Communicative System vs. Hieroglyphics vs. Language

Emojis are not hieroglyphics.

• Language has moved from more concrete characters to less concrete versions, allowing humans to communicate abstract concepts. But most signs point to emojis lacking the characteristics of a true language. For example, when given a string of emojis, two people will not always interpret them the same way.
• Emojis cannot be combined in ways that function as a true linguistic system, meaning that, although they are a helpful bunch of symbols, they aren’t a particular, conventionalized system for representing abstract meaning, like English or Japanese or ASL.