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あまりにも

charusu

先輩
23 Feb 2011
131
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Good evening friends!

I was trying to figure out how to say something like "too many [dogs]" or "too much [money]". As I understand it this is accomplished by the adverb あまりに, which I don't really understand, how can an adverb modify a noun?

Secondly, Kotoba! has an example sentence: 「彼女は息子にあまりにも大量のお金を与えた。」. 1) Relating to the question above, I don't understand the placement of あまりに here - I mean I understand the meaning of the sentence, just not the grammar. 2) I don't understand the use of も here, I have seen it in quite a few example sentences with あまりに but I can't seem to put a pattern together. I've not heard of も being used as anything but a particle (in the inclusive sense and the emphatic sense).

Can somebody please clear this up for me?

Thank you!

:)
 
あまりに is considered the adverbial usage of the adjective あまり in Japanese grammar.

[形動][文][ナリ]
1 程度のはなはだしいさま。予想を超えているさま。「値段が―に高い」「―な剣幕に恐れをなす」
余り(あまり)の意味 - goo国語辞書

In your example sentence 彼女は息子にあまりにも大量のお金を与えた, あまりにも modifies 大量の, and not お金. Similarly, "too many dogs" is あまりに(も)多くの犬, "to little money" is あまりに(も)少ないお金. あまりに(も)犬 doesn't make sense, as same as "too dog" in English. (You can use あまりお金 as "too much money" in some contexts.)

1)
あまりに(も) is put before the modificand 大量の.

2)
も emphasizes the meaning.
 
As usual, your responses are most enlightening, thank you!

1) I completely understand everything that you so graciously explained except for how the adverbial usage of あまり can modify the noun 大量 - why isn't it あまり(も)大量のお金 ? So what you're saying is that the の-ADJECTIVE 大量の is being modified by an adverb? (that last question is supposed to be funny considering the lengthy discussion we had a few weeks ago about "の-adjectives")

2) So in this context も is kind of like "...gives wayyyy too much..." right?

<bow>

:)
 
Or does it actually make sense to modify an adjective (which is the function of 大量の here I think in that it is an attribute of お金, well not an attribute per se like "green", but it is describing how much) with an adverb? Like in English we say "shockingly large", "skillfully deliberate" - those are obviously adverbs modifying adjectives - is it the same in Japanese?

:)
 
1) I completely understand everything that you so graciously explained except for how the adverbial usage of あまり can modify the noun 大量 - why isn't it あまり(も)大量のお金 ? So what you're saying is that the の-ADJECTIVE 大量の is being modified by an adverb? (that last question is supposed to be funny considering the lengthy discussion we had a few weeks ago about "の-adjectives")
大量 is not a noun, at least not an ordinary noun, since 大量 can't be a subject with が, or an object with を. 大量な is acceptable, therefore many dictionaries classify it in na-adjectives.

たい‐りょう〔‐リヤウ〕【大量】
[名・形動
大量(たいりょう)の意味 - goo国語辞書

たいりょう ―りやう 0 【大量】
(名・形動
大量とは何? Weblio辞書

Of course, it's not a (so-called) no-adjective. See the difinition of no-adjectives. 大量 belongs to Group #5.

(FYI, も can't be used with あまりの/あまりな.)

2) So in this context も is kind of like "...gives wayyyy too much..." right?
The function of も in あまりにも is close to the one of も in よりも. See the thread linked below.
硬い / 元気でやっている / 戻られる / 「手紙」 / 自然

Or does it actually make sense to modify an adjective (which is the function of 大量の here I think in that it is an attribute of お金, well not an attribute per se like "green", but it is describing how much) with an adverb? Like in English we say "shockingly large", "skillfully deliberate" - those are obviously adverbs modifying adjectives - is it the same in Japanese?
Right. That's exactly why the diferrent (conjugated) forms are used depending on the function.
e.g.
あまり暑さにうんざりした。(The modificand 暑さ is a noun.)

今年の夏はあまり(も)暑い夏だった。(The modificand 暑い is an adjective. )

大量お金を持っている。(大量の modifies お金.)

大量お金を持っている。(大量に modifies 持っている.)
 
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