～ないかな (Negative Verb Form with Positive Translation)


I encountered the following as I was reading chapter 29 of the manga
**かぐや様は告らせたい** (images of the section are linked below if it matters). The
lines are stated by a very cynical, depressive type character who has a
irrational and jealous hatred toward members of sports clubs.

> あぁほんと・・・
>
> 全員 死なねー
>
> かな・・・・

I would have translated this to something like: **Yeah, really...I wonder if
they're all not dead..**

Now, I sincerely doubted that that was correct since it didn't make any sense
at all so I consulted the fan translation:

> Yeah... Maybe... They should all just die...

This translation makes more sense to me and I assume it is a valid
translation.

**Could someone please explain the grammar (although I'm certain there is some
slang involved) that caused 死なねー (死なない presumably) to be given a positive
meaning?**

[Japanese panel](https://i.stack.imgur.com/xHq5H.jpg)  
[English panel](https://i.stack.imgur.com/1e5WK.png)




This ねー is ない as you've correctly guessed. かな is [usually "I wonder
～"](http://www.jgram.org/pages/viewOne.php?tagE=kana), but (ない)かな often
expresses one's _wish_. 全員死なねーかな means "I wish they all die."

> ### [かな](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/43373/meaning/m0u/)
>
> ３ （「ないかな」の形で） **願望** の意を表す。「だれか代わりに行ってくれないかな」「早く夜が明けないかな」

This translates to a positive English sentence because ～ないかな is essentially a
rhetorical question like "Why not ～?". You can choose whichever fits better in
the context, between "I wish ～" or "I wonder (if) ～". See [this related
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/4045/5010), too.

Some more examples:

>   * 空を飛べないかな。
>   * どこかに1億円落ちてないかな。
>   * はやくクリスマスが来ないかな。
>




This ねー is ない as you've correctly guessed. かな is [usually "I wonder
～"](http://www.jgram.org/pages/viewOne.php?tagE=kana), but (ない)かな often
expresses one's _wish_. 全員死なねーかな means "I wish they all die."

> ### [かな](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/43373/meaning/m0u/)
>
> ３ （「ないかな」の形で） **願望** の意を表す。「だれか代わりに行ってくれないかな」「早く夜が明けないかな」

This translates to a positive English sentence because ～ないかな is essentially a
rhetorical question like "Why not ～?". You can choose whichever fits better in
the context, between "I wish ～" or "I wonder (if) ～". See [this related
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/4045/5010), too.

Some more examples:

>   * 空を飛べないかな。
>   * どこかに1億円落ちてないかな。
>   * はやくクリスマスが来ないかな。
>

