Characterizing Cultural Linguistics in Digital Communication

The chapter will leverage Farzad Sharifian’s fundamental insights in cultural linguistics and pragmatics, and apply them to novel means of expression, as found in digital communication. According to Sharifian, cultural schemas are culturally constructed schemas which serve as a basis for communicating and interpreting. They are relevant for the linguistic disciplines of semantics and pragmatics, as they facilitate the use and interpretation of lexical items and speech acts. Cultural categories are culturally sensitive categorizations of areas of experience that are reflected in lexical choices and taxonomies found in a culture. According to Sharifian (J Cogn Cult 3(3):187–207, 2003; Cultural conceptualisations and language: theoretical framework and applications. John Benjamins, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 2011; Language and culture: overview. In: Sharifian F (ed) The Routledge handbook of language and culture. Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon, pp 3–17, 2015; Cultural linguistics. John Benjamins, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 2017), there is substantial evidence that conceptual metaphor is not universal. Rather, it seems that many metaphors are culturally based. Sharifian also introduced pragmatic sets that explain the cultural behavior behind utterances and the knowledge that influences and guides this behavior. This work introduces Wittgenstein’s notion form of life into the discussion on pragmatic sets and argues that form of life is compatible with the idea of a pragmatic schema and subcategories of culturally based behavior leading to actual utterances. Like Sharifian, Wittgenstein also regarded linguistic forms, and rules, as usage-based and deeply rooted in the conventions, perspectives, and concepts learned and experienced through cultural life. This chapter will demonstrate how examples of verbal and visual sign use in digital communication can be analyzed applying these cultural-conceptual tools and ideas.