FROM DENOTATION TO PRAGMATICS: WHEN EMOJI ‘UNIVERSALITY’ BREAKS DOWN IN ENGLISH–UZBEK ONLINE INTERACTION

Abstract

This extended abstract argues that universality mainly holds at the denotative level (the recognizable pictorial referent), while connotative and pragmatic meanings are localized through cultural norms, platform conventions and interactional expectations. Using English and Uzbek computer‑mediated communication as a comparative case, we outline recurrent sites of misalignment (e.g., politeness cues, irony markers, and face‑work strategies) and describe how global online trends trigger semantic extension that is adopted at different speeds in the two discourse communities. We propose practical guidelines for intercultural digital literacy and suggest directions for culturally adaptive emoji modelling in NLP.