What does なあって mean here?


I'm trying to figure out what is the significance of なあって in the following
sentence:

> そのままからかいやすい西片でいてほしい **なあって**

It feels like it is there for emphasis or something but I just don't get where
it comes from as no dictionary or web search I made could find the source, is
it なー+って? Is it a contraction of something? Is it なんって?

All I managed to find are some sentence on
[Weblio](https://ejje.weblio.jp/sentence/content/%22%E3%81%AA%E3%81%82%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%22)
that use it but I'm unable to deduce its meaning and composition from them:
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8U7lj.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8U7lj.png)

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!




なあって is not a contraction of any specific words.

  * なあ is the same as な, the sentence-end particle. It has several functions, but in this case, it's simply "oh" or "really".
  * って is basically an informal quotative particle. You can imagine something like (私は)思う has been omitted, like the examples on Weblio. Sentence-end って has several functions, too, but in this case, it is used to soften the sentence. Adding this って has an similar effect to adding "maybe", "kinda", "you know" or "I guess".

So the なあ part has the effect of intensifying his wish, while the って is used
to express his hesitation/modesty.

> そのまま、からかいやすい西片でいてほしいなあって。
>
> I really wish you'd stay the same, easy-to-tease Nishikata, you know.




なあって is not a contraction of any specific words.

  * なあ is the same as な, the sentence-end particle. It has several functions, but in this case, it's simply "oh" or "really".
  * って is basically an informal quotative particle. You can imagine something like (私は)思う has been omitted, like the examples on Weblio. Sentence-end って has several functions, too, but in this case, it is used to soften the sentence. Adding this って has an similar effect to adding "maybe", "kinda", "you know" or "I guess".

So the なあ part has the effect of intensifying his wish, while the って is used
to express his hesitation/modesty.

> そのまま、からかいやすい西片でいてほしいなあって。
>
> I really wish you'd stay the same, easy-to-tease Nishikata, you know.

