Grammar detail: っ, ッ and ー

Another somewhat less common use is to add an equivalent sound within a word in order to add emphasis or exaggeration. The same mechanism exists in English - for example, you might say 'Re-a-a-lly?!' to express disbelief. In Japanese, this usage has become a standard form for many words - for example many words beginning with

ま

真

(itself an emphasis word) use the form to add additional emphasis. For example,

ましろ

真白

means 'pure white', and using

ま

真

っ

しろ

白

simply emphasizes the fact that it really is 'pure' white. Sometimes, the mechanism can be applied in words where it is not ordinarily used, in order to achieve the same effect. For example, see:

This form is found in colloquial speech in

かんっぜん

完ッ全

,

ぜんっぜん

全ッ然

,

ぜっったい

絶ッ対

. The third example is especially interesting, because it already contains a doubled consonant before the extra っ!

The ー symbol, known in Japanese as

ちょうおんぷ

長音符

often performs a similar effect. (Note that ーlooks like the kanji

いち

一

but is actually a different symbol.) Its standard use is simply to indicate a lengthening of the previous vowel sound, as in ポッキー (the Pocky snack). This is typically only needed in katakana, because in hiragana it is usually only the お sound that is extended, and it is customary to use hiragana う to do that. Since katakana is used to represent words of foreign origin, almost any sound may need to be extended, and rather than using ウ etc, ー is usually used. The ー symbol can also be used to add unusual emphasis - for example, あはよー (instead of the normal おはよう) would imply an extra long final syllable. See also our introduction to katakana.