VIKTORIA ELAINE U.

KING
BSACT2H

ZSC 113/MWF/1900-2000
PROF. SIOSON

THE JEJEMON PHENOMENON

INTRODUCTION
Language changes constantly. The way we communicate to
express our ideas and thoughts is evolving with time. At this
modern era, people convey their message through different
media and in different forms. Recent technological
improvements pave the way for language innovation. One of
which is the computer mediated communication.
Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) is defined as any communicative transaction that
occurs through the use of two or more networked computers. It is the process by which people
make, exchange, and perceive information using networked telecommunications system (or nonnetworked computers) that facilitate encoding, transmitting and decoding messages.
Technology often enhances and reflects rather than precipitating linguistic and social language.
Tiempo (2006) points out that the fast growth of technology has brought many changes in the
language of the people. Communication which occurs within a computer-mediated format has an
effect on many different aspects of an interaction. Facebook, a social network site, allows
individuals to present themselves, and establish or maintain connections with others. It also gives
opportunities for users to express themselves innovatively. One of the noticeable language
innovations is the jejemon phenomenon, which most Facebook users employ.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Developments in electronic instrumentation and computer science have already altered the way
we look at the language (Crystal, 1995). The electronic age has changed our ways of transmitting
and delivering messages. Consequently, due to the advancement of technology, opportunities for
linguistic innovations have become possible. Yates (1996), as mentioned in Gao (2008), says that
a new medium of communication such as the Internet does not only draw upon existing linguistic
practices, but also generates new forms of practice.
Tagliamonte and Deniss (2008) study on Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) points
out that CMC language is on the forefront of linguistic change and ongoing processes of
linguistic changes are currently under way in the speech community in which teenagers live.
Teenagers use among themselves these ongoing linguistic processes especially in computermediated communication format. As one form of CMC format, Facebook is an example of a
growing number of websites dedicated to social networking. This combines several available
channels for interacting with other users, including private one-to-one messages, bulletin board
messages, blogs, and public, or private profile pages, which can include text, images, videos, and

sounds. Facebook is a medium for interaction which allows users (mostly teenagers) to be
dynamic, vivid and creative especially in the use of language.
In todays era of advancements, communication is mediated through technology. Certain
transformations in the use of language are inevitable and can occur due to the limitations of the
medium of interaction. One example is texting, a type of short messaging service in which each
text message is limited to 160 characters. As a result, an "SMS language" has been developed
where words are shortened in order to fit the 160-character limit. This manner of communicating
is also prevalent in social websites such as Facebook.
The changes of the language use by the younger generations are noticeable not only in the way
they speak but also in their written communication. Teenagers, who are more exposed to
technological advancements such as the internet, create innovations in their language and such
innovations are accepted and shared by their speech community. These linguistic innovations are
usually prompted by the use of CMC, in this study, the use of Facebook. According to Tecson
(2008) transformations may result in language styles. These transformations are evident in the
language used by the jejemon extremist.
JEJEMON DEFINED
Jejemon is a pop culture phenomenon in the Philippines. According to Urban Dictionary, a
Jejemon is a person "who has managed to subvert the English language to the point of
incomprehensibility." The Philippine Daily Inquirer describes Jejemons as a "new breed of
hipster who have developed not only their own language and written text but also their own
subculture and fashion."
ORIGINS
The word Jejemon basically originates from the users
capability to type jejeje, the Spanish equivalent of hehehe
and -mon, a shorthand for monster popularized by the
Pokemon franchise. The practice of short-handed typing or
the intentional misspelling of words originated from short text
messaging service in which the text message is limited to 160
characters only. However, some Jejemons are actually not
shortening the words to conserve characters; instead they are
lengthening their message through adding special characters
and more. The Jejemon language had been a pop culture
phenomenon, especially for teenagers who are undeniable on
being on the peak when it comes to social networks and other
Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) mediums. Eventually you can see those languages
in posts, comments, blogs, forums and even in chat rooms specifically in a well-known growing
number of websites dedicated to social networking like Facebook, Twitter, Multiply, and
Tumblr.

Such short-handed language is not limited to Filipinos: Thais use "5555" to denote "hahahaha,"
since the number 5 in Thai language is pronounced as "ha."
According to UP CMC Dean Rolando Tolentino, the jejemon language emerged primarily as an
influence or spin-off of the way Latin Americans express jubilation jeje. To add to this, he
thinks that the jejemon language in the Philippines is a product of the lower middle class and the
lower classes use of mainstream and monopolized capitalist technology and the own intellectual
and cultural facilities of such people or social classes. In sociolinguistics, the way to explain
jejemon language is the incarnation of internalized speech. It means that how one thinks and
recites or enunciates thoughts through sounds and words is how one literally writes or digitizes
it.
PEOPLE
Jejemon is also the term used to refer to a
person. A Jejemon is a type of person in the
Philippines who
makes
the English
language hard to read. The Philippine Daily
Inquirer calls them different but happy
because of their language and clothes.
The word Jejemon came from people who like
to write "hehehe" as "jejeje" because "jeje" is
Spanish for hehe due to the sound J makes in
Spanish. "-Mon" is added at the end. This is
from the Japanese anime Pokmon which
means "monster." When combined they are termed the jeje-monsters.
Jejemons are categorized in four levels. The first level is mild. Mild jejemons can be defined as
texters whose choice of words are still comprehensible and in short form to the receiver but the
style of texting is still identified as jejemon. Example: eow pU..Mxta NaH? jejeJe (Hello po.
Musta na? Hehehe).
The second level is the moderate level. The moderate level is where the jejemon would start
adding the letters F, H, Q and Z in their words. Example: eOw pFow., Na MiSz pfOu qTah!
(Hello po. Na miss kita!).
The next level is the severe level. Jejemons who are at this level will no longer use letters as
characters in their words but numbers. Example: 3ow pfU!,..an3u pfOW gW4 n30? (Hello po.
Ano po gawa niyo?
And the last level that crowns a person as the ultimate jejemon is called the terminal level. The
word terminal defined in medical dictionaries as incurable. Jejemons classified as terminal
texts messages with words are incomprehensible to your imagination that most consider the
words out of this world. Example: 3ow pfoU m3N4 p!poL nUa MiXz kO pFou k3O nU4n
z0bR4. (Hello po mga pipol, miss ko po kayo ngayon sobra).

FASHION
Jejemons not only differentiate themselves from others by text
style, they also prefer to differentiate themselves through their
sense of style. Fashion represents an individual or a group
depending on the social and cultural implications that is set upon
the individual.
Jejemon fashion is a mash of hip-hop, rock, emo-core, metal and
original Filipino music elements in their ensemble.
1. Imitation Havaianas, hip-hop shorts, Oversized shirt, trucker cap.
2. Imitation Converse, skinny jeans, Three-Stars-and-a Sun Shirt, bandanna, sunglasses,
trucker cap.
3. Imitation Crocs, striped kinit stockings, fishnet stockings, denim cut-offs, tube-top,
eyeliner or mascara, Fly shades, dyed hair in cornrows.
The trucker caps would usually be their emphasis in their whole ensemble. It would be usually in
the color of rainbow or purple.
This type of fashion is not attempting to imitate popular cultures, similar to those fashions of hiphop artists, but to emphasize the already fashionable trends. It gives the wearer the sense of
uniqueness when surrounded by a crowd.
PERCEIVED USEFULNESS
IT and information security experts have found a certain usefulness of "jejetyping" in the
creation of strong passwords for user logins.
JEJENESE
The language of the Jejemons, called Jejenese, is derived from English, Filipino and their codeswitched variant Taglish. Their alphabet, Jejebet, uses the Roman alphabet, including the Arabic
numerals and other special characters. Words are created by re-arranging letters in a
word, alternating capitalization, over-usage of the letters and mixture of numeric characters and
our Roman alphabet. The following are the observed characteristics of jejenese:
1. Insertion of unnecessary numbers and letters
It was observed all throughout the corpus that jejemons inserted unnecessary
numbers and letters in writing their posts. These insertions made the words very
complicated and no explicit pattern as to the definite position of inserted numbers
and letters.
a. phfue or p0w
b. aqchu or aq0uh
c. mHEii

po
ako
me

2.

Unique orthography based on how the words sound

One of the distinctive characteristics of jejenese is its unique approach to
orthography, using substitutions of other characters, letters or otherwise, to represent
a letter or letters in a word. The use of letters and numbers closely resemble (to
varying degrees) the sound for which they stand. In this case, hello is spelled as
eHyUoew or in other cases eow and a variety of similar-sounding derivatives.
a. eHyUoeW fPuoEh .. qCkEimUsXztUaH qCkeYuOeh????
hello po... kamusta na kayo?
b. PhAtTtii AhcKQeOWh nHaAHhhAaWhAhH.....!
pati ako nawawal..
c. sVi qEw nAMn.. mAdAnDa aqEw
sabi ko naman..maganda ako

3.

Unconventional use of punctuations

Punctuations like question marks and exclamation points were the ones used in an
exaggerated manner. They were used to express emotions and/or emphasis.
a. psenxa na ha !! qng maxadong OVER an JEJEMON !!.. TAMAAA ! kua
LUCKY... ahm...pra wlng awai eh di wlang paki alamanan !! cguro nmn
naiintindihan nio an type quh ??!!...
b. eHyUoeW fPuoEh ..qCkEimUsXztUaHqCkeYuOeh????

4.

Numbers to substitute letters

Replacement of letters with numbers is distinct to jejenese. Jejemons tend to
substitute letters with numbers that relatively look similar. In this case, letter A to
number 4 and letter E to number 3.
a. bzt4h
b. aj3j3j3 .
c. g34hin

5.

basta
ajejeje
gayahin

Alternate use of lower and upper case

The combination of the lower and upper case letters is another characteristic of a
jejenese. There was no particular pattern as to the use of the lower and uppercase
letters.
a. WE wnT 2 BE~ P0wh. AnD becaUSE Of tHIZ,~ 0L D~ 0THEr JeJEm0nZ
Came AWTz 2 P0whz. iSNT iT gREaT, n0h?
b. d aQ mAartE!(pWerA LnG iF tiNO2pAk aQ!)

c. psenxa na ha !! qng maxadong OVER an JEJEMON !!.. TAMAAA ! c kua

LUCKY...
6.

Use of onomatopoeic lexis/emotional language

Most of the emotional language of the jejenese comes from jeje, the Spanish
spelling of hehe, denoting laughter. The hmp! indicated irritation or annoyance
and lastly ajujuju indicating fake sadness or tears due to the smiley face that comes
after it.
a. tnx pfowh jejeje
b. maluluxaw nua laat nan mena anti-jejemon/jejebuster !!hmp!!WTH !!:P
c. ajujuju :)

7.

Lengthening of vowels and consonants

The lengthening of letters also illustrated emphasis. It could represent sustained
utterance of the speaker in order to catch the hearers attention.
a. TAMAAA ! c kua LUCKY...
b. Ayuneeeee! Ops, wala akong sinabi...!
c. Tsssssssss. Kayo ang nagpapababa ng kahulugan ng pagiging rocker

8.

Substitution of spelling
Jejemons change the spelling as long as it looks like the original word; so the lines
and loops of letters and numbers are exploited. It is usually employed for aesthetic
appeal.
a. maq
mag
b. qumaqayhat
gumagaya
c. waq
wag

REFERENCES:
Crystal, D. (1995). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge
University Press.
Gao, L. (2008). Language Change in Progress: Evidence from Computer-Mediated
Communication. Retrieved May 20, 2010 from http://chinalinks.osu.edu/naccl20/proceedings/19_gao_l.pdf
Tagliamonte, S. and Derik D. Linguistic Ruin? LOL! Instant Messaging and Teen Language.
Retrieved May 20,2010 from
http://americanspeech.dukejournals.org/cgi/reprint/83/1/3.pdf
Tiempo, A. (2006). Cebuano-english code-switching, text jargon, and fricative production in
short messaging services (SMS).Masteral thesis, University of San Carlos.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jejemon
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jejemon
https://pjfiles.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/eow-poh-jejeje-hello-po-hehehe-2/
https://www.scribd.com/doc/44226377/Jejemon-a-Linguistic-Variation
http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/2bu/2bu/view/20100424-266068/gtJejemons-The-new-jologs
https://mlephil.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/orthography-and-the-jejemon-phenomenon/
http://twentyfive.hubpages.com/hub/Jejemon
http://www.december.com/cmc/study/center.html