ゝゞヽヾ - Hiragana & Katakana Iteration Marks

and versions of the iteration mark, instead, and they're

(note: if you saw ヽ in the space, it's probably an

The differences between the five symbols are pretty simple:

• 々 is used with kanji.
• ゝ and ゞ are used with hiragana.
• ヽ and ヾ are used with katakana.
• ゞ and ヾ add a dakuten ゛ accent.
• ゝ and ヽ remove the accent.

(see

Regarding the names of the symbols ゝゞヽヾ, they're called ichi-no-ji-ten 一の字点, "character mark [that looks like] 一," but known by the same names 々 has: kurikaeshi 繰り返し, odoriji 踊り字 etc.

Used Less

The main use of kurikaeshi 々 is to save time and effort when writing words that have the same kanji twice (feature reduplication) by handwriting the simpler 々 instead of a more complicated kanji.

Since most kana are much simpler to write by hand than most kanji, ゝゞヽヾ aren't used as much as 々. (like, why would you write tsutsu つゝ instead of tsutsu つつ? What time are you saving? Sure it's a single swift stroke, but how lazy can ppl b?)

Literary Application in Post-War Meme Culture

In the era of typing on computers and phones, it ironically takes longer to type those marks than to just repeat the kana literally. Online, you're more likely to encounter them in kaomoji 顔文字.

I'm not even joking. ヽ(・ω・)ゝ
Really not. (ゝω・)
Nope. ( ´◔‿ゝ◔`)

It's Spelled Like This!

Another case you might find online are official spellings of things. For example, a novel by Natsume Souseki 夏目漱石, published a century ago (1914), was officially entitled Kokoro こゝろ. Nowadays it's also spelled Kokoro こころ, but some manga adaptations of that novel kept the こゝろ spelling.

Another novel, Aa, Kouya あゝ、荒野, published in 1966 by a different author, got a (non-anime) film adaptation in 2017, which kept that spelling. (I supposed in vowel cases it has the same effect as aa あー.)

Another case are names of people, things and characters, like Nonoka のゝか or Suzume すゞめ.

But then again anything goes in this case. There's even a character called

And a company called Esu Sゝゝ. No, not Esu-Esu-Esu SSS, as you'd expect from repeating the Esu エス, but spelled Sゝゝ.

Real-Life™ Usage

Outside the horizontally-written virtual world, the kana iteration marks are still used in the real-world.

Including in official documents.

As you might have noticed, or rather, not noticed, although the symbols are still used—they haven't been deemed "archaic" yet—they pretty much can't be found in any manga. Or basically any publication.

This is because we live in the 20 century and printed media is written on computers, not parchment. So you gotta type those characters. And, again, it doesn't really save time typing those on a computer. So they appear less. People see it less. Use it less. So they appear less. People see it less. Use it less. And so on.

In real-life

Examples

Here are some examples of how they work.

You'll see that they simply replace the repeating character:

• kokoro こころ
  kokoro こゝろ
  Heart. Mind. Should.
• susume すすめ
  susume すゝめ
  Recommendation.
• tsutsu つつ
  tsutsu つゝ
  (particle: marks something continually done.)

So it's not really complicated.

Wrong Examples

The only rule regarding these iteration marks is that they can only repeat the kana actually written before them, they can't repeat the unwritten kana

• iimasu 言います
  iimasu いいます
  To say.
• iimasu いゝます
  (correct.)
• iimasu 言ゝます
  (wrong.)

ゝ vs. ゞ, ヽ vs. ヾ

The difference between ゝ and ゞ, and ヽ and ヾ, is that, although they all repeat the kana, ゝヽ won't have the accent while ゞヾ will. That is:

• kaka かゝ = かか.
• kaga かゞ = かが.
• gaka がゝ = がか.
• gaga がゞ = がが.

Note that, to some people, ゝ copies the whole thing, so gaga がが would be がゝ, not がゞ.

Some examples in real words:

• atatakai あたたかい
  atatakai あたゝかい
  Warm.
• suzushii すずしい
  suzushii すゞしい
  Cool. Refreshing.
• jijitsu じじつ
  jijitsu じゞつ
  Truth.
• tegakari 手がかり
  tegakari 手がゝり
  Clues. Leads.

ヽヾ & Katakana

Below some katakana examples:

• banana バナナ
  banana バナヽ
  (oh well, I wonder what this word could possibly mean...)
• habanero ハバネロ
  habanero ハヾネロ
  (this is a pepper.)
• hahahahahaha ハハハハハハ
  hahahahahaha ハヽヽヽヽヽ
  *laughs iteratively*

Although the difference between ゝ and ヽ would be that you use one for hiragana and the other for katakana, to some people ゝ is used in both cases, as a general repeating character. (these people probably don't even know ヽ exists, by the way.)

ゝゝ - Double Iteration

Also like 々, kana iteration marks can iterate multiple characters in sequence. For example:

• wakuwaku わくわく
  wakuwaku わくゝゝ
  *excitement*

Long く

Note that in this case, but in vertical writing, you might get a ku-no-ji-ten くの字点 instead. Which is, literally, a twice as long ku く character that's used to iterate multiple characters at once.


In horizontal writing it becomes a he へ, like:

• wakuwaku わく／＼

Mixed Accent

The kana iterations marks can also be mixed when

• tsukudzuku つくづく
  tsukudzuku つくゞゝ
  Utterly.
• tokorodokoro ところどころ or 所所
  tokorodokoro ところゞゝゝor 所々
  Here and there. In several places.

In Japanese, the symbols ゝゞヽヾ areandversions of theiteration mark, kurikaeshi 々 . They work pretty much the same way, repeating the character that precedes them, the main difference being that they're used withinstead, and they're Used Less (note: if you saw ヽ in thespace, it's probably an emphasis mark instead.)The differences between the five symbols are pretty simple:(see Examples for details.)Regarding the names of the symbols ゝゞヽヾ, they're called一の字点, "character mark [that looks like] 一," but known by the same names 々 has:繰り返し,踊り字 etc.The main use of々 is to save time and effort when writing words that have the sametwice (feature reduplication) bythe simpler 々 instead of a more complicatedSince mostare much simpler to write by hand than most, ゝゞヽヾ aren't used as much as 々. (like, why would you writeつゝ instead ofつつ? What time are you saving? Sure it's a single swift stroke, but how lazy can ppl b?)In the era of typing on computers and phones, it ironically takes longer to type those marks than to just repeat theliterally. Online, you're more likely to encounter them in顔文字.I'm not even joking. ヽ(・ω・)ゝReally not. (ゝω・)Nope. ( ´◔‿ゝ◔`)Another case you might find online are official spellings of things. For example, a novel by夏目漱石, published a century ago (1914), was officially entitledこゝろ. Nowadays it's also spelledこころ, but some manga adaptations of that novel kept the こゝろ spelling.Another novel,あゝ、荒野, published in 1966 by a different author, got a (non-anime) film adaptation in 2017, which kept that spelling. (I supposed in vowel cases it has the same effect as ー , likeあー.)Another case are names of people, things and characters, likeのゝか orすゞめ.But then again anything goes in this case. There's even a character called Chudai ゝ大 (- anidb.net) and I don't know how. But there is.And a company calledSゝゝ. No, notSSS, as you'd expect from repeating the katakanization of the alphabet letter . Justエス, butSゝゝ.Outside the horizontally-written virtual world, theiteration marks are still used in the real-world.Including in official documents.As you might have noticed, or rather, not noticed, although the symbols are still used—they haven't been deemed "archaic" yet—they pretty much can't be found in any manga. Or basically any publication.This is because we live in the 20 century and printed media is written on computers, not parchment. So you gotta type those characters. And, again, it doesn't really save time typing those on a computer. So they appear less. People see it less. Use it less. So they appear less. People see it less. Use it less. And so on.In real-life vertical writing , in words that don't have kanji , or that are written without kanji , including words that repeat themselves, like a number of mimetic words and onomatopoeia , they may still be useful, if you want to write something real fast, like on a blackboard, for example.Here are some examples of how they work.You'll see that they simply replace the repeating character:So it's not really complicated.The only rule regarding these iteration marks is that they can only repeat theactually written before them, they can't repeat the unwritten readings of a kanji . So, for example:The difference between ゝ and ゞ, and ヽ and ヾ, is that, although they all repeat the, ゝヽ won't have the accent while ゞヾ will. That is:Note that, to some people, ゝ copies the whole thing, soがが would be がゝ, not がゞ.Some examples in real words:Below someexamples:Although the difference between ゝ and ヽ would be that you use one forand the other for, to some people ゝ is used in both cases, as a general repeating character. (these people probably don't even know ヽ exists, by the way.)Also like 々,iteration marks can iterate multiple characters in sequence. For example:Note that in this case, but in vertical writing, you might get aくの字点 instead. Which is, literally, a twice as longく character that's used to iterate multiple characters at once.In horizontal writing it becomes aへ, like:Theiterations marks can also be mixed when rendaku 連濁 changes the pronunciation of a syllable, for example: