also: ゆうゆう
taru-adjective
Archaic literary word describing the plaintive cry of a deer, often used in classical Chinese-influenced poetry or prose. Not used in modern everyday Japanese.
In an old poem, there is the phrase 'the crying voice of the deer'.
taru-adjective
Archaic literary use for human sobbing or weeping, likely an extension of the deer-cry imagery. Extremely rare; modern Japanese would use すすり泣き or 嗚咽.
The manner of sobbing described as 呦呦 is found only in old tales.
Variant spelling using the iteration mark 々; equally rare and archaic.
From Chinese 呦呦 (yōuyōu), an onomatopoeic reduplication representing the cry of a deer. The Japanese reading ようよう (or ゆうゆう) is the Sino-Japanese on'yomi. The character 呦 is rare and used almost exclusively in this compound.