tawa タワ 向
〔名詞〕運動、運送. 〔動詞〕行く、動かす. 〔修飾詞〕 可動の、感動させる. 〔前置詞〕～の方へ、～のために、～にとって.
tawa 向
prep to, in order to, towards, for, until
vi go to, walk, travel, move, leave
n movement, transportation
mod moving, mobile
vt move, displace, exchange
→ Just like lon, tawa can be used both as a verb and preposition. However, as a verb tawa can both be used with or without a direct object. As a preposition it indicates a direction, toward a place, or toward a person (‘for’).
ona li lawa e jan tawa ma pona - he leads the people towards the good land
ona li kama tawa ma mi - he wil come to my country
ni li pona tawa mi - that is good for me (I like that)
ni li ike tawa mi - that is bad for me (I don’t like it)
kili li pona tawa mi - I like fruit
toki li pona tawa mi - I like talking; I like languages
telo suli li ike tawa ona - the sea doesn’t suit him; he doesn’t like the sea
mi pona e tomo tawa jan pakala - I repaired/improved the house for the handicapped man
→ Using tawa as a verb
mi tawa tomo mi - I’m going to my house/home
ona mute li tawa utala - they have to go to war
sina wile tawa telo suli - you want to go to the sea
ona li tawa sewi kiwen - she goes up the rock
NB note that sewi modifies tawa as verb (she goes up)
→ tawa with a direct object
mi tawa e kiwen - I move/exchange the rock
ona li tawa e len mi - she moved my clothes
→ tawa as modifier
tomo tawa - a car (a moving house)
tomo tawa telo - a boat, a ship
tomo tawa kon - an aeroplane, a helicopter
NB wikibooks.org warns for the inherent ambiguity of words like tawa, as a result of functioning in multiple grammatical roles (preposition, verb, noun, modifier)
mi pana e tomo tawa sina - I give a house to you ...or...
mi pana e tomo tawa sina - I give you your car (back)
compare: mi pana e tomo tawa sina tawa sina - I give you your car back