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I've been reading some Touhou _doujinshi_ in Japanese and checking English
version for translation just in case, and I had a hard time trying to
decompose this sentence:

[![a man talks about some
woman](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9wLEj.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9wLEj.png)

I have to give some context [I also included English translation]: a man in
this story was asked, why a noble person like him was interested in the
appearance of mysterious (yet random) woman in the capital. His answer was:

> 只【ただ】の女【おんな】であれば私【わたし】 **とてこう** は目【め】くじら立【た】てんさ  
>  If she were just a woman, she wouldn't bother me like this.

Also the man believed, that he might encounter this woman in the past, that's
why he said:

> だが彼奴【きゃつ】私【わたし】の推測【すいそく】が正【ただ】しければ  
>  However, if my hunch about her is correct...

He believed that he knew her true identity, which he revealed later.

So my question is: what meaning does 「とてこう」 bring into this sentence? How
should it be decomposed? Is it 「と」, that is connected to 「私【わたし】」, or is it
「とて」?
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2021-06-19T19:02:56.467
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2021-06-21T10:44:18.520
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question
meaning particles manga
Meaning of とてこう?
I believe this とて is the adverbial particle listed
[here](https://www.imabi.net/totetomo.htm) and [the 係助 definition
here](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E3%81%A8%E3%81%A6/#jn-159532). It is
rather rare and is essentially equivalent to だって in the context of your post.
You might also be parsing the sentence incorrectly. I've added a comma to the
sentence, if that helps.

> 只の女であれば、私（とて / だって）こうは目くじらを立てんさ  
>  If she was just your average woman, ( **even** ) I wouldn't be looking into
> her like this.

I feel like the above sentence would sound more natural without "even", but
that's the best direct translation I can give. Maybe a better natural
translation might be "If she was just your average woman, I wouldn't be
looking into her either."

The subject of 目くじらを立てる should be 私. こう has nothing to do with とて, it is just
modifying what comes after it. (こう like the one in こういう)

> **こう** （は）目くじらを立てる  
>  looking into her **like this**.

If you're confused about the は, you could probably just take it out and get
roughly the same meaning, just without the contrast/emphasis that は provides
in the original.
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2021-06-19T23:38:21.537
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answer