Newsletter No. 460

6 460 • 19.6.2015 到任同仁 Newly Onboard 字裏科技 Tech Talks 新語言的誕生 Rise of a New Language 根據威斯康辛大學麥迪遜分校及卡迪夫大學心理學家的研 究，原來香港人最木無表情，甚少笑容。這樣說來，香港人利 用社交平台或應用程式溝通時，也是否吝嗇使用笑臉？ 各種笑臉，包括眨眼的、拋吻的、露齒的……，是現時最常用 的emoji（繪文字）圖像，佔全球使用率的四成半，當中又以 高踞榜首。這是英國應用程式開發商SwiftKey分析了十六 個不同語言和地區的Android及iOS使用者，於2014年10月至 2015年1月發送的逾十億個emoji圖像而得出的結果。 2011年iOS推出emoji鍵盤後，emoji即大受歡迎。2013 年，Android大部分平台亦支援emoji，使用人數急升。單以 Instagram為例，現時近四成的文字描述和圖片說明包含最 少一個emoji圖像。說穿了，笑臉和表意文字也不算新玩意， 中國和埃及早在千年以前，就各用圖形來溝通，即所謂象形文 字。所以，現今的emoji可說是象形文字的數碼版。 表情符號早見於1881年，美國雜誌 Puck 刊登了四款稱為「印 刷藝術」的符號，分別代表喜悅、憂鬱、冷漠及驚訝。（ 圖一 ） Emoji不僅是潮流的溝通方法，SwiftKey的研究發現，它也 揭示了各國的國民特性。舉例說，加拿人最喜歡發 之餘， 傳送暴力和金錢（ ）圖像的數量亦稱 冠。澳洲人則愛酒精、藥物和垃圾食品（ ）。雖然 是全球所愛，但在浪漫的法國卻敗陣 於 。 美國流行歌手 Katy Perry 在其熱門歌曲 Roar 的音樂錄像中， 歌詞字幕便以大量emoji替代文字。（ 圖二 ） Emo j i的熱潮仍會持續，乃因蘋果公司最近為秉持「政 治正確」，把 e m o j i 人物、手勢圖像的膚色增至六種 （ ），又增加了新的「同性關係」圖像，如 同性雙親家庭 。微軟亦決定於即將推出的「視窗10」作業 系統中，加入舉起中指的圖像（ ）。負責制定統籌統一碼的 統一碼聯盟宣布，建議在2016年中面世的Unicode 9.0加入 三十八個新emoji圖像。 瑞典兒童權益組織BRIS認為，複雜的現實需要複雜的符號， 早前推出的一套受虐表情圖像「Abused Emojis」（ ），讓兒童用以表達難以啓齒的不快經驗，面世數天就錄 得三萬次下載，成為瑞典App Store免費軟件下載榜第三位。 如果你還覺得不夠，沒有關係，你大可利用Makemoji應用程 式，設計喜愛的emoji圖案，或是索性登入只能發送emoji的社 交平台─Emojli，從登入戶口名稱到內容一概只限於emoji， 正好 （測試）你對emoji的 （理解） （能力）。 According to a research by psychologists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Cardiff University, Hongkongers are found to be the least likely to express themselves by smiling. That said, are Hongkongers also frugal with the use of smileys when communicating on social media or apps? Smileys, including variations such as winks, kisses, and grins, are the world’s most heavily used type of emoji, making up 45% of global usage. At the top of the list is . The finding was revealed by a study of SwiftKey, a British app developer, which analysed more than one billion pieces of emoji data taken from communications made in 16 different languages and regions via Android and iOS devices from October 2014 to January 2015. The amazing emoji surge started in 2011 when the iOS emoji keyboard was released, and in 2013, on most Android platforms. Currently, almost 40% of texts and captions posted on Instagram contain at least one emoji. In fact, smileys and ideograms are nothing new. The early Chinese and Egyptians had used their own, which we call hieroglyphics, to communicate millennia ago. So modern-day emoji may be regarded as the digital version of hieroglyphics. The American magazine, Puck , printed for the first time in its 1881 issue four examples of ‘typographical art’—joy, melancholy, indifference, and astonishment, which may be considered early versions of emotion icons ( Figure 1 ). Emoji are not just a trendy way of communication. The SwiftKey study also uncovered what appears to be national traits. For example, Canadians were found to use way more than anyone else and they also scored highest in categories associated with violence and money, e.g., . Australians love icons suggestive of alcohol, drugs and junk food ( ). While dominates in the world, rules in France. American pop singer, Katy Perry , released a video for her hit Roar that conveys most of the lyrics by means of emoji ( Figure 2 ). And the trend is growing. Apple has recently added ‘politically correct’ emoji that come in six skin shades ( ). Other additions include new same-sex relationship emoji, such as families with same-sex parents . The middle finger ( ) icon will also be included in Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system. The Unicode Consortium, an organization that standardizes digital codes, has released a list of 38 emoji characters as candidates for Unicode 9.0, which is scheduled for release in mid-2016. BRIS, a Swedish children’s rights non-profit organization, believes that a complex reality demands a complex set of symbols. So, it developed a set of ‘Abused Emojis’ ( ) for children to talk about situations where they felt bad or wrongly treated. I used my and my ( I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath ) rock the and make a ( Scared to rock the boat and make a mess ) So I ( So I sit quietly ) 圖一 Figure 1 ‘Abused Emojis’ has been downloaded 30,000 times and is the third most downloaded free iOS app in Sweden within several days. If you are still not satisfied, you can create and customize your own using the app Makemoji, or login to the emoji-only messaging app—Emojli, which requires that usernames and messages be composed entirely of emoji. Give it a try if you would like to (test) your (ability) to (understand) all emoji. 圖二 Figure 2 Information in this section can only  be accessed with CWEM password .  若要瀏覽本部分的資料， 請須輸入 中大校園電子郵件密碼 。