73595
> ダドリーの誕生日------なんで忘れられようか。  
>  Dudley's birthday -- how could he have forgotten? (original English
> version)

The nuance of the English version is that he did forget the birthday, but
based on some previous experience (in this case, unpleasantness) it seems
unlikely that he would have forgotten and he feels foolish for forgetting.

I'm struggling with the Japanese meaning, In particular, why the volitional
form? My literal translation would be "How would he be able to forget?",
suggesting that he wants to forget but cannot (I'm assuming this is potential
rather than passive. That's not clear to me either).

In summary, what is the actual nuance behind the Japanese sentence and how
does that arise from the grammar?
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2019-12-22T13:40:57.683
73593
2019-12-22T15:54:56.840
7944
question
grammar
Grammar of なんで+verb in potential form+ようか
> 「ダドリーの誕生日{たんじょうび}——— **なんで忘{わす}れられようか** 。」

The grammar pattern used here is:

> 「なぜ/なんで/どうして + Verb in **Potential-Imperfective** Form + か」

This is a 反語表現{はんごひょうげん} ("rhetorical question"); therefore, 「なんで忘れられようか」
actually means:

> "One would never forget." or in Japanese, 「決{けっ}して忘れないだろう。」

rather than the literal translation:

> "How would he be able to forget?" (to borrow your TL)

Thus, this is a statement disguised as a question.

> why the volitional form?

What Japanese-learners call the "volitional form" is called 「未然形{みぜんけい}」 in
Japanese and 未然形 basically expresses two things -- **volition and
conjecture**. In the phrase in question, the 未然形 is used to express
**conjecture** , which is represented by the 「だろう」part of my TL 「決して忘れないだろう。」
above.

Hope this helps.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-22T15:54:56.840
73595
2019-12-22T15:54:56.840
73593
answer