ではないか Grammar translation


what does

> ではないか

mean in the sentence below? And can someone please translate it?

> 耳に馴染みのない方も多いのではないかと思いますが、 (after that he explains the word)....




A は B ではないか is asking "isn't A (=) B?", and here used as a (stylized)
_rhetorical question_ , i.e. meaning "I think that A is B".

Since A と思いますが is "I think that A, but ...", we are also dealing with an
_ellipsis_ (assuming you're quoting the whole sentence).

In any case, both figures of speech are very commonly used in Japanese.

Unfortunate for a straight-forward translation is that basically both parts
translate to "I think that". In English, we can try to translate it like

> 耳に馴染みのない方も多いの **ではないか** ¹ と思いますが **…**²  
>  I think that a number of people **might** ¹ not be familiar with [this]
> **…**²

