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I found this usage of じゃない. Perhaps the translation is too loose in meaning.

A: Is your girlfriend cute?

B: Why wouldn't she be?

A: 君の彼女、かわいい？

B: かわいいに決まってるじゃない。

Does "かわいいに決まってるじゃない" mean the same thing as "かわいいに決まってる," just with more emphasis?

Is the following reasoning therefore correct?

いいね。→いいじゃない。→いいじゃん（Tokyo dialect）。

きれいね。→きれいじゃない。→きれいじゃん（Tokyo dialect）。

大きいね。→大きいじゃない。→大きいじゃん（Tokyo dialect）。

Or is there a different nuance by using the negative form?

Furthermore, I suppose inferring the speaker's intentions come from context and the lilt in the speaker's voice, as in the following:

大きいね。Wow, it's big.

大きいじゃない。 It's big, isn't it.

大きいじゃん。 Damn, it's big.

Though without context, " 大きいじゃない。" simply means, "It's not big."

Correct?

*Bonus question:

In English, if my translation is correct, the sentence,

大きいじゃない。

It's big, isn't it?

should have a question mark. However, in Japanese, is it not required?

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  • I'd imagine that your guess about the addition of じゃない is correct, here. Nice translation, too; another way to translate that B phrase could be something like: "Isn't that a given?" This line almost reminds me of something like: あたりまえだろ〜.
    – summea
    Commented May 20, 2013 at 3:12
  • ~じゃん is not Tokyo dialect but Yokohama dialect.
    – oldergod
    Commented May 20, 2013 at 4:15

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[I've also just noticed this question has come up before (See: Usage of ～じゃん (～じゃない))but you can read my answers anyway - I am going to check them!]

Q1: Does "かわいいに決まってるじゃない" mean the same thing as "かわいいに決まってる," just with more emphasis?

A1: Yes (but I see from the previous answer it can often be translated as "Actually")

Q2: Is the following reasoning therefore correct?

A2: Yes but see on to next answer (A3)

Q3: I suppose inferring the speaker's intentions come from context and the lilt in the speaker's voice[?]

A3: In principle as you say context and spoken intonation are important but (as I think you know very well) the literal meaning of きれいじゃない is "[she is] not pretty" and depending on how you saying it 大きいじゃない can mean either (atthe end of the phrase rising intonation=>emphsis, falling intonation=> contradiction/denial)

Q4: Question marks; are they not required in Japanese?

A4: No they are not traditional Japanese characters although these days people may use them because they are well understood. I think this is most common in dialogues or less formal text (eg speech bubble)

Note: I have always understood ~じゃんか to be Yokohama. Not 100% sure about ~じゃん but expressions like いいじゃん feel pretty every day up here in Tokyo.

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