Where does “途方もない” come from?
途方もない (Japanese) comes from Japanese も, from Old Japanese も, from Proto-Japonic mə, from Arabic مَن — who?; who.
途方もない (Japanese): absurd, irrational
Definitions
- absurd, irrational
Ancestry of “途方もない”, step by step
途方もない traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Japanese も
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese | も | Used to form the conjectural form of verbs,... |
| 2 | Old Japanese | も | non-unique topic marker: also, even |
| 3 | Proto-Japonic | mə | non-unique topic marker: also, even, too, as well |
| 4 | Arabic | مَن | who?; who |
via Japanese ない
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese | ない | having that quality, having that state; very much... |
| 2 | Old Japanese | ない | — |
via Japanese 途方
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 途方 | the right way |