I see numbers, katakana, and a few kanji, but no hiragana :-(

benricho.org/symbol/tokusyu_05_marukakomi.html

あ⃝

You can do that, but the あ doesn't quite fit perfectly…

ぁ⃝

Yay!

@chocolate ぁ⃝!

ぁ⃝ ᴊᴀᴘᴀɴᴇsᴇ ʟᴀɴɢᴜᴀɢᴇ

ぁ⃞ ᴊᴀᴘᴀɴᴇsᴇ ʟᴀɴɢᴜᴀɢᴇ

Oh no! ぁ⃝ showed up right on my phone, but it doesn't show up right on my computer :-(

I was all excited that I figured out how to type あ in a circle, too.

@YasashiiEirian The word ある that appears in the phrases ある人 and ある日 and the like isn't the same word as the verb ある, although etymologically they were the same word originally. The one in ある人 is considered a 連体詞, a type of non-inflecting word (it doesn't change form) used to modify nouns.

The 連体詞「ある」 doesn't have the same rules about animacy, and it isn't in alternation with いる.

@kuchitsu Emphatic lengthening? But in the case of みんな I think they have to be considered separate words.

In あんまり and おんなじ I think they're the same word.

@kuchitsu They aren't entirely, no. By the way, there is a technical term for inserting ん, which is 撥音添加.

I know that as a learner, I tried to read 皆さん as みんなさん, but it turns out it's always みなさん. I've seen other learners make the same mistake :-)

Maybe if you asked someone else, they would insist they're still the same word, and problems like みんなさん not working have some other explanation, like みなさん being a lexical word. I don't know.

You can ask about the difference if you like! :-)

Yay!

I'm just learning too, so I can't always give the best explanations myself.

Oh, definitely.

That's also true of おんなじ and あんまり, I would think.

I think it's an informal lengthening that adds emphasis.

And @chocolate types it frequently! :-)

There are some people that say あんま, which I think is even more informal.