The syntax of emojis in X conversations

Abstract Emojis are vital to digital communication, serving as expressive and semiotic tools that influence meaning across platforms like X. While much research focuses on its tone and emotional roles, less attention has been given to their syntactic placement- before, within, or after text- and how this impacts interpretation and sentiment in diverse cultures. This study examines the impact of emoji placement on sentiment and engagement on X, particularly among users from Vietnam and Pakistan. It shifts from viewing emojis as universal symbols to exploring their contextual and syntactic effects in intercultural digital environments, by using Relevance Theory to analyze their interaction with cognitive effort. Applying quanti-qualitative methods, analyzing 10,000 posts, the research found significant cross-cultural differences: in Vietnam, post-text emojis heightened sentiment, aligning with high-context, collectivist norms favouring implicit emotion and politeness; in Pakistan, in-text emojis enhanced clarity and emotional signaling amid low-context, multilingual environments. Pre-text emojis set the initial emotional tone but had lower engagement. These results highlight the cultural and syntactic importance of emoji placement that influences sentiment and interaction, and suggest the need for culturally tailored digital communication models and improvements in AI sentiment analysis.