Emoji
जापानी मोबाइल फ़ोन से उत्पन्न चित्रात्मक Unicode वर्ण। अब कई blocks (Emoticons, Misc Symbols & Pictographs, Transport, आदि) में 3,790+ emoji हैं।
What is Emoji?
Emoji are pictographic characters standardized within the Unicode Standard, designed to represent faces, objects, places, activities, animals, food, symbols, and concepts in a visually expressive way. The word emoji comes from Japanese: 絵 (e, picture) + 文字 (moji, character). Although the term looks coincidentally similar to the English word "emotion," the etymological connection is coincidental — emoji covers all pictographs, not just emotional expressions.
Emoji were invented by Shigetaka Kurita in 1999 for NTT DoCoMo's i-mode mobile internet service in Japan. The original set was 176 12×12 pixel images. After years of fragmented, incompatible emoji sets across Japanese carriers (DoCoMo, au, SoftBank), the Unicode Consortium began standardizing emoji in Unicode 6.0 in 2010, and the first wave of 722 emoji was encoded. As of Unicode 15.1 (2023), Unicode includes over 3,600 emoji.
How Emoji Are Encoded
Most emoji are single Unicode code points in the ranges:
- U+1F600–U+1F64F: Emoticons (😀, 😂, 🙂)
- U+1F300–U+1F5FF: Miscellaneous symbols and pictographs (🌍, 🎉, 🔑)
- U+1F680–U+1F6FF: Transport and map symbols (🚀, ✈️, 🚗)
- U+1F900–U+1FAFF: Supplemental symbols (🤖, 🧠, 🪄)
- U+2600–U+27BF: Miscellaneous symbols (☀️, ⭐, ♻️)
However, many emoji are not single code points. They are sequences of multiple code points that combine into a single visible emoji:
- Variation sequences: A base character + U+FE0F (Variation Selector-16) requests emoji presentation (☀ + VS-16 = ☀️)
- Skin tone sequences: A base emoji + one of five Fitzpatrick modifier characters (👋 + 🏽 = 👋🏽)
- ZWJ sequences: Multiple emoji joined with U+200D (👨 + ZWJ + 💻 = 👨💻)
- Flag sequences: Pairs of Regional Indicator letters (🇺 + 🇸 = 🇺🇸)
- Keycap sequences: A digit + VS-16 + U+20E3 COMBINING ENCLOSING KEYCAP (1 + VS-16 + U+20E3 = 1️⃣)
Emoji Presentation vs. Text Presentation
Many characters have both a text presentation (monochrome, inline with text) and an emoji presentation (colorful, pictographic). Unicode controls this with variation selectors:
- U+FE0E (VS-15): Request text presentation — ☀︎
- U+FE0F (VS-16): Request emoji presentation — ☀️
When no variation selector is present, the default presentation depends on the character and the platform.
The Emoji Approval Process
New emoji are proposed to the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee using a formal submission process. The committee evaluates proposals based on criteria including: frequency of use as sticker or internet image, potential to fill a gap in existing categories, broad cross-cultural relevance, and distinctiveness. Approved emoji enter the Unicode Standard in the next annual release (Unicode releases annually, typically in September).
The approval process is deliberately slow to avoid emoji inflation and to ensure new additions have genuine widespread utility.
Quick Facts
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Shigetaka Kurita, NTT DoCoMo, 1999 |
| First Unicode standardization | Unicode 6.0, October 2010 |
| Count as of Unicode 15.1 | 3,655 emoji |
| Primary encoding ranges | U+1F600–U+1FAFF (supplemental planes) |
| Sequence types | Variation, skin tone, ZWJ, flag, keycap |
| Annual release | Unicode adds new emoji every September |
| Governing body | Unicode Emoji Subcommittee |
संबंधित शब्द
इमोजी में और
Multi-character emoji constructed by combining base emoji with modifiers, ZWJ characters, or …
Five Fitzpatrick scale modifiers (U+1F3FB–U+1F3FF, 🏻–🏿) that change human emoji skin color. …
Zero Width Joiner (U+200D) से कई emoji को जोड़कर बनाए गए emoji। …
Fitzpatrick scale skin tone modifiers (U+1F3FB–U+1F3FF) जो किसी human emoji के तुरंत …
26 वर्ण (U+1F1E6–U+1F1FF, 🇦–🇿) जो ISO 3166-1 country codes के आधार पर …