Understanding 心を開く開けないを話し合う


> そもそも士道はまだ、映像越しでしか六喰と話をしていないのである。これで **心を開く開けないを話し合う** のは滑稽というものだ。

Source: 「デート・ア・ライブ」

Could you please explain the grammar of the bold part? Why can two verbs be
connected directly like that? And why is there not a の before を?




There is a mostly colloquial expression putting a verb's dictionary form and
its negative together, such as するしない (there seems to be [a JLPT idiom
するしないにかかわらず](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/11907/7810) which employs
this form, but it can be used independently), which equates to either するかしないか
"whether V or not V", or するとかしないとか "to V and/or not to V", "such as V-ing and
not V-ing".

The latter sense needs some understanding of connotation. People are usually
not really interested in whether to do it or not when they say it, but they
use it casually to refer to some discussion or conversation around the topic
of "V-ing".

> りんごの皮をむくむかない _whether to peel or not to peel an apple_  
>  同窓生の顔を覚えているいないの話題 _a topic like how much you remember old classmates'
> faces_  
>  cf. 言った言わない（の話） _he said she said_

Now when you look at your example, it has a small grammatical prickle. When
you use this construction you expect the verb forms to be the same except for
the negation. However,

> これで **心を開く開けない** を話し合うのは滑稽というものだ。

開く has multiple possible synonymous readings, but there is no exact match for
this specific combination. It should be:

  * 心を開【ひら】く開【ひら】かない
  * 心を開【あ】ける開【あ】けない
  * 心を開【ひら】ける開【ひら】けない (potential forms)

This may be the writer's slip of the pen, or their particular writing style I
don't know. If I can assume it to be the same as 心を開く開かない above, the sentence
can be translated like:

> _It's just ridiculous at this point to have a talk about things like opening
> up your heart (or not)._




There is a mostly colloquial expression putting a verb's dictionary form and
its negative together, such as するしない (there seems to be [a JLPT idiom
するしないにかかわらず](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/11907/7810) which employs
this form, but it can be used independently), which equates to either するかしないか
"whether V or not V", or するとかしないとか "to V and/or not to V", "such as V-ing and
not V-ing".

The latter sense needs some understanding of connotation. People are usually
not really interested in whether to do it or not when they say it, but they
use it casually to refer to some discussion or conversation around the topic
of "V-ing".

> りんごの皮をむくむかない _whether to peel or not to peel an apple_  
>  同窓生の顔を覚えているいないの話題 _a topic like how much you remember old classmates'
> faces_  
>  cf. 言った言わない（の話） _he said she said_

Now when you look at your example, it has a small grammatical prickle. When
you use this construction you expect the verb forms to be the same except for
the negation. However,

> これで **心を開く開けない** を話し合うのは滑稽というものだ。

開く has multiple possible synonymous readings, but there is no exact match for
this specific combination. It should be:

  * 心を開【ひら】く開【ひら】かない
  * 心を開【あ】ける開【あ】けない
  * 心を開【ひら】ける開【ひら】けない (potential forms)

This may be the writer's slip of the pen, or their particular writing style I
don't know. If I can assume it to be the same as 心を開く開かない above, the sentence
can be translated like:

> _It's just ridiculous at this point to have a talk about things like opening
> up your heart (or not)._

