Characteristics of and the influence of orthography on cell-phone e-mail

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  • 携帯メールにおける文字表記の特徴とその影響
  • ケイタイ メール ニ オケル モジ ヒョウキ ノ トクチョウ ト ソノ エイキョウ

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Abstract

In recent years, the use of cell phones for e-mail has grown in popularity, particularly among young people. In this genre of texts a number of characteristics have developed in the orthography, in the use of kanji (characters of Chinese origin), and hiragana and katakana (phonetic syllabic characters). Among these phenomena are: extended uses of kanji, and the abbreviation of kanji compounds; the omission of okurigana, which show the inflectional endings of Japanese words written in kanji; a different tendency in erroneous input of kanji compared with errors seen in texts input on computer; extended uses of hiragana; abbreviation of words written in katakana; and the expression of numbers with kanji rather than with Arabic numerals. These characteristics seem to be the result of a number of factors working separately, or in concert: conditions in which the text is input (surroundings and the apparatus used); software used for conversion of characters; practical limits on the number of characters used in e-mail; and interpersonal relationships. Further, the orthography that has developed in cell-phone e-mail has now extended into other genres, and its influence may be seen on individuals' understanding and learning of kanji, and in forms of handwritten kanji with fewer strokes which reflect the shapes that appear in the cell-phone displays.

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