人々

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

• (Tokyo) ひとびと [hìtóꜜbìtò] (Nakadaka – [2])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [çito̞bʲito̞]

Noun

人(ひと)々(びと) • (hitobito) 

1. people, each person, everybody
   • 2004 June 4, “レオニンの従(じゅう)者(しゃ)”, in フィフス・ドーン, 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