Could someone please clarify if I'm translating these two sentences correctly?


I think I've translated this correctly, but I started to have doubts about a
few words and decided to double-check.

> (person A) 結婚なんて。。。めんどくせーこと オレはやめとくか。。。
>
> (person B) ああ。。。。。

On my first reading, I understood this to come to the meaning of:

"Something like marriage...it's tiresome. I might pass on it..."

"Yeah....."

(For context, there's been some vagueness as to whether person A and B's
relationship is romantic or not, and the conversation takes place in a happy
dream of person A's, in which he and person B are watching two married
couples- one blissful, the other nagging.)

There are a few points I'm feeling a little paranoid about and would like some
clarification on:

1- I'm aware that なんて can be used to express disdain towards the noun prior
and sorta replaces は. It's with that sort of understanding that I made the
above translation (I used 'something like marriage' instead of just 'marriage
is' to better suit the pause). But I noticed that なんて can also be used to mean
'and the like', so for a moment I wavered on whether the sentence meant
marriage or all romantic matters in general, but then decided it was probably
focused on marriage alone due to the context and use of こと.

2- I'm assuming か was added to the end of the sentence as an indicator of the
speaker wondering-out-loud, but when I thought about it, it could've just been
there due to the speaker's speech pattern (they tend to say a lot of things
like 行くか, やるか, etc.) which would change the translation of their second
sentence to "I guess I'll pass on it."

3- I assumed the "ああ" was spoken in a 'ditto' sort of way, with the
implication of person B agreeing that marriage was too bothersome to deal
with. Endless limits of interpretation aside, can I just check if there's
anything in the structure of the first speaker's sentence that strongly
suggests -in the linguistic sense- another implication to the meaning of the
reply?

Any opinions/corrections would be greatly appreciated.




Your translation looks OK.

> "there's been some vagueness as to whether person A and B's relationship is
> romantic or not..."

Even though Person B's line is only 「ああ・・」, I would think he is a man. A woman
would rarely, if ever, say that as a reply to a statement.

> "so for a moment I wavered on whether the sentence meant marriage or all
> romantic matters in general, but then decided it was probably focused on
> marriage alone due to the context and use of こと."

You appear to have made the right decision. Though A's line is short, it does
not sound like he is not interested in ANY kind of romantic relationship. It
sounds like marriage is the only thing he is uneager to pursue.

> "2- I'm assuming か was added to the end of the sentence as an indicator of
> the speaker wondering-out-loud, but when I thought about it, it could've
> just been there due to the speaker's speech pattern (they tend to say a lot
> of things like 行くか, やるか, etc.) which would change the translation of their
> second sentence to "I guess I'll pass on it.""

I could not know his speech pattern without more context, but as a Japanese-
speaker, I do know that it is completely natural for him to end that sentence
with a か. Without it, it would become too firm a statement of giving up
getting married for good.

> "3- I assumed the "ああ" was spoken in a 'ditto' sort of way, with the
> implication of person B agreeing that marriage was too bothersome to deal
> with. Endless limits of interpretation aside, can I just check if there's
> anything in the structure of the first speaker's sentence that strongly
> suggests -in the linguistic sense- another implication to the meaning of the
> reply?"

There is absolutely nothing A's statement that suggests another implication in
any way.




Your translation looks OK.

> "there's been some vagueness as to whether person A and B's relationship is
> romantic or not..."

Even though Person B's line is only 「ああ・・」, I would think he is a man. A woman
would rarely, if ever, say that as a reply to a statement.

> "so for a moment I wavered on whether the sentence meant marriage or all
> romantic matters in general, but then decided it was probably focused on
> marriage alone due to the context and use of こと."

You appear to have made the right decision. Though A's line is short, it does
not sound like he is not interested in ANY kind of romantic relationship. It
sounds like marriage is the only thing he is uneager to pursue.

> "2- I'm assuming か was added to the end of the sentence as an indicator of
> the speaker wondering-out-loud, but when I thought about it, it could've
> just been there due to the speaker's speech pattern (they tend to say a lot
> of things like 行くか, やるか, etc.) which would change the translation of their
> second sentence to "I guess I'll pass on it.""

I could not know his speech pattern without more context, but as a Japanese-
speaker, I do know that it is completely natural for him to end that sentence
with a か. Without it, it would become too firm a statement of giving up
getting married for good.

> "3- I assumed the "ああ" was spoken in a 'ditto' sort of way, with the
> implication of person B agreeing that marriage was too bothersome to deal
> with. Endless limits of interpretation aside, can I just check if there's
> anything in the structure of the first speaker's sentence that strongly
> suggests -in the linguistic sense- another implication to the meaning of the
> reply?"

There is absolutely nothing A's statement that suggests another implication in
any way.

