What does maru-maru mean in Japanese? Principally, it may be two issues, and we’re going to duvet the entire, whole, entire factor on this article (that’s a nasty shaggy dog story you’ll perceive in a second).
Let’s stay it candy and easy to get started.
Table of Contents
What’s the meaning of maru-maru in Japanese?
In Japanese, maru-maru manner certainly one of 3 issues. One shape is 〇〇, which acts like a clean house in English, principally a placeholder. The opposite shape is 丸々, which both manner “spherical, plump, overweight,” or “wholly, totally, totally.”
The Large O’s
Let’s get started with one thing at the easy facet of items. This is to say not anything in any respect. That’s proper, one of the vital absolute best kanji in the entire Japanese language is 〇.
This personality is as direct and easy because it appears, and but it additionally has many alternative jobs within the language. It may be used to mark a solution as right kind (identical as a check-mark, like we use in the United States).
It may be used to refer to a circle (no marvel there). It may be used as a 0 (on this case it’s both pronounced 0 or rei). And, eventually, it may be used as a placeholder.
When used as a placeholder, it steadily is available in a pair as 〇〇, pronounced maru-maru. This maru-maru placeholder purposes in nearly the similar method as a clean house would in English.
It has an alternative pronunciation as smartly (even though it sort of feels to be an “unofficial” one, so far as my assets divulge). When studying 〇〇 as a clean, you’ll additionally say nani-nani.
Additionally, in that placeholder method, it will probably similarly serve as to censor phrases (similar to we use !*#@$% in English). On this case you possibly can have to use your judgment to select how to pronounce the phrase, however you wouldn’t learn out the 〇’s as maru’s.
One ingenious use of the 〇〇 that I discovered was once in a manga titled ひとりぼちの〇〇生活 (hitori-bochi no maru-maru seikatsu. This implies, kind of, “The _____ Lifetime of the Lonely.” That will be a difficult name to learn aloud in English. Simple peasy in Japanese!
Beginning of the 〇
I couldn’t discover a transparent beginning for this personality online. It was once in use in China a minimum of as early because the twelfth century, and most likely was once now not natively broaden (like maximum Chinese language characters had been).
The possibly beginning is that it got here out of both South Asia or the Heart East, coming from its use as a placeholder within the decimal sense of 0.
Rounding out the meaning of maru-maru
Every other, relatively not unusual, method to write maru is 丸. This personality dates the entire long ago to the oldest days of Chinese language script, initially merely indicating one thing that may be became or flipped.
In essence, one thing that may be rolled—one thing spherical.
Over the years this solidified into the common-sense we use as of late, which is of one thing this is spherical in a overweight, plump, or crammed method.
There are, principally, two techniques to write this. One is 丸々, which can be utilized as its personal noun, or as a verb, should you connect suru (or one of the vital suru conjugated bureaucracy) to the top.
Differently is to make it its personal verb by way of taking the second one part and stripping away the kanji and imbuing the general syllable with verbial powers!
K, let me illustrate. 丸まる appears nearly the similar as what you spot above, and it’s, in reality, pronounced the similar, nevertheless it purposes ever so reasonably in a different way.
This one, partially as a result of the second one part is written in kana as a substitute of kanji, is a normal verb.
It may be conjugated all by itself, with no need to upload the rest. It manner, by itself, “to develop into rounded,” or, “to roll right into a ball.”
So as to perceive the best way this type of maru-maru is used, let’s check out a few instance sentences.
The desire for this may occasionally develop into particularly obvious once we get to the following (which could also be the final) segment.
毎日おじいさんとおばあさんが仔猫にミルクを飲ませましたら、仔猫には、まもなく、可愛らしい丸々とした猫に、なりました。
Mainichi oji-san to oba-san ga koneko ni miruku o nomasemashitara, koneko niwa, mamonaku, kawai-rashi maru-maru toshita neko ni, narimashita.
Each day grandfather and grandmother gave the kitten a lot of milk, and shortly the kitten grew great and plump.
あの赤ん坊は丸々していて健康的だ。
Ano akanbo wa maru-maru-shiteite kenkoteki da.
That child is fats and wholesome.
Finishing the meaning of maru-maru
The overall meaning of maru-maru is 丸々 (I do know, acquainted, proper?). You’ll have to use context to distinguish this meaning from the previous one.
It’s easy (and distinct) sufficient although. On this case 丸々 simply manner “wholly, totally.”
Let’s have a look at a few instance sentences to assist transparent up the adaptation/
丸々2時間の仕事。
Maru-maru ni-jikan no shigoto.
I labored for a whole two hours.
午後はまるまる買い物なんだから。
Gogo wa maru-maru kaimono nanda kara.
We’ve got all afternoon to store.
明日で丸々1時間雨が降り続くことになっているでしょう。
Ashita de maru-maru ichi-jikan ame ga furi-tsudzuku koto ni natteiru desho.
It’ll had been raining an entire week the following day.
“I’ve lived in Japan on-and-off for the final 5 years, travelling to (nearly) each nook of the Land of the Emerging solar. I’ve deepened my love of the language with giant hauls from Sapporo guide retail outlets, by way of chatting in Shinjuku espresso stores, ingesting in Osaka “snack bars,” exploring far away Okinawan islands, and hitching rides with priests in Aomori. Japanese is a large and deep language, and I’m at all times keen to dive in deeper.”
