じゃないな / しだい / ブラックの杖を持った腕

Hi,


1. 「ゴーストがやったんじゃないな」

I know this is a perennial question, but just remind me how we know this means "Ghosts didn't do that" rather than "Ghosts did that, right?" Is it because of な at the end?


2. もう一方の手で、ブラックの体のどこそこかまわず、ハリーは手当たりしだい殴り続けた。

What is this しだい? I don't know how to parse this part -- whether しだい is one word, or if it's し + 大, or what.


3. ロンがブラックの杖を持った腕に体当たりし、...

I am a bit confused about the parsing of this sentence, though it looks as if it should be simple. Can it be interpreted in two ways?

ロンが [ブラックの杖] を持った腕に体当たりし、..., i.e. he threw himself at the arm holding Black's wand

ロンが[ブラックの (= が) 杖を持った腕] に体当たりし、..., i.e. he threw himself at Black's arm that was holding a wand. I'm not sure if this interpretation is actually valid...

2) That seems to be a set expression: 窶堙??堋?窶堋ｽ窶堙ｨ窶堋ｵ窶堋ｾ窶堋｢ ? Tangorin Japanese Dictionary

1)
I'm afraid I have to say the former "Ghosts didn't do that" is correct. ゴーストがやったんじゃないかな, ゴーストがやったんじゃないよな or ゴーストがやったんじゃないんだな is for the latter.

2)
しだい(= 次第) is a suffix there.

しだい【次第】
3 〔成り行きにまかせること〕
言いなり次第になる
be at another's 「beck and call [bidding]／do whatever one is told
手当り次第に物を投げる
throw whatever 「is handy [one can get one's hands on]

Click to expand...

しだい【次第】の英語・英訳 - 和英辞書 - goo辞書

3)
ロンが / ブラックの / 杖を持った / 腕に / 体当たりし

Both ブラックの and 杖を持った modify 腕. This の is for possession, not the subject marker. (I.e., 杖を持ったブラックの腕に has the same meaning.)

Thank you both. Yes, I see now that 手当たり次第 is listed as an expression in WWWJDIC too. I didn't think to look it up as one.

Toritoribe said:

1)
I'm afraid I have to say the former "Ghosts didn't do that" is correct. ゴーストがやったんじゃないかな, ゴーストがやったんじゃないよな or ゴーストがやったんじゃないんだな is for the latter.

Click to expand...

What about ゴーストがやったんじゃない?

Toritoribe said:

Both ブラックの and 杖を持った modify 腕. This の is for possession, not the subject marker. (I.e., 杖を持ったブラックの腕に has the same meaning.)

Click to expand...

Is ロンが [ブラックの杖] を持った腕に体当たりし、... not possible?

1)
"Ghosts didn't do that" with a falling intonation, and "I think ghosts did that" with a rising intonation.(Unlike ゴーストがやったんじゃない with a rising intonation, ゴーストがやったんじゃないな is basically talking to the speaker themselves.)

ゴーストがやったんじゃないな with a rising intonation can be "Ghosts didn't that, right?", but ゴーストがやったんじゃないんだな is far more common for the case.

3)
Yes, that's possible. Whose arm it is must be obvious from the context in that case.

Thank you.