とわ
Japanese
| Alternative spellings |
|---|
| 永遠 永久 常 |
Etymology
/topa/ → /towa/
From Old Japanese. Appears in the Tales of Ise, likely dating to the early 900s CE. Pronounced as toba until the later Heian period.[1]
Ultimate derivation unknown. May be a contraction of earlier 常 (tokotoba),[1] or may have been an independent term used to form tokotoba as a compound.[2]
Pronunciation
Adjective
とわ • (towa) ←とは (tofa)?-na (adnominal とわな (towa na), adverbial とわに (towa ni))
- constant, permanent, everlasting
- Synonym: 常しえ (tokoshie)
Usage notes
Listed in some dictionaries[1][3][5] as a 形容動詞 (keiyō dōshi, “-na adjective”); other sources[2] only list this as a 副詞 (fukushi, “adverb”). Historical usage suggests that this was only used with particle に (ni) as an adverb, and not with particle な (na) or classical なる (naru) as an adjective. When this appears attributively, it is followed by particle の (no),[3][5][2] the usual construction when using a noun to modify another noun.
Inflection
| Stem forms | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperfective (未然形) | とわだろ | towa daro | |
| Continuative (連用形) | とわで | towa de | |
| Terminal (終止形) | とわだ | towa da | |
| Attributive (連体形) | とわな | towa na | |
| Hypothetical (仮定形) | とわなら | towa nara | |
| Imperative (命令形) | とわであれ | towa de are | |
| Key constructions | |||
| Informal negative | とわではない とわじゃない |
towa de wa nai towa ja nai | |
| Informal past | とわだった | towa datta | |
| Informal negative past | とわではなかった とわじゃなかった |
towa de wa nakatta towa ja nakatta | |
| Formal | とわです | towa desu | |
| Formal negative | とわではありません とわじゃありません |
towa de wa arimasen towa ja arimasen | |
| Formal past | とわでした | towa deshita | |
| Formal negative past | とわではありませんでした とわじゃありませんでした |
towa de wa arimasen deshita towa ja arimasen deshita | |
| Conjunctive | とわで | towa de | |
| Conditional | とわなら（ば） | towa nara (ba) | |
| Provisional | とわだったら | towa dattara | |
| Volitional | とわだろう | towa darō | |
| Adverbial | とわに | towa ni | |
| Degree | とわさ | towasa | |
Synonyms
Noun
- eternity
- constancy, permanence, everlastingness
- Synonym: 常しえ (tokoshie)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Shōgaku Tosho (1988), 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (1995), 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN