とも～とも言えない・
This pattern names two competing descriptions and says that something cannot be confidently classified as either one. It is useful for blurred colors, sounds, expressions, relationships, positions, styles, and judgments.
How the pattern works
Each proposed label receives とも, and the sentence ends by denying that either label can be chosen confidently. The point is not simply that both descriptions are false: the thing lies somewhere between them, resembles both, or otherwise resists a stable classification.
Blurred sensory impressions
Colors, sounds, and visible expressions are especially natural because the observer is trying to choose between two impressions.
空は青とも灰色ともつかない色に染まっていた。
The sky had turned a color that was neither clearly blue nor gray.
Analyze彼の表情は微笑とも苦笑とも言えない曖昧なものだった。
His expression was ambiguous, neither clearly a smile nor a wry smile.
Analyzeその音は笛とも鳥の声ともつかない、不思議な響きを帯びていた。
The sound had a strange quality that was neither clearly a flute nor a birdcall.
AnalyzeAbstract classifications
The same frame works for relationships, attitudes, genres, and other abstract categories. The surrounding sentence should make clear what is being classified.
二人の関係は友情とも恋愛とも言えないまま、何年も続いた。
Their relationship continued for years without being clearly either friendship or romance.
Analyzeこの作品は小説とも随筆ともつかない独特の形式を取っている。
This work has a distinctive form that is neither clearly a novel nor an essay.
Analyze委員長の発言は賛成とも反対とも言えない慎重な内容だった。
The committee chair's remarks were cautious and could not clearly be called either support or opposition.
AnalyzeOther ways of expressing uncertainty
のやら・ものやら leaves a question unresolved without requiring two competing labels. Repeated やら can list possible states or representative items. By contrast, the present pattern explicitly sets up label A against label B and says that neither classification can be chosen confidently.
More examples
遠くに見える影は人とも木ともつかない形をしていた。
The distant shadow had a shape that was neither clearly a person nor a tree.
Analyze新製品は玩具とも家具とも言えない不思議なデザインだ。
The new product has a strange design that cannot clearly be called either a toy or a piece of furniture.
Analyze彼の返事は承諾とも拒絶ともつかない曖昧なものだった。
His reply was ambiguous, neither clearly an acceptance nor a refusal.
Analyzeその香りは花とも薬草とも言えない独特のものだった。
The scent was distinctive, neither clearly floral nor herbal.
Analyzeこの曲はジャズともクラシックともつかない独自の響きを持つ。
This piece has a sound of its own, neither clearly jazz nor classical music.
Analyzeその言葉が冗談とも本気とも言えないため、返事に困った。
Because I could not tell whether the remark was a joke or serious, I did not know how to respond.
Analyze