ってば

Japanese

Etymology

In modern Japanese, an emphasis of てば (teba), itself a contraction of と言えば (to ieba), from quotative particle と (to) and the conditional conjugation 言えば (ieba) of verb 言う (iu, “to say”).[1][2]

Literally means, “if that's what [someone] says / said”. Also used idiomatically to mean something along the lines of, “if that's what [I / you / someone] said, then [that's what I really mean / why won't you agree with me]”.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [t̚te̞ba̠]

Particle

ってば • (tteba) 

  1. (informal, childish or women's speech) Binding particle used to show as a topic with feelings of familiarity or criticism.
  2. (informal) Sentence-final particle used to emphasize a point and express irritation.
    だからいらないってば！
    Da kara iranai tteba!
    I'm telling you, I don't need it!!

Usage notes

Becomes てば (teba) if preceded by a word ending with ん (n).

References
  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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