The character "々", what does it mean?

[Janet Merai]

I have seen this character, "々," a number of times in MANGA and other Japanese sources.

In my NJStar Japanese WP, it is located in the punctuation tab and I still do not understand what it is for, any help here?

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

OK, here are some examples:

人々
日々
木々
方々

Here is another way to write them that means the exact same thing:

人人
日日
木木
方方

Does that help at all?

 

[Janet Merai]

It clears up a lot of confusion, but what is the purpose of two Kanji of the same kind together?

month and month?
I don't get it O_O;

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

It clears up a lot of confusion, but what is the purpose of two Kanji of the same kind together?
month and month?
I don't get it O_O;

Well, in a sense it "pluralizes" the word. ﾂ人 is basically "person" and ﾂ人ﾂ々 is bascially "people".

 

[Janet Merai]

Thank you, I get it now

 

[Haruspex]

Just a hunch but this is how 人々 becomes hitobito right?

 

[nice gaijin]

you got it; it's common for the second part of these compounds to become voiced.

ex:
時々 ときどき
人々 ひとびと
日々 ひび
木々 きぎ
方々 かたがた or ほうぼう
様々 さまざま

note that this happens to kanji that start with unvoiced consonants. those with voiced consonants remain unchanged:
楽々 らくらく
我々 われわれ
昔々 むかしむかし