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点々 (てんてん, tenten) Japanese meaning: here and there | Kotomora
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ぞら
に
星ほし
が
点てん
々てん
と
輝かがや
い
て
いる
。
Stars are shining here and there in the night sky.
Interesting episodes are written sporadically in his diary.
Usage patterns 〈 物もの〉 〉 が 点々てんてん と 散ち らばる for things to be scattered here and there
Flower petals were scattered here and there in the garden.
〈 物もの〉 〉 が 点々てんてん と 続つづ く for something (e.g. marks, drops) to continue intermittently
Drops of blood continued intermittently across the snow.
〈 場所ばしょ〉 〉 に 点々てんてん と 〈 物もの〉 〉 が 見み える for scattered things to be visible in a place
Small huts can be seen dotted here and there on the mountainside.
点々てんてん とした 〈 物もの〉 〉 something covered in dots or spots
There were spots and stains scattered on the shirt.
Related words 点々 is a slightly more formal/descriptive term for things scattered here and there, while ちらほら is more casual and often used for things gradually starting to appear, like cherry blossoms.
散在 is a formal noun/verb meaning 'to be scattered about' used in writing, while 点々 is an adverb/noun that vividly describes dots or sporadic occurrences.
点々 is the more literary/visual term for dots scattered across a surface, while ポツポツ is the everyday mimetic word for the same look of sparse spots.
Don't confuse with 点々 describes dots or things scattered across space, while 転々 (same reading) describes moving, rolling, or shifting from one place to another over time.
点 is a single dot or point, while 点々 emphasizes multiple dots or a scattered distribution of them.
Written forms 点てん 々てん Usage 81%
Standard kanji spelling using the iteration mark 々.
てんてん Usage 10%
Kana spelling is common in informal writing and when the kanji is not needed.
テンテン Usage 6%
点てん 点てん Usage 4%
Variant spelling without the iteration mark; less common but still used.
Etymology Reduplication of 点 (てん, 'dot, point'), with the iteration mark 々 indicating repetition. The adverbial sense derives from the image of dots scattered around.
