Iteration mark
Encyclopedia
Iteration marks are characters or punctuation marks that represent a duplicated character or word.
, 二 (usually appearing as 〻) or 々 is used in casual writing to represent a doubled character, but it is never used in formal writing or printed matter. In a tabulated table or list, vertical repetition can be represented by a ditto mark
(〃).
Iteration marks have been occasionally used for more than two thousand years in China
. The bronzeware script on the bronze pot of the Zhou Dynasty
, shown right, ends with “子二孫二寶用”, where the small 二 (“two”) is used as iteration marks in the phrase “子子孫孫寶用”.
, namely kanji
, hiragana
, and katakana
, but only the (horizontal) kanji iteration mark (々) is commonly used today.
In Japanese
, iteration marks ( odoriji “dancing mark”, kasaneji, kurikaeshikigō, or hanpukukigō, “repetition symbols”) are used to represent a duplicated character representing the same morpheme
. For example, hito-bito, "people", is usually written 人々, using the kanji for 人 with a iteration mark, 々, rather than 人人, using the same kanji twice, though this latter is allowed, and in this simple case might be used because it is easier to write. By contrast, while 日々 hi-bi "daily, day after day" is written with the iteration mark, as the morpheme is duplicated, 日日 hi-nichi "number of days, date" is written with the character duplicated, because it represents different morphemes (hi versus nichi). Further, while hibi can in principle be written (confusingly) as 日日, hinichi cannot be written as ×日々, since that would imply repetition of the sound as well as the character. In potentially confusing examples such as this, readings can be disambiguated by writing words out in hiragana, so hinichi is often found as 日にち or even ひにち rather than 日日.
Note that sound changes can occur in duplication, which is not reflected in writing, such as 人 hito + 人 hito = 人々 hito-bito (rendaku
) or 刻 koku + 刻 koku = 刻々 kok-koku (gemination
), though this is also pronounced koku-koku.
no (ノ) and ma (マ). This symbol originates from a simplified form of the character 仝, a variant of 同 ("same") written in the Grass Script
style.
Although Japanese kanji iteration marks are borrowed from Chinese, the grammatical function of duplication differs, as do the conventions on the use of these characters.
While Japanese does not have a grammatical plural
form per se, some kanji can be reduplicated
to indicate plurality (as a collective noun, not many individuals). This differs from Chinese, which normally repeats characters only for the purposes of adding emphasis, although there are some exceptions (e.g., 人 rén person, 人人 rénrén everybody).
However, for some words duplication may alter the meaning:
Using 々 instead of repeating kanji is usually the preferred form. The repetition mark is not used in every case where two identical characters appear side by side, but only where the repetition itself is etymologically significant—when the repetition is part of a single morpheme
(discrete word). Where a character ends up appearing twice as part of a compound, it is usually written out in full:
Similarly, in certain Chinese borrowings, it is generally preferred to write out both characters, as in 九九 (ku-ku Chinese multiplication table
) or 担担麺 (tan-tan-men dan dan noodles
), though in practice 々 is often used.
In vertical writing, the character 〻 (U+303B), a cursive derivative of 二 ("two", as in Chinese, above), can be employed instead, although this is increasingly rare.
uses different iteration marks; one for hiragana, ゝ, and one for katakana, ヽ. The hiragana iteration mark is seen in some personal names like さゝき Sasaki or おゝの Ōno, and it forms part of the formal name of the car company .
Unlike the kanji iteration marks, which do not reflect sound changes, kana iteration marks closely reflect sound, and the kana iteration marks can be combined with the dakuten
voicing mark to indicate that the repeated syllable should be voiced, for example みすゞ Misuzu. If the first syllable is already voiced, for example じじ jiji, the voiced repetition mark still needs to be used: じゞ rather than じゝ, which would be read as jishi.
While widespread in old Japanese texts, the kana iteration marks are generally not used in modern Japanese outside proper names, though they may appear in informal handwritten texts.
In addition to the single-character iteration marks, there are also two-character-sized repeat marks, which are used to repeat two or more characters. They are used in vertical writing
only, and they are effectively obsolete in modern Japanese. The vertical kana repeat marks 〱 (unvoiced) and 〲 (voiced) resemble the hiragana character ku (く), giving them their name, . They stretch to fill the space typically occupied by two characters, but may indicate a repetition of more than two characters—they indicate that the preceding word or phrase be repeated. When these need to be used on the Internet to faithfully represent old texts, the characters 〳〵 are often used instead, which, when written vertically, together resemble 〱/〲/く—there is no horizontal equivalent. For example, the duplicated phrase 何とした何とした may be repeated as 何とした〳〵—note that here it repeats four characters.
If a dakuten (voiced mark) is added, it applies to the first sound of the repeated word; this is written horizontally as 〴〵 . For example, tokorodokoro could be written horizontally as ところ〴〵; the voiced iteration mark only applies to the first sound と.
Alternatively, multiple single-character iteration marks can be used, as in ところゞゝゝ tokorodokoro or 馬鹿々々しい bakabakashii. This practice is also uncommon in modern writing, though it is occasionally seen in horizontal writing as a substitute for the vertical repeat mark.
Unlike the single-kana iteration mark, if the first kana is voiced, the unvoiced version 〱 alone will repeat the voiced sound.
Further, if okurigana
is present, then no iteration mark should be used, as in 休み休み. This is prescribed by the Japanese Ministry of Education in its 1981 Cabinet notification prescribes, rule #6—see okurigana article for elaboration.
, the signs:O50:Z4 — sp sn “two times” repeat the previous sign.
, mai yamok (ๆ) represents a doubled word. Like Chinese, a repeated word is used for emphasis.
lists, the ditto mark
(〃) represents a word repeated from the equivalent position in the line above it.
Chinese
In ChineseChinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, 二 (usually appearing as 〻) or 々 is used in casual writing to represent a doubled character, but it is never used in formal writing or printed matter. In a tabulated table or list, vertical repetition can be represented by a ditto mark
Ditto mark
The ditto mark is a typographic symbol indicating that the word or figure above it are to be repeated. For example:It has Unicode code-point U+3003 , though in practice closing double quotation marks or straight double quotation marks are often used instead...
(〃).
History
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The bronzeware script on the bronze pot of the Zhou Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...
, shown right, ends with “子二孫二寶用”, where the small 二 (“two”) is used as iteration marks in the phrase “子子孫孫寶用”.
Japanese
Japanese has various iteration marks for its three writing systemsJapanese writing system
The modern Japanese writing system uses three main scripts:*Kanji, adopted Chinese characters*Kana, a pair of syllabaries , consisting of:...
, namely kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
, hiragana
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
, and katakana
Katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
, but only the (horizontal) kanji iteration mark (々) is commonly used today.
In Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, iteration marks ( odoriji “dancing mark”, kasaneji, kurikaeshikigō, or hanpukukigō, “repetition symbols”) are used to represent a duplicated character representing the same morpheme
Morpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
. For example, hito-bito, "people", is usually written 人々, using the kanji for 人 with a iteration mark, 々, rather than 人人, using the same kanji twice, though this latter is allowed, and in this simple case might be used because it is easier to write. By contrast, while 日々 hi-bi "daily, day after day" is written with the iteration mark, as the morpheme is duplicated, 日日 hi-nichi "number of days, date" is written with the character duplicated, because it represents different morphemes (hi versus nichi). Further, while hibi can in principle be written (confusingly) as 日日, hinichi cannot be written as ×日々, since that would imply repetition of the sound as well as the character. In potentially confusing examples such as this, readings can be disambiguated by writing words out in hiragana, so hinichi is often found as 日にち or even ひにち rather than 日日.
Note that sound changes can occur in duplication, which is not reflected in writing, such as 人 hito + 人 hito = 人々 hito-bito (rendaku
Rendaku
is a phenomenon in Japanese morphophonology that governs the voicing of the initial consonant of the non-initial portion of a compound or prefixed word...
) or 刻 koku + 刻 koku = 刻々 kok-koku (gemination
Gemination
In phonetics, gemination happens when a spoken consonant is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than a short consonant. Gemination is distinct from stress and may appear independently of it....
), though this is also pronounced koku-koku.
Kanji
The kanji repetition symbol (々) formal name is dōnojiten (同の字点) but is sometimes called noma (のま) because it looks like katakanaKatakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
no (ノ) and ma (マ). This symbol originates from a simplified form of the character 仝, a variant of 同 ("same") written in the Grass Script
Cursive script (East Asia)
Cursive script , sometimes translated as Grass script is a style of Chinese calligraphy. Cursive script is faster to write than other styles, but difficult to read for those unfamiliar with it. It functions primarily as a kind of shorthand script or calligraphic style...
style.
Although Japanese kanji iteration marks are borrowed from Chinese, the grammatical function of duplication differs, as do the conventions on the use of these characters.
While Japanese does not have a grammatical plural
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
form per se, some kanji can be reduplicated
Reduplication
Reduplication in linguistics is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word is repeated exactly or with a slight change....
to indicate plurality (as a collective noun, not many individuals). This differs from Chinese, which normally repeats characters only for the purposes of adding emphasis, although there are some exceptions (e.g., 人 rén person, 人人 rénrén everybody).
- 人 hito—person; 人々 hitobito—people (not "persons")
- 山 yama—mountain; 山々 yamayama—many mountains
However, for some words duplication may alter the meaning:
- 個 ko—piece, object; 個々 koko—piece by piece, individually (also in Chinese)
- 時 toki—time; 時々 tokidoki—sometimes (meaning often in Chinese)
- 翌日 yokujitsu—next day; 翌々日 yokuyokujitsu—"next next day" (two days later)
Using 々 instead of repeating kanji is usually the preferred form. The repetition mark is not used in every case where two identical characters appear side by side, but only where the repetition itself is etymologically significant—when the repetition is part of a single morpheme
Morpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
(discrete word). Where a character ends up appearing twice as part of a compound, it is usually written out in full:
- 民主主義 minshu-shugi—"democracy", from 民主 + 主義 ("democratic" + "rule"); the abbreviated 民主々義 is only occasionally seen
Similarly, in certain Chinese borrowings, it is generally preferred to write out both characters, as in 九九 (ku-ku Chinese multiplication table
Chinese multiplication table
The Chinese multiplication table is the first requisite for using the Rod calculus for carrying out multiplication, division, the extraction of square roots, and the solving of equations based on place value decimal notation...
) or 担担麺 (tan-tan-men dan dan noodles
Dan dan noodles
Dandan noodles or Dan Dan Mian is a classic dish originating from Chinese Sichuan cuisine...
), though in practice 々 is often used.
In vertical writing, the character 〻 (U+303B), a cursive derivative of 二 ("two", as in Chinese, above), can be employed instead, although this is increasingly rare.
Kana
KanaKana
Kana are the syllabic Japanese scripts, as opposed to the logographic Chinese characters known in Japan as kanji and the Roman alphabet known as rōmaji...
uses different iteration marks; one for hiragana, ゝ, and one for katakana, ヽ. The hiragana iteration mark is seen in some personal names like さゝき Sasaki or おゝの Ōno, and it forms part of the formal name of the car company .
Unlike the kanji iteration marks, which do not reflect sound changes, kana iteration marks closely reflect sound, and the kana iteration marks can be combined with the dakuten
Dakuten
, colloquially ten-ten , is a diacritic sign most often used in the Japanese kana syllabaries to indicate that the consonant of a syllable should be pronounced voiced. Handakuten , colloquially maru , is a diacritic used with the kana for syllables starting with h to indicate that they should...
voicing mark to indicate that the repeated syllable should be voiced, for example みすゞ Misuzu. If the first syllable is already voiced, for example じじ jiji, the voiced repetition mark still needs to be used: じゞ rather than じゝ, which would be read as jishi.
While widespread in old Japanese texts, the kana iteration marks are generally not used in modern Japanese outside proper names, though they may appear in informal handwritten texts.
Repeating multiple characters
Horizontal and vertical writing in East Asian scripts
Many East Asian scripts can be written horizontally or vertically. The Chinese, Japanese and Korean scripts can be oriented in either direction, as they consist mainly of disconnected syllabic units, each occupying a square block of space...
only, and they are effectively obsolete in modern Japanese. The vertical kana repeat marks 〱 (unvoiced) and 〲 (voiced) resemble the hiragana character ku (く), giving them their name, . They stretch to fill the space typically occupied by two characters, but may indicate a repetition of more than two characters—they indicate that the preceding word or phrase be repeated. When these need to be used on the Internet to faithfully represent old texts, the characters 〳〵 are often used instead, which, when written vertically, together resemble 〱/〲/く—there is no horizontal equivalent. For example, the duplicated phrase 何とした何とした may be repeated as 何とした〳〵—note that here it repeats four characters.
If a dakuten (voiced mark) is added, it applies to the first sound of the repeated word; this is written horizontally as 〴〵 . For example, tokorodokoro could be written horizontally as ところ〴〵; the voiced iteration mark only applies to the first sound と.
Alternatively, multiple single-character iteration marks can be used, as in ところゞゝゝ tokorodokoro or 馬鹿々々しい bakabakashii. This practice is also uncommon in modern writing, though it is occasionally seen in horizontal writing as a substitute for the vertical repeat mark.
Unlike the single-kana iteration mark, if the first kana is voiced, the unvoiced version 〱 alone will repeat the voiced sound.
Further, if okurigana
Okurigana
are kana suffixes following kanji stems in Japanese written words. They serve two purposes: to inflect adjectives and verbs, and to disambiguate kanji with multiple readings...
is present, then no iteration mark should be used, as in 休み休み. This is prescribed by the Japanese Ministry of Education in its 1981 Cabinet notification prescribes, rule #6—see okurigana article for elaboration.
Egyptian hieroglyphs
In Egyptian hieroglyphsEgyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
, the signs:
Thai
In ThaiThai language
Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
, mai yamok (ๆ) represents a doubled word. Like Chinese, a repeated word is used for emphasis.
English
In EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
lists, the ditto mark
Ditto mark
The ditto mark is a typographic symbol indicating that the word or figure above it are to be repeated. For example:It has Unicode code-point U+3003 , though in practice closing double quotation marks or straight double quotation marks are often used instead...
(〃) represents a word repeated from the equivalent position in the line above it.