This phrase is from a jrpg set in feudal japan. Is "わけわかんねーよ!" some shortened casual form of speech? Is わかんね is short for わからない? What is the grammar for it? Is it right to translate it like "I don't understand meaning!"
Asked
Active
Viewed 215 times
0
-
Related: https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/13073/9831 – Chocolate Mar 25 '19 at 14:57
1 Answers
3
It is a casual / informal / slang version of the following:
訳{わけ}が分{わ}かりませんよ That doesn't make sense! / I don't get it / I don't understand.
The 'slang' part is changing the plain negative わからない to わかんねー. Changing the ない part of a verb to ねー is a common usage in informal Japanese. That would result in わからねー, but it can be further 'informalized' by changing the ら to ん to give わかんねー. This doesn't work for all verbs as there are specific phonemic circumstances in which it is permitted. By the way, if the setting is feudal Japan, this might be an example of an anachronistic use of the phrase, since the language sounds more like modern Japanese than Middle Japanese.
As for the grammar, it is a simple case of:
Subject (訳), subject marker (が), verb negative (分からない), emphasis particle (よ)
kandyman
- 11,423
- 15
- 41
-
-
2@Thomas White Omitting particles is also a very common aspect of informal Japanese. For example, 何やってんの？ instead of 何をやっているの? – kandyman Mar 25 '19 at 17:32