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.

Ultimate derivation unknown. May be a contraction of earlier 常 (tokotoba), or may have been an independent term used to form tokotoba as a compound.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) とわ [tóꜜwà] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [to̞β̞a̠]

Adjective

とわ • (towa) ^{←とは (tofa)?}-na (adnominal とわな (towa na), adverbial とわに (towa ni))

1. constant, permanent, everlasting

   Synonym: 常しえ (tokoshie)

Usage notes

Listed in some dictionaries as a 形容動詞 (keiyō dōshi, “-na adjective”); other sources 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), the usual construction when using a noun to modify another noun.

Inflection

Inflection of とわ

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

• 永遠(えいえん) (eien)
• 永久(えいきゅう) (eikyū)

Noun

とわ • (towa) ^{←とは (tofa)?}

1. eternity
2. constancy, permanence, everlastingness

   Synonym: 常しえ (tokoshie)