I would like to know what もなほ here means and what it exactly did to the phrase? I came across it twice and stuck with it, because I don't actually know if it's verb or noun or even adverb.
The other phrase was like this:
闇もなほ、
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1闇もなほ is a quote from 枕草子 (The Pillow Book) chapter 1, written circa 990 A.D.. manapedia.jp/text/2214– marasaiCommented Sep 17, 2016 at 7:22
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1 Answer
The first phrase 花よりもなほ can be split into 3 words: 花-よりも-なほ. Its meaning is "more ... than flowers."
なほ seems to be an old representation of the word that is written "なお" today (which is an adverb). なお is for emphasis in this phrase. なお can typically be used to emphasize comparisons.
In the second phrase 闇もなほ, なほ seems to be also an emphasis. Its meanings is like either "Darkness is also ..." or "Darkness is more ...", depending on context. In the latter case なほ derives a slight feeling of comparison by itself.
answered Sep 16, 2016 at 17:38
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闇もなお never means "darkness is more...", only ～よりもなお and ～はなお make the next word into comparative. Commented Sep 17, 2016 at 5:49