Can hashtags be considered pragmatic markers in written language? (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject Speech Science / Linguistics, grade: 2,0, University of Trier, language: English, abstract: Can hashtags be considered pragmatic markers in written language? This paper will firstly provide a theoretical overview on pragmatic markers and hashtags with the most important features. Secondly, it will explain the methodology and collected data of a self-made survey. Then, the analysis will draw a line between theory and survey and will answer the guiding question. Finally, the conclusion will summarize the most important results and give a short outlook on a possible evolution of hashtags in the future.

Communication happens in many ways. It happens verbally, through intonation, gestures or facial expressions. It happens everywhere. It happens between friends, it happens in cafes, it happens in books and it even happens online. And communication happens all the time. Even when we do not think about it, we sometimes communicate without knowing and other times, we do it on purpose. Pragmatic markers, such as well, actually or fair enough most often occur in spoken language and are often intentionally used to convey meaning beyond the actual content of a conversation. By using pragmatic markers, a speaker can, for example, show empathy, change the topic of a conversation or criticize what a different speaker said. All this happens within the actual discourse and can provide essential metainformation.

Hashtags, however, most often occur in written language, especially on social media platforms, and are a combination of the # (hash) and a word or phrase following a certain purpose. By means of the following paper, these two ways of communicating are to be explored in detail.