Can と and な have the same meaning?


I was told that the following uses of と and な after 色々 were the same.

> 彼女のために色々と甘いものを買ってきた。I bought a bunch of sweets and brought them to my GF.  
>  彼女のために色々な甘いものを買ってきた。

If this is true, is this an added use of the generic particle と that is not
listed in this definition?

> と
>
> particle / conjunction :
>
> if; when
>
> このシャンプーを買うと素敵なヘアブラシがついてきます。This shampoo comes with a nice hair brush.  
>  彼女は、どうしてそんなことが可能なのかと尋ねている。She's asking how that's possible. ▾
>
> and
>
> １２と２４と７と１１の合計は５４です。The sum of 12, 24, 7 and 11 is 54.  
>  いまやろうと思ったのに。I was just about to get started any-how. ▾
>
> with
>
> 私はあなたとお話してよかった。I have enjoyed talking to you.  
>  彼女は今忙しいので、あなたとお話できません。She is busy at present and can't speak to you. ▾
>
> particle used for quoting (with speech, thoughts, etc.)
>
> 「美しい」とか「醜い」といった言葉は相対的な用語である。The words 'beautiful' and 'ugly' are relative
> terms.  
>  そういう相手の前では、私の見せ掛けだけの怜悧な技術は、見抜かれた時に負けていたと思う。I think that against somebody
> like that, my seemingly clever techniques would be seen through and then I
> would be defeated. ▾

How does the と in the first quote work?




No, the 「と」 and 「な」 do not have the same meaning or function. 「と」 enables an
adverbial function and 「な」, an adjectival one.

In the sentence:

> [彼女]{かのじょ}のために[色々]{いろいろ}[と][甘]{あま}いものを[買]{か}ってきた。

「色々と」 modifies the verb 「買ってきた」.

But in the sentence:

> 彼女のために色々[な]甘いものを買ってきた。

「色々な」 modifies the noun 「（甘い）もの」.

Part of your confusion may have arisen from the fact that the first sentence
is difficult to translate into natural English in such a way that it will show
that 「色々と」 modifies 「買ってきた」.

The second sentence would translate swimmingly into English --- "bought and
brought a variety of sweet things".

