人々

Japanese
Kanji in this term
人 人
ひと
Grade: 1		 ひと > びと
Grade: 1
kun’yomi
Alternative spelling
人人

Etymology

Reduplication of 人 (hito, “person”) to explicitly emphasize plurality.[1][2][3] The second character is replaced with the 々 symbol, the Japanese ditto mark to show duplication of the preceding character. The hito changes to bito as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

Noun

人(ひと)々(びと) • (hitobito) 

  1. (collective) people, each person, everybody
    • 2004 June 4, “レオニンの従(じゅう)者(しゃ) [Leonin Squire]”, in フィフス・ドーン [Fifth Dawn], Wizards of the Coast:
      私(わたし)は王(おう)かもしれないが、兵(へい)士(し)や人(ひと)々(びと)なくしては、私(わたし)は何(なに)者(もの)でもないのだ。
      Watashi wa ō ka mo shirenai ga, heishi ya hitobito naku shite wa, watashi wa nanimono de mo nai no da.
      I may be king, but without my soldiers and my people, I am nobody.

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
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