Research abstract

Chinese emoji, with a twist

Language is a constant evolution of words. However, now we have emojis that project our feelings and thoughts. Do you find the shorthand to be amusing and interactive, or lazy and reduce our vocabulary? By Victor Mair

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Emoji’s are a Japanese invention that became very popular in the West. There are some new emoji’s being released this summer that are supposed to be Chinese based. These include a Chinese food take out emoji and some fortune cookie emoji’s. The article describes how these are westernized concepts and not at all actually Chinese.
The first emoji was invented in 1999 in Japan and the inventor did not expect it to become to globally popular. Thanks to the smartphone and the internet, it has. Emoji’s are so popular because they can be read and understood no matter what language you speak; they are global.

Key takeaways

  1. An emoji artist finds their work ironic.
  2. Two out of four of the new Chinese emoji’s are not even Chinese.
  3. They are American symbols for Chinese culture.

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