～ないでもなかった / 確かめてこなくては / 誰にも増して

[eeky]

Hi,


1. たてつづけに話しつづける広東語の放送が神経に障らないでもなかったが、留学生たちは一様にはればれした顔。

Does 神経に障らないでもなかった mean that the succession of announcements in Cantonese got on the students' nerves? Is ～ないでもなかった = ～ないで + も + なかった, being a kind of double negative, like the announcements were "not un-annoying"?


2. 「二十一世紀に中国がどんなふうに動き出すのか、よく確かめてこなくては」とリチャード。

I'm guessing something like "'It's not yet certain how China will develop/progress in the 21st century', says Richard."

Is 確かめてこなくては = 確かめて + 来なくて + は? What does this expression mean?


3. しかし誰にも増して期待と心配が胸の中で渦巻いているのは私ではないだろうか。

Does this essentially mean "However, perhaps the expectation and anxiety were affecting me more than anyone else."?


4. The next sentence is それぞれ異なった文化的バックグラウンドを持つ留学生たちとの旅。

I interpret this as "Travel with overseas students who have a wide variety of different cultural backgrounds", which in English is not a proper sentence but just a noun phrase.

The next sentence is この十一年間、外国人に日本語を教えながら思いがけない数々の出来事に出会った, which I understand to mean "Over 11 years of teaching Japanese to overseas students, I've come across many unexpected things."

So, is the purpose of the それぞれ... sentence to establish "Travel with overseas students..." as a topic?

 

[Toritoribe]

1)
Basically, yes, but it's more likely "障らない ＋ でも/では ＋ ない". ないでもない/ないではない means 少しはある.

2)
確かめてこなくてはならない.

We must check how China will develop/progress in the 21st century.

3)
Yes.

4)
No. それぞれ means "Each overseas students have a wide variety of different cultural backgrounds".

 

[eeky]

Thanks Toritoribe.

2. Assuming 確かめてこなくて is from 確かめて + くる, what is the くる part adding? I would expect ～てくる to refer to something that has happened in the past continuing through to the present, but that seems not to fit the the idea of "We must check", which has more of a future sense.

4. I am puzzled by the structure of それぞれ異なった文化的バックグラウンドを持つ留学生たちとの旅. To me, it looks as if this whole "sentence" is merely a noun phrase, with no main verb, with 旅 being the head noun, and everything else basically just describing/qualifying 旅. Are you saying that this analysis is somehow incorrect because of the role of それぞれ?

 

[Toritoribe]

2)
来る is literally from "to come (back)"; go to Chine, check there and come (back to Japan). It's the same usage as 出かけてくる.

4)
Your interpretation is correct. That's just a noun phrase. It seems to me that the key is the next sentence to この十一年間～. It would show the function of this phrase, I suppose.

 

[eeky]

Thank you!