Meaning of kaomoji | Babel Free

Definitions

A text-based Japanese emoticon, distinct from a Western emoticon in that it is not rotated sideways, and often includes a larger variety of characters (originally from Shift JIS, now including Unicode).

Examples

“While kaomoji and emoji express contexts or moods that cannot be conveyed through textual information alone, they are also used to compensate for the lack of personalization in electronic text that otherwise exists in hand-written form.”

“For example, the typical emoticon for smile, :-), is the kaomoji ^--^.”

“Katsuno and Yano (2002) insisted that the development of kaomoji (emoticon in Japanese) online has important connections with Japanese popular culture.”

“According to Nishimura, kaomojis are so frequently used in Japan that they have been “codified” in dictionaries.”

“Going back to the kaomojis, note that, even in their highly abstract form, they are capable of displaying emotions. In order of display, the kaomojis show happiness, indifference, love, dissatisfaction, and anger.”

“Kaomojis are not used much in Western culture, but they are like emoticons except they can be read front-on and are from a fuller set of keyboard characters.”

CEFR level