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言わん方無し

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Japanese

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Kanji in this term

Grade: 2
かた
Grade: 2

Grade: 4
kun'yomi

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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/ipan kata nasi//iɸan kata nasi//iwan kata nasi/. iwan is a contraction of iwamu, from the verb 言う (iu, to say) in 未然形 (irrealis) form (iwa) plus the subjective particle (mu). Can be thus interpreted literally as “there is no seeming way of saying”.

Idiom

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()わん(かた)() (iwan kata nashiいはんかたなし (ifankatanasi)?

  1. there are no words to describe it
    • 1008-1010: Murasaki Shikibu Nikki
      秋のけはひ入たつままに、土御門殿の有さま、いはむ方なくをかし。
      (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    • 1832-33: Shunshoku Umegoyomi (volume 1)
      [...]人品賎しからねども、薄命なる人なりけん、貧苦にせまる其うへに、此ほど病の床にふし、不自由いわん方もなき、容体もときの吉不詳[...]
      (please add an English translation of this usage example)

References

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  • Hasegawa, Masaharu with Yūichirō Imanishi, Hiroshi Itō, Hiroshi Yoshioka (1989) Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 24: Tosa Nikki, Kagerō Nikki, Murasaki Shikibu Nikki, Sarashina Nikki, Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
  • Nakamura, Yukihiko (1968) Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 64: Shunshoku Umegoyomi, Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN