ぐるぐる

See also: くるくる

Japanese

Etymology

This term is part of of a cluster of terms derived from root ぐる (guru, “turning? spinning? going around in a circle?”).

  • ぐるり (gururi, adverb), attested from 1603[1]
  • ぐるぐる (guruguru, adverb), attested from 1625[1]
  • ぐる (guru, noun), attested from 1692[1]
  • ぐるっと (gurutto, adverb), attested from 1907[1]

This term guruguru could be analyzed as a reduplication of ぐる (guru), or as a shift from くるくる (kurukuru). Japanese adverbs with voiced initial consonants usually refer to softer, heavier, or slower action than counterparts with unvoiced initial consonants.

Pronunciation

Adverb

ぐるぐる or グルグル • (guruguru)  (optionally as ぐるぐると (guruguru to))

  1. turning round and round; whirling; spinning [from 1625]
    ぐるぐる回(まわ)る ― guruguru mawaru ― to spin round and round
  2. wrapping, winding, rolling up
    ぐるぐると丸(まる)める ― guruguru to marumeru ― to roll (something) up

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Shōgaku Tosho (1988), 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
  4. ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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