未来って変わっちゃうの, further quotation shenanigans, possibly


T and L have been thrown back to past. T has had his hometown ruined in the
past (this is not brought up during the conversation explicitly) so L asks
should they stop by it. T is for a moment unsure then this excahnge happens

> T: でもどうかな。過去の出来事を知ったり干渉したり **して** 、未来が変わっちゃったりしたら嫌だし。
>
> L: そうなの…？ 過去を変えちゃうと、 **未来って変わっちゃうの** ？
>
> T: いや、そりゃそうでしょ。俺とLが会えなくなっちゃったりとかさ。

The following is my a bit rough translation as of now.

> T:But I don’t know. Because I’d hate it if future changed due to our knowing
> about past events or meddling in them.
>
> L: Is that so? If you changed the past would future change?
>
> T: No, I’m sure of it. Among other things, you and me wouldn’t have met.

I have two issues here. One is minor and other more major. First one is that
I'm not sure, but I'm assuming that して in first line is probably meant to be a
kind of soft if. Past events are known of and/or meddled in which then might
cause changes in future. I'm not entirely sure if I'm right there.

The more major problem comes in the next line. It's the 未来って変わっちゃうの？ bit. I'm
not sure what's って supposed to convey. It's usually some kind of quote or
like, buuut...

Wait. An idea strikes me right now. Is that って a way to refer to the previous
line, and it in turn means more that future that changed would be unpleasant.
Basically it's a way to express

> Would the (unpleasant) (changed) future you spoke of change?

Hmm. That's still not entirely right. I'm definitely not seeing something
right.

So what do you think of this conundrum of mine?




First, in regards to the `して` and it being a "soft if". Let's consider a very
direct translation of this:

> 過去の出来事を知ったり干渉したりして、未来が変わっちゃったりしたら嫌だし。
>
> I would hate it if we knew about/meddled in the past and it changed the
> future.

Note there is only one "if". The `して` here represents a sequence of events,
with the conditional being applied to that entire sequence. Think of it as

> (過去の出来事を知ったり干渉したりして、未来が変わっちゃったり)したら嫌だし。

Now, you may be looking for a conditional because the second action is a
direct consequence of the first. Realistically though, we represent
consequences as part of sequences of events all the time in both languages.
Consider:

> 朝よく寝坊して遅れちゃう。
>
> I often sleep in and end up late in the mornings.

In both the English and Japanese versions of this sentence there is no "if",
but it's pretty obvious that the second thing is a consequence of the first
even without one.

In regards to the `って`, it's not any kind of quote. It can certainly be used
for quotes, but I think you're underestimating how versatile `って` is. I'm not
going to try and list every possible usage (because there are a lot of them,
including many as part of set phrases), but most relevantly [it can replace
は](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/39667/replacing-%E3%81%AF-
with-%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6).

> 過去を変えちゃうと、未来は変わっちゃうの？

Realistically I think most people would use `も` here instead of `は` for
`未来も変わっちゃう`, but the point I want to make is that `って` is taking this place.
Jisho also gives a [lengthy list of possible
meanings](https://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6), although most of them
are too vague to be super useful.




First, in regards to the `して` and it being a "soft if". Let's consider a very
direct translation of this:

> 過去の出来事を知ったり干渉したりして、未来が変わっちゃったりしたら嫌だし。
>
> I would hate it if we knew about/meddled in the past and it changed the
> future.

Note there is only one "if". The `して` here represents a sequence of events,
with the conditional being applied to that entire sequence. Think of it as

> (過去の出来事を知ったり干渉したりして、未来が変わっちゃったり)したら嫌だし。

Now, you may be looking for a conditional because the second action is a
direct consequence of the first. Realistically though, we represent
consequences as part of sequences of events all the time in both languages.
Consider:

> 朝よく寝坊して遅れちゃう。
>
> I often sleep in and end up late in the mornings.

In both the English and Japanese versions of this sentence there is no "if",
but it's pretty obvious that the second thing is a consequence of the first
even without one.

In regards to the `って`, it's not any kind of quote. It can certainly be used
for quotes, but I think you're underestimating how versatile `って` is. I'm not
going to try and list every possible usage (because there are a lot of them,
including many as part of set phrases), but most relevantly [it can replace
は](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/39667/replacing-%E3%81%AF-
with-%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6).

> 過去を変えちゃうと、未来は変わっちゃうの？

Realistically I think most people would use `も` here instead of `は` for
`未来も変わっちゃう`, but the point I want to make is that `って` is taking this place.
Jisho also gives a [lengthy list of possible
meanings](https://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6), although most of them
are too vague to be super useful.

