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いと's definition:

①大変。非常に。▽程度がはなはだしい。
②〔下に打消の語を伴って〕それほど。たいして。

いたう (いたく)'s definition:

①はなはだしく。ひどく。
②うまく。
③〔下に打消の語を伴って〕それほど。たいして。

One context which I encountered both words in is from 源氏物語『若紫』

日もいと長きにつれづれなれば、夕暮れのいたう霞みたるにまぎれて、かの小柴垣のもとに立ち出で給ふ。

Where いと seems to translate as たいそう in modern Japanese, while いたう becomes ひどく. So いと positive and いたう negative?

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  • 2
    I can’t answer your question about classical Japanese, but ひどく is not always negative.
    – aguijonazo
    Mar 6, 2022 at 6:45
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    You haven't given much context, but I wouldn't say いと seems particularly "positive" in the sentence you've quoted.
    – Nanigashi
    Mar 6, 2022 at 17:13
  • @Nanigashi Well, this is a typical 使い分け question, so rather than "What do they mean in this sentence?" (which I can't claim to have a firm grip on but do have plentiful notes on, so no need to ask), it's asking about the major general senses and usages. Compare: japanese.stackexchange.com/q/1659/30454
    – Eddie Kal
    Mar 6, 2022 at 17:27
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    I understood your question, and I think it's a fine one (hence my upvote). I was just puzzled that you seemed to be suggesting that いと has positive connotations and いたう has negative ones, since the sentence you quoted appears to contradict that idea.
    – Nanigashi
    Mar 6, 2022 at 23:39
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    That's an interesting take on it, and of course a long spring day is sometimes depicted as an unambiguously good thing. In this case, though, I'd say Genji's boredom and need for diversion (日もいと長きにつれづれなれば) tell us that he is finding the day a little too long. (And conversely, the presence of the concealing mist is quite convenient, so いたう is here used in connection with a positive circumstance.) Whether you accept that reading or not, I think you can easily find other examples that will confirm that neither いと nor いたう / いたく has exclusively positive or negative connotations.
    – Nanigashi
    Mar 8, 2022 at 15:10

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This is from 古語大鑑 (relevant entries: いた、いたし、いと).

  1. いたく is 連用形 of いたし, which is いた+し.
  2. For いたし, the dictionary says:

上代に副詞的に用いられた「いた（甚）」に活用語尾「し」のついた形。本来は「程度が甚だしい」の意で、良い意味にも悪い意味にも用いたが、後世には悪い意味が中心となった。

  1. For いた（甚・痛）, it says:

副詞「いと」は「いた」の母音交替型とする説があるが、平安時代には「いたし」が「平平平軽」、「いと」が「上平」と第一音節が一致せず(*)、同源の語とは確認できない。

*This is talking about tones.

  1. For いと（最・甚）, it says:

「いと」は形容的語義を持つ語を、（..)「いたく」は動作的語義を持つ語をそれぞれ修飾するという機能分担があったとされる。

So judging from these, both are originally neutral but いたく is often negative in more recent texts. And the last distinction matches your example.

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