代る代る
かわるがわる · kawarugawaru · JLPT N1 · adverb
alternately
🏓 代る (kawaru, substitute) doubled: each one takes the place of the other in turn
Saying 代る twice (kawaru kawaru) signals back-and-forth swapping. The 代 kanji means substitute, the same root as 交代 (koutai, shift change).
代 — person radical 亻 + 弋 (stake/dart, phonetic)
代 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 亻 (person) gives the meaning and 弋 supplies the sound. The original sense was one person taking the place of another, which broadened to 'substitute,' 'replace,' and then 'generation' or 'era' — successive groups of people replacing the previous.
代 — person radical 亻 + 弋 (stake/dart, phonetic)
代 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 亻 (person) gives the meaning and 弋 supplies the sound. The original sense was one person taking the place of another, which broadened to 'substitute,' 'replace,' and then 'generation' or 'era' — successive groups of people replacing the previous.