"As with all languages, English is in a constant state of flux. New terminology, slang expressions, and catchphrases are continually broadening vocabularies and communication styles. Many of these coinages are ephemeral, whereas others prove to have staying power. What seems different about 21st-century English is the speed with which these changes spread and are adopted-at least temporarily-by language users of all ages."
"to their modern incarnations-the extended catalog of crying and grinning facial contortions-the author surefootedly guides the reader through emoji's evolutionary past and into the present day. In many ways, the profusion of emoji has become an embarrassment of riches. The current Unicode Consortium standard (version 17) contains nearly 4,000 of these pictograms, and their communicative value is questionable: As I've written here and here, a lack of consensus about their precise meanings has proven to be problematic."
English continually changes as new terminology, slang, and catchphrases expand vocabularies and communication styles. Social media has sharply increased the speed of linguistic diffusion, causing changes to spread rapidly across age groups rather than slowly from younger speakers. One perspective traces emoji genealogy from 1898 typewriter art and emoticons to modern pictograms, noting an enormous Unicode catalog and uncertainty about precise meanings. Another perspective anticipates a future shaped by social media influencers and algorithmic content moderation that will influence language use. Some coinages remain ephemeral while others endure, and accelerated diffusion complicates consensus on meanings and communicative value.
Read at Psychology Today
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