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Manga context: characters are on a beach, there are shallow waters near the shore, but further away there are some poles sticking out and from there start deep waters. The character says:

あの棒のとこから、あっちは底なしになってるからー

(this line is clear) and then

あの[洲]{す}よか、こっちっ側中心に攻めるってことでねー

(the only furigana is from the manga itself) and I don't get this line.

My questions are:
1. How the second line translates? Literal translation is preferred as I'd like to understand every bit of this line.
2. What's the reading of 側 here?
3. What second っ in こっちっ does here? Is it an accent/colloquialism, or does it stand for something?

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    I can answer 2) It should be 側｛がわ｝
    – ishikun
    Commented Jun 7, 2016 at 21:27

2 Answers 2

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Without the knowledge of the context of Manga, I interpret the second line of your quote as; We (or They) will focus the attack on this side rather than that sandbank.

“こっち側(がわ)” is a colloquial form of “こちら側,” meaning this side.“But I’ve never heard of “こっちっ側.” Actually a red warning line of the automatic spell checker pops up below “こっちっ” when I’m typing the word. It must be a typo, or very special parlance used in the Manga world.

The original meaning of the word '攻める' is "to attack / assault" like「敵（城）を攻める」- attack the enemy (castle) -, but it is used in the meaning of "to deal (play) with sth." like 「こちらの問題から攻めて見るか - Shall we try to play (start) with this question first? - as well today.

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  • I wondered if there were other meanings for 攻める than "attack/assault/assail" that EDICT-based dictionary gave me, because there's no "attack" business in this manga (ヨコハマ買い出し紀行、第49話), actually the phrase is addressed to two kids who were brought to play in the water. Your answer suggests there's no alternative meanings, so it seems the word is used figuratively here to mean "play". So given your answer I stretch the translation to something like "Rather than that sandbank we will play in the middle of this side" (i.e. closer to the shore rather than to the deep waters).
    – kroki
    Commented Jun 7, 2016 at 23:49
  • As for こっちっ, the manga also has things like おめえも物好きっつうか that I guess the spellchecker will choke on, so that っ may be one of those (less inclined to think of a mere typo, though it's possible too). Anyway, thanks, you answer helped!
    – kroki
    Commented Jun 7, 2016 at 23:49
  • @kroki.I revised my answer following up your comment.
    – Yoichi Oishi
    Commented Jun 8, 2016 at 0:43
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「あの[​洲]{す}よか、こっちっ[側]{かわ}[中心]{ちゅうしん}に[攻]{せ}めるってことでねー」

  1. How the second line translates? Literal translation is preferred as I'd like to understand every bit of this line.

"So, we/I should concentrate our/my attacks on this side of that sandbank, eh?"

「よか」 is a more informal form of 「よりか」, which is already informal. The more formal forms are 「より」 and 「よりも」.

「あの洲よかこっちっ側」 means "this side, rather than the other side, of the bank". In other words, "the speaker's side", "the side that is closer to the speaker", etc.

  1. What's the reading of 側 here?

It is 「かわ」 unlike what was said and even upvoted in the comment above.

If it were 「こっち側」, then the 「側」 would be read 「がわ」.

  1. What second っ in こっちっ does here? Is it an accent/colloquialism, or does it stand for something?

The small っ makes it even more colloquial/informal. This can be said about so many other words as well.

In the order of formality: こちら側 ⇒ こっち側 ⇒ こっちっ側

Other examples:

「[人懐]{ひとなつ}こい」(amiable, sociable, etc.)　⇒　「人懐っこい」

「めちゃ」(very) ⇒ 「めっちゃ」

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  • Thanks! The earlier answer put me on track, but yours is great! The only thing that's not quite clear to me is the role of よか. The dictionary gives "than" or "other than/except/but" - so can it be simply "that sandbank", or is it "rather than that sandbank", as the first answer suggested?
    – kroki
    Commented Jun 8, 2016 at 0:00
  • Added an explanation of よか in my answer.
    – user4032
    Commented Jun 8, 2016 at 0:18
  • こっちっかわ and よか (and おめぇ) stand out to me as Eastern dialectal forms. They are not "informal" they are what Eastern people use in informal situations when not trying to speak standard Japanese and often even when trying because they don't realize they ain't speaking proper. You won't hear them from Western Japanese speakers.
    – user145
    Commented Jun 8, 2016 at 6:26

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