What does「ゝ」mean?


Now, I've been at least trying to read 竹取物語, and in the second sentence of my
version it shows a odd symbol that I've yet to see.

[code]

    野山にまじりて、竹を取りつゝ、萬づの事に使ひけり。
    
[/code]

The symbol in question is the 「ゝ」 what does it mean? And what happens to the
sentences translation as a result of it?




ゝ is used to indicate previous hiragana is repeated. In your example, you can
regard the sentence to be exactly the same as below.

> 野山にまじりて、竹を取りつつ、萬づの事に使ひけり。




ゝ is used to indicate previous hiragana is repeated. In your example, you can
regard the sentence to be exactly the same as below.

> 野山にまじりて、竹を取りつつ、萬づの事に使ひけり。

