I came across the following example sentence and translation in a dictionary:

> 母の喜びようったら大変なものだった。 Mama was too pleased for words.

I don't understand how that meaning arises, especially with "喜びようったら大変なもの".

I suspect it might have something to do with ったらない being used to intensify the
degree or extant of something, but here the ない is replaced with 大変? Really
unsure.

EDIT: After some thought, can I break it down as:

  1. 母の喜びよう mother's way of being glad
  2. ...ったら as for ...
  3. 大変なものだった was great/immense

Still unsure if this is the correct parsing.
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2020-09-23T16:46:52.353
80794
2020-09-24T02:28:28.840
2020-09-23T16:58:37.407
15785
15785
question
grammar
How to understand 喜びようったら大変なもの
Yes, 母の喜びよう is a noun phrase, "Mother's way of being glad". ったら after a noun
is an emphatic topic marker used with an surprised or accusatory overtone.
Sometimes the following predicate is omitted. といったら is similar, but it is more
literary and does not have an accusatory nuance.

  * 山頂から見た景色の美しさったら、言葉にできないほどだった。  
The beauty of the view from the mountain top! It was beyond words.

  * もう、太郎ったら、また！  
Oh, Taro, he did it again!

  * お母さんの驚いた顔といったら！  
You should have seen Mom's surprised face!
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-24T02:28:28.840
80797
2020-09-24T02:28:28.840
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80794
answer