WhatsApp Statuses as Communicative Acts: Combining Cognitive Grammar and Relevance Theory

Document Type : Research in linguistic and literary studies

Author

English Department, Faculty of Arts, Sohag University

Abstract

The article attempts to provide a description of WhatsApp statuses as phatic communicative acts. Based on data collected via a survey questionnaire on 12 WhatsApp statuses, the paper demonstrates WhatsApp users’ responses and interpretations of these statuses as public phatic stimuli. The study combines Lagnacker’s cognitive grammar with Sperber and Wilson’s cognitive and communicative principle of relevance to these stimuli, since the cognitive and communicative environments are inseparable in language usage. It shows that different distinct phatic communicative acts correspond to linguistic structures which build perspectives in WhatsApp communication. Perspective is an integral part of cognition and communication which is objectified by linguistic means, from the point of view of a communication participant. WhatsApp users form abstract mental construals of WhatsApp statuses which trigger cognitive and communicative environments. These construals can be viewed in terms of profile/base distinction. The study also characterizes WhatsApp communication environment into three construals which overlap with four communicative environments; permitted, forbidden, fuzzy and restricted environments.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics