なきゃなんなくなる

[ashley_smart]

今晩は、
以下の文は翻訳したいんですけど。。
”助けなきゃなんなくなったみてえだしな！”

問題はこんなに組み合わせが分りません。できれば分解して具体的な説明してもらいたいんです。
一般的な意味が分かりますし、英語に翻訳しかしないのはもったいないでしょう。

よろしくおねがいします。
Ash

[Javizy]

It might help to see the uncontracted form first:

助けなければならなくなったみたいだしな

I guess you could say there are four bits of grammar that you're interested in:

助けなければならない
(We) have to help (them).

なった
It has become that... (rarely translated into English. It means that the circumstances have led to some kind of change)

みたいだ
It looks like/seems...

し
Hinting that there are other factors. It pretty much just adds extra emphasis in this sentence.

助けなきゃなんなくなったみてえだしな
It seems, among other things, it has become that we have to help them, huh?
Looks like we've gotta help them now.

[ashley_smart]

Hi Javizy

Thanks, I guessed at the same expansion of the grammer from the slang forms. But im not 100% certian that thats correct and all that was ment in the sentance. The slang forms are normally very short and it looks to me like there is an extra "なんなく" piece in the sentance. I think that maybe the manga was trying to add a なんとなく as in "somehow or other" but it seems out of very out of place to me....

Your final english translation hints at it.. but is that correct?

[Javizy]

You could use 助けなきゃ on its own to mean 'we have to help them', since it infers the ならない. When something directly follows it though, it keeps the original meaning of 'if we don't help them', so that's why the なんなく has to be included.

ん is commonly used in casual speech in place of R-row sounds, since it's easier to say.

わかんない。
I dunno.
明日会議があんだって。
She said there's a meeting tomorrow.
さわんなよ。
Don't touch it!

~なければならなくなった is a fairly common expression, so I'd be mystified if the sentence in question meant something else.