Suffix まい in this context


... この事がお母さまに或いは悪い祟りをするのではあるまいかと、心配で心配で...

Kazuka is wondering about if she caused a curse to happen to her mother by
burning the snake eggs. I understand the general meaning but the suffix "mai"
confuses me a little bit.

It's a suffix used to convey a negative meaning, right? ie. 'probably isn't'
or 'musn't'. But here, it is challenging for me to understand why the author
used it. It feels like it weakens the possibility of Kazuka harming her
mother, but we know that she is anxious about her actions. Or is it used here
to strengthen the if clause?

This is "The Setting Sun" by Osamu Dazai by the way.




まい is a negative inference/volition marker, and あるまい is interchangeable with
ないだろう/なかろう.

> 犬ではあるまい。  
>  = 犬ではないだろう。  
>  = 犬ではなかろう。  
>  = It's probably not a dog.

But when they are followed by か, the meaning is switched. (If you know
ではない(の)か, this is in the same vein.) See also [Difference between だろうか and
ではないだろうか](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/34189/5010).

> 犬ではあるまい **か** 。  
>  = 犬ではないだろう **か** 。  
>  = 犬ではなかろう **か** 。  
>  = It's a dog, isn't it?

Your sentence can be rephrased to 祟りをするのではないだろうか, so she is thinking it is
likely to cause a curse.




まい is a negative inference/volition marker, and あるまい is interchangeable with
ないだろう/なかろう.

> 犬ではあるまい。  
>  = 犬ではないだろう。  
>  = 犬ではなかろう。  
>  = It's probably not a dog.

But when they are followed by か, the meaning is switched. (If you know
ではない(の)か, this is in the same vein.) See also [Difference between だろうか and
ではないだろうか](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/34189/5010).

> 犬ではあるまい **か** 。  
>  = 犬ではないだろう **か** 。  
>  = 犬ではなかろう **か** 。  
>  = It's a dog, isn't it?

Your sentence can be rephrased to 祟りをするのではないだろうか, so she is thinking it is
likely to cause a curse.

