Versatility of the verb "suru"

Sakura
edited September 2012 in Japanese
The verb する (suru) means “do”, and it’s very versatile in a sense that you can *Japanesify* foreign words. There are many “foreign word + suru” verbs which have long been recognized in Japanese dictionaries. Usually, “foreign words” are Chinese or English, but “Chinese word + suru” has much longer history than “English word + suru”. See some examples below:

Chinese word + suru
帰国する kikokusuru - "to return to one's home country"
勉強する benkyoosuru - "to study"
研究する kenkyuusuru - "to research"

English word + suru
ドライブする  doraibusuru - “to go for a drive”
リラックスする  rirakkususuru - “to relax”
キスする  kisusuru - “to kiss”
コピーする  kopiisuru - “to make a copy”, specifically “to photocopy”

In recent years, a lot of “English verb + suru” words have entered into Japanese vocabulary. Many of them are internet/technology related:

クリックする  kurikkusuru - “to click”
ドラッグする  doraggusuru - “to drag”
セレクトする  serekutosuru - “to select”
コピーアンドペーストする  kopiiandopeesutosuru - “to copy-and-paste”


So now you know that a new Japanese verb can be created by using “English verb + suru”, you could promote the use of your favorite English word in Japanese!

Comments

  • Volk83

    One of my favorite suru combinations is unten suru-to drive, but I'm guessin the etymology from that is from China...but I'm not entirerly sure.

  • Sakura
    That's a good one! 運転する（うんてんする untensuru) indeed means 'to drive'. I'd think that 運転 came from Chinese. 

    Also, note how 運転する（うんてんする untensuru) and ドライブする(doraibusuru) mean different things in Japanese. The former simply means "to drive", and the latter means "to go for a drive". 
  • Volk83

    Totemo Sugoi!! That is really interesting on how there is a slightly different meaning between untensuru and Doraibusuru(sorry I dont have kana script on my PC) When would you use the two?

  • Sakura
    To clarify, untensuru means "to drive", literally.

    So for example,if you want to say, "My friend does not know how to drive a car" or "I drive to work every day", then untensuru is the verb to use.

    The other verb, doraibusuru, refers to a leisure activity.

    For example,if you want to say, "My friend just got a new car asked me if I want to go for a drive", then doraibusuru is the verb to use.

    Makes sense?
  • Volk83

    Sakura, yes it makes sense!! thank you for clarifying it for me!!

  • Roe
    kopiiandopeesutosuru  --- HAHA!  That's fantastic.  Kopiiandopeesutosuru!   
  • AmiM
    I'm new to Living Language, so I'm just catching up on all the Japanese posts!  

    My favorite is "rirakkususuru" :)  I need to do more of that myself, haha!
  • Christopher
    That is a good one! It's always fascinating to see how loan words are made to fit the phonology of the borrowing language. In Japanese, consonant clusters are broken up (usually with -u- I think), and l/r of course is flattened into the one "in-between" consonant.

    So, in relax:
    -r becomes l
    -x (ks) becomes kusu

    Giving you: rirakkusu

    I'm not sure why the k is doubled. Sakura, any thoughts?
  • Sakura
    Thanks for your thoughts, Chris!

    To add to your comments, there is really no sound that is exactly like English "l" or "r". We do use "r" in romaji to represent the consonant that's used in ら、り、る、れ、ろ. But that consonant is actually close to the "flap" sound in the American English - the "t" in "water", "letter", or the "d" in "ladder", etc. 

    As for your double consonant question, that's a hard one... but basically, consonants are doubled when a short vowel is followed by a certain ending, such as /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /p/, /ks/, /sh/, in English

    For example,
    kit - kitto
    iPad - aipaddo
    pack - pakku
    bag - baggu
    top - toppu
    relax - rirakkusu
    mesh - messhu

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