Meaning of 〜はしまいか、〜はすまいか、〜ていはしまいか and 〜ていはすまいか


I've found a couple of times while reading novels the grammar patterns

Verb stem + はしまいか/はすまいか

and

Verb て + いはしまいか/いはすまいか

However, I googled these patterns, but I couldn't find any website explaining
them.

Could you please tell me about their meaning and give me an example of how are
they used (if possible, I would like to see some any other sentence to have it
as reference)?




It's not a fixed pattern with an idiomatic meaning, but a combination of
simple rules. Taking 食べる as an example verb, 食べはすまい is just 食べはする with まい
(negative inference) and か (question marker) attached. 食べていはする is 食べていはする with
まい and か.

  * 食べはする and so on are ways of attaching は (contrastive), も ("also/even") and すら ("even") to a verb. For example, `食べる + は` becomes `食べはする` ("eat at least"), `食べる + も` becomes `食べもする` ("also eat"), `食べる + すら + ない` becomes `食べすらしない` ("not even eat"). See also: [What's the grammatical breakdown of "知りもしないわ"?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/21075/5010)
  * 食べはし **まい** (or 食べはすまい, 食べはするまい) is a negative inference version of 食べはする. しまい, すまい and するまい are interchangeable. It means 食べはしないだろう. For details, see [this question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/96027/5010).
  * か is a question marker.

Therefore, 食べはしまいか is roughly the same as 食べはしないだろうか or 食べないだろうか ("Won't he
eat it?", "I'm afraid that he will eat it").

If there's also a progressive meaning, just replace 食べる to 食べている and follow
the same pattern:

  * 食べている: is eating
  * 食べていはする: is eating (at least)
  * 食べていはしまい: it's not likely that he is eating
  * 食べていはしまいか: isn't it likely that he is eating?

食べていはしまいか is roughly the same as 食べていはしないだろうか or 食べていないだろうか ("I wonder if he's
eating?", "I'm afraid that he may be eating it").




It's not a fixed pattern with an idiomatic meaning, but a combination of
simple rules. Taking 食べる as an example verb, 食べはすまい is just 食べはする with まい
(negative inference) and か (question marker) attached. 食べていはする is 食べていはする with
まい and か.

  * 食べはする and so on are ways of attaching は (contrastive), も ("also/even") and すら ("even") to a verb. For example, `食べる + は` becomes `食べはする` ("eat at least"), `食べる + も` becomes `食べもする` ("also eat"), `食べる + すら + ない` becomes `食べすらしない` ("not even eat"). See also: [What's the grammatical breakdown of "知りもしないわ"?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/21075/5010)
  * 食べはし **まい** (or 食べはすまい, 食べはするまい) is a negative inference version of 食べはする. しまい, すまい and するまい are interchangeable. It means 食べはしないだろう. For details, see [this question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/96027/5010).
  * か is a question marker.

Therefore, 食べはしまいか is roughly the same as 食べはしないだろうか or 食べないだろうか ("Won't he
eat it?", "I'm afraid that he will eat it").

If there's also a progressive meaning, just replace 食べる to 食べている and follow
the same pattern:

  * 食べている: is eating
  * 食べていはする: is eating (at least)
  * 食べていはしまい: it's not likely that he is eating
  * 食べていはしまいか: isn't it likely that he is eating?

食べていはしまいか is roughly the same as 食べていはしないだろうか or 食べていないだろうか ("I wonder if he's
eating?", "I'm afraid that he may be eating it").

