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Reading the last sentence of Ellison’s Invisible Man, I stumbled a bit on the phrase “but that:”

Being invisible and without substance, a disembodied voice, as it were, what else could I do? What else but try to tell you what was really happening when your eyes were looking through? And it is this which frightens me: Who knows but that, on lower frequencies, I speak for you?

A compelling sentence, but I’m not so sure of the meaning of “but that.” My dictionary says another phrase, “to the contrary,” can be substituted for it. But if I were to guess now, Ellison’s narrator seems to be saying, with some apprehension: “Who knows for certain that, on lower frequencies, I don’t speak for you?”

Laurel
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David Marlowe
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    Collins dictionary Am. Eng. but that: "that there is not some chance that". I'm American, and your dictionary's definition seems quite wrong to me. Maybe it doesn't cover American English. – Peter Shor Mar 22 '20 at 18:34
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    So your guess at the meaning is quite accurate. – Peter Shor Mar 22 '20 at 18:41
  • Collins dictionary online has the same definition; I see it now. Thank you! Is this an older American idiom? – David Marlowe Mar 22 '20 at 18:46
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    To the contrary is the normal use of but, like however. Here it means except that I could be speaking for you: "There but for the grace of God go I." – Yosef Baskin Mar 22 '20 at 20:52
  • Thank you as well! Refreshing my memory of that phrase, I see it means “except” or “if it weren’t for.” Does that fit the last sentence? Sorry to be obtuse, but it’s probably worthwhile understanding this thoroughly. – David Marlowe Mar 22 '20 at 21:40
  • Please add the actual quote, a linked attribution to the definition you used; accuracy and context can then be checked. Obviously, in "He said not that I was ancient, but that I was getting on a bit", we have a different situation, showing contradiction ('but on the contrary that', 'but rather that'). – Edwin Ashworth May 02 '20 at 16:57

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