Although “emoji” is usually and quite naturally pronounced in America like “e-mail” or “emotion,” which it resembles in English, the word is actually a combination of two Japanese words: “e” (pronounced “eh”), meaning picture, and “moji,” meaning letter or character. In keeping with other Japanese words, emoji can be used to refer to both the singular and the plural. A better translation might be “pictogram.” But, like other uniquely Japanese inventions—samurai, sushi, haiku, kaiju—the loanword has stuck.
Read Full Article »
