Dexpressió

Dexpressió is a term found mainly in Catalan-language discussions of linguistics and digital rhetoric to denote the devices used to convey affect, stance, or rhetorical attitude in written and multimodal communication. The expression is often presented as a variant of d'expressió, meaning “of expression,” and it is not established as a formal concept in mainstream linguistic theory.

In practice, dexpressió encompasses typographic and graphical means such as punctuation patterns (repeated marks, interrobangs), capitalization, vowel elongation, and diacritics added for emphasis, as well as the use of emoticons, emojis, stickers, and other graphic cues. In multimodal texts it can also refer to layout choices, color, and the integration of media like GIFs to signal attitude or mood.

Applications and reception: The term is largely informal and its usage is episodic in blogs, teaching materials, and online forums. Some writers treat dexpressió as a distinct focus within digital rhetoric, while others see it as overlapping with general stylistics or expressive writing. Critics argue that the lack of a clear definition risks ambiguity and semantic drift.

See also: Emoticon, Emoji, Prosody, Pragmatics, Digital rhetoric. Note: The term is not widely standardized and may be found primarily in specific communities or dialects.