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1.3.6. What are the names of the Japanese non-kana, non-kanji symbols?
It's quite difficult to find out the names of the common non-kanji and non-kana Japanese symbols. These symbols are called yakumono (約物) in Japanese. Here is a table of symbols, the hexadecimal JIS code and Unicode for the symbols for computer input, and the names for the symbols.| Symbol | JIS code | Unicode | Name or names | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repetition marks [odoriji (踊り字), jouji (畳字)] | ||||
| 々 | 2139 | 3005 | noma (ノマ) kuma kurikaeshi (繰り返し) dou no jiten (同の字点) |
It is called noma because it looks like katakana
no and ma).
This symbol originates from a simplified form of the character 仝, a variant of 同 written in the sousho style. It is also called noma, because it looks like a katakana "no" and "ma" joined: ノマ. It's used to show the repetition of the previous kanji or kana character. |
| ヽ | 2133 | 30FD | katakanagaeshi (かたかながえし) kurikaeshi (くりかえし) | Repeat the previous katakana. |
| ヾ | 2134 | 30FE | katakanagaeshi (かたかながえし) kurikaeshi (くりかえし) | Repeat the previous katakana with a nigori mark. |
| ゝ | 2135 | 309D | hiraganagaeshi (ひらがながえし) kurikaeshi (くりかえし) | Repeat the previous hiragana. For example はは could be はゝ. |
| ゞ | 2136 | 309E | hiraganagaeshi (ひらがながえし) kurikaeshi | Repeat the previous hiragana with a nigori added. For example はば could be written はゞ. |
| 〃 | 2137 | 3003 | nonoten (ノノ点) | Ditto mark. It is called nonoten because it looks like two katakana nos |
|
None | 3033 3035 | kunojiten (くの字点) | This repetition mark is used in yokogaki (downwards) writing, (see 1.3.8. Can Japanese be written right to left?) and it means repeat the previous two or more kana. Note that one symbol requires two Unicode characters. |
|
None | 3034 3035 | kunojiten (くの字点) | This is the kunojiten mark with dakuten. The dakuten applies to the first character of the word. For example, tokorodokoro could be written vertically as ところ plus this mark. Note that one symbol requires two Unicode characters. |
| Brackets and quotation marks [kakko (括弧)] | ||||
| 「」 | 2156 2157 |
300C 300D | kagi (鉤) kagikakko (鉤括弧) | These are the usual Japanese quotation marks. |
| 『』 | 2158 2159 |
300E 300F | kagi (鉤) nijuukagikakko (二重鉤括弧) | Japanese version of double quotes. |
| （） | 214A 214B |
FF08 FF09 | paaren (パーレン) kakko (括弧) marugakko (丸括弧) shoukakkou (しょう括弧) | The word paaren is said to be an abbreviation of the German word for parentheses, although modern German uses the word "Klammer" for this symbol. |
| 〔〕 | 214C 214D |
3014 3015 | kikkou (亀甲) | Used to insert comments into quoted text. |
| ［］ | 214E 214F |
FF3B FF3D | kakko (括弧) kagikakko (鉤括弧) | |
| ｛｝ | 2150 2151 |
FF5B FF5D | bureesu (ブレース) namikakko (波括弧) nakakakko (中括弧) | |
| 〈〉 | 2152 2153 |
3008 3009 | kakko (括弧) yamakakko (山括弧) gyume (ギュメ) yamagata (山がた) | ギュメ is from French "guillemet". |
| 《》 | 2154 2155 |
300A 300B | kakko (括弧) nijuuyamakakko (二重山括弧) nijuugyume (二重ギュメ) nijuuyamagata (二重山がた) | |
| 【】 | 215A 215B |
3010 3011 | kakko (括弧) sumitsukikakko (すみつきかっこ) | Used in headings, for example in dictionary definitions. |
| Phonetic marks [hatsuonkigou (発音記号)] | ||||
| っ | 2443 | 3063 | sokuon (促音) | See 1.3.4. What are the systems of romanization of Japanese? for details of how to produce a sokuon character on a word processor. See also 7.2. What is that small tsu at the end of a sentence? for one usage of this character. |
| ー | 213C | 30FC | chouon (長音) bousen (棒線) | Indicates a lengthened vowel sound. Often used with katakana. The direction of writing depends on the direction of text. See 1.3.8. Can Japanese be written right to left? |
| ゛ | 212B | 309B | dakuten (濁点) nigori (濁り) | Used with hiragana or katakana to indicate a "voiced" sound. For example, this mark changes ta to da and shi to ji. |
| ゜ | 212C | 309C | handakuten (半濁点) handaku (半濁) | Used with hiragana or katakana to indicate a change from a hahihuheho sound to a papipupepo sound. |
| Punctuation marks (kutouten 句読点) | ||||
| 。 | 2123 | 3002 | kuten (句点) maru (丸) | The Japanese equivalent of the period, "." or full stop. Marks the end of a sentence. |
| 、 | 2122 | 3001 | touten (読点) | Japanese equivalent of a comma. |
| ・ | 2126 | 30FB | nakaguro (中黒) potsu (ぽつ) nakaten (中点) | Used to separate items in lists and show the beginning and end of strings of katakana words. See 1.1.9. What is katakana used for? |
| Other special marks | ||||
| 〆 | 213A | 3006 | shime (しめ) | This character is used to write shime in shimekiri (deadline) etc. |
| 〜 | 2141 | 301C | nyoro (にょろ) naishi (ないし) nami (波) kara (から) | Used in "to from" constructions in Japanese, such as 月〜金曜日 "from Monday to Friday". |
| … | 2144 | 2026 | tensen (点線) | A line of dots, or ellipsis. |
| None | None | bouten (傍点) wakiten (脇点) | Adding these dots to the sides of characters emphasizes the character in question. It is the Japanese equivalent of the use of italics for emphasis in English. | |
| ※ | 2228 | 203B | kome (米) komejirushi (米印) | This symbol is used in notes (chuu, 注). See also jekai's page about komejirushi. |
| ＊ | 2176 | FF0A | hoshijirushi (星印) asuterisuku (アステリスク) | This symbol is used in notes (chuu, 注). See also jekai's page about komejirushi. |
| 〓 | 222E | 3013 | getakigou (下駄記号) | This symbol is used for undecipherable handwritten kanji, kanji which have no typeface available, kanji which have no computer code point available, and as a substitute for unpublishable words. |
|
None | 303D | ioriten (庵点) | This mark is used to show the start of a singer's part of a song. For more details, see jeKai's page on the ioriten. |
| Organization marks | ||||
| 〒 | 2229 | 3012 | yuubin (郵便) | Used to indicate post offices on maps, and printed before postcodes. See also 15.1. How does the Japanese addressing system work? |
|
None | 3004 | jisuma-ku (ジスマーク) nihon kougyou kikaku (日本工業規格) | This mark on a product shows that it complies with a Japanese Industrial Standard. |
Mathematical symbols
For mathematical symbols, please refer to 12.4. How do I write or say a mathematical expression in Japanese?.Repetition marks
The repetition symbols described here are much less used nowadays than they were in the past. Odoriji (踊り字) and jouji (畳字), also known as hanpukukigou (反復記号) are general names for the repetition marks like 々 and ゞ. On a word processor, they can be obtained by typing dou (同), onaji (同じ) or onajiku (同 じく). See also 14.4. How can I input small kana like ぃ, っ and ょ, or づ on a computer?
Punctuation marks
Kutouten (句読点) (sometimes misread as `kudokuten') means `punctuation marks'.Acknowledgements
The list of symbols was collected from newsgroup discussions, R. A. Miller's book `A Japanese reader', several Japanese dictionaries, and the information in `skkdic.el' in GNU Emacs. Thanks to Bart Mathias, Kouji Ueshiba, Anthony J. Bryant, Jeff Schrepfer, and roxfan for more corrections.
sci.lang.japan FAQ / 1. Writing / 1.3. Other questions on writing
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