Is 「如何に～か」a construction on its own?　Understanding「 か」 used before「って」


The sentence is taken from the 4th volume of
[『裏バイト』](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A3%8F%E3%83%90%E3%82%A4%E3%83%88:%E9%80%83%E4%BA%A1%E7%A6%81%E6%AD%A2)

> 「そして、母さんが、 **如何に** 高いレベルにいた **か** って事。」

Context: A son whose mother is a successful designer has returned home for the
first time in 10 years. His main reason for leaving his parents was that he
aspired to become a designer on his own and ultimately wanted to become more
successful than his mother. While listing some of the realisations he made
during this time he ends with this sentence.

My question is regarding the 「 **如何に～か** 」construction. Initially I wondered
about why a 「 **か** 」stands at the end of this sentence, and while searching
the Internet for a bit I came across this article:

<https://yakyuboy.pixnet.net/blog/post/32093966>

From what I understand the 「 **如何に～か** 」is regarded a construction on its own
here. Generally speaking this construction seems to be used to underline that
“the extent of something is large/high/etc.” What is underlined is placed
between 「 **如何に** 」and「 **か** 」; therefore in the example sentence it is used
to understand just how high his mother’s design skills are, right?

Anyway, I was not able to find any other explanations of this construction, so
I am still a bit unsure about whether my understanding here is correct or not.
I am not really able to explain why, but dropping the「 **か** 」sound weird to
me. So it might also be the case that 「 **如何に～か** 」is not a construction on
its own, but rather that 「 **か** 」 is necessary in phrases like these (for
grammatical reasons I don’t seem to understand). If that is the case, why is
this necessary?




Grammatically, rather than 如何に ～ か being a construction on its own, the
pattern is <疑問詞> ～ か when embedding questions. So か is the usual question
marker.

[如何に](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%A6%82%E4%BD%95%E3%81%AB/#jn-10135)
is more or less the same as the English _how_ , and just like _how_ , can be
used for questions and exclamations.

Embedding questions and exclamations are done by <疑問詞>～か:

  * I realized how difficult the problem is. **どれほど** 問題が難しい **か** に気づいた
  * She asked me where I went last night. 彼女は私に昨夜 **どこに** いったの **か** 尋ねた
  * He told me how he did that. 彼は私にそれを **どのように** やったの **か** 教えた

The sentence of the question has _I realized_ omitted:
そして、母さんが、如何に高いレベルにいたかって事 **に気づいた**. So, it is an embedded exclamation
requiring か. (って事 can be omitted: it is possible to end the sentence
...レベルにいたか or to use ...レベルにいたか気づいた.)

* * *

If not embedded, どれほど/如何に～ことか can be used.

  * How difficult the problem was! 如何にその問題が難しかったことか！

こと is optional: 如何にその問題が難しかったか！

FYI: (I assume) Like in English, expressing an exclamation in a full sentence
would be rare, and in this sense 如何にその問題が難しかったか is not really natural. And,
also like in English, there is a general ambiguity between interrogative and
exclamatory sentences. (如何に is mostly for embedded exclamation in modern
usage, I think.)




Grammatically, rather than 如何に ～ か being a construction on its own, the
pattern is <疑問詞> ～ か when embedding questions. So か is the usual question
marker.

[如何に](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%A6%82%E4%BD%95%E3%81%AB/#jn-10135)
is more or less the same as the English _how_ , and just like _how_ , can be
used for questions and exclamations.

Embedding questions and exclamations are done by <疑問詞>～か:

  * I realized how difficult the problem is. **どれほど** 問題が難しい **か** に気づいた
  * She asked me where I went last night. 彼女は私に昨夜 **どこに** いったの **か** 尋ねた
  * He told me how he did that. 彼は私にそれを **どのように** やったの **か** 教えた

The sentence of the question has _I realized_ omitted:
そして、母さんが、如何に高いレベルにいたかって事 **に気づいた**. So, it is an embedded exclamation
requiring か. (って事 can be omitted: it is possible to end the sentence
...レベルにいたか or to use ...レベルにいたか気づいた.)

* * *

If not embedded, どれほど/如何に～ことか can be used.

  * How difficult the problem was! 如何にその問題が難しかったことか！

こと is optional: 如何にその問題が難しかったか！

FYI: (I assume) Like in English, expressing an exclamation in a full sentence
would be rare, and in this sense 如何にその問題が難しかったか is not really natural. And,
also like in English, there is a general ambiguity between interrogative and
exclamatory sentences. (如何に is mostly for embedded exclamation in modern
usage, I think.)

