Here's the sentence

> カン蛙のよろこびようと云ったらもうとてもありません。

I know `カン蛙のよろこび` refers to "Kan the frog's joy", and I believe that I should
read this sentence like this to help understanding the meaning :

> カン蛙のよろこびよう、と云ったら、もうとてもありません。

Right?

But then what's the purpose of `よう` here?  
It's weird to me because `よろこび` is a noun, so shouldn't the sentence be
`"よろこびのよう"` instead?

The other thing I don't quite figure out is `"もうとてもありません"` which is relative
in this conditional structure and of the form (`time adverb + degree adverb +
verb`), I believe the degree adverb is a backreference to the first
proposition's subject ("Kan the frog's joy") or else the subject doesn't exist
which makes me confused.

The only thing I can think of is "What appeared to be Kan the frog's joy, is
not that great anymore". Even though it sounds a little bit confusing still.

Hope to get your help to make the meaning more clear.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-26T21:13:03.157
96868
2023-07-24T00:04:30.493
54763
question
grammar sentence
Having a hard time breaking down this sentence and understanding the meaning
よう is 様, means like how it looks. Roughly the sentence should be translated,
"The way he is happy...".

"...もうとてもありません。" is a little unclear but I think it means like "no way to be
described" or something like that (like もう例えようもありません。） So, in this case もう
does not mean "any more" or "yet", simply to emphasize what follows.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-26T21:21:03.343
96869
2022-10-26T21:26:12.637
2022-10-26T21:26:12.637
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54800
96868
answer