chi-Yue Chiu remark that Sperber and Wilson describe communication as:

… a process involving two information-processing devices. One device modifies the physical environment of the other. As a result, the second device constructs representations similar to the representations already stored in the first device (Sperber & Wilson, 1986, p. 1).

Thus, communication, in this regard, represents a mini-function among the wide and multi-functions that a language has to perform for its users. Producing a language's utterances can be by speech acts that can be identified in terms of their intended purposes: assertions, questions, requests, etc. (Austin, 1962; Searle, 1969, 1985). Generally, we use language to share knowledge and to express ideas, thoughts, etc. The process of communication is not necessarily confined to taking place among speakers of the same language; instead, it can be used overseas among speakers of different mother tongues. It is may be for the purpose of trade, academic affairs, personal affairs and so on that people of different mother tongues are in contact with each other, especially during the innovation of social media.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

1. Dr. Ahmed Abdullah M. Alhussami
Assistant Professor of English Linguistics
English Department, Faculty of Arts
Thamar University, Dhamar, Yemen
ahmad_alhussami@tu.edu.ye

2. Madhukar V. Bhise
M.A., B.Ed., M.Phil. Ph.D. (English ap.)
Assistant Professor of English (CHB)
Extension Education VNMKV, Parbhani-431 402, India
bhise1005@gmail.com
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