42113
I'm reading a manga in which I've come across the following exchange (for
context the second character, B, has just beaten up A in a fight):

> A: おのれ きさまなんぞに...
>
> B: いいや あたしなんぞに てめーは敗れるのさ!!

My understanding of なんぞに was always that it could be used similar to "Why", so
the first comment it simply something along the lines of "Bastard, idiot,
why...", but I've no idea how it then functions in the response from B.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-30T00:39:17.187
42112
2016-12-30T03:15:01.107
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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18661
question
meaning
Two different usages of なんぞに?
なんぞ directly after a noun is a variation of
[なんて/なんか/など](http://www.jgram.org/pages/viewOne.php?tagE=nado%3B%20nanka%3B%20nante),
used to make light of something and express a negative/derogatory feeling. It
does not contain the meaning of _why_. なんぞ sounds old-fashioned and is
typically heard in fictional old man's speech.

In this conversation, きさま is a derogatory word and なんぞ even strengthens it, so
it's okay to translate きさまなんぞ as "a bastard like you". B repeated なんぞ to
emphasize the irony that A was defeated by that "bastard." ("And you are
defeated by that bastard!")

なんぞ meant _why_ in archaic Japanese (see [examples from a
古語辞典](http://kobun.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%AA%E3%82%93%E3%81%9E)), but it's
almost never used in that way in modern Japanese.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-30T00:52:14.933
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2016-12-30T03:15:01.107
2016-12-30T03:15:01.107
5010
5010
42112
answer