Why does 「でならない」 not mean "does not become"?


Apparently the phrase `でならない` means something like "unable to suppress". For
example, in this sentence, `残念{ざんねん}でならない` means, "can't help but be
disappointed":

>
> 特{とく}に最近{さいきん}の若{わか}い人{ひと}は教育{きょういく}制度{せいど}の影響{えいきょう}か、早{はや}くからもう自分{じぶん}の将来{しょうらい}はこのくらいのものだと見切{みき}りをつけて、それ以上{いじょう}は望{のぞ}まないと言{い}うような考{かんが}えの人{ひと}が少{すく}なからずいるのは残念{ざんねん}でならない。

But I just can't see how `でならない` can be parsed that way. It's not a double
negative or anything, and it just seems to be the negative form of `なる`.

Recently, [in response to](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/16132/119)
another question I asked, I was reminded how `なる` is attached to words to mean
"to become". So, I would translate `残念{ざんねん}でならない` as "not become
disappointed", which would completely reverse the meaning of the sentence
above.

What is the logic behind `残念{ざんねん}でならない` meaning "can't help but be
disappointed", and why does it not mean "does not become disappointed"? How
can I differentiate this phrase from instances where `ならない` simply means "does
not become"?




The て part is a conditional particle, similar to ～してはならない, ～してしかたない, ～してすみません,
etc. In 残念でならない, 残念 is the cause of ならない.

ならない is the negative form of なる, which is the intransitive verb of なす (to do).
The relation between ならない and なす is analogous to できない and する. In modern
Japanese, なす/ならない is only used in some fixed expressions, such as `なせばなる`,
`どうにも(こうにも)ならない/however (you do it) you will accomplish (nothing)`,
`なんとかなる/somehow manage`, `我慢ならない` and `してはならない`.

なんとかなる and 我慢ならない are clearly related to なんとかできる and 我慢できない.

* * *

残念でならない is better understood as “it is so disappointing that/and I cannot
(...)”. This ならない means しかたがない or 我慢できない that is what you said “unable to
suppress”.

Nevertheless, ならない is idiomatic. You cannot really replace it with できない. And
there is a clear difference among ～してならない, ～してしようがない(idiomatic),
～してたまらない(idiomatic) and ～して我慢できない(unidiomatic).




ならない is an expression that means that something is unbearably so, exceedingly
so, felt strongly in such a way. It should be parsed as something separate
from the normal ～になる "become" meaning. If it were to be "become" then it would
use に instead of で. In this sense で is the continuative form of the copula,
and as such it is describing a situation and the ならない afterward is describing
something that follows as a result. 残念でならない can therefore only be parsed in
the "can't help but be" meaning. If it were 残念にならない you'd have something like
what you want to say, although I don't think that particular wording would be
used.

