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> ダドリーがドタドタと、それなりに全速力でやってきた。  
>  Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could (original text).

Most references suggest that それなりに means 'in its own way'.

This might be a grey area, but does それなりに全速力で really mean "as fast as he
could"? Literally I think it means "with a maximum speed which is unique to
him" which you might argue means "as fast as possible" but I don't really
think so.

What nuance does それなりに actually give in this sentence? Would there be a
difference if I substituted それなりに with なるべく or できるだけ?
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2023-02-11T16:05:43.510
98570
2023-02-12T15:45:42.307
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grammar meaning
Meaning of それなりに
I think the relevant sense is “as fast as possible given the constraints” —
clearly referring to Dudley’s legendary size.
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2023-02-11T17:36:51.173
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I think interpreting それなり as _in its own way_ or _given the constraints_ as
jogloran's answer should be fine.

In general, それなり means _moderately_ and kind of diminishes what it modifies.
E.g.

  * それなりに分かった I understood to an extent (but not completely)
  * それなりに面白い moderately/mildly interesting/amusing (it's ok, but not super)

So, それなりに in the sentence puts a reservation on 全速力で, as in _as fast as
possible, but to the moderate extent_. If this is odd in English, in Japanese
somehow it works. I suppose 全速力で is understood practically as _very fast_ ,
and それなりに全速力で as _very fast as is possible by Dudley_. In this sense, それなりに
relativizes the maximum (speed).

* * *

できるだけ would be odd here. It would sound redundant to 全速力で, which already
contains the "as much as" sense. できるだけ速く is ok (although I feel できるだけはやく more
often means できるだけ早く=as early as possible).

なるべく won't fit here either. It typically comes with a request or ようにした as seen
in [these examples](https://j-nihongo.com/narubeku/).
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2023-02-11T23:33:16.620
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(X)なり is a suffix that forms a no-adjective meaning something like "no more or
less than what X can do", "as much as can be expected on X", "(at least) to
the extent of X's worth", etc. See: [what does "私なりに..."
mean?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/23601/5010)

Note that -なり sometimes appears to mean "moderately", but that's not the
original meaning of the word. For example, 値段なりの味 ("taste worth the price")
refers to a mediocre taste when the price is neither high nor low, but it
refers to a good taste when the price is high, or a bad taste when the price
is very low. 努力なりの結果 ("the result corresponding to the amount of your effort")
can be a great, so-so, or poor result, depending on the amount of the effort.
それなりの男と結婚した means that someone married an excellent, decent, mediocre, or
below-average man, depending on what kind of person the bride is.

それなり in your sentence is the same as 彼なり. それなりの全速力 (or 彼なりの全速力) is not a
typical full speed that you usually imagine, but a kind of "full speed" that
you can expect from him. In this case, readers know Dudley is not good at
running, so it works as a little sarcastic expression that indicates that his
"full speed" was not really very fast, but at least he did his best.
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