わ

See also: わ゙ and ゎ

わ U+308F, わ HIRAGANA LETTER WA ← ゎ [U+308E] Hiragana ゐ → [U+3090]

Japanese

Stroke order

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 和 in the cursive sōsho style.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɰᵝa̠]

Syllable

わ (romaji wa)

1. The hiragana syllable わ (wa). Its equivalent in katakana is ワ (wa). It is the forty-fourth syllable in the gojūon order; its position is わ行あ段 (wa-gyō a-dan, “row wa, section a”).

See also

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, ゆゅ, よょ, ら, り, る, れ, ろ, わゎ, ゐ, ゑ, を, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

From Old Japanese.

Pronunciation

(women's particle):

• (Tokyo) わ​ [wáꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɰᵝa̠]

(dialectal particle):

• (Tokyo) わ [wà] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɰᵝa̠]

Particle

わ • (wa) 

1. (women's speech, dated) a particle used in the end of sentences to indicate admiration or emotion

   あなたの髪(かみ)は長(なが)いわね！

   Anata no kami wa nagai wa ne!

   Wow, your hair is so long!

   今(いま)、行(い)くわ。

   Ima, iku wa.

   I'm coming.

   知(し)らないわ。

   Shiranai wa.

   I don't know.

2. (dialectal or men's speech) a particle used in the end of sentences to indicate emphasis

   何言(なにい)ってんのか解(わか)んねえわ。

   Nani itten no ka wakannē wa.

   I've no idea what he's saying.

Usage notes

• (Sense 1) In standard Japanese, this particle is mainly used by women, although its usage is almost extinct among younger generations.
• (Sense 2) In various dialects, particularly western, it is used by both men and women, but with a different pitch accent.

Etymology 3

Reading for various kanji.

Counter

わ • (-wa) 

1. 羽: birds or rabbits
2. 把: bundles
3. 話: stories, TV episodes

Noun

わ • (wa) 

1. 回, 曲: a sharp bend in a valley, inlet, coast, or river
2. 輪, 環: a ring
3. 和, 倭: Japan, Japanese
4. 和: harmony; a sum

Proper noun

わ • (Wa) 

1. 和, 倭: Japan, Japanese, Nippo-

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of わ – see the following entry.

【我】6 [pronoun] first-person personal pronoun: I, me Alternative spelling 吾

(This term, わ, is an alternative spelling of the above term. For a list of all kanji read as わ, not just those used in Japanese terms, see Category:Japanese kanji read as わ.)

References

• Horiuchi, Hideaki; Akiyama Ken (1997) Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 17: Taketori Monogatari, Ise Monogatari (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
• Yamagishi, Tokuhei (1958) Koten Bungaku Taikei 14: Genji Monogatari 1 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN