"事故にでもあったのではあるまいか。" grammar help please?


I came across this example in a textbook, and I can't figure out the grammar
of the 2nd sentence:

> 彼から来るはずの連絡がない。事故にでもあったのではあるまいか。

ok:

> The correspondence from him that was expected has not come.
> `事故にでもあった`のではあるまいか。

I've no idea what `事故にでもあった` means. I can only imagine tokenizing as:

> 事故、に、でも、あった

maybe I can imagine:

> 事故、に、合った。 `I had an accident`

Not sure what to make of that `でも`... I don't know.




The ～にでも makes the sentence mean 'Could he have been involved in an accident
or such?' It just makes the sentence politer than ～に alone. The last bit is a
little odd too: ～のではあるまいか is a somewhat archaic way of saying ～のではないだろうか. The
construction is used for offering a suggestion.




The ～にでも makes the sentence mean 'Could he have been involved in an accident
or such?' It just makes the sentence politer than ～に alone. The last bit is a
little odd too: ～のではあるまいか is a somewhat archaic way of saying ～のではないだろうか. The
construction is used for offering a suggestion.

