Gyaru-moji
Gyaru-moji (ギャル文字, "gal's alphabet") is a style of obfuscated Japanese writing popular amongst Japanese school girls. Like the English phenomenon of SMS language, it is most often used for sending cell phone text messages, but while text is used as a form of informal shorthand, a message typed in gyaru-moji usually requires more characters and effort than the same message typed in plain Japanese. It was invented by girls so that they could write messages to their friends when travelling on busy inner-city trains without those around them being able to read the messages over their shoulders. Since writing in gyaru-moji requires extra effort, and due to the perception of confidentiality, sending gyaru-moji messages to a peer is seen as a sign of close friendship.
Like leet, gyaru-moji replaces characters with visually similar characters or combinations of characters. Hiragana consisting of connected strokes are replaced by symbols or Greek letters: for example, す (su) may be rendered as the section symbol §. Hiragana consisting of detached elements are replaced by sequences of kana, Western letters, or symbols. For example, ほ (ho) may be typed as |ま (vertical bar and hiragana ma) or (ま (open parenthesis and ma), け (ke) may be typed as レナ (katakana re na), Iナ (capital I, na), or († (open parenthesis, dagger), and た (ta) may be typed as ナ= (katakana na, equals sign) or †こ (dagger, hiragana ko). Katakana is frequently replaced by similar-looking kanji, such as 世 for セ (se) or 干 for チ (chi), in a reversal of the process that turned man'yōgana into kana. Kana and rōmaji may be mixed freely, even within a word, and Latin letters in rōmaji may be replaced with similar-looking Cyrillic letters, such as replacing N with И (Cyrillic I).
Compound kanji are decomposed into left and right elements, which are written as individual kanji or kana. For example, the kanji 好 in 好き, meaning "like, enjoy" may be split into 女子 (the kanji for woman and child, respectively).
One popular use of gyaru-moji can now be seen with girls writing messages on napkins in cafes and restaurants, taking a picture with their camera-phones, and sending the picture of the message to a friend.
The style has been met with some criticism, as some girls are now using the writing in school work and OLs (Office Ladies) are now adopting the style in the workplace.
A conversion chart
The original Japanese hiragana followed by romaji, and then various versions of the Japanese character in gyaru moji.
- あ a： ぁ・ァ・了
- い i： ぃ・ィ・ﾚヽ・ﾚ丶・レ）・ﾚ`・L丶・Lヽ
- う u： ぅ・ゥ・宀・ヴ
- え e： ぇ・ェ・之・工・ヱ
- お o： ぉ・ォ・才・汚
- か ka： ｶゝ・ｶ丶・ｶヽ・ｶ`・ｶゞ【が】
- き ki： (ｷ・(≠・L≠・‡
- く ku： ＜・〈・勹
- け ke： ヶ・(ﾅ・ﾚ†・ﾚﾅ・|ナ・l+・Iﾅ
- こ ko： 〓・=・]・⊃
- さ sa： 廾・±・(十・L+
- し shi： ι・∪
- す su： ￡
- せ se： 世・Ш
- そ so： ξ・ζ・`ﾉ・丶/・ヽ丿
- た ta： ﾅ=・+=・†ﾆ・ﾅﾆ
- ち chi： 干・千・于・5
- つ tsu： っ・ッ・⊃
- て te： τ・〒
- と to： ┠・┝・┣・├
- な na： ﾅょ・十ょ・†ょ・ﾅg
- に ni： (ﾆ・|=・丨ﾆ・L=・I=・
- ぬ nu： йu
- ね ne： йё
- の no： /・丿・σ
- は ha： ﾊ〃【バ】・ﾊo【パ】・'`・八・l￡・(￡・ﾉ|・ﾉl・ﾚ￡
- ひ hi： ﾋ〃【ビ】・ﾋo【ピ】・匕
- ふ fu： ﾌ〃【ブ】・ﾌo【プ】・ヴ
- へ he： ﾍ〃【べ】・ﾍo【ペ】・～
- ほ ho： ﾎ〃【ボ】・ﾎo【ポ】・朮
- ま ma： ма・мα
- み mi： 彡
- む mu： ￡′・厶
- め me： ×・x・χ・乂
- も mo： м○・мσ
- や ya： ゃ・ャ
- ゆ yu： ゅ・ュ・ф
- よ yo： ょ・ョ・∋・чｏ
- わ wa： ゎ・ヮ・wα
- を wo： щo
- ん n： ω・冫・ｗ・h
- ー (long vowel mark)： →・⇒
Examples
| Usual Japanese writing | Gyaru moji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| おはよう | 才（よчｏぅ | "Good morning" |
See also
- Japanese typographic symbols for explanations of some of the above Japanese symbols.
- Emoji