とんでもない

Japanese

Etymology

Many sources consider this to be a shift from 途でもない (to de mo nai, literally “that is not even the way”, idiomatically “extraordinary, unexpected, unreasonable”)[1][2][3][4][5] or とでもない (to de mo nai, literally “that's not even [whatever came before]”, where the to here is the quotative particle to in reference to whatever was just said previously).[4][6]

However, citations for tondemonai precede those for todemonai by several decades (tondemonai cited to 1586–99, todemonai to 1638), pointing instead to tondemonai as the original form, and to de mo nai as a later development.[7]

An analysis of the earliest texts indicates that this expression arose first in eastern Japanese dialects. Eastern dialects have a tendency to pre-nasalize voiced consonants, which would suggest that the initial tonde may indeed be to de (from either noun 途 (to, “way”) or particle と (to, quotative)).[7]

While the ない (-nai) ending does appear to be 無い (nai, “not; is not”), there are no historical attestations of とんでも (tondemo) used separately.[3][5] The term トンデモ (tondemo, “outrageous, unexpected”) is derived from とんでもない (tondemonai) only in relatively modern usage, such as in the now-dated expression とんでもハップン (tondemo happun) cited to 1950.[8][9]

Despite surface similarities, the tonde here is almost certainly not derived from とんだ (tonda, “extraordinary, unexpected”).[5]

Pronunciation
  • Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of "とんでもない"
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形) とんでもなく とんでもな​く [tòńdémónáꜜkù]
Terminal (終止形) とんでもない とんでもな​い [tòńdémónáꜜì]
Attributive (連体形) とんでもない とんでもな​い [tòńdémónáꜜì]
Key constructions
Informal negative とんでもなくない とんでもな​くない [tòńdémónáꜜkùnàì]
Informal past とんでもなかった とんでもな​かった [tòńdémónáꜜkàttà]
Informal negative past とんでもなくなかった とんでもな​くなかった [tòńdémónáꜜkùnàkàttà]
Formal とんでもないです とんでもな​いです [tòńdémónáꜜìdèsù]
Conjunctive とんでもなくて とんでもな​くて [tòńdémónáꜜkùtè]
Conditional とんでもなければ とんでもな​ければ [tòńdémónáꜜkèrèbà]

Adjective

とんでもない • (tondemonai) -i (adverbial とんでもなく (tondemonaku))

  1. [from roughly 1586] unbelievable, unreasonable, extraordinary, completely unexpected, outrageous, preposterous
    Synonyms: 途方もない (tohō mo nai), 思いがけない (omoigakenai), 意外 (igai), とんだ (tonda), 以ての外 (motte no hoka), 途轍もない (totetsu mo nai)
    俺(おれ)はとんでもないことをしてしまった。
    Ore wa tondemonai koto o shite shimatta.
    I did something totally outrageous.
  2. [from 1905] not at all
    「ありがとうございます。」「いやいや、とんでもないです。」
    “Arigatō gozaimasu.”“Iya iya, tondemonai desu.”
    "Thank you." "No no, not at all."

Usage notes

In older texts, this was treated as a single integral term, with the ない (-nai) ending treated as inseparable. This was used in 丁寧語 (teineigo, “the polite register”) in constructions such as とんでもないことです (tondemonai koto desu) or とんでもないことでございます (tondemonai koto de gozaimasu).

In modern usage, the ない (-nai) ending is treated as separable, and polite constructions may replace the ない (-nai) ending with the negative form of the copular verb instead, such as in とんでもありません (tondemo arimasen) or とんでもございません (tondemo gozaimasen).

Inflection
Inflection of とんでもない
Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形) とんでもなかろ tondemonakaro
Continuative (連用形) とんでもなく tondemonaku
Terminal (終止形) とんでもない tondemonai
Attributive (連体形) とんでもない tondemonai
Hypothetical (仮定形) とんでもなけれ tondemonakere
Imperative (命令形) とんでもなかれ tondemonakare
Key constructions
Informal negative とんでもなくない tondemonaku nai
Informal past とんでもなかった tondemonakatta
Informal negative past とんでもなくなかった tondemonaku nakatta
Formal とんでもないです tondemonai desu
Formal negative とんでもなくないです tondemonaku nai desu
Formal past とんでもなかったです tondemonakatta desu
Formal negative past とんでもなくなかったです tondemonaku nakatta desu
Conjunctive とんでもなくて tondemonakute
Conditional とんでもなければ tondemonakereba
Provisional とんでもなかったら tondemonakattara
Volitional とんでもなかろう tondemonakarō
Adverbial とんでもなく tondemonaku
Degree とんでもなさ tondemonasa

Derived terms

References
  1. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. “とんでもない”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
  4. とんでもない, in 日本辞典 (Nihon Jiten, “Japan Dictionary”) (in Japanese)
  5. とんでもない, in 語源由来辞典 (Gogen Yurai Jiten, “Etymology Derivation Dictionary”) (in Japanese)
  6. “とでもない”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
  7. “とんでもない”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
  8. “とんでもハップン”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
  9. “とんでもハップン”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
  10. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
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