Question about 島々

Japanese Language Kanji
1

Does this mean islands (plural) or like a string of islands close to one another?

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I was trying to look up how to say “the islands are connected by bridges” (referring to a cluster of islands in one region) and was surprised when 島々 popped up in the translation instead of just 島 by itself

Can you use 島々 to talk about islands in general that are not connected to one another in any way or is it only for connected/clustered islands (like Hawaii)?

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2

You can say something like 大西洋の島々, and those could be all over the place, so there’s no requirement that they just be a close group.

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3

Is it more common to see 島々 rather than 島 overall when talking about islands in plural? Or are they used in equal frequency?

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4

I’m not sure if there’s a reliable way to answer that off the top of my head, since frequency usage lists won’t track how 島 is used.

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5

Afaik, this is similar to 木々, 人々 and other words using the repeater kanji. These are mostly for emphasis, but without specifying how close are the objects together, whether it’s a tight group, etc. It’s like saying “several islands” or “islands”, but without a clear distinction of “1 island - X islands”.

At least in my experience.

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