Visual Language Lab | » Manga Morphology

Manga Morphology

Below is a listing of the meaningful graphics that appears in Japanese Visual Language related to representations of emotion. Some might call these “symbols” or “emanata”, but following our linguistic approach to graphics, we call these “visual morphology.”

Many of these should be familiar from manga and anime, and many of the morphemes were inspiration for emoji.

This listing supplements the paper, “The vocabulary of manga: Visual morphology in dialects of Japanese Visual Language” by Neil Cohn and Sean Ehly (PDF), which analyzes how these visual vocabulary items are used in both Shonen and Shojo manga. This analysis was part of the Visual Language Research Corpus Project. This list is not considered exhaustive, and this project is part of ongoing corpus analyses of the structures of visual languages found in comics around the world.

Morphemes are organized by their morphological types. Each example of morphemes lists different information about it:

Morpheme
Meaning
Morphological Type
Associated body part
Image reference in the format of (Book: page #, panel #). For full listing of references, see below.
Corresponding emoji

JVL Vein — Vein
Anger
Affix
Forehead (flexible)
Dengeki Daisy: 6,3
💢

JVL bloodynose — Bloody Nose
Lust
Affix
Nose
One Piece

JVL drool — Drool
Distracted, bored
Affix Mouth
Soul Eater: 5,4
🤤

JVL dread lines — Dread lines
Fear, Dread
Affix
Head
Watashi ni XX Shinasai: 40,1
😨

JVL cry streaks — Cry streaks
Sadness
Affix
Eyes
😭

Tear Bubble
Sadness
Affix
Eye
D.Gray-Man: 36,5
🥹

JVL blush — Blush
Embarrassment, Love
Affix
Face/Cheeks
Rosario+Vampire II: 8,3
😊☺️

JVL Flush — Flush
Embarrassment
Affix
Face/Cheeks
Rosario+Vampire II: 8,1

JVL Shadows on face — Shadows on face
Intimidation
Affix
Face
Bleach: 5,1

JVL Shadow Under Eye — Shadow under eye
Sickness
Affix
Eyes
Skip Beat: 12,5

JVL Shade covering eyes — Shade covered eyes
Anger
Affix
Eyes
Love so Life: 11,2

JVL Shadow around eyes — Shadow around eyes
Fear
Affix
Eyes

JVL Sweat drop — Giant sweat drop
Anxiety
Affix
Forehead
😓😅

JVL Plewds — Sweat drops around head (Plewds)
Flustered, Anxiety
Affix
Head
Naruto

JVL sweat — Sweat drops all over face
Fear, Anxiety
Affix
Face
Fairy Tale: 34,3

JVL breath mushroom — Breath mushroom
Relief
Affix
Mouth
Kaichou Wa Maid Sama: 19,6
😮‍💨

JVL Sleep bubble — Sleep bubble
Sleep
Affix
Nose
😪

JVL Pant — Breath bubbles (carriers)
Panting, Exhaustion
Affix
Mouth/head
Naruto: 28,5

JVL Zoom LInes — Zoom Lines
Focal Attention
Affix
Naruto 33,2

JVL circumfixing motion lines — Circumfixing motion lines Shaking, strain, slight movement
Affix
Body/Body Part
Naruto: 42,3

JVL glow face — Glowing face/body
Excitement
Affix
Head/Body
Naruto 16,4

JVL Scopic Spark — Scopic Spark
Surprise, Realization
Affix
Head
Naruto: 30,3

JVL Scopic Star — Scopic Star
Surprise, Realization
Affix
Eyes
Bleach: 3,2

JVL Scopic Lines — Scopic lines
Surprise, Realization
Affix
Eyes

Upfix – Hearts
Love
Affix
Head
Rosario+Vampire II: 16,5
🥰

JVL ? — Upfix – ?
Curious, confused
Affix
Head
Fairy Tail: 16,2

JVL ! — Upfix – !
Surprise
Affix
Head
Fairy Tail: 7,5

JVL Spikes — Upfix – Spikes
Excitement
Surprise
Affix
Head
Naruto: 20,4

JVL Steam Nose — Steam
Frustration
Affix
Nose
Naruto: 29,6
😤

JVL >< eyes — >< – Eyes
Clenched eyes, happiness, pain, anger (depending on mouth)
Eye-Umlaut
Eyes
Love so Life: 34,1
😆😫😣😖

JVL Spirals — Spiral Eyes
Nausea, Dizziness
Eye-Umlaut
Eyes
Fairy Tail: 3,2
😵‍💫

JVL Dot eyes — Dot eyes
Hopeless, Overwhelmed
Eye-Umlaut
Eyes
Bleach: 8,3

JVL Glowing eyes — Glowing Eyes
Anger
Eye-Umlaut
Eyes
Kaichou Wa Maid Sama: 20,7

JVL Heart eyes — Heart eyes
Love
Eye-Umlaut
Eyes
Fairy Tail: 11,1
😍

JVL Lightening Eyes — Lightening eyes
Rivalry, anger
Eye-Umlaut
Eyes
Naruto

JVL circle eyes — Circle eyes
Confusion
Eye-Umlaut
Eyes
Love So Life: 35,3

JVL Bubble eyes — Bubble eyes
Coercion via cuteness
Eye-Umlaut
Eyes
Beelzebub: 13,6
🥺

JVL popped eyes — Popped eyes
Surprise
Eye-umlaut
Eyes
Beelzebub: 10,1

JVL no eyes — No eyes
Creepy, unreal
Eye-Umlaut
Eyes

JVL empty eyes — Empty eyes
Disbelief
Eye-Umlaut
Eyes
D.Gray-Man: 12,5

JVL tiny pupils — Tiny pupils
Anger, drive
Eye-Umlaut
Eyes
Bleach: 21,1

JVL no pupil — No pupils
Disbelief
Eye-Umlaut
Eyes
Rosario + Vampire: 21,2

JVL Monkey lip — Monkey lip
Lustful
Suppletion
Mouth
Soul Eater: 51,2

JVL pointed teeth — Pointed teeth
Plotting-Mal-intent
Suppletion
Mouth

JVL cat mouth — Cat Mouth
Smug
Suppletion
Mouth
(:3)

JVL Cat ears — Dog/Cat ears/hands
Embarrassment, playful
Suppletion
Ears

JVL Giant Yelling Head — Giant yelling head
Anger
Suppletion (?)
Head
Naruto: 29,5

JVL Chibi — Chibi (Superdeformation)
Exaggeration, overwhelming emotion
Suppletion
Head/Body
Skip Beat: 25,7

JVL Giant mouth — Giant Mouth
Surprise, anger
Suppletion (?)
Mouth
Soul Eater: 51,3

JVL Giant Teeth — Giant Teeth
Pain, anger
Suppletion (?)
Mouth
Naruto: 20,1

JVL Giant Ear — Giant Ear
Eavesdropping
Suppletion(?)
Ear
Watashi ni XX Shinsasai: 14,4

JVL Scream — Munch’s Scream
Fear, Shock
Suppletion
Body
Ranma 1/2
😱

JVL Stump hands — Loss of hands
Loss of control
Suppletion
Hands
Azumanga Daioh

JVL Shock pose — Shock pose
Surprise
Suppletion
Body/hands
Ranma 1/2

JVL Paperification — Paperification
Depression
Suppletion
Body
Skip Beat: 33,8

JVL two heads — Two heads
Conflicting emotion
Reduplication
Head
Fairy Tail: 4,2

JVL Sparkles — Sparkles
Happiness, elation
Background
Skip Beat: 2,1

JVL Fire — Fire
Rage
Background
Ranma 1/2

Vertical line gloom
Depression, sadness
Background
Beelzebub: 6,1

JVL Flowers — Flower petals
Happiness
Background
Kaicho wa Maid-sama: 16,4

Heart background — Hearts
Love, Lust
Background

Fuzzy circles/bubbles
Dream-like, fantasizing
Background
Skip Beat: 11,1

JVL Black — Black
Focus, ominous
Background
Naruto: 13,5

JVL Lightning — Lightning
Anger
Background
Love so Life: 6,2

Wavy lines — Wavy Lines
Fear
Background
Ranma 1/2

JVL Shaded person — Entire person shaded (white background)
Disbelief, shock
Background-foreground relation
D.Gray-Man: 30,2

Everything shaded
Ominous
Background
Beelzebub: 16,4

JVL Swirling clouds — Swirling clouds/Fog
Murderous intent, anger
Background
Yotsubato: 79

Graphic References

1. Hoshino, Katsura. (2004). D.Gray-Man. Viz Media. Chapter 1, 1-54.
2. Ikeda, Akihisa. (2004). Rosario+Vampire II. Viz Media. Chapter 1, 1-47.
3. Isayama, Hajime. (2009). Shingeki no Kyojin [Attack on Titan]. Kodansha Comics. Chapter 1, 1-49. 4. Kato, Kazue. (2009). Ao no Exorcist. Shueisha. Chapter 1, 1-65.
5. Kishimoto, Masashi. (1999). Naruto. Shueisha. Chapter 1, 1-50.
6. Kubo, Tite. (2001). Bleach. Viz Media. Chapter 1, 1-53.
7. Mashima, Hiro. (2006). Fairy Tail. Kodansha Comics. Chapter 1, 1-72.
8. Oda, Eiichiro. (1997). One Piece. Viz Media. Chapter 1, 1-50.
9. Okubo, Atsushi. (2004). Soul Eater. Yen Press. Chapter 1, 1-59.

10. Tamura, Ryuhei. (2008). Beelzebub. Shueisha. Chapter 1, 1-56.
11. Fujiwara, Hiro. (2005). Kaichou wa Maid-sama! Tokyopop. Chapter 1, 1-31.
12. Hazuki, Kanae. (2012). Say “I love you”. Kodansha Comics. Chapter 1, 1-43.
13. Hino, Matsuri. (2004). Vampire Knight. Viz Media. Chapter 1, 1-48.
14. Kouichi, Kaede. (2008). Love so Life. Hakusensha. Chapter 1, 1-43.
15. Minami, Kanan. (2007). Kyo, Koi o Hajimemasu. Shogakukan. Chapter 1, 1-39.
16. Motomi, Kyousuke. (2007). Dengeki Daisy. Viz Media. Chapter 1, 1-47.
17. Nakamura, Yoshiki. (2002) Skip Beat. Viz Media. Chapter 1, 1-48.
18. Sakurakoji, Kanoko. (2007). Black Bird. Shogakukan. Chapter 1, 1-38.
19. Tanaka, Meca. (2007). Faster than a Kiss. Hakusensha. Chapter 1, 1-42.
20. Toyama, Ema. (2009). Watashi ni XX Shinasai! Kodansha Comics. Chapter 1, 1-41. 21. Azuma Kiyohiko. (2007) Azumanga Daioh: The Omnibus. AD Vision.
22. Takhashi, Rumiko. Ranma 1/2. Viz Media.
23. Azuma Kiyohiko. (2006) Yotsubato. Vol.5, Tokyo: Media Works.