Dots as an object of language reflection in internet-discourse

The paper investigates the semantic and pragmatic potential of punctuation dots, actualized in the acts of language reflection within modern Internet communication. The authors analyze the data from various websites, blogs, chats etc and come to the conclusions about the functions of dots significant for the speakers: indication of the verbal vagueness, incompleteness of thoughts, marking emotive and pragmatic aspects of speech, language identification of the individual and so on. The article finds out the dependencies between the usage of dots and intentions of writers, their emotional state and conditions of communication. The authors also claim that there are differences in the interpretation of the dots depending on the focus of language reflection (aimed to the analysis of self or someone else's verbal behavior). It is noted that the extension of the semantics and functions of dots often leads to some graphic changes of the studied punctuation mark.

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