大臣て何 How do interpret this sentence?

[raintree_leaf]

Is the "te" a quote particle? Isn't it strange to say "the minister is what". There is a similar sentence,
一番えらい大臣て事さ. How do you translate it?

[tetekmakhang]

i saw this question last week but i thought since it's a just a standard question, i'd let someone else answer it. but nobody did and i'm surprised.

って or the shortened form て,　is the contracted form of という／と／とは／というのは　depending on the situation. it is often used in casual speech.

it's really too long and such a pain to explain everything to you from scratch so i suggest u read up your japanese textbook on those chapters and if u have any questions then i'll be happy to help. but for a rough guideline, just think of quotation marks



now to answer ur questions....

if u translate 大臣て何？ it would become: what is a "minister"?

in this sentence, て　is the short form for とは　or というのは　(they are very similar...in fact its easier if u just think of them as the same) and u basically use it like a quote mark.

other sentences with the same grammar:
1) 愛って何だろう　--> 愛とは何だろう
what is "love"?

2) 存在って複雑な概念　--> 存在とは複雑な概念
"existence" is a very complicated notion



its still the same (think of quiotation marks) in ur second question (一番えらい大臣て事さ) . athough this time, this て　is the short form for という and is used in a slightly different way. the sentence before the という describes the noun after the という.

eg:
1) 太郎って人　--> 太郎という人
a person called "Tarou"

2) 鹿って動物　--> 鹿という動物
a animal called a "deer"

3) お互いに助け合うのは友達ってものさ　--> お互いに助け合うのは友達というものさ
helping each other is a thing called "friendship"

and for ur sentence, 一番えらい大臣て事さ if directly translated becomes:

the thing is the most awesome minister

.....which doesnt really make sense ( u cant always just translate stuff the same way)

in natural english: basically he's the highest ranking minister
(this sentence has the nuance that the person speaking is summarizing what he has just said)

[raintree_leaf]

Thank you tetekmahkang!!!
I thought it is tricky in this particular situation as one of the "te" is という while the other is というのは. Anyway thank you!