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兄ちゃんも行きたいって言ってたし。

I'm pretty sure it's 言. The only difference is the top mark is horizontal. Every time time I analyze it, though, I wind up with 言.

Anyway, my question regards the 行きた. According to my dictionary, it's the た form of 行く, though the inflection chart claims that would be 行った.

However, the き makes it look like the infinitive followed by a た.

If it is the た form, I would guess the literal translation to be:

Brother as well is going to have gone having said, definitely.

Possible meaning:

My brother also says he definitely is going to go.

If it's the infinitive imperative:

Brother as well is going to go having said, definitely.

Which, I'd make the same guess about meaning.

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What you have found is not the past -た form, but the -たい form. It is attached to the 連用形 "i-form" (a.k.a. the infinitive) and indicates that you want to do something. Thus, 「行きたい」 means "want to go".

兄ちゃんも行きたいって言ってたし。
Brother said he wants to go, too.

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  • And the 連用形 is sometimes called the 'infinitive' in English, so that's probably the form they meant.
    – user1478
    Dec 26, 2015 at 18:33
  • Yes, thanks. I never really know what to call it.
    – Blavius
    Dec 26, 2015 at 18:39
  • So, does the って make the たい form connective? I made the mistake of thinking the いって was a verb in and of itself.
    – johnnd
    Dec 26, 2015 at 19:37
  • @johnnd the (first) って is the quotation particle, quoting what he said. It's a casual version of quotative と.
    – Blavius
    Dec 26, 2015 at 19:41
  • Let's see if I understand. If I said おじいちゃんが君に言たくないって言いました, that would mean "Grandfather said he doesn't want to talk to you."
    – johnnd
    Dec 26, 2015 at 20:10

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