Editing Iteration mark (section)

==Japanese==
Japanese has various iteration marks for its three [[Japanese writing system|writing systems]], namely [[kanji]], [[hiragana]], and [[katakana]], but only the kanji iteration mark ({{lang|ja|々}}) is commonly used today.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

In [[Japanese language|Japanese]], iteration marks called {{nihongo3|"dancing mark"|踊り字|odoriji}}, {{nihongo||重ね字|kasaneji}}, {{nihongo||繰り返し記号|kurikaeshikigō}}, or {{nihongo3|"repetition symbols"|反復記号|hanpukukigō}} are used to represent a duplicated character representing the same [[morpheme]]. For example, {{Transliteration|ja|hitobito}}, "people", is usually written {{lang|ja|人々}}, using the kanji for {{lang|ja|人}} with an iteration mark, {{lang|ja|々}}, rather than {{lang|ja|人人}}, using the same kanji twice. The use of two kanji in place of an iteration mark is allowed, and in simple cases may be used due to being easier to write.

In contrast, while {{nihongo3|"daily, day after day"|日々|hibi}} is written with the iteration mark, as the morpheme is duplicated, {{nihongo3|"number of days, date"|日日|hinichi}} is written with the character duplicated, because it represents different morphemes ({{Transliteration|ja|hi}} and {{Transliteration|ja|nichi}}). Further, while {{Transliteration|ja|hibi}} can in principle be written as {{lang|ja|日日}}, {{Transliteration|ja|hinichi}} cannot be written as {{lang|ja|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 {{Transliteration|ja|hinichi}} is often found as {{lang|ja|日にち}} or {{lang|ja|ひにち}} rather than {{lang|ja|日日}}.

Sound changes can occur in duplication, which is not reflected in writing; examples include {{nihongo||人|hito}} and {{nihongo||人|hito}} being pronounced {{nihongo||人々|hitobito}} ({{Transliteration|ja|[[rendaku]]}}) or {{nihongo||刻|koku}} and {{nihongo||刻|koku}} being pronounced {{nihongo||刻々|kokkoku}} ([[gemination]]), though this is also pronounced {{Transliteration|ja|kokukoku}}.

===Kanji===
[[File:Vertical ideographic iteration mark.svg|thumb|upright=0.3|{{lang|ja|〻}}, an iteration mark (derived from {{lang|ja|𠄠}}) used only in vertical writing.]]

The formal name of the kanji repetition symbol ({{lang|ja|々}}) is {{nihongo||同の字点|dōnojiten}}, literally "same character mark", but it is sometimes called {{nihongo||のま|noma}} because it looks like the katakana {{nihongo||ノ|no}} and {{nihongo||マ|ma}}. This symbol originates from a simplified form of the character {{lang|ja|[[wikt:仝|仝]]}}, a variant of {{nihongo3|"same"|[[wikt:同|同]]}} written in the [[Cursive script (East Asia)|grass script]] style.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kanjibunka.com/kanji-faq/old-faq/q0009/ |script-title=ja:漢字文化資料館 漢字Q&A〈旧版〉 Q0009 「々」はなんと読むのですか？ |language=ja}}</ref>

Although Japanese kanji iteration marks are borrowed from [[#Chinese|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 [[reduplication|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., {{lang|zh|人}}, {{Transliteration|zh|rén}}, "person"; {{lang|zh|人人}}, {{Transliteration|zh|rénrén}}, "everybody").
* {{nihongo3|person|人|hito}}; {{nihongo3|people (not "persons")|人々|hitobito}}
* {{nihongo3|mountain|山|yama}}; {{nihongo3|many mountains|山々|yamayama}}

However, for some words duplication may alter the meaning:
* {{nihongo3|piece, object|個|ko}}; {{nihongo3|piece by piece; individually|個々|koko}}
* {{nihongo3|time|時|toki}}; {{nihongo3|sometimes|時々|tokidoki}}
* {{nihongo3|next day|翌日|yokujitsu}}; {{nihongo3|lit. "next next day" (two days later)|翌々日|yokuyokujitsu}}

Using {{lang|ja|々}} instead of repeating kanji is usually the preferred form, with two restrictions:
* the reading must be the same, possibly with sound change (as above), and
* the repetition must be within a single word.

When the reading is different, the second kanji is often simply written out to avoid confusion. Examples of such include:
* {{nihongo||日日 日にち|hinichi}}
* {{nihongo||湯湯婆 湯たんぽ|yutanpo}}
* {{nihongo||出出し 出だし|dedashi}}

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 word. Where a character ends up appearing twice as part of a compound, it is usually written out in full:

* {{nihongo3|"democracy"|民主主義|minshu-shugi}}, from {{lang|ja|民主}} + {{lang|ja|主義}} ("democracy" + "principle"); the abbreviated {{lang|ja|民主々義}} is only occasionally seen. One notable exception is in signs for {{Nihongo|neighborhood associations|町内会|chōnaikai}} – the name of neighborhoods often end in {{Nihongo|"... neighborhood"|〜町|-chō}}, which is then suffixed with {{lang|ja|〜町内会}} yielding {{Nihongo|"... neighborhood neighborhood association"|〜町町内会|-chō-chōnaikai}}, which is then informally abbreviated to {{lang|ja|〜町々内会}}, despite the word break.

Similarly, in certain Chinese borrowings, it is generally preferred to write out both characters, as in {{lang|ja|九九}} ({{Transliteration|ja|ku-ku}} [[Chinese multiplication table]]) or {{lang|ja|担担麺}} ({{Transliteration|ja|tan-tan-men}} [[dan dan noodles]]), though in practice {{lang|ja|々}} is often used.

In [[tategaki|vertical writing]], the character {{lang|ja|〻}} ([[Unicode]] U+303B), a cursive derivative of {{lang|ja|𠄠}} ("two", as in [[#Chinese|Chinese]], above), can be employed instead, although this is increasingly rare.

===Kana===
[[Kana]] uses different iteration marks; one for hiragana, {{lang|ja|ゝ}}, and one for katakana, {{lang|ja|ヽ}}. The hiragana iteration mark is seen in some personal names like {{lang|ja|さゝき}} {{Transliteration|ja|Sasaki}} or {{lang|ja|おゝの}} {{Transliteration|ja|Ōno}}, and it forms part of the formal name of the car company {{nihongo3||いすゞ|[[Isuzu]]}}.

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 {{Transliteration|ja|dakuten}} voicing mark to indicate that the repeated syllable should be voiced, for example {{lang|ja|みすゞ}} {{Transliteration|ja|Misuzu}}. If the first syllable is already voiced, for example {{lang|ja|じじ}} {{Transliteration|ja|jiji}}, the voiced repetition mark still needs to be used: {{lang|ja|じゞ}} rather than {{lang|ja|じゝ}}, which would be read as {{Transliteration|ja|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===
[[Image:IterationMarks600.jpg|thumb|right|A variety of iteration marks in use in the classical text {{nihongo||徒然草|[[Tsurezuregusa]]}} {{lang|ja|「世に語り傳ふる事–げにげにしく所々うちおぼめき–また疑ひ嘲るべからず」}} (73rd passage)]]

In addition to the single-character iteration marks, there are also two-character-sized '''repeat marks''', which are used to repeat the preceding word or phrase. They are used in [[Horizontal and vertical writing in East Asian scripts|vertical writing]] only, and they are effectively obsolete in modern Japanese. The vertical kana repeat marks {{lang|ja|〱}} (unvoiced) and {{lang|ja|〲}} (voiced) resemble the hiragana character {{nihongo||く|ku}}, giving them their name, {{nihongo||くの字点|kunojiten}}. They stretch to fill the space typically occupied by two characters, but may indicate a repetition of more than two characters. For example, the duplicated phrase {{lang|ja|何とした何とした}} may be repeated as {{lang|ja|何とした〱}}. If a {{Transliteration|ja|dakuten}} (voiced mark) is added, it applies to the first sound of the repeated word; this is written as {{lang|ja|〲}}. For example, {{Transliteration|ja|tokorodokoro}} could be written horizontally as {{lang|ja|ところ〲}}; the voiced iteration mark only applies to the first sound {{lang|ja|と}}.

In addition to the single-character representations {{unichar|3031|VERTICAL KANA REPEAT MARK}} and {{unichar|3032|VERTICAL KANA REPEAT WITH VOICED SOUND MARK}}, [[Unicode]] provides the half-character versions {{unichar|3033|VERTICAL KANA REPEAT MARK UPPER HALF}}, {{unichar|3034|VERTICAL KANA REPEAT WITH VOICED SOUND MARK UPPER HALF}} and {{unichar|3035|VERTICAL KANA REPEAT MARK LOWER HALF}}, which can be stacked to render both voiced and unvoiced repeat marks:

{| lang="ja" style="padding-left: 3em"
| <div style='border:0;padding:0;font-size:15px;'><div style='height:1em;'>〳</div><div style='height:1em;'>〵</div></div> || <div style='border:0;padding:0;font-size:15px;'><div style='height:1em;'>〴</div><div style='height:1em;'>〵</div></div>
|}

As support for these is limited, the ordinary forward slash {{lang|ja|／}} and backward slash {{lang|ja|＼}} are occasionally used as substitutes.

Alternatively, multiple single-character iteration marks can be used, as in {{nihongo||ところゞゝゝ|tokorodokoro}} or {{nihongo||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.{{dubious|date=July 2024}}

Unlike the single-kana iteration mark, if the first kana is voiced, the unvoiced version {{lang|ja|〱}} alone will repeat the voiced sound.

Further, if {{Transliteration|ja|[[okurigana]]}} are present, then no iteration mark should be used, as in {{lang|ja|休み休み}}. This is prescribed by the Japanese Ministry of Education in its 1981 Cabinet notification prescribes, rule #6.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}