Investigating the Speech Acts of Tweets Containing Emoji Based on Searl’s Theory

New communication media have become one of the integral parts of human life in recent years. Social networks have also created a new generation of social relations space, which, despite its short life, but due to its interactive features and providing the basis for creating extensive social relations, are at the top of the priorities. Internet users are placed. The ever-increasing development of the Internet and the infrastructure of information and communication technology has caused the emergence of a new style of communication in the form of "emoji" which, with a linguistic approach, can be considered as a symbol of non-verbal communication and the expression of easy communication in Considered virtual space. The function of emojis in digital communication is similar to the role of gesture, body language, and tone of voice in spoken interaction. Considering the significant impact of emojis in establishing non-verbal communication on the one hand and the growing development of the Twitter social network as an ideal source of information and communication on the other hand, this theoretical research with the method of document study examines the types of speech acts based on Searle's theory discussed tweets containing emojis and their linguistic functions in social, economic, cultural and health fields. Using Maxqda software, among the 5000 tweets collected, 1200 tweets were randomly selected and coded from male and female users in the period of six months from March 2018 to September 2019. The domains were 300 tweets. Based on the results, expressive speech act and declarative speech act had the highest and lowest frequency of repetition, respectively. Also, the emotional function of emoji had the highest and the referential function of emoji had the lowest frequency of repetition.