LLearn Japanese

What tone does half width katakana convey?

This is something I’ve been confused about for a while. I understand that it’s not really used formally anymore, but I still see it being used semi-regularly on social media, primarily for phrases that would normally be written with hiragana and/or kanji.

This is just the latest example I’ve run across (post is not NSFW, but acct is):

is it a form of emphasis, or kind of like all-caps maybe?

3 comments

  2. Frustration because I can never get it to work the first time when filling out a form online.

    But would be cool to know.

    Edit: asked my japanese coworker and she said it might just be done to look cute.

  3. I’ve always thought about it like the person is saying it in a quirky way, and I haven’t run into a scenario that disproves this yet. The closest English equivalent I can think of is when some people online say “lul” or “lolz” instead of just “lol”. I’m just a learner like you though, so take this with a grain of salt. Interested in being corrected if I’m off base.

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