Tell me more ×
Japanese Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Japanese language. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 3 down vote favorite

Take these words for example:

木{もく}造{ぞう}: made of wood; wooden

and

金{きん}製{せい}: made of gold

I have been under the impression that -製 is used for where an item has been manufactured (i.e. Made in Japan; Made in America), or the manufacturing of a certain product (i.e. iron manufacturing, etc.). I also thought that -造 was for what material something is made out of. Flipping through my dictionary it seems -製 is more common than -造 for referring to the material used (e.g. 鋼製: made of steel).

Is there a rule about which materials use -造 and which use -製? Is it just something one has to learn?

share|improve this question

1 Answer

up vote 5 down vote accepted

When describing materials, the difference between -造 and -製 does not come from the difference of materials.

-造 is usually used when describing the primary material of a building or a nonbuilding structure. Examples are 木造 (made of wood), 鉄骨造 (made of steel (or iron)), and 鉄筋コンクリート造 (made of reinforced concrete).

For everything else, I think that we use -製. For example, “wooden flute” is 木製のフルート and not 木造のフルート.

share|improve this answer
1  
@jkerian: I do not know. I wrote what I think is the criterion to choose between -造 and -製: whether the thing is a building/structure or not. Is your suggestion different from this, or is it a different way to state the same criterion? – Tsuyoshi Ito Jun 9 '12 at 20:05
@jkerian: It is much clearer. Thank you for the edit! I edited to remove the word “permanent,” because a building/structure does not have to be permanent, like 木造の仮設住宅 (wooden temporary building for residence). – Tsuyoshi Ito Jun 9 '12 at 23:22
An example of a nonbuilding structure? Because the primary material of a wooden flute... is wood. Is it not? – dotnetN00b Jun 10 '12 at 16:53
@dotnetN00b: Bridge was the only example I had in mind when I wrote this answer, but there are many examples of nonbuilding structures in Wikipedia. – Tsuyoshi Ito Jun 10 '12 at 17:33

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.