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「積み荷は渡さんぞ、この泥棒めが!」

I have trouble with two parts:

  1. 渡さんぞ, what is the idea for this construction, I just don't understand. It seems like it's coming from 渡す and some kind of mix between the んだ form and ぞ.
  2. 泥棒め, why use め after the noun. Does it have the same function as め after adjectives to say "some kind of", if it does why every lessons only talk about adjectives?

I think it translates to something like "I'm carrying a cargo, you thief!" or something like that but I don't understand the grammar involved.

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  • I think 渡さん is supposed to be a name, and ぞ is a sentence ending particle
    – maritsm
    Commented Jun 29, 2021 at 21:03
  • @maritsm I thought about that possibility but it would be an unlikely coincidence that the name has 渡 in it when talking about a thief and a cargo.
    – Simon
    Commented Jun 29, 2021 at 21:06
  • It could also be a colloquial version of 渡さない, in a similar way to how 分からない is shortened to 分からん
    – maritsm
    Commented Jun 29, 2021 at 21:10
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    Related or duplicate: japanese.stackexchange.com/q/76884/9831 (regarding んぞ), japanese.stackexchange.com/q/60514/9831 (regarding めが)
    – chocolate
    Commented Jun 30, 2021 at 1:32

1 Answer 1

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I did more digging and I understand it now.

  1. It seems like 渡さん is indeed a shortened version of 渡さない. According to this thread, you will sound old and formal if you use it, which corresponds to the story since it's an old merchant carrying some kind of caravan.

  2. According to this post, "め is a suffix of contempt when attached to a noun or another person's name".

With all this in mind, I can confidently say the translation would be: "I won't hand the cargo to you, stupid thief!". I believe that last が is for the subject, but it's put at the end to make emphasis on the thief.

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