The Dear Utol (2025): Week 7 Highlights 40brain interprets irony or sarcasm conveyed by an emoji in the same way that sarcasm is conveyed verbally, according to a new report from researchers at the linguistics department of the University of Illinois
SEE ALSO: You can now manage your bank account with emojisResearchers measured brain activity of native English-speaking college students reading sentences using various emoji at the end. They read sentences with positive, negative or ironic emoji at the end.
An example used in the study was "You are such a jerk" followed by smiling, frowning and winking emoji.
Credit: Shutterstock / photototo The students then had to answer questions about how they interpreted the sentences.
Some read them literally. But those who said emoji influenced their interpretation showed different brain activity -- similar to that in previous studies around sarcasm.
"It’s as if the brain reads the sentence one way, sees the emoji and then updates its interpretation to fit the new information," said Benjamin Weissman, one of the linguists. “There are lots of complex linguistic functions they can serve.”
So there you have it. Emoji aren't necessarily just fun additions to text. They inform meaning and interpretation.
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