What is the grammar behind these repeated words (e.g. 一曲一曲, 一発一発)?


> 一曲一曲心を込めて歌ってくれた。  
>  一発一発殺意を込めて殴る

I interpret this as "hit after hit" and "song after song". Does this work with
any 「一＋助数詞」 repeated? Does it make the construction an adverb?

There's a song I like that says 「一分一秒が正念場」. Is it the same grammar?




> Does this work with any **一＋名詞** repeated？

It works with most _counters_. The meaning depends on contexts, but generally
it is _one by one, one after another, each_ etc.

> Does it make the construction an adverb?

I would say no. The 一N一N phrases behave just like numerical expressions, which
are noun phrases that can work adverbially. You can see the following
questions.

  * [Grammatically speaking, what is もう一つ?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/77272/45489)
  * [Placing a quantifier between a noun and particle?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/21549/45489)
  * [Counters with and without の](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/84379/45489)

For example, 一曲一曲心をこめて歌う can be 一曲一曲 **を** 心を込めて歌う, where 一曲一曲 behaves a noun
phrase.

> **一分一秒.** Is it the same grammar?

I would say it is the same usage, practically meaning _every second_. (一分一秒 is
more idiomatic than 一分一分 or 一秒一秒.)

Note that there are a number of common 四字熟語 following the pattern 一N一N:
[一期一会](https://jisho.org/word/%E4%B8%80%E6%9C%9F%E4%B8%80%E4%BC%9A),
[一進一退](https://jisho.org/word/%E4%B8%80%E9%80%B2%E4%B8%80%E9%80%80), etc. 一分一秒
could be considered just as an instance of the pattern as well.




> Does this work with any **一＋名詞** repeated？

It works with most _counters_. The meaning depends on contexts, but generally
it is _one by one, one after another, each_ etc.

> Does it make the construction an adverb?

I would say no. The 一N一N phrases behave just like numerical expressions, which
are noun phrases that can work adverbially. You can see the following
questions.

  * [Grammatically speaking, what is もう一つ?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/77272/45489)
  * [Placing a quantifier between a noun and particle?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/21549/45489)
  * [Counters with and without の](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/84379/45489)

For example, 一曲一曲心をこめて歌う can be 一曲一曲 **を** 心を込めて歌う, where 一曲一曲 behaves a noun
phrase.

> **一分一秒.** Is it the same grammar?

I would say it is the same usage, practically meaning _every second_. (一分一秒 is
more idiomatic than 一分一分 or 一秒一秒.)

Note that there are a number of common 四字熟語 following the pattern 一N一N:
[一期一会](https://jisho.org/word/%E4%B8%80%E6%9C%9F%E4%B8%80%E4%BC%9A),
[一進一退](https://jisho.org/word/%E4%B8%80%E9%80%B2%E4%B8%80%E9%80%80), etc. 一分一秒
could be considered just as an instance of the pattern as well.

