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Sometimes in mangas there are points where you would expect normally furigana.
What meaning is it supposed to have?

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jjTNF.png)
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2014-04-06T12:52:46.053
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2020-04-11T14:28:36.643
2019-08-23T06:35:46.573
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question
orthography punctuation furigana symbols
Why are points used where furigana would be normally?
The dots, called
[傍点【ぼうてん】](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%82%8D%E7%82%B9-8733#E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.9E.97.20.E7.AC.AC.E4.B8.89.E7.89.88)
(or
[圏点【けんてん】](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%9C%8F%E7%82%B9-492771#E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.9E.97.20.E7.AC.AC.E4.B8.89.E7.89.88)),
function like italics or underline with the Latin alphabet. They are for
emphasis.

To see the effect in rōmaji:

> futatabi _kanojo jishin_ no kuchi kara kiku koto ni naru to wa

**_Update_**. To answer the question in the comments, 傍点 and ふりがな may be
combined (although ふりがな may also be omitted, as in the snippet in the question
body). ONE PIECE isn't exactly a case study of minimalist typography (I'm
counting at least 7 text fonts), but for completeness here is an example of 傍点
_on top of_ (or rather, to the side of) ふりがな:

![傍点とふりがな](https://i.stack.imgur.com/JCwwB.jpg)

**_Update 2_**. Note that 傍点 may take different shapes. In Japanese both `●`
and `﹅` are common. For more information see

  * [圏点](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9C%8F%E7%82%B9) (Japanese Wikipedia)
  * [Emphasis point](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emphasis_point) (English Wikipedia)

Usually a text would use one type of 傍点, but just for its curiosity value here
is a snippet of a book by Miyatake Gaikotsu titled 奇態流行史 and published in 1922
with a rather eclectic use of emphasis points:

[![奇態流行史](https://i.stack.imgur.com/oz0UY.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/oz0UY.png)
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2014-04-06T12:58:24.113
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answer