Is this correct?

[Rinilex]

I'm listening to and writing out a translation for a Japanese audio book, and I really want to fully understand everything and get the right nuance rather than skim over it, but when it comes to particles and such I'm not very good.

あなたは日本人なのに, なんで独逸のために戦うって思ったなのかなでさ

I translated this as:

"I was wondering why even though you're Japanese, you said you're fighting for Germany."

Is this correct? I'm a bit uncertain about the 'って' - I've learned it means something akin to "he/ she/ you said." The ending I'm unsure about too - I know "かな" is similar to "I wonder", and "さ" is used at the end of a sentence for emphasis, but I don't understand the whole "なのかな" together or why the "で" is before the "さ" at the end of the sentence.

Also, would "[name] とかって" mean something like "he's called something like ___" Or "I think he's called ___."?
The sentence went: [Smith]... [John Smith] とかって!"

And does "____ 大学から来たっていう" equal along the lines of "They say he's from ___ university"?

Sorry for all the Qs, I really just want to get the meanings and uses right and I don't have anyone else to ask.

 

[Toritoribe]

You misheard the ending of the first sentence. 思ったなのかなでさ doesn't make sense.

って can be used as a quoting particle as same as と, but we need more context to interpret your examples.

 

[Rinilex]

You misheard the ending of the first sentence. 思ったなのかなでさ doesn't make sense.
って can be used as a quoting particle as same as と, but we need more context to interpret your examples.

Sorry, I thought I might have misheard it. It was a bit I struggled with.
It just occurred to me it's wrong because it's not 'と思う..." but I really can't make out what else it can be. It's a very quiet conversation. It could be "なってさ at the end. Still unsure about the rest, though. It really sounds like 'omou.'
The context is a girl and a guy chatting about someone new at the university sat in their classroom. The girl points him out ("that English boy sitting in the corner there..."), to which the guy goes
"ああ, イギリスの大学から来たって言う, たしか. スミス... ジョンスミスとかって."

 

[Toritoribe]

Maybe 思ったのかなってさ?

Your translation about っていう is correct. とかって means とかって聞いた. とか expresses the information is unsure in this case, "I've heard (his name is) something like Smith, John Smith" or along the line.

 

[Rinilex]

Maybe 思ったのかなってさ?
Your translation about っていう is correct. とかって means とかって聞いた. とか expresses the information is unsure in this case, "I've heard (his name is) something like Smith, John Smith" or along the line.

Thank you! So a translation could be "They say he's from an English university... I've heard he's called Smith... John Smith, or something like that."

Oh, it could definitely be that... probably mistook audio noise for an extra 'na.'

 

[Rinilex]

So it if is 思ったのかなってさ, would this change the meaning drastically? I'm not sure I translated it correctly.

 

[Toritoribe]

That's not 言ったのかな but 思ったのかな, thus, it means "you thought you're fighting for Germany".

って is for quotation, as I wrote previously, so this sentence would be explaining a reason why the speaker had said/thought something related this sentence previously.

 

[Rinilex]

Ahh, that makes sense. The speaker previously said "it's strange..." and the man he's talking about asked him what, and that's what he replied.

The past tense doesn't fit though, as the person he's referring to is still doing doing so... could it '思って'? So it'd be something along the lines "You're Japanese, and yet you consider yourself fighting for Germany...'? They're currently in the middle of a war.

 

[Toritoribe]

The moment he decided to fight for Germany is already past when they are talking. That's why the past form is used. This past form doesn't mean he chaged his thought.

 

[Rinilex]

Ohhh, I see. I was kind of thrown off by the 'nande'... so that would be there just to imply that he's wondering why he thinks that, but you don't literally translate it? (As it's assumed by the 'it's strange' comment.)

The next thing the man says in response is 'なんでかな..." which makes me feel as if a 'why' should somehow be included in there somewhere.

 

[Toritoribe]

I translated only 独逸のために戦うって思った part, not the full sentence, just to make sure the difference between 言った and 思った. Sorry if I confused you.

 

[Rinilex]

Oh! No, my bad, I was thinking about the wrong 'って.' Sorry.

So he's actually asking him something here if the '思ったのかなってさ' doesn't refer to the speaker... he's not wondering it, he's saying "Why do you think of yourself as fighting for Germany when you're Japanese'? Or something alone those lines.

 

[Toritoribe]

あなたは日本人なのに, なんで独逸のために戦うって思ったのかなってさ

って is a quoting particle, as I wrote. The first って indicates the content of the addressee's(= your) thought, and the second って is for the content of the speaker's(= my) thought. Thus, what the speaker actually said is like this.

あなたは日本人なのに, なんで独逸のために戦うって思ったのかなって思ってそう言ったんだ。
(The reason why I said it is that) I'm wondering why you decided to fight for Germany even though you are Japanese.

 

[Rinilex]

OH! Sorry, I understand what you mean now. ^^ Ah, I'm glad I wasn't miles off the mark, haha.

Thank you so much for your help!