-まい suffix usage in sample sentence


This sentence is rather confusing. あの人は、二度と嘘をつくまいと誓ったのです。

Apparently the translation is: 'That person had sworn to never lie again' but
I previously thought まい is a negative intention so surely it means 'they won't
swear to never lie'. Obviously that makes no sense though... any help would be
appreciated.

Thanks in advance




Just for the sake of completeness, and in the interests of (hopefully)
clarifying any confusing bits remaining, let's analyze the sample sentence.

> あの人は、二度と嘘をつくまいと誓ったのです。

This isn't very long, but we do still have clause embedding.

  * あの人は、  
The topic, establishing the context for the rest of this sentence. We know
we're talking about _"that person"_.

  * 二度【にど】と  
Literally, _"for two times / on two occasions / twice"_ , or even _"again"_.  
The particle と has a lot of uses. In this case, it's a kind of adverbial,
indicating that the 二度【にど】 portion applies to whatever comes next.

  * 嘘【うそ】をつく  
This is a set construction that basically means _"to tell a lie"_. Literally,
it's more like _"to thrust out or blow out a lie"_.  
The base verb つく has a **ton** of meanings. It's kind of like the English word
"get" in terms of how many meanings it has. The simplest, core meaning might
best translate as "to stick" -- both as a stative, when _"something sticks to
something else"_ (and is then stuck to that thing), and as an instantaneous,
when _"something sticks suddenly outwards"_ , such as a stabbing or thrusting
motion. In this case, this version of つく is sometimes spelled with kanji as
吐く, and it means _"to expel forcefully from a narrow space"_. This is the same
つく used for the phrase 溜息【ためいき】を吐【つ】く _"to let out a sigh"_.

  * まい  
Not used so much anymore, this can be understood as basically the negative
version of the Classical volitional or presumptive (that is, "want to" or
"guess that") suffix む, which became the modern volitional or presumptive verb
ending _-(y)ō_.  
By way of example, しよう ("I will do, shall we do, they'll probably do") matches
up with するまい ("I won't do, we shall not, they probably won't").

  * と  
In this case, the と is used as a kind of quotative particle or coordinating
conjunction -- this usage is similar to the use of English coordinating
_"that"_ , as in, _"they swore **that** they would do xyz..."_

  * 誓【ちか】った  
Past tense or perfective aspect (the action has completed) of verb 誓【ちか】う _"to
swear to do something"_.

  * のです。  
An explanatory statement. _"It is the case that [whatever came before]."_

Diagramming this a bit differently to show the parsing, we might get:

> のです。  
>  あの人は、  
>  誓った  
>  と  
>  まい  
>  嘘をつく  
>  二度と

The whole sentence is an explanatory statement, given the のです ending.

What we're talking about is あの人, and at it's core, what they did, which is
誓った.

What they 誓った-d about is 嘘を吐く, and と (that) they まい (wouldn't) do that 二度と (a
second time / again).

* * *

Please comment if you have any questions or confusions about the above.




Just for the sake of completeness, and in the interests of (hopefully)
clarifying any confusing bits remaining, let's analyze the sample sentence.

> あの人は、二度と嘘をつくまいと誓ったのです。

This isn't very long, but we do still have clause embedding.

  * あの人は、  
The topic, establishing the context for the rest of this sentence. We know
we're talking about _"that person"_.

  * 二度【にど】と  
Literally, _"for two times / on two occasions / twice"_ , or even _"again"_.  
The particle と has a lot of uses. In this case, it's a kind of adverbial,
indicating that the 二度【にど】 portion applies to whatever comes next.

  * 嘘【うそ】をつく  
This is a set construction that basically means _"to tell a lie"_. Literally,
it's more like _"to thrust out or blow out a lie"_.  
The base verb つく has a **ton** of meanings. It's kind of like the English word
"get" in terms of how many meanings it has. The simplest, core meaning might
best translate as "to stick" -- both as a stative, when _"something sticks to
something else"_ (and is then stuck to that thing), and as an instantaneous,
when _"something sticks suddenly outwards"_ , such as a stabbing or thrusting
motion. In this case, this version of つく is sometimes spelled with kanji as
吐く, and it means _"to expel forcefully from a narrow space"_. This is the same
つく used for the phrase 溜息【ためいき】を吐【つ】く _"to let out a sigh"_.

  * まい  
Not used so much anymore, this can be understood as basically the negative
version of the Classical volitional or presumptive (that is, "want to" or
"guess that") suffix む, which became the modern volitional or presumptive verb
ending _-(y)ō_.  
By way of example, しよう ("I will do, shall we do, they'll probably do") matches
up with するまい ("I won't do, we shall not, they probably won't").

  * と  
In this case, the と is used as a kind of quotative particle or coordinating
conjunction -- this usage is similar to the use of English coordinating
_"that"_ , as in, _"they swore **that** they would do xyz..."_

  * 誓【ちか】った  
Past tense or perfective aspect (the action has completed) of verb 誓【ちか】う _"to
swear to do something"_.

  * のです。  
An explanatory statement. _"It is the case that [whatever came before]."_

Diagramming this a bit differently to show the parsing, we might get:

> のです。  
>  あの人は、  
>  誓った  
>  と  
>  まい  
>  嘘をつく  
>  二度と

The whole sentence is an explanatory statement, given the のです ending.

What we're talking about is あの人, and at it's core, what they did, which is
誓った.

What they 誓った-d about is 嘘を吐く, and と (that) they まい (wouldn't) do that 二度と (a
second time / again).

* * *

Please comment if you have any questions or confusions about the above.

