Where does “kawawaan” come from?

kawawaan (Tagalog) comes from Tagalog wawa, from Tagalog kawawa, from Tagalog kaawa-awa, from Tagalog Ka-, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ka-, from Proto-Austronesian ka- — inchoative.

kawawaan (Tagalog): main meaning; real sense; the point

Definitions

  1. main meaning; real sense; the point

Ancestry of “kawawaan”, step by step

kawawaan traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Tagalog wawa

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Tagalogwawariver mouth; delta; meaning; the real sense of,...
2Tagalogkawawasad; miserable; pathetic; wretched
3Tagalogkaawa-awapitiful; pitiable
4TagalogKa-implies companionship or partnership
5Proto-Malayo-Polynesianka-marker of past time in temporal expressions
6Proto-Austronesianka-inchoative

via Tagalog ka- -an

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Tagalogka- -anused to form abstract nouns
2Proto-Austronesian*ka- -an
Every word from Proto-Austronesian ka-Every word from Tagalog Ka-Every word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ka-