Emoji as a linguocultural phenomenon of the virtual language picture of the world (on the example of the Chinese language)

Statement of the problem. Questions of the virtual picture of the world and its objectification, positioning and self-presentation of the virtual linguistic personality occupy an important place in modern linguistic research. Nowadays they are of a particular interest because in the virtual space, on the one hand, there is a certain process of standardization, on the other hand, stratification and redistribution of everything: languages, nationalities, and opinions. However, at the same time, the influence of reality is not so shaky, the connection between the virtual linguistic picture of the world and the national picture of the world is revealed, the national-cultural specificity of the virtual world is emphasized. Emoji becomes a fact of representing the national picture of the world in the digital age. The phenomenon of emoji is the possessor of various statuses: the language of the information community, means of text design, a non-verbal means of representing concepts, an analogue of Chinese characters. The relevance of the study of the emoji phenomenon is due to the emerging difficulties in decoding nationally-specific images. The scientific novelty of the research consists in an attempt to comprehend emoji as a fact of representing a virtual linguistic picture of the world and in revealing the potential of describing culture through emoji. The purpose of the article is to consider emoji as a linguocultural phenomenon of virtual reality. Methodology (materials and methods). The work carried out includes considering the role of emoji in the creolization of the virtual space, identifying the potential of emoji to demonstrate cultural differences, analyzing the ability of Chinese emoji in creating cultural coloring and in bringing national flavour to the virtual space. Research results. The study showed that emoji represent a special code for digital communication, and the study of the linguocultural characteristics of emoji in virtual discourse makes it possible to trace how the national and cultural characteristics of the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom are reflected in the non-verbal elements of Internet communication. As a result, it was confirmed that emoji can have different sociocultural associations, thereby becoming an obstacle in intercultural communication. Conclusion. Emoji is a kind of linguocultural code, the perception and decoding of which is determined by the conceptual picture of the world of the communicants.