dalawa (Tagalog)

Where does "dalawa" come from?

The Tagalog word 'dalawa' traces back to the Proto-Austronesian root *da-duSa, which originally combined a prefix for dualism with the word for 'one.' Over millennia, it evolved through Proto-Philippine and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian stages, eventually shifting into the form 'dalwa' before taking its current shape through the insertion of an extra vowel. This ancient root remains echoed in other languages today, such as the Malay 'dua'.

Full etymology tree

• dalawa (Tagalog), 'two'
  • derived dalwa (Tagalog), 'alternative form of dalawa'
    • inherited *darua (Proto-Central Philippine)
      • inherited *da-duha (Proto-Central Philippine)
        • inherited *da-duha (Proto-Philippine)
          • inherited *duha (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian), 'two'
            • inherited *duSa (Proto-Austronesian), 'two'
              • compound *du- (Proto-Austronesian)
              • compound *əsa (Proto-Austronesian), 'one'
    • inherited *dadua (Proto-Central Philippine)
      • inherited *da-duha (Proto-Central Philippine)
        • inherited *da-duha (Proto-Philippine)
          • inherited *duha (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian), 'two'
            • inherited *duSa (Proto-Austronesian), 'two'
              • compound *du- (Proto-Austronesian)
              • compound *əsa (Proto-Austronesian), 'one'

Ancestors

• *duha (Proto-Philippine)
• *duha (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian)
• *duSa (Proto-Austronesian)

Cognates and doublets

• dua (Malay)

Descendants and derived words

• animnapu't dalawa (Tagalog)
• apatnapu't dalawa (Tagalog)
• dalawampu (Tagalog)
• dalawampu't apat (Tagalog)
• dalawampu't dalawa (Tagalog)
• dalawampu't isa (Tagalog)
• dalawampu't lima (Tagalog)
• dalawampu't pito (Tagalog)
• dalawampu't siyam (Tagalog)
• dalawampu't tatlo (Tagalog)
• dalawampu't walo (Tagalog)
• dalawang daan (Tagalog)

Updated July 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris