おはよう written as おはよ?

Question

Playing through the intro of Let's Go Pikachu, I came across what looks to me like the greeting おはよう, but written instead as おはよ.

Is this a known alternate spelling, or perhaps a simplification aimed at younger audiences?

Answer 1

「おはよ」 is just an informal, variant pronunciation/spelling of 「おはよう」. The age of the speaker or audience does not have so much to do with it.

Other common variants include:

・「おは」、「おっはー」

・「おはよっす」

For the informal versions of 「こんにちは」, you will hear/see:

・「ちはー」、「ちはっす」

・「こんちゃ」

・「ちゃーす」、「ちゃーっす」

・「ちーっす」、「ちっす」

With the evening greeting, we seem not to "play around" much for some reason and we may only have:

・「ばんはー」

・「ばんはっす」