Saw this in a blog post: 「悲しきかな読書への愛を育むほどに、夢は現実から遠ざかる」 It seems like 「悲しきかな」is
used as a na-adjective (形容動詞). Is this correct? I've never seen this form of
adjective before, what would its conjugation be?
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2021-09-25T11:26:54.120
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question
conjugations
What is the conjugation of 「悲しきかな」?
No, it is not an independent adjective, but can be divided as 悲しき + かな, where
悲しき is a classical 連体形 (pre-noun form) and
[かな](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E3%81%8B%E3%81%AA/#jn-43372) is a
particle

> 体言・活用語の連体形に付いて、感動・詠嘆を表す。…だなあ。

> _Preceded by nouns or pre-noun form, indicates being impressed/exclamation.
> Translated as_ だなあ.

So a modern version would be 悲しいなあ, meaning _oh, how sad..._
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2021-09-25T11:45:55.333
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answer