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Is the って　in the following sentence equivalent to 「と」as in ＡはBと変わる／違う？

昔から好きな曲って変わらないみたい。

My favourite songs have not changed for many years.

Does this mean it is equivalent to the と　used for quotations.

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4 Answers

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I would say that って as used above has its roots in と言うのは, which then explains why it would be a variant of the topic particle は, as well as being related to the って we know of as a short form for と言う.

The と you refer to is used for comparison and would indeed give a correct sentence, meaning (very) roughly "This [song] is just like the songs I used to love when I was young". Here the intended meaning is, however (again, very roughly) "My favourite songs just never change, it seems".

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FYI, my J-J dictionary (岩波国語辞典) states that the 係助詞「って」 stems from 「とて」。 "って: ②〘係助詞〙幾分か引用的に言語対象を持ち出すのに使う。「銀座っていいところだね」「あなたってひどい人だわ」「本当のことって言いにくいものさ」▷「とて」の転用が崩‌​れた形で固定化したもの。" It states that the って used as a 連語 as in「是非とも見せろって聞かないのよ」stems from「と言って」, and in 「この犬、ポチって名前なんだ」stems from 「と言う」. And... I'm afraid but the sentence 昔から好きな曲"と"変わらないみたい sounds very unnatural and awkward to my native Japanese ear. I don't understand what it means, nor do I think that it would come from a native Japanese. – Chocolate Aug 23 '12 at 6:22
A:この曲はXが最近リリースしたんだよ。でも、どうかな。最近の曲はちょっと変わってて、あまり好きじゃないかもよ…… B:ううん、この曲好きもだよ。昔から好きな曲と変わらないみたい。 Thanks for the info about とて. – user1205935 Aug 23 '12 at 9:00
う～ん…意味は分かるけど…きっとそういうふうには普通言わないですよね…勧めてくれた人に対してちょっと無神経な感じがするんです、その「変わり映えしない」的な響き・‌​・・。 – Chocolate Aug 23 '12 at 13:13
まぁ、いいよ。とにかく、文法的には正しいはずなんだから、文法はあってるけど、この場合は意味が違うよってティムさんに伝いたかったのです。ティムさんが「と」の使い方‌​は理解しているみたいだから、間違えてはいないことも言ってあげたかったんです。 – user1205935 Aug 23 '12 at 13:20
そうでしたか…。すみません、私は英語力が低くて、英語の投稿のニュアンスとかまでよく分かっていなかったと思います。 – Chocolate Aug 23 '12 at 15:05
up vote 6 down vote

I think it can be replaced with は and というのは here, as in [2] [1] at this Daijisen definition.

According to the 日本語文型辞典, this って indicates a subject, and can be an informal way in speech to state meanings/definitions or to add value/emphasis.

When used after nouns and adjectives to state meanings/definitions, this って can correspond with とは. When used after verbs, it can correspond with のは…だ, and の can be added or omitted, as in the following example:

都会で一人で暮らす（の）って、大変です。
"Living alone in the city is difficult."

Edit: Tried to update with more information.

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up vote -3 down vote

I believe this って is the casual variant of と.

“The quotative particle to has a slightly more casual equivalent tte (te following n) which occurs very commonly in spoken language when linked with the verbal iu.”

That said, って doesn't have to be bound to an explicit predicate.

“/X + (t)te/ may occur as a more casual equivalent of /X + to ~ (t)te iû no wa/”

Japanese: The Spoken Language, part 2, lesson 18B, structural patterns

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I think your answer refers to the って used in place of と in more casual forms of と言う & と思う which is different to to the って being used in the question. – Jeemusu Aug 22 '12 at 9:26
"Is this って　equivalent to 「と」？">>>No, it's not. "I believe this って is the casual variant of と.">>>This って is the casual variant of は. The「と」you're talking about is a 格助詞, whereas this「は」is a 係助詞. Look up って as a 係助詞 in your dictionary. – Chocolate Aug 23 '12 at 0:33
「昔から好きな曲は、変わらない」makes sense, but 「昔から好きな曲と、変わらない」doesn't. You can say ジェームズさん"って"、やさしい人ですね or ジェームズさん"は"やさしい人ですね but not ジェームズさん"と"、やさしい人ですね. – Chocolate Aug 23 '12 at 0:39
@Chocolate: You can say 「昔から好きな曲と変わらない」, however, with no comma, as in the original question. See my answer. – user1205935 Aug 23 '12 at 1:46
@user1205935 Hmm... what does 昔から好きな曲と変わらない mean? It sounds unnatural and also agrammatical. It would require a subject at least, i.e. the structure should be「AはBと変わらない」. 昔から好きな曲"というものは"変わらないみたい(or変わらないようだ/変わらないらしい/変わらないものだ)/昔から好きな曲"というのは"変わらないみたい would make sense. – Chocolate Aug 23 '12 at 3:22
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up vote 4 down vote

It's quite the equivalent of "you know" in colloquial English.

One's favourite song, you know, it seems never to change.

As such, it's quite a theme particle, as @cypher mentioned.

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