Japanese Hobby

Moe Anthropomorphism

<div>moe gijinka 萌え擬人化, literally "moe anthropomorphization," which refers to turning something, like, anything at all, into a girl (or guy.) 
 
 
 
<a name="more"></a><h2 id="definition">
Definition</h2>
You might have heard of anthropomorphism or just "anthro" as a term related to furries before. In this case it has (almost) nothing to do with furries. 
 
Anthro means "human," morph means "to change into," so anthropomorphism means "to change into a human." Therefore, moe anthropomorphism would mean "to change into a moe human." 
 
In other words, the practice of drawing things, any things, as humans who are moe. This includes turning them into cute girls, or boys as well, or maybe not even "cute," but something else entirely, like "cool," etc. 
 
Things that can be moe anthropomorphize include: animals, mystical creatures, objects, vehicles, websites, yes, websites, organizations, and basically every single last thing in the whole universe including the universe as a concept itself. (see <a></a> 
 
So this practice includes turning animals into cute girls, which might be "furry," <a></a> 
<h2 id="overlapping-terms">
Overlapping Terms</h2>
A number of terms overlap with moe gijinka 萌え擬人化. 
 
First, moe anthropomorphization of animals can sometimes be considered "furry," <a></a> 
 
 
Sometimes, however, the characters end up with just ears and tail, which, by some, wouldn't be called furry. For example:, cat anthropomorphized into a girl can have just "cat ears," <a></a><a></a> 
 
 
Such characters are also sometimes labelled jingai musume 人外娘, "non-human girl," which labels any girl character that's non-human, including monsters and chimera created from crossing humans with animals. 
 
A specific type of jingai musume are "monster girls," or <a></a> 
 
Lastly, Super Mario characters that have been turned into princesses by donning the Super Crown, like <a></a><a></a>Piichi-hime-ka ピーチ姫化. 
<h2 id="examples">
Examples</h2>
Some victims of moe anthropomorphism and the anime which targeted them include: 
<ul>
<li>Kemono Friends けものフレンズ 
An entire zoo of animals.</li>
<li> Kobayashi-san Chi no Meido Doragon 小林さんちのメイドラゴン 
Mythological dragons.</li>
<li>Kantai Korekushon (Kancolle) 艦隊これくしょん -艦これ- 
Battleships.</li>
<li>Robot Girls Z ロボットガールズＺ 
Giant robots.</li>
<li>Kaiju Girls 怪獣娘 
Giant monsters.</li>
<li>Upotte!! うぽって!! 
Guns.</li>
<li>Touken Ranbu 刀剣乱舞 
Swords.</li>
<li>Houseki no Kuni 宝石の国 
Gems, minerals, Marie!</li>
<li>Hataraku Saibou はたらく細胞 
Red blood cells, platelets, macrophages, pathogens, etc. 
Even cancer. Yes. Cancer.</li>
<li> Miracle Train: Ooedo-sen e Youkoso~ ミラクル☆トレイン〜大江戸線へようこそ〜 
Train stations (no, not trains, train stations, The buildings. Yes, really)</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="chan-tan-mascots">
-Chan & -Tan Mascots</h2>
A trend surrounded by moe anthropomorphism is the creation of moe mascots to represent brands. This is often done without the acknowledgement of said brand. People on the internet just take a logo of the brand or something and use as basis to design a whole cute girl from it. 
 
In other words: it's a meme. 
 
These made-up mascots usually receive the name BRAND-tan or BRAND-chan. The -tan suffix is used mostly by otakus toward cute characters and idols. It's like the -chan ～ちゃん <a></a> 
 
Some notable examples of moe anthropomorphized mascot characters include: 
<ul>
<li>Windows 10-tan</li>
<li>Mac OS X Leopard-tan</li>
<li>Linux-tan</li>
<li>Wikipedia-tan</li>
</ul>
 
Pretty much every browser, too. 
 
 
And, everybody's favorite: 
<ul>
<li>ISIS-chan.</li>
</ul>
 
Yep. That happened. 
 
<h3 id="earth-chan">
Earth-chan</h3>
Of course I couldn't leave this out: Earth-chan, the moe anthropomorphization of the whole planet Earth. 
 

In anime, there are many cases where things are turned into cute anime girls. And there is a term for that:萌え擬人化, literally "," which refers to turning something, like, anything at all, into agirl (or guy.)You might have heard of anthropomorphism or just "anthro" as a term related to furries before. In this case it has (almost) nothing to do with furries.Anthro means "human," morph means "to change into," so anthropomorphism means "to change into a human." Therefore,anthropomorphism would mean "to change into ahuman."In other words, the practice of drawing things, any things, as humans who are. This includes turning them into cute girls, or boys as well, or maybe not even "cute," but something else entirely, like "cool," etc.Things that can beanthropomorphize include: animals, mystical creatures, objects, vehicles, websites, yes, websites, organizations, and basically every single last thing in the whole universe including the universe as a concept itself. (see <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/09/moe-anthropomorphism.html#examples">Examples</a> below.)So this practice includes turning animals into cute girls, whichbe "furry," <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/kemono-meaning.html">kemono ケモノ</a> , (might not, too,) and it also includes turning mystical creatures, objects, vehicles, websites, yes, websites, organizations, and literally every singe last thing in the whole universe into a cute girl.A number of terms overlap with萌え擬人化.First,anthropomorphization of animals can sometimes be considered "furry," <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/kemono-meaning.html">kemono ケモノ</a> Sometimes, however, the characters end up with just ears and tail, which, by some, wouldn't be called furry. For example:, cat anthropomorphized into a girl can have just "cat ears," <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/nekomimi-meaning.html">nekomimi 猫耳</a> , or, in the case of other animals, <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/kemonomimi-meaning.html">kemonomimi ケモノ耳</a> Such characters are also sometimes labelled人外娘, "non-human girl," which labels any girl character that's non-human, including monsters and chimera created from crossing humans with animals.A specific type ofare "monster girls," or <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/09/monster-girl.html">monster musume モンスター娘</a> , which refer specifically to the anthropormophizations of monsters of RPG and fantasy games.Lastly, Super Mario characters that have been turned into princesses by donning the Super Crown, like <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/09/bowsette-in-japanese.html">Bowsette</a> , are said to have undergone " <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/09/bowsette-in-japanese.html#peach-hime-ka">peachification</a> ,"ピーチ姫化.Some victims ofanthropomorphism and the anime which targeted them include:A trend surrounded byanthropomorphism is the creation ofmascots to represent brands. This is often done without the acknowledgement of said brand. People on the internet just take a logo of the brand or something and use as basis to design a whole cute girl from it.In other words: it's a meme.These made-up mascots usually receive the name BRANDor BRAND-. Thesuffix is used mostly bys toward cute characters and idols. It's like the～ちゃん <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/kun-san-chan-sama-meaning.html">honorific</a> , but a bit weirder.Some notable examples ofanthropomorphized mascot characters include:Pretty much every browser, too.And, everybody's favorite:Yep. That happened.Of course I couldn't leave this out: Earth-chan, theanthropomorphization of the wholeEarth.</div>

Moe Anthropomorphism

moe gijinka 萌え擬人化, literally "moe anthropomorphization," which refers to turning something, like, anything at all, into a girl ...

Bowsette's Japanese Name

Bowsette's Japanese Name

Kuppa-hime クッパ姫, literally "Princess Koopa," and I'm writing this post, of course, because I think it's funny how the Eng...

Bowsette's Japanese Name

<div>Kuppa-hime クッパ姫, literally "Princess Koopa," and I'm writing this post, of course, because I think it's funny how the English name Bowsette and the Japanese name Kuppa-hime have almost nothing to do with each other. 
 
(and of <a></a> 
 
If you don't know who Bowsette is, she's the gender-bent / rule 63 / <a></a>this week. (it all began in 2018-09-19.) 
 
 
<a></a>kidnaps princesses? Yeah, that dude. He's become the very thing he had sought to destroy. 
 
 
 
(<a></a><a></a> 
 
Unforeseeable for the artist, it turned viral, and within the same week there's already so much fan-art of her spammed through all corners of the internet there's already people sick and tired of seeing it wishing for the fad to end already. 
 
 
And the reason for this popularity, as seen above, is . 
 
And a villain attitude, maybe, but mostly oppai. 
 
 
(is that last one <a></a> 
 
I mean, seriously, it's been only 7 days and there's already over 4000 pieces of fan-art on Pixiv alone. That's like, 1 new fan-art every 2 minutes. 
 
Her own subreddit, <a></a> 
 
 
(sometimes dubbed Ni-pi Karaa Kuppa-Hime 2Pカラークッパ姫, "Player Two Color Bowsette," because of how in fighting games, such as Super Smash Bros., if two players pick the same character, the second one is different.) 
 
Many thanks, internet. 
 
Nobody could've planned for this. So the comic author didn't pick a name for the female Bowser he's created. 
 
And the comic was in English. 
 
So the English-speaking fandom scrambled for a name. Deciding on Bowsette or Bowserette. They chose these names probably because of the game the comic was parodying: New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, for the Nintendo Switch. 
 
In the game, "Toadette," a pink mushroom-esque character (introduced in a previous game, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! ), can grab a "Super Crown" power-up to become "Peachette," which is exactly like the Princess Peach to the undiscerning eye, as shown in the trailer: 
 


 
(but, like, Toadette is already a female character, right? That's why she becomes a princess. Since Bowser is male, shouldn't he become a prince instead by grabbing that crown?) 
 
(sorry, that was a strange thing to ask.) 
 


 
Anyway, the Japanese-speaking fandom also noticed this new Bowsette character, except they settled on the name Kuppa-hime クッパ姫 instead. 
 
 
 
Bowsette isn't canon. It's a design a fan came up with in a piece of fan-art. And now there's fan-art of that fan-art. It's like the same thing that happened with Earth-chan except this time it's probably making a copyright lawyer lose sleep somewhere. 
 
But what's important is: there's no official name, English or Japanese. 
 
Except for the official names in English and Japanese of other, already-existing, canon characters. Like: 
<ul>
<li>Piichi hime ピーチ姫 
Princess Peach.</li>
<li>Kinopio キノピオ 
Toad. 
(the male one that says the "princess is in another castle.")</li>
<li>Kinopiko キノピコ 
Toadette. 
(this is literally the same name as Kinopio but with a <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/03/ko-meaning.html">ko 子</a> ending instead because that's commonly found in girl's names.)</li>
<li>Kinopiichi キノピーチ 
Peachette. 
(wait, what the... why... like, why they copied the piichi part. You're supposed to copy the hime part, like: kinohime, "Princess Toad," or something. I mean, Toadette already looks like a Toad ripoff, now she's also plagiarizing Peach. What's up with that?)</li>
</ul>
 
As you can see, the Toadette and Peachette that served as reference point for the English names Bowsette and Browserette don't exist in Japanese. So those names wouldn't make sense for the Japanese community. 
 
So, instead, the Japanese name comes from Princess Peach's "princess," hime 姫, title and: 
<ul>
<li>Dai-Maou Kuppa 大魔王クッパ 
Bowser. (not to be mistaken with a browser, which's something else entirely.) 
"Great Demon King Koopa." (literally.) 
("demon king" is usually the title of the bad guy in games, like in Dragon Quest, and virtually every <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/07/sekai-isekai-meaning-japanese.html">isekai</a> anime that parodies Dragon Quest.)</li>
</ul>
 
Wow, Bowser's name was actually Koopa all along. Which makes the fact the cannon shoe fodder turtles, the "koopa troopas," are sometimes called "koopas" rather awkward. 
 
And this is why Bowsette is called "Princess Bowser," a.k.a "Princess Koopa," Kuppa-hime クッパ姫 in Japanese: because "Bowser" in Japanese is Kuppa クッパ and the crown makes you like the "Princess Peach," Piichi-hime ピッチ姫. 
<h2>
Koopa Queen</h2>
You may have noticed that Bowser is a king, so maybe Bowsette shouldn't be "Princess Bowser" but "Queen Bowser," or "Queen Koopa," Kuppa-joou クッパ女王. However, that character already exists, and it's canon. 
 
The Koopa Queen was featured in an old anime adaptation of Super Mario Bros., released as <a></a> 
 
 
 
<h2 id="princesses-names">
Other Princesses' Names</h2>
Other characters also got <a></a><a></a> 
 
I'll be writing the names of some of the most popular ones below. They're pretty much the Japanese names of the Super Mario characters of the character plus the -hime suffix. 
 
<h3 id="booette">
Booette / Princess King Boo</h3>
The Japanese name for Booette, a.k.a. Princess King Boo, is Kingu-Teresa-hime キングテレサ姫, literally "Princess King Teresa," which is rather weird, but I'll explain. 
 
(this one is the most popular of the other ones, so have some pictures.) 
 
 
In Japanese, King Boo is called kingu-teresa キングテレサ, "King Teresa," which might make you think his (wait, her?) name is Teresa, like some sort of Spanish name, but that's not it. 
 
What happens is that teresa テレサ is the Japanese name for the "boo" ghost characters. A common trait of the boo ghosts is that they're shy and cover their faces when you look at them. "Feeling shy/embarrassed" in Japanese is tereru 照れる, while tere-sa 照れさ is literally "shyness." 
<h3 id="piranhette">
Piranhette</h3>
The Japanese name for the Piranhette, a.k.a. Princess Piranha Plant, is Pakkun-Furawā-Hime パックンフラワー姫. 
 
 
The name of the character, pakkun-furawā パックン・フラワー, is the <a></a>strongly, pakkun—you know like the plant does as it tries to bite you—followed by the <a></a>furawā フラワー. 
 
So more-or-less "biting flower" or something like that. 
<h3 id="chain-chompette">
Chain Chompette</h3>
The Japanese name for the Chain Chompette, a.k.a. Princess Chain Chomp, is Wanwan-hime ワンワン姫. 
 
 
Now this is kinda rather awkward, because Chain Chomp's Japanese name turns out to be the <a></a><a></a> 
 
That's right, Chain Chomp was originally called "woof-woof," so the princess version is now then "Princess Woof-Woof." 
 
Now, the reason for this official name is probably because Chain Chomp is like a dog that is chained somewhere and starts barking, wanwan, when you come closer. 
 
(note that Chompette is also the official name of a carnivorous plant in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.) 
<h3 id="princess-bullet-bill">
Princess Bullet Bill</h3>
(what?) 
 
Uh... Bullet Bill's Japanese name is the katakanization of "killer," Kirā キラー, you know, like the one from Death Note. 
 
So Princess Bullet Bill... erm, Bullet Billette? Bulletette? Whatever, would be Kirā-hime キラー姫, "Princess Killer," or you could even spell it Killer-hime. 
<h3 id="blooperette">
Blooperette</h3>
Blooper's Japanese name is Gessō ゲッソー, so Blooperette would be Gessō-hime ゲッソー姫. 
 
If you don't recall who Blooper is, it's the squid enemy. If you don't recall who the squid enemy is, well, then go play Mario. 
 
This one's name seems to come from the word geso 下足, <a></a> 
<h3 id="yoshiette">
Yoshiette</h3>
Yoshi's Japanese name is... Yoshī ヨッシー. 
 
Hallelujah! 
 
So Yoshiette's Japanese name is literally "Princess Yoshi," Yoshī-hime ヨッシー姫. 
 
And Yoshi is an abbreviation for: 
<ul>
<li>Thii Yoshizaurusu Munchakuppasu 
T. ヨシザウルス・ムンチャクッパス 
T. Yoshisaurus Muchakoopas.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="goombette">
Goombette</h3>
A Princess Goomba would be a Goombette, but that's already the official English name for a different character that's the female version of the Goomba, so watch out. 
 
Anyway, the Japanese name for the Goomba is Kuribō クリボー. That's right, Kuribō! It's literally the same name as the Kuribou クリボー from Yugioh, except I <a></a> 
 
(Yu-gi-oh, by the way, can be romanized Yū-Gi-Ō or Yuu-Gi-Ou 遊☆戯☆王, "King of Games.") 
 
So the Japanese name for the Goombette would be Kuribō-hime クリボー姫. 
<h3 id="thwompette">
Thwompette</h3>
The Japanese name for the Thwompette is Dossun-hime ドッスン姫, "Princess Thwomp." And Thwomp's Japanese name is then Dossun ドッスン, of course. 
 
(BUT WHAT IS A THWOMP?!?!) 
 
 
Oooohhh... the block thing that keeps falling and kills you. Of course. 
 
And Dossun ドッスン is called dossun because that's the sound it makes as it hits the ceiling, do-, and then starts falling, -ssun, to smash the floor. 
<h2 id="peach-hime-ka">
Princess-Peach-Fication</h2>
Since turning random characters into Princess Peach-like princesses by putting a super crown on them became a thing, there's now a Japanese word for this process: 
<ul>
<li>Piichi-hime-ka ピッチ姫化 
Princess-Peach-Fication</li>
</ul>
 
This is exactly like the word <a></a>suru する verb: 
<ul>
<li>Piichi-hime-ka shita Kuppa ピーチ姫化したクッパ 
Princess-Peach-Fied Bowser.</li>
<li>Nyotai-ka shita Kuppa 女体化したクッパ 
Woman-body-fied Bowser. 
Gender-bent Bowser (to female only, <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/nyotaika-meaning.html#nantaika-meaning">nantaika 男体化</a> is to male.)</li>
</ul>

For reference, the name for Bowsette in Japanese isクッパ姫, literally "Princess Koopa," and I'm writing this post, of course, because I think it's funny how the English name Bowsette and the Japanese namehave almost nothing to do with each other.(and of <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/09/bowsette-in-japanese.html#princesses-names">Other Princesses</a> too.)If you don't know who Bowsette is, she's the gender-bent / rule 63 / <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/nyotaika-meaning.html">nyotaika 女体化</a> version of Bowser that turned into a meme overnight. (it all began in 2018-09-19.) <a name="more"></a> So, someone made a comic featuring Bowser from Mario Bros. turning into a princess. You know, the bad turtle dude whoprincesses? Yeah,dude. <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/ayyk92/art/Super-Crown-764645204">the original comic is also on DeviantArt</a> , as well as <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/ayyk92/art/I-m-bad-and-that-s-good-764989090">the sequel</a> .)Unforeseeable for the artist, it turned viral, and within the same week there's already so much fan-art of her spammed through all corners of the internet there's already people sick and tired of seeing it wishing for the fad to end already.And the reason for this popularity, as seen above, isAnd a villain attitude, maybe, but mostly(is that last one <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/08/zettai-ryouiki-meaning.html#zettai-kuuiki">Zettai Kuuiki</a> ?)I mean, seriously, it's been only 7 days and there's already overpieces of fan-art on Pixiv alone. That's like, 1 new fan-artHer own subreddit, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/bowsette/">/r/bowsette</a> , is already full of lewds, 99% NSFW, and people are already arguing whether the dark-skinned redhead Bowsette is better than the blonde one.(sometimes dubbed2Pカラークッパ姫, "Player Two Color Bowsette," because of how in fighting games, such as Super Smash Bros., if two players pick the same character, the second one is different.)Many thanks, internet.Nobody could've planned for. So the comic author didn't pick a name for the female Bowser he's created.And the comic was in English.So the English-speaking fandom scrambled for a name. Deciding onor. They chose these names probably because of the game the comic was parodying: New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, for the Nintendo Switch.In the game, "Toad," a pink mushroom-esque character (introduced in a previous game, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!), can grab a "Super Crown" power-up to become "Peach," which is exactly like the Princess Peach to the undiscerning eye, as shown in the trailer:(but, like, Toadette is already a female character, right? That's why she becomes a princess. Since Bowser is male, shouldn't he become a prince instead by grabbing that crown?)(sorry, that was a strange thing to ask.)Anyway, the Japanese-speaking fandom also noticed this new Bowsette character, except they settled on the nameクッパ姫 instead.Bowsette isn't canon. It's a design a fan came up with in a piece of fan-art. And now there's fan-art of that fan-art. It's like the same thing that happened with Earth-chan except this time it's probably making a copyright lawyer lose sleep somewhere.But what's important is: there's no official name, English or Japanese.Except for the official names in English and Japanese of other, already-existing, canon characters. Like:As you can see, the Toadette and Peachette that served as reference point for the English names Bowsette and Browserette don't exist in Japanese. So those names wouldn't make sense for the Japanese community.So, instead, the Japanese name comes from Princess Peach's "princess,"姫, title and:Wow, Bowser's name was actually Koopa all along. Which makes the fact theshoe fodder turtles, the "koopa troopas," are sometimes called "koopas" rather awkward.And this is why Bowsette is called "Princess Bowser," a.k.a "Princess Koopa,"クッパ姫 in Japanese: because "" in Japanese isクッパ and the crown makes you like the "Peach,"ピッチ姫.You may have noticed that Bowser is a king, so maybe Bowsette shouldn't be "Princess Bowser" but "Bowser," or "Queen Koopa,"クッパ女王. However, that characterexists, andThe Koopa Queen was featured in an old anime adaptation of Super Mario Bros., released as <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/03/ova-ona-meaning.html">OVA</a> in 1989.Other characters also got <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/09/bowsette-in-japanese.html#peach-hime-ka">"Princess-Peach-fied,"</a> even the ones that don't look at all human—so I suppose this is a kind of <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/11/moe-meaning.html#moe-anthropomorphism">moe anthropomorphism</a> , maybe? I don't know.I'll be writing the names of some of the most popular ones below. They're pretty much the Japanese names of the Super Mario characters of the character plus thesuffix.The Japanese name for Booette, a.k.a. Princess King Boo, isキングテレサ姫, literally "Princess King Teresa," which is rather weird, but I'll explain.(this one is the most popular of the other ones, so have some pictures.)In Japanese, King Boo is calledキングテレサ, "King Teresa," which might make you think his (wait, her?) name is Teresa, like some sort of Spanish name, but that's not it.What happens is thatテレサ is the Japanese name for the "boo" ghost characters. A common trait of the boo ghosts is that they're shy and cover their faces when you look at them. "Feeling shy/embarrassed" in Japanese is照れる, while照れさ is literally "shyness."The Japanese name for the Piranhette, a.k.a. Princess Piranha Plant, isパックンフラワー姫.The name of the character,パックン・フラワー, is the <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/09/mimetic-words.html">mimetic word</a> for closing your mouth—you know like the plant does as it tries to bite you—followed by the <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/katakanization-meaning.html">katakanized</a> English word "flower,"フラワー.So more-or-less "biting flower" or something like that.The Japanese name for the Chain Chompette, a.k.a. Princess Chain Chomp, isワンワン姫.Now this is kinda rather awkward, because Chain Chomp's Japanese name turns out to be the <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/09/onomatopoeia.html">onomatopoeia</a> for the barking sound dogs make: "woof-woof," or "bow-wow," <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/03/wan-meaning.html">wanwan ワンワン</a> That's right, Chain Chomp was originally called "woof-woof," so the princess version is now then "Princess Woof-Woof."Now, the reason for this official name is probably because Chain Chomp is like a dog that is chained somewhere and starts barking,, when you come closer.(note that Chompette is also the official name of a carnivorous plant in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.)(what?)Uh... Bullet Bill's Japanese name is the katakanization of "killer,"キラー, you know, like the one from Death Note.So Princess Bullet Bill... erm, Bullet Billette? Bulletette? Whatever, would beキラー姫, "Princess Killer," or you could even spell itBlooper's Japanese name isゲッソー, so Blooperette would beゲッソー姫.If you don't recall who Blooper is, it's the squid enemy. If you don't recall who the squid enemy is, well, then go play Mario.This one's name seems to come from the word下足, <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/kanji-meanings.html">the kanji means</a> "lower legs," but the word refers to "squid tentacles." The character is a squid, you see. It has tentacles.Yoshi's Japanese name is...ヨッシー.Hallelujah!So Yoshiette's Japanese name is literally "Princess Yoshi,"ヨッシー姫.And Yoshi is an abbreviation for:A Princess Goomba would be a Goombette, but that's already the official English name for a different character that's the female version of the Goomba, so watch out.Anyway, the Japanese name for the Goomba isクリボー. That's right,! It's literally the same name as theクリボー from Yugioh, except I <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/different-romaji-same-word.html">romanized it differently</a> (Yu-gi-oh, by the way, can be romanizedor遊☆戯☆王, "King of Games.")So the Japanese name for the Goombette would beクリボー姫.The Japanese name for the Thwompette isドッスン姫, "Princess Thwomp." And Thwomp's Japanese name is thenドッスン, of course.(BUT WHAT IS A THWOMP?!?!)Oooohhh... the block thing that keeps falling and kills you. Of course.Andドッスン is calledbecause that's the sound it makes as it hits the ceiling,, and then starts falling,, to smash the floor.Since turning random characters into Princess Peach-like princesses by putting a super crown on them became a thing, there's now a Japanese word for this process:This is exactly like the word <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/nyotaika-meaning.html">nyotaika 女体化</a> , "woman-body-fication," that's used to refer to gender-bending into a woman, e.g. Bowser turning into Bowsette. The grammar also works identically, with theする verb:</div>

Bowsette's Japanese Name

Kuppa-hime クッパ姫, literally "Princess Koopa," and I'm writing this post, of course, because I think it's funny how the Eng...

Nyotaika 女体化

<div>nyotaika 女体化 is the term used for scenarios in manga, anime, and fiction, where a male character turns into a woman. That is, it's a gender-bending term. 
<a name="more"></a> 
<h2 id="explanation">
Explanation</h2>
Literally, the word is composed of the <a></a>onna 女, "body," karada 体, and the suffix for "transforming," ~ka ～化. So woman-body-fication, or something like that. 
 
Note that the <a></a> reading, nyo 女, and not the usual on'yomi reading, jo 女, which you'd find in words like "girl," shoujo 少女, and "female," josei 女性. 
 
That's to say it's definitely not read as jotaika, given that the word nyotaika comes from the word nyotai 女体, meaning "woman's body." 
 
Finally, the suffix is also found in the verb bakeru 化ける, meaning "to transform into (something)," and it's related to monsters, bakemono 化け物, which are animals, plants or things that transform into people. 
<h2 id="nyotaika-anime">
Incidence in Anime</h2>
Usually, an anime which features gender-bending, or "gender-switching," seitenkan 性転換, which is also the word used for real-life "sex-change," features a man turning into a woman, or a boy turning into a girl, so a nyotaika scenario. 
 
This should go without saying, but crossdressing isn't the same thing as nyotaika, it's only nyotaika if the character physically changes sexes. It has nothing to do with his appearance. A <a></a>nyotaika either. And a guy who plays a girl online, a <a></a> 
 
The method by which the characters turns female does not matter. It can be magic, science, or... or... I don't know, how else would that happen? It's just... magic or science isn't it? Anyway, it's all nyotaika. 
 
For some reason, such gender-bender theme is a recurring trope in anime. There have been a number of works whose main point is literally the gender-bending factor. 
 
In particular, because normal girls turning into "magical girls," <a></a>girl, too, and not keep his sex as a "magical boy." 
 
 
Outside of Japanese anime, I don't think it's ever necessary to mention that genderbending is disturbingly popular. I mean, it even has its own rule on the internet: 
<blockquote>
For every male character there is a female version. No Exceptions. 
— Rule 63 of The Internet.</blockquote>
 
Although normally you would expect the above to apply only to fan-works and , not to canon, but anyway. 
 
<h2 id="nantaika-meaning">
Nantaika 男体化</h2>
The term nantaika 男体化 refers to gender-bending scenarios where a women turns into a man, girls into boys, female to male, you get it. It's the reverse situation of nyotaika 女体化. 
 
Since nyotaika is literally woman-body-fication, it can only be used for situation where a guy turns into a girl. That's why the counterpart word nantaika exists, for the elusive man-body-fication scenarios. 
 
It's worth noting that nantaika is a much rarer scenario in manga and anime by comparison. 
 
<h2 id="other-ka-words">
Other Ka 化</h2>
Besides the above, the following ka 化, "-fications," also exist: 
<ul>
<li>joseika 女性化 
Female-fication. (nyotaika synonym)</li>
<li>danseika 男性化 
Male-fication. (nantaika synonym)</li>
<li>rorika ロリ化 
Turning into a <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/loli-meaning.html">loli</a>. Loli-fication.</li>
<li>shotaka ショタ化 
Turning into a <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/shota-meaning.html">shota</a>. Shota-fication.</li>
<li>shuuka 獣化 
kemonoka ケモノ化 
Turning into a beast or <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/kemono-meaning.html">kemono</a>. Beast-fication.</li>
<li>futanarika ふたなり化 
Turning into a <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/futanari-meaning.html">futanari</a>. Futanari-fication.</li>
<li>otokonokoka 男の娘化 
Turning into a trap. <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/otokonoko-meaning.html">Otokonoko</a>-fication. 
(that girl character? She was actually a trap all along!)</li>
<li>onnanokoka 雄んなの子化 
Turning into a reverse-trap. <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/otokonoko-meaning.html#onnanoko-meaning">Onnanoko</a>-fication. 
(that guy character? He was actually a reverse-trap all along!) 
(probably never happened but theoretically possible)</li>
<li>sekka 石化 
Turning into stone. Stone-fication. Petrification. 
(Wait, this has nothing to do with gender-bending! It's just is some <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/ryona-meaning.html">ryona</a> stuff!)</li>
</ul>
 
Of course, this suffix ka 化 can also be used in stuff that has nothing to do with anime. For example, kyouka 強化, just means "strengthening," that is, turning "strong," tsuyoi 強い. Alright, that example totally has something to do with anime, but you get the idea.

In Japanese,女体化 is the term used for scenarios in manga, anime, and fiction, where a male character turns into a woman. That is, it's a gender-bending term.Literally, the word is composed of the <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/kanji-for-word.html">kanji for words</a> "woman,"女, "body,"体, and the suffix for "transforming,"～化. So woman-body-fication, or something like that.Note that the <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/kanji-readings.html">reading of the kanji</a> for "woman" here is a rather uncommonreading,女, and not the usualreading,女, which you'd find in words like "girl,"少女, and "female,"女性.That's to say it's definitely not read as, given that the wordcomes from the word女体, meaning "woman's body."Finally, the suffix is also found in the verb化ける, meaning "to transform into (something)," and it's related to monsters,化け物, which are animals, plants or things that transform into people.Usually, an anime which features gender-bending, or "gender-switching,"性転換, which is also the word used for real-life "sex-change," features a man turning into a woman, or a boy turning into a girl, so ascenario.This should go without saying, but crossdressing isn't the same thing as, it's onlyif the character physically changes sexes. It has nothing to do with his appearance. A <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/trap-in-japanese.html">trap</a> character isn'teither. And a guy who plays a girl online, a <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/nekama-meaning.html">nekama ネカマ</a> , may or may not count as a gender-bender depending on the situation and whom you ask.The method by which the characters turns female does not matter. It can be magic, science, or... or... I don't know, how else would that happen? It's just... magic or science isn't it? Anyway, it's allFor some reason, such gender-bender theme is a recurring trope in anime. There have been a number of works whose main point is literally the gender-bending factor.In particular, because normal girls turning into "magical girls," <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/05/mahou-majutsu-majo-meaning.html">mahou shoujo 魔法少女</a> , is an entire genre itself, some people have entertained the idea that if a boy underwent the same process he would end up becoming a magical, too, and not keep his sex as a "magical boy."Outside of Japanese anime, I don't think it's ever necessary to mention that genderbending is disturbingly popular. I mean, it even has its own rule on the internet:Although normally you would expect the above to apply only to fan-works and, not to canon, but anyway.The term男体化 refers to gender-bending scenarios where a women turns into a man, girls into boys, female to male, you get it. It's the reverse situation of女体化.Sinceis literally woman-body-fication, it can only be used for situation where a guy turns into a girl. That's why the counterpart wordexists, for the elusive man-body-fication scenarios.It's worth noting thatis a much rarer scenario in manga and anime by comparison.Besides the above, the following化, "-fications," also exist:Of course, this suffix化 can also be used in stuff that has nothing to do with anime. For example,強化, just means "strengthening," that is, turning "strong,"強い. Alright, that example totally has something to do with anime, but you get the idea.</div>

Nyotaika 女体化

nyotaika 女体化 is the term used for scenarios in manga, anime, and fiction, where a male character turns into a woman. That is, it's a ge...

Doki Doki ドキドキ

One of my favorite words in Japanese is the word dame 駄目. You see it used in all sorts of anime, all the time, in plenty of phrases, and, s...

Reduplication

<div>hitobito 人々, iroiro 色々, betsubetsu 別々, marumaru 丸々, dandan 段々, hibi 日々, tsugitsugi 次々, itaitashii 痛々しい and so on. 
 
When such thing happens, it's called reduplication, or choujou 重畳, the process of creating "reduplicative words," jougo 畳語, and it's not specific of the Japanese language. English has it too. 
 
 
In this article I'll explain how it works in Japanese, and common effects it has on the meaning of words. 
 
<a name="more"></a><h2 id="same-word-twice">
Same Word Twice</h2>
The reduplication in words works like this: you have a word, like tsugi つぎ, "next," and when you say it twice: tsugi-tsugi つぎつぎ, it means "in succession," something rather different instead. It doesn't mean "next next" as we'd expect. 
 
This happens because tsugi つぎ and tsugi-tsugi つぎつぎ are two different words that share the same <a></a>tsugi has the morpheme tsugi once, while the word tsugi-tsugi has the morpheme tsugi twice. 
 
Linguistically, the two parts of tsugi-tsugi, the first tsugi and the second tsugi, are called base and reduplicant. When you remove the reduplicant of a reduplicative word, you get its simplex form. 
<ul>
<li>tsugi-tsugi, "in succession," a reduplicative word 
minus the reduplicant morpheme -tsugi 
equals tsugi, "next," the simplex form.</li>
</ul>
 
A couple more examples of reduplication in Japanese: 
<ul>
<li>naka-naka なかなか (reduplicative word.) 
Considerably.</li>
<li>naka なか (simplex form) 
Inside. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>yama-yama やまやま (reduplicative word.) 
Mountains.</li>
<li>yama やま (simplex form) 
Mountain.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="repetition-vs-reduplication">
Repetition vs. Reduplication</h3>
Note that there's a technical difference between words that feature reduplication and words that just feature repetition of syllables. But honestly that doesn't matter very much as far as this article is concerned since the word we'll be talking about share the same properties anyway. 
 
See the <a></a> 
<h2 id="same-kanji-twice">
Same Kanji Twice</h2>
In Japanese, words are often <a></a><a></a> are duplicated too. Fortunately, in most cases one kanji represents one morpheme, so the all you gotta do is literally write it twice: 
<ul>
<li>tsugi 次</li>
<li>tsugi-tsugi 次次</li>
</ul>
 
Since reduplication is found in a ton of Japanese words, and reduplicating the morpheme means you must write the kanji you just wrote all over again, BY HAND, the Japanese people figured "yeah, nah, ain't nobody got time fo' dat," and decided to use a symbol instead when reduplication occurred in a word. 
 
This symbol: <a></a>kurikaeshi 繰り返し, "repetition," or noma ノマ, because of how it looks, is used instead of the kanji that represents the reduplicant in a word. For example: 
<ul>
<li>tsugi-tsugi 次々 
is the same as tsugi-tsugi 次次.</li>
<li>naka-naka 中々 
is the same as naka-naka 中中.</li>
</ul>
 
This can also happen in the middle of the word: 
<ul>
<li>issakujitsu 一昨日 
The day before yesterday. 
Two days ago.</li>
<li>issakusakujitsu 一昨々日 
The day before before yesterday. 
Three days ago.</li>
</ul>
 
Sometimes the base is composed of more than one kanji (and/or morpheme), so the reduplicant is longer too. Although it's not considered valid anymore since the post-war orthographic reforms, the number of kurikaeshi's for the reduplicant could then match the number of kanji in the base. 
<ul>
<li>hitori 一人 
One person.</li>
<li>hitorihitori 一人一人 
hitorihitori 一人々々 
For each person. To each person.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>baka 馬鹿 
Idiot. (person.)</li>
<li>bakabakashii 馬鹿馬鹿しい 
bakabakashii 馬鹿々々しい 
Foolish. (Thing to say/think.)</li>
</ul>
 
Note that although reduplication is common in Japanese words, triplication, the same thing thrice, is not. 
<h3 id="single-kanji-reduplication">
Single Kanji Reduplication</h3>
Sometimes a single kanji represents a single morpheme, sometimes more than a single morpheme, and, in some very weird cases, a single kanji represents the same morpheme twice. 
<ul>
<li>somosomo 抑 
To begin with, (nobody said this couldn't happen.)</li>
<li>iyoiyo 愈 
At last. Finally.</li>
</ul>
 
The examples above are usually not written with kanji, though, specially not one kanji. They're normally written with . So although it's possible for them to be written like that, that doesn't mean they will be written like that. 
<h3 id="single-kanji-not-simplex-form">
Single Kanji Not Simplex Form</h3>
If a reduplicated word is written by writing a same kanji twice, then it'd make sense to think that writing that kanji only once is how you'd write the simplex form. 
 
But that's not always the case. 
 
For example: 
<ul>
<li>sugasugashii 清々しい 
Refreshing.</li>
</ul>
 
Although sugasugashii is a word, suga is not. How can that be? Furthermore, the <a></a>suga! That is: there's no other word in Japanese where 清 is read as suga. What is the world is going on here?! 
 
Well, apparently, the suga すが of sugasugashii comes from the sugi of sugisaru 過ぎ去る, "to pass by," or "to pass and leave." 
 
By reduplicating this suga into suga-suga the meaning became emphasized. And the -shii ending makes it refer to what something feels like. So maybe sugasugashii means it feels "refreshing" because whatever problem was there has passed and gone away. 
 
Anyway, this suga isn't used in Japanese anymore, but sugasugashii stuck. That's why the word sugasugashii still exists but suga does not. 
 
Since the word sugasugashii exists, it feels bad for it not to have kanji. So someone slapped a "matching character" on it, an <a></a> 
 
So that's why the simplex form isn't written as suga 清. The 清 is only read as suga in the word sugasugashii 清々しい, not when it's written alone, so that's a "compound character reading," <a></a> 
<h3 id="repetition-of-kana">
Repetition of Kana</h3>
There are other <a></a>kanji, with just kana. But those aren't really common so I won't talk about them. Mentioning them is enough I guess. 
 
<h2 id="change-in-pronunciation">
Change in Pronunciation</h2>
Reduplication doesn't always reduplicate the simplex form exactly (full reduplication). Sometimes a change in pronunciation occurs (partial reduplication). 
 
For example, the English words tick-tock, ding-dong, and zig-zag feature ablaut reduplication, in which the vowel changes. 
 
In Japanese, the vowels do not change in words featuring partial reduplication. Instead, it's the consonants that change. This can happen in two ways: 
<ol>
<li>A consonant gets diacriticized.</li>
<li>A consonant gets geminated.</li>
</ol>
<h3 id="rendaku">
Rendaku 連濁</h3>
The first and most common case is called <a></a><a></a>handakuten ゜). 
 
For example: 
<ul>
<li>kami 神 
God.</li>
<li>kami-kami 神々 
(wrong.)</li>
<li>kamigami 神々 
Gods. 
(ka か became ga が)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>toki 時 
Time.</li>
<li>toki-toki 時々 
(wrong.)</li>
<li>tokidoki 時々 
Sometimes. 
(to と became do ど)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>tsukudzuku 熟 
Utterly. 
(tsu つ became dzu づ)</li>
</ul>
 
This rendaku effect is by no means a reduplication-only thing. It happens in words without reduplication too. For example, the word for "God of Death" is shinigami 死神, not shini-kami. 
 
Which morphemes get rendaku'd varies. In particular, <a></a>rendaku in their repeated parts. Example: karikari かりかり, *scratching,* doesn't become karigari. 
 
Furthermore, it's a word that features rendaku, not the combination of morphemes or the repetition of a certain kanji. That is, although rare, you can have two different words spelled the same way, <a></a>rendaku (partial reduplication) and the other without (full duplication). 
 
For example: 
<ul>
<li>sama-zama 様様 / 様々 
Various. 
(this word features rendaku)</li>
<li>sama-sama 様様 / 様々 
Thankful. Gracious. Good to have. (suffix added to things to mean they're welcomed. E.g.: money, clear weather, etc.) 
(this word doesn't feature rendaku.)</li>
</ul>
 
This would be really confusing, wouldn't it? To make things clearer, although the spellings 様々 and 様様 should be interchangeable for both words, it's common to spell the latter without kurikaeshi. I.e.: samazama 様々 and samasama 様様. 
<h3 id="sokuonbin">
Sokuonbin 促音便</h3>
The second case is called <a></a> 
 
Such "double consonants" are represented in Japanese by a <a></a> by literally spelling the consonant twice. 
 
As far as I know this only happens in one reduplicative word: 
<ul>
<li>koku 刻 
Approximately two hours. (archaic meaning.) 
(the kanji means "moment," though, like...)</li>
<li>ikkoku 一刻 
One moment. 
(ichikoku いちこく became ikkoku いっこく)</li>
<li>ikkoku mo hayaku 一刻も早く 
As soon as possible. 
Even one moment faster. (literally.)</li>
<li>kokkoku 刻々 
Moment by moment. 
(kokukoku こくこく became kokkoku こっこく)</li>
</ul>
 
(And that's the name of a certain amazing anime: Kokkoku 刻刻) 
<h2 id="effect-patterns">
Effect Patterns</h2>
Now, moving to the main part of the article: the common effects of reduplication. 
 
Japanese words that repeat themselves always exhibit one sort of another of multiplicity in their meanings. After all, if you say one thing once, you imply one of it, but when you say it twice, you imply you have two (or more) of it. 
 
In practice, this makes most reduplicative words into: 
<ol>
<li>Plurals, collectives of their simplex forms.</li>
<li>Parallels or alternatives based on the simplex forms.</li>
<li>Emphasized versions of the simplex forms.</li>
<li>Sequences or continuity according to the frequency of the simplex forms.</li>
</ol>
<h3 id="plurals-and-groups">
Plurals & Groups</h3>
Let's start with Japanese reduplicative plurals. But this needs a bit of a warning. 
 
The way <a></a><a></a>neko 猫, "cat," can refer to one cat, a random cat, the cat, the cats, some cats, or even all cats, like, in general, etc. depending on the sentence. 
<ul>
<li>neko ga iru 猫がいる 
There's a cat [here.] 
There are cats [here.] 
The cat is [here.] 
The cats are [here.]</li>
<li>neko ga suki 猫が好き 
I like cat. (this doesn't make much sense.) 
I like cats.</li>
</ul>
 
So, for most words, you don't really need do anything to get the plural version because plurality depends on context. Furthermore, you can't just reduplicate a random word to make it plural. You can't say neko-neko 猫々, for example, to mean "cats." That word doesn't exist. 
 
Anyway, back to words that do exist. Some words that feature reduplication are plural versions of their simplex forms. This does happen. Yes. But they aren't just "plurals," they're more like "groups," they describe collectives, many of something, usually implying various of something, too. 
<h4 id="groups-of-individuals">
Individuals</h4>
For example, it happens when referring to individuals and their collectives, like: 
<ul>
<li>kami 神 vs. kami-gami 神々 
A god vs. many, various gods. 
(each god is different from the other.)</li>
<li>hito 人 vs. hibo-bito 人々 
A person vs. many, various people. 
(each person is different from the other.)</li>
<li>ware 我 vs. ware-ware 我々 
I vs. we. (this is one of the many <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/08/watashi-boku-ore-meaning.html">first person pronouns</a> found in Japanese.)</li>
<li>kata 方 vs. kata-gata 方々 
Person (related to something, somewhere.) vs. people. 
(these words are like ware and ware-ware but used toward others instead.)</li>
</ul>
 
Above we have words that refer to "groups" of stuff. For example, when one says kamigami, they aren't referring to two random gods in particular, they're probably referring to all the gods of the Olympus, or all Japanese gods,"or "going against the gods" in general—heresy!—"the battle of the gods," etc. 
<ul>
<li>Ragnarök 
Fate of the Gods 
Kamigami no Unmei 神々の運命</li>
</ul>
 
Likewise, hitobito aren't two persons, they are the many people (of somewhere, for example, like a village). And wareware doesn't refer to two of "me," it probably refers to the group I represent: my company, organization, institution, etc. 
<h4 id="geographic-groups">
Geography</h4>
This form is also common with geographic words. 
<ul>
<li>kuni 国 vs. kuni-guni 国々 
A country vs. many, various countries.</li>
<li>shima 島 vs. shima-jima 島々 
An island vs. many, various islands.</li>
<li>yama 山 vs. yama-yama 山々 
A mountain vs. many, various mountains.</li>
<li>ki 木 vs. ki-gi 木々 
A tree vs. many, various trees.</li>
<li>hoshi 星 vs. hoshi-boshi 星々 
Star vs. many, various stars.</li>
</ul>
 
Such words are generally qualified by adjectives. For example: 
<ul>
<li>yooroppa no kuni-guni ヨーロッパの国々 
The countries of Europe. 
The many, various countries of Europe. 
(each one is different from the other.)</li>
</ul>
 
Likewise: 
<ul>
<li>yooroppa no hito-bito ヨーロッパの人々 
The people of Europe.</li>
</ul>
<h4 id="other-groups">
Other</h4>
Some more examples of reduplicative words expressing plurality: 
<ul>
<li>kazu 数 
A number.</li>
<li>kazu-kazu 数々 
Many numbers of. 
Numerous.</li>
<ul>
<li>kazukazu no tatakai wo kachi-nuite-kita 数々の戦いを勝ち抜いてきた 
To have come [here after] winning through many numbers of battles 
To have won and survived numerous battles.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>sumi 隅 
Nook. Corner.</li>
<li>sumi-zumi 隅々 
The nooks of. The corners of.</li>
<ul>
<li>heya no sumi-zumi made sagase!! 部屋の隅々まで探せ！！ 
Search EVERY SINGLE LAST CORNER of this room!! 
Search even the corners of the room!! (literally.)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>kona 粉 
Flour. Dust.</li>
<li>kona-gona 粉々 
Small pieces.</li>
<ul>
<li>kona-gona ni shite yaru!!! 粉々にしてやる！！！ 
[I'll tear] you into pieces!!!</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<h3 id="parallels-and-alternatives">
Parallels & Alternatives</h3>
In Japanese, there are some words which feature a rather weird effect when they are reduplicated. They become plurals, sure, sort of, but the way they end up being used are as adjectives or adverbs rather than nouns. 
 
This happens in words such as iroiro 色々 and betsubetsu 別々. And it happens because the simplex forms means one "type" of thing, rather than one "thing" of one type. When you reduplicate, the collective is then the various "types" of things, rather than various things of one type. 
 
In practice, the outcome is that such words end up having either of the following effects: 
<ol>
<li>Alternatives. 
I.e. multiple types simultaneously.</li>
<li>Parallels. 
I.e. multiple ways simultaneously.</li>
</ol>
<h4 id="reduplicative-alternatives">
Alternatives</h4>
The first case, for alternatives, is a bit complicated because the simplex forms are complicated to begin with. 
 
Let's start with an example: 
<ul>
<li>samazama na dougu 様々な道具 
Various types of tools. 
Various kinds of tools.</li>
</ul>
 
Above we have the reduplicative samazama as adjective for the tools. It means "various types" or "various kinds." 
 
The simplex form of samazama is the word sama 様. But wait... sama? <a></a> 
 
Well, no. The suffix sama is a different sama, not the one we're talking about here. The word sama 様 also means how something looks like, appears like. It's found in words like arisama 有様, "the way something is," literally "appearance of being." 
 
So let's say you have a bunch of tools. This tool looks one way, that's looks this sama. This tool looks another way, it looks this other sama. So here we have tools that look this sama and that sama, that's two sama way-of-looking, samazama. 
 
That's the gist of it. 
 
Next we have this: 
<ul>
<li>iroiro 色々 
All sorts of.</li>
</ul>
 
Alright, so the simplex form of that is more simple, I mean, it's iro 色, "color." 
 
So why does it not mean "colors"? What's up with this "all sorts of"? That makes no sense! The word iro means "color," not "sort," what is this madness!!! 
 
Well, actually, the word iro also means "sort." (and, also-also, iroiro used to mean "colors," but that usage is archaic, so let's ignore it.) 
 
You can find it in the following <a></a> 
<ul>
<li>juu-nin to-iro 十人十色 
Ten people, ten colors. 
(i.e. each person has their own tastes, interests, ideas, opinions, etc. each has their own "color.")</li>
</ul>
 
So, likewise, iroiro 色々 is the collective of "sorts." 
<ul>
<li>iroiro atta 色々あった 
All sorts of [things happened.] 
There were all sorts. (literally.)</li>
</ul>
<h4 id="reduplicative-parallels">
Parallels</h4>
Next we have these words: 
<ul>
<li>betsubetsu 別々 
Separately.</li>
<li>sorezore 夫々 
Each.</li>
<li>koko 個々 
One by one.</li>
<li>tokorodokoro 所々 
Here and there. Everywhere.</li>
</ul>
 
The word <a></a>sore, "that." Then the next one, sore, "that." The next: sore. And sore. And sore. And that, that, that. In other words, you're referring to "each" of them individually, in parallel, rather than collectively. 
<ul>
<li>sorezore no yakuwari ga aru それぞれの役割がある 
Each has a role. (literally.) 
Everybody has their own role. 
Everything has its own role.</li>
</ul>
 
The word <a></a>betsubetsu 別々 implies we have two (or more) betsu's. 
 
For example, if this guy is acting betsu, "separate," of this other guy, who's acting betsu, "separate," of this third guy, and so on. They're acting betsubetsu of each other, separately. 
<ul>
<li>toire ga betsu no heya ni aru トイレが別の部屋にある 
The toilet is in a different room.</li>
<li>basu ga betsu no heya ni aru バスが別の部屋にある 
The bath is in a different room.</li>
<li>ofuro to toire ga betsubetsu お風呂とトイレが別々 
The bath and and the toilet are separate.</li>
</ul>
 
With tokorodokoro 所々 we're implying there's a tokoro 所, "spot," "place," here, a tokoro there, a tokoro over there, and they all have something in common. For example, if you slip on a banana peel and drop a bucket of paint, now there's paint "everywhere," there's paint tokorodokoro. The paint is in multiple places at once. 
<h3 id="reduplicative-emphasis">
Emphasis</h3>
The next common effect reduplication has is of making things intense. Intenser. Importanter. Very-er. As the saying says, when you say something twice it's because it's important. 
 
It's because it's important! 
<h4 id="adverbs-from-adjectives">
Adverbs from -i Adjectives</h4>
In practice, this means that when the base morpheme of a reduplication is also the stem of an -i ～い adjective, the reduplicative word may add emphasize to that adjective. For example: 
<ul>
<li>maru 丸 (simplex form.) 
Circle.</li>
<li>marui 丸い (base morpheme + -i suffix) 
Round.</li>
<li>marumaru 丸々 (reduplicative word) 
Round-round (like a record, baby, no! Like a ball. 3D.) 
Rotund. Very round.</li>
</ul>
 
Note that this base morpheme (simplex form) won't necessarily be a word on its own. (and usually isn't.) That is, the base morpheme plus the -i suffix is a word, but without the -i suffix it may not be a word. For example: 
<ul>
<li>naga 長 (simplex.) 
(this isn't a word, just a morpheme.)</li>
<li>nagai 長い (i-adjective) 
Long.</li>
<li>naganaga 長々 
Very long.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>hiro 広 
(not word.)</li>
<li>hiroi 広い 
Spacious.</li>
<li>hirobiro 広々 
Very spacious.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>atsui 熱い 
Hot.</li>
<li>atsuatsu 熱々 
Very hot. 
(e.g. food that you just cooked.) 
(also used toward couples burning with passion.)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>hosoi 細い 
Thin.</li>
<li>hosoboso 細々 
Very thin.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>karui 軽い 
Light.</li>
<li>karugaru 軽々 
Very light. 
(e.g. to lift something) as if it were light. 
(by extension, to do something difficult) as if it were easy. 
Lightly. Easily.</li>
</ul>
 
Since all cases above express how something is perceived, they may all take the to と particle to become adverbs in which modify how an action is perceived. For example: 
<ul>
<li>marumaru to futotta 丸々と太った 
[He] fattened [to the point he looked] very rotund.</li>
<li>karugaru to mochiageta 軽々と持ち上げた 
[He] lifted [it] up [as if it were] very light.</li>
</ul>
<h4 id="shii-adjectives">
-shii ～しい Adjectives</h4>
The to と particle above was used to adverbalize reduplicative words that are perceivable. In contrast, the suffix -shii ～しい adjectivizes them. 
 
Look: -shii ～しい ends in -i ～い, so it makes -i adjectives. 
 
What comes out of reduplicating something and adding -shii ～しい on top of it can vary wildly. Of course, they are somewhat, somehow related to their simplex forms, but their usage can be pretty different. 
 
Here are some examples to have a better idea: 
<ul>
<li>itai 痛い 
Painful. Hurting. 
Cringy,</li>
<li>itaitashii 痛々しい 
Painful to look at. (e.g. injuries.) 
Pitiful.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>maga 禍 
Disaster. Calamity.</li>
<li>magamagashii 禍々しい 
Ominous. Sinister.</li>
</ul>
 
The perception isn't limited to what it looks like. It could also be what you hear: 
<ul>
<li>sawagu 騒ぐ 
To make noise.</li>
<li>sou-on 騒音 
Noise (sound.)</li>
<li>souzoushii!! 騒々しい！！ 
Too noisy!!</li>
<ul>
<li>shizuka ni se yo!! 静かにせよ！！ 
Be silent!! 
(— Overlord, Season 3)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
 
Or what you feel, think, etc. 
<ul></ul>
<ul>
<li>hanayaka 華やか 
Showy. Gorgeous.</li>
<li>hanabanashii 華々しい 
Magnificent. 
To feel very showy.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>oogyou 大仰 
Exaggeration.</li>
<li>gyougyoushii 仰々しい 
Extravagant. 
To feel very exaggerated. 
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>baka 馬鹿 
Idiot.</li>
<li>bakabakashii 馬鹿馬鹿しい 
Foolishness. 
To feel very stupid.</li>
</ul>
 
A good number of words that follow this pattern can be used to make comments toward other people—a lot of times bad, uncalled for comments—according to what their appearance or behavior looks like. For example: 
<ul>
<li>utsukushii 美しい 
Beautiful.</li>
<li>bi 美 
Beauty.</li>
<li>bibishii 美々しい 
Of seeming beauty.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>wakai 若い 
Young.</li>
<li>wakawakashii 若々しい 
Of seeming youth.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>yowai 弱い 
Weak.</li>
<li>yowayowashii 弱々しい 
Of seeming frailty.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>me 雌 / 女 
Female. (affix.)</li>
<ul>
<li>onna 女 
Woman.</li>
<li>mesu 雌 
Female. (animal.)</li>
<li>megami 女神 
Goddess.</li>
</ul>
<li>memeshii 女々しい 
Of seeming femininity. 
Effeminate.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>o 雄 / 男 
Male. (affix.)</li>
<ul>
<li>otoko 男 
Man.</li>
<li>osu 雄 
Male. (animal.)</li>
<li>dokuo 毒男 
Single male. dokushin dansei 独身男性. 
(self-derogatory internet slang.)</li>
</ul>
<li>ooshii 雄々しい / 男々しい 
Of seeming manliness. 
Manly.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>rinzen 凛然 
Commanding. Awe-inspiring.</li>
<li>ririshii 凛々しい 
Someone that looks heroic, dignified. 
(e.g a protagonist of a Hollywood action movie, Superhero comic book, the good guy. Hercules, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc.).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>kai 甲斐 
Effect. Result. Worth.</li>
<li>kaigaishii 甲斐甲斐しい 
That seems to prove its worth. 
Hard-working. Admirable. Laudable. Dependable.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>nareru 馴れる 
To become familiar with.</li>
<li>narenareshii 馴れ馴れしい 
To seem over-familiar. (generally in a bad way.)</li>
<ul>
<li>Example: talking in a way that's too informal, invading your personal space—PERSONAL SPACE!!!—touching, etc.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>karui 軽い 
Light.</li>
<li>karugarushii 軽々しい 
Rash. Thoughtless. 
(i.e. takes everything lightly, doesn't give proper consideration.)</li>
</ul>
<h4 id="other-emphatic-words">
Other Emphatic Words</h4>
There are other reduplicative words that intensify things in a way or another but don't fit the cases above. For example: 
<ul>
<li>mukashi 昔 
A long time ago.</li>
<li>mukashi-mukashi 昔々 
Long, long ago (in a galaxy far, far away...) 
(generally used to tell tales, i.e. "once upon a time.")</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>mae 前 
Before.</li>
<li>mae-mae 前々 
Since much before.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>man- 満～ (prefix.) 
Whole. </li>
<li>manman 満々 
Full of. Brimming with.</li>
<ul>
<li>yaru ki manman da ne やる気満々だね 
[You're] full of will to do [it, aren't you.] 
(i.e. eager.)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>hisashii 久しい 
For a long time. 
Since a long time.</li>
<li>hisabisa 久々 
Since a very long time.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>sukoshi 少し 
A little. 
A bit.</li>
<li>shoushou 少々 
A lil' bit.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>tadashii 正しい 
Correct. Right.</li>
<li>seisei 正々 
Fair.</li>
<li>dou 堂 
Shrine. 
Hall.</li>
<li>doudou 堂々 
Honest. Proud. Unashamed.</li>
<li>seisei-doudou tatakau 正々堂々戦う 
To fight fair and proudly. 
To fight fair and square.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="reduplicative-continuity">
Reduplicative Continuity</h3>
The last effect of reduplication in words is that of continuity. That is, the implication that something is going on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on. 
 
You get it. 
 
Surely, nothing goes on infinitely, forever, but stuff can go on indefinitely, for kamisama knows how long. In Japanese, reduplication of certain words can imply something happened continually for a unspecified amount of time, or refer specifically to the frequency by which it happened rather than for how long exactly. 
<h4 id="sequences-frequencies-progresses">
Sequences, Frequencies, Progresses</h4>
Simplex forms that can imply time, degree, or mark a step of progress, and so on, can become adverbs of progression when reduplicated. For example: 
<ul>
<li>hi 日 
Day.</li>
<li>hibi 日々 
Daily. Every day.</li>
</ul>
 
Note that there's a different word which also means "daily" or "every day," mainichi 毎日. The difference is that hibi 日々 implies progression, as the reduplication implies. That is, you have an indefinite, continuous, and sequential number of days: 
 
hi 日, hi 日, hi 日, hi 日, hi 日, hi 日, hi 日, hi 日, hi 日, hi 日, hi 日, hi 日, hi 日, hi 日. 
 
And hibi 日々 implies it. 
 
So you could, for example, you can study "every single day," mainichi, but you make progress "daily, continuously," hibi. Likewise, there are scientific experiments being done "every single day," mainichi, but scientific advances are done "daily, continously," hibi. 
 
Other examples of sequences implied by reduplication include: 
<ul>
<li>tsugi 次 
Next.</li>
<li>tsugi 次 tsugi 次 tsugi 次 tsugi 次 tsugi 次 
Next. Next. Next. Next. Next.</li>
<li>tsugitsugi 次々 
In succession. The next one, then the next, over and over.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>dan 段 
Grade.</li>
<li>dan 段 dan 段 dan 段 dan 段 dan 段 
Grade. Grade. Grade. Grade. Grade.</li>
<li>dandan 段々 
Grade by grade. Gradually.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>toki 時 
Time.</li>
<li>toki 時 toki 時 toki 時 toki 時 toki 時 
Time. Time. Time. Time. Time.</li>
<li>tokidoki 時々 
Time and again. Sometimes.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>tabi 度 
Occasion.</li>
<li>tabi 度 tabi 度 tabi 度 tabi 度 tabi 度 
Occasion. Occasion. Occasion. Occasion. Occasion. </li>
<li>tabitabi 度々 
Occasionally. Time and again.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>dai 代 
Generation.</li>
<li>dai 代 dai 代 dai 代 dai 代 dai 代 
Generation. Generation. Generation. Generation. Generation. </li>
<li>daidai 代々 
For generations.</li>
</ul>
 
 
<ul>
<li>kaesu 返す 
To return.</li>
<li>kaesu 返す kaesu 返す kaesu 返す kaesu 返す kaesu 返す 
To return. To return. To return. To return. To return.</li>
<li>kaesugaesu 返す返す 
To do something over and over. (i.e. returning to the start, restarting, every time.)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>masu 益 
Increase.</li>
<li>masu 益 masu 益 masu 益 masu 益 masu 益 
Increase. Increase. Increase. Increase. Increase.</li>
<li>masumasu 益々 
Increasingly.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>jun 順 
Order. Turn.</li>
<li>jun 順 jun 順 jun 順 jun 順 jun 順 
Turn. Turn. Turn. Turn. Turn. Turn.</li>
<li>junjun 順々 
In turns. In order (of turns.)</li>
</ul>
<h4 id="indefinite-infinite-repetition">
Indefinite Infinite Repetition</h4>
Lastly, the same way as above, reduplication in mimetic words such as <a></a> 
 
For example, wakuwaku わくわく, a mimetic reduplicative word for "excitement," implies that one waku = one excitement, and thus wakuwakuwakuwakuwakuwakuwakuwakuwaku means a continuous state of excitement. 
 
More tangibly, dokidoki ドキドキ is an onomatopoeia for the *thump-thump* of the heart. But surely the heart doesn't just thump just twice and stops there. It keeps thumping. So dokidokidokidokidokidokidokidoki, etc. 
 
<h4 id="definite-unreduplicated-finite">
Definite Unreduplicated Finite</h4>
Conversely, when an ideophone that's usually reduplicative appears only in its simplex form, it would emphasize it's just a single instance. 
 
For example, a single doki would mean "a single thump," rather than continuous thumping. By extension, dokitto ドキっと, "with a (single) thump," is used when you experience a strong emotion, something exciting, like love at first sight, or scary, maybe, by emphasizing that lone, stronger thump. 
 
In English, the equivalent is ironically "to have your heart skip a beat," rather than to have a beat like in Japanese. That is, both expressions refer to the same thing: it's such an outstanding single thump the next one gets delayed, messing the rhythm, as if it were skipped, but they sound like they're opposites. 
 
<h2 id="references">
References</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:859861/FULLTEXT01.pdf">Form and Function of Reduplicated Nouns in Japanese</a> 
A study where native Japanese speakers were asked to describe what many reduplicative words mean, and what they think made up reduplicative words (such as neko-neko) would mean if they were real words.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="references-notes">
Notes</h3>
Since the focus of this article was show the common effects of reduplication in Japanese, I didn't bother to make sure whether a word is really reduplicative from a technical standpoint or merely features repetition of syllables. So long as the effects were similar for me it's enough. 
 
In particular, I'm not sure whether words like the below are actually reduplicative: 
waka-waka-shii 若々しい 
The simplex waka 若 is not a word on its own. 
Only the adjective wakai 若い is. 
 
man-man 満々 
Likewise this is just a prefix prefixed onto itself. 
 
mukashi-mukashi 昔々 
This isn't a word you'd use normally. It's only used in stories. 
It could very much be like saying "a long, long time ago." 
The "long" is repeated; "long-long" isn't a word. 
 
But then again, it's not like Japanese lacks punctuation. 
You could write mukashi, mukashi 昔、昔. Okay, maybe not. 
You could write mukashi mukashi 昔　昔, <a></a> 
So maybe it is a reduplicative word, after all. 
 
dokidoki ドキドキ, wakuwaku わくわく, etc. 
Practically all mimetic words that repeat themselves don't really have simplex forms. 
 
I mean, if wakuwaku has a reduplicant, -waku, then you should be able to remove it to get waku, the simplex, just like you can do with any other reduplicative word. 
 
But waku doesn't mean anything at all alone. Nobody says just one waku to mean anything related to "excitement." It only makes sense when it's wakuwaku, or more waku. 
 
I'm no linguist, but if my interpretation is correct, the simplex form of a reduplicative word need not to be an actual word, just a morpheme. 
 
If that's the case, then it's probably valid too. Since a morpheme is something you can't divide further, and you can totally divide wakuwaku into two waku. Just like you can divide dokidoki into two doki. 
 
If that's not the case then what I'm saying is all wrong and a number of these aren't reduplicative words. Not that it matters though, because in the end the observed effects of repeating parts of words are the same. 
 
Even if wakuwaku isn't a reduplicative word, it still gives the impression of continuity and frequency, just like hibi 日々, a word that's certainly reduplicative.

In Japanese, sometimes you have words that repeat themselves, they're the same thing said twice, like:人々,色々,別々,丸々,段々,日々,次々,痛々しい and so on.When such thing happens, it's called, or重畳, the process of creating "reduplicative words,"畳語, and it's not specific of the Japanese language. English has it too.In this article I'll explain how it works in Japanese, and common effects it has on the meaning of words.The reduplication in words works like this: you have a word, likeつぎ, "next," and when you say it twice:つぎつぎ, it means "in succession," something rather different instead. It doesn't mean "next next" as we'd expect.This happens becauseつぎ andつぎつぎ are twowords that share the same <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/morphemes.html">morpheme</a> . A morpheme is like a piece of a word. The wordhas the morphemeonce, while the wordhas the morphemetwice.Linguistically, the two parts of, the firstand the second, are calledand. When you remove the reduplicant of a reduplicative word, you get itsA couple more examples of reduplication in Japanese:Note that there's a technical difference between words that feature reduplication and words that just feature repetition of syllables. But honestly that doesn't matter very much as far as this article is concerned since the word we'll be talking about share the same properties anyway.See the <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/09/reduplication.html#references">References</a> for the details.In Japanese, words are often <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/words-written-with-kanji.html">written with kanji</a> , not <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/words-written-without-kanji.html">without kanji</a> like I wrote them above. When reduplication occurs, theare duplicated too. Fortunately, in most cases onerepresents one morpheme, so the all you gotta do is literally write it twice:Since reduplication is found in a ton of Japanese words, and reduplicating the morpheme means you must write theyou just wrote, the Japanese people figured "yeah, nah, ain't nobody got time fo' dat," and decided to use a symbol instead when reduplication occurred in a word.This symbol: <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/03/repetition-kanji-meaning-noma-kurikaeshi.html">々</a> , called繰り返し, "repetition," orノマ, because of how it looks, is used instead of thethat represents the reduplicant in a word. For example:This can also happen in the middle of the word:Sometimes the base is composed of more than one(and/or morpheme), so the reduplicant is longer too. Although it's not considered valid anymore since the post-war orthographic reforms, the number of's for the reduplicant could then match the number ofin the base.Note that although reduplication is common in Japanese words, triplication, the same thing thrice, is not.Sometimes a singlerepresents a single morpheme, sometimes more than a single morpheme, and, in some very weird cases, a singlerepresents the same morpheme twice.The examples above are usually not written with, though, specially not one. They're normally written with. So although it'sfor them to be written like that, that doesn't mean theybe written like that.If a reduplicated word is written by writing a sametwice, then it'd make sense to think that writing thatonly once is how you'd write the simplex form.But that's not always the case.For example:Althoughis a word,is not. How can that be? Furthermore, the <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/kanji-readings.html">readings of the kanji</a> of that word, 清, don't even include! That is: there's no other word in Japanese where 清 is read as. What is the world is going on here?!Well, apparently, theすが ofcomes from theof過ぎ去る, "to pass by," or "to pass and leave."By reduplicating thisintothe meaning became emphasized. And theending makes it refer to what something feels like. So maybemeans it feels "refreshing" because whatever problem was there has passed and gone away.Anyway, thisisn't used in Japanese anymore, butstuck. That's why the wordstill exists butdoes not.Since the wordexists, it feels bad for it not to have. So someone slapped a "matching character" on it, an <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/ateji-meaning.html">ateji 当て字</a> , which was 清, for its "clear" meaning matched the "refreshing" meaning of the word.So that's why the simplex form isn't written as清. The 清 is only read asin the word清々しい, not when it's written alone, so that's a "compound character reading," <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/jukujikun-reading-meaning.html">jukujikun 熟字訓</a> , a reading that's only valid in a specific combination of characters. (清々しい in this case.)There are other <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/09/iteration-marks.html">iteration marks in Japanese</a> besides 々, some of which can be used to express reduplication in words written without, with just. But those aren't really common so I won't talk about them. Mentioning them is enough I guess.Reduplication doesn't always reduplicate the simplex form exactly (reduplication). Sometimes a change in pronunciation occurs (reduplication).For example, the English words tick-tock, ding-dong, and zig-zag feature ablaut reduplication, in which the vowel changes.In Japanese, the vowels do not change in words featuring partial reduplication. Instead, it's the consonants that change. This can happen in two ways:The first and most common case is called <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/08/rendaku-japanese.html">rendaku 連濁</a> , a change in pronunciation where the first syllable of a suffixed morpheme can get a diacritic, a <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/dakuten-tenten.html">dakuten ゛</a> mark (or゜).For example:Thiseffect is by no means a reduplication-only thing. It happens in words without reduplication too. For example, the word for "God of Death" is死神, notWhich morphemes get'd varies. In particular, <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/09/mimetic-words.html">mimetic words</a> , which frequently repeat themselves, do not featurein their repeated parts. Example:かりかり, *scratching,* doesn't becomeFurthermore, it'sthat features, not the combination of morphemes or the repetition of a certain. That is, although rare, you can have two different words spelled the same way, <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/homonyms-in-japanese.html">homographs</a> , both featuring reduplication, but one pronounced with(partial reduplication) and the other without (full duplication).For example:This would be really confusing, wouldn't it? To make things clearer, although the spellings 様々 and 様様 should be interchangeable for both words, it's common to spell the latter without. I.e.:様々 and様様.The second case is called <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/sokuonbin-japanese.html">sokuonbin 促音便</a> , a change in pronunciation where two sequential hard syllables of different morphemes in the same word get melded together (consonant gemination) into a double consonant instead.Such "double consonants" are represented in Japanese by a <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/05/small-tsu.html">small tsu っ</a> , and inby literally spelling the consonant twice.As far as I know this only happens in one reduplicative word:(And that's the name of a certain amazing anime:刻刻)Now, moving to the main part of the article: the common effects of reduplication.Japanese words that repeat themselves always exhibit one sort of another ofin their meanings. After all, if you say one thing once, you imply one of it, but when you say it twice, you imply you have two (or more) of it.In practice, this makes most reduplicative words into:Let's start with Japanese reduplicative plurals. But this needs a bit of a warning.The way <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/08/plurals-in-japanese-grammar.html">how plurals work in Japanese</a> is that most words do not have plural forms. Combined with the lack of <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/08/definite-indefinite-articles.html">definite and indefinite articles</a> , a single random noun, like猫, "cat," can refer to one cat, a random cat, the cat, the cats, some cats, or even all cats, like, in general, etc. depending on the sentence.So, for most words, you don't really need do anything to get the plural version because plurality depends on context. Furthermore, you can't just reduplicate a random word to make it plural. You can't say猫々, for example, to mean "cats." That word doesn't exist.Anyway, back to words that do exist. Some words that feature reduplication are plural versions of their simplex forms. This does happen. Yes. But they aren't just "plurals," they're more like "groups," they describe collectives,something, usually implying various of something, too.For example, it happens when referring to individuals and their collectives, like:Above we have words that refer to "groups" of stuff. For example, when one says, they aren't referring to two random gods in particular, they're probably referring to all the gods of the Olympus, or all Japanese gods,"or "going against" in general—heresy!—"the battle of the gods," etc.Likewise,aren't two persons, they are the many people (of somewhere, for example, like a village). Anddoesn't refer to two of "me," it probably refers to the group I represent: my company, organization, institution, etc.This form is also common with geographic words.Such words are generally qualified by adjectives. For example:Likewise:Some more examples of reduplicative words expressing plurality:In Japanese, there are some words which feature a rather weird effect when they are reduplicated. They become plurals, sure, sort of, but the way they end up being used are as adjectives or adverbs rather than nouns.This happens in words such as色々 and別々. And it happens because the simplex forms means one "type" of thing, rather than one "thing" of one type. When you reduplicate, the collective is then the various "types" of things, rather than various things of one type.In practice, the outcome is that such words end up having either of the following effects:The first case, for alternatives, is a bit complicated because the simplex forms are complicated to begin with.Let's start with an example:Above we have the reduplicativeas adjective for the tools. It means "various types" or "various kinds."The simplex form ofis the word様. But wait... <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/kun-san-chan-sama-meaning.html">The honorific suffix like san, chan, or kun?</a> What? How do you get "various types" from that?! It doesn't even have an actual meaning, just a nuance!Well, no. The suffixis a different, not the one we're talking about here. The wordmeans how something looks like, appears like. It's found in words like有様, "the way something is," literally "appearance of being."So let's say you have a bunch of tools. This tool looks one way, that's looks this. This tool looks another way, it looks this other. So here we have tools that look thisand that, that's twoway-of-looking,That's the gist of it.Next we have this:Alright, so the simplex form of that is more simple, I mean, it's色, "color."So why does it not mean "colors"? What's up with this "all sorts of"? That makes no sense! The wordmeans "color," not "sort," what is this madness!!!Well, actually, the wordmeans "sort." (and,used to mean "colors," but that usage is archaic, so let's ignore it.)You can find it in the following <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/yojijukugo-meaning.html">yojijukugo 四字熟語</a> , "four-character idiom:"So, likewise,色々 is the collective of "sorts."Next we have these words:The word <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/kore-sore-are-dore-meaning.html">sore それ</a> means "that." Imagine there's a bunch of things in a room. You point to one, you say, "that." Then the next one,, "that." The next:. And. And. And that, that, that. In other words, you're referring to "each" of them individually, in parallel, rather than collectively.The word <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/11/betsuni-meaning.html">betsu 別</a> means "different," or "separate" of something else. So別々 implies we have two (or more)'s.For example, if this guy is acting, "separate," of this other guy, who's acting, "separate," of this third guy, and so on. They're actingof each other, separately.With所々 we're implying there's a所, "spot," "place," here, athere, aover there, and they all have something in common. For example, if you slip on a banana peel and drop a bucket of paint, now there's paint "everywhere," there's paint. The paint is inat once.The next common effect reduplication has is of making things intense. Intenser. Importanter. Very-er. As the saying says, when you say something twice it's because it's important.It's because it's important!In practice, this means that when the base morpheme of a reduplication is also the stem of an～い adjective, the reduplicative word may add emphasize to that adjective. For example:Note that this base morpheme (simplex form) won't necessarily be a word on its own. (and usually isn't.) That is, the base morpheme plus thesuffix is a word, but without thesuffix it may not be a word. For example:Sincecases above express how something is perceived, they may all take theと particle to become adverbs in which modify how an action is perceived. For example:Theと particle above was used to adverbalize reduplicative words that are perceivable. In contrast, the suffix～しい adjectivizes them.Look:～しい ends in～い, so it makesadjectives.What comes out of reduplicating something and adding～しい on top of it can vary wildly. Of course, they are somewhat, somehow related to their simplex forms, but their usage can be pretty different.Here are some examples to have a better idea:The perception isn't limited to what it looks like. It could also be what you hear:Or what you feel, think, etc.A good number of words that follow this pattern can be used to make comments toward other people—a lot of times bad, uncalled for comments—according to what their appearance or behavior looks like. For example:There are other reduplicative words that intensify things in a way or another but don't fit the cases above. For example:The last effect of reduplication in words is that of continuity. That is, the implication that something is going on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on.You get it.Surely, nothing goes on infinitely, forever, but stuff can go on indefinitely, forknows how long. In Japanese, reduplication of certain words can imply something happened continually for a unspecified amount of time, or refer specifically to the frequency by which it happened rather than for how long exactly.Simplex forms that can imply time, degree, or mark a step of progress, and so on, can become adverbs ofwhen reduplicated. For example:Note that there's a different word which also means "daily" or "every day,"毎日. The difference is that日々 implies progression, as the reduplication implies. That is, you have an indefinite, continuous, and sequential number of days:日,日,日,日,日,日,日,日,日,日,日,日,日,日.And日々 implies it.So you could, for example, you can study "everyday,", but you make progress "daily,,". Likewise, there are scientific experiments being done "everyday,", but scientific advances are done "daily,,"Other examples of sequences implied by reduplication include:Lastly, the same way as above, reduplication in mimetic words such as <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/09/onomatopoeia.html">onomatopoeia</a> naturally implies a continued idea or sound.For example,わくわく, a mimetic reduplicative word for "excitement," implies that one= one excitement, and thusmeans a continuous state of excitement.More tangibly,ドキドキ is an onomatopoeia for the *thump-thump* of the heart. But surely the heart doesn't just thump just twice and stops there. It keeps thumping. So, etc.Conversely, when an ideophone that's usually reduplicative appears only in its simplex form, it would emphasize it's just a single instance.For example, a singlewould mean "a single thump," rather than continuous thumping. By extension,ドキっと, "with a (single) thump," is used when you experience a strong emotion, something exciting, like love at first sight, or scary, maybe, by emphasizing that lone, stronger thump.In English, the equivalent is ironically "to have your hearta beat," rather than to have a beat like in Japanese. That is, both expressions refer to the same thing: it's such an outstanding single thump the next one gets delayed, messing the rhythm, as if it were skipped, but they sound like they're opposites.Since the focus of this article was show the common effects of reduplication in Japanese, I didn't bother to make sure whether a word is really reduplicative from a technical standpoint or merely features repetition of syllables. So long as the effects were similar for me it's enough.In particular, I'm not sure whether words like the below are actually reduplicative:若々しいThe simplex若 is not a word on its own.Only the adjective若い is.満々Likewise this is just a prefix prefixed onto itself.昔々This isn't a word you'd use normally. It's only used in stories.It could very much be like saying "a long, long time ago."The "long" is repeated; "long-long" isn't a word.But then again, it's not like Japanese lacks punctuation.You could write昔、昔. Okay, maybe not.You could write昔 昔, <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/spaces-in-japanese.html">with a space</a> So maybe it is a reduplicative word, after all.ドキドキ,わくわく, etc.Practically all mimetic words that repeat themselves don't really have simplex forms.I mean, ifhas a reduplicant,, then you should be able to remove it to get, the simplex, just like you can do with any other reduplicative word.Butdoesn't mean anything at all alone. Nobody says just oneto mean anything related to "excitement." It only makes sense when it's, or moreI'm no linguist, but if my interpretation is correct, the simplex form of a reduplicative word need not to be an actual word, just a morpheme.If that's the case, then it's probably valid too. Since a morpheme is something you can't divide further, and you can totally divideinto two. Just like you can divideinto twoIf that's not the case then what I'm saying is all wrong and a number of these aren't reduplicative words. Not that it matters though, because in the end the observed effects of repeating parts of words are the same.Even ifisn't a reduplicative word, it still gives the impression of continuity and frequency, just like日々, a word that's certainly reduplicative.</div>

Reduplication

hitobito 人々, iroiro 色々, betsubetsu 別々, marumaru 丸々, dandan 段々, hibi 日々, tsugitsugi 次々, itaitashii 痛々しい and so on. When such thing ...

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