Nuances of 遵守 and 甘受

Question

Can someone please elaborate on the different nuances between 遵守 and 甘受

I've seen in many sentences (like the following) that 遵守 means "to comply to; to abide by"

規則を遵守する。- Abide by/Comply with the law/regulation

Recently I came across 甘受 in this sentence:

君はその結果を甘受すべきだ。- You should abide by the consequences.

My First thought was to replace 甘受 with 遵守...

According to スーパー大辞林:

甘受: 甘んじて受け入れること。

The feeling I got so far is that since 甘受 includes 甘んじる in its definition it should carry a similar meaning to "put up with", thus emphasizing discontent over simply "following some regulations", so it might actually be closer to "submit" (maybe closer to 服従?)

On a similar note is 遵守 only used for "rules" and regulations?

Answer 1

is 遵守 only used for "rules" and regulations?

Yes, as a dictionary says:

［名］(スル)法律や道徳・習慣を守り、従うこと。循守。「古い伝統を—する」

(which suggests tradition as well, but this is more or less a rule)

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Both 遵守 and 甘受 may be translated to to abide by, but you may better understand them by paying attention to their kanji. 遵守 essentially means 守る, as in ルールを守る and 甘受 means 受け入れる as in 現状を受け入れる. Following rules is living with those rules and accepting a situation is living with the situation, but following and accepting are different things. As such they are not really interchangeable. 甘受 means to accept something you are not particularly happy with, but is not usually applied to rules.

Answer 2

In short, the two are not interchangeable in most contexts. Actually, I cannot think of one where they are interchangeable.

遵守 is to follow rules and regulations, as in 法律を遵守する.

甘受 is usually to endure something unpleasant, sometimes bravely, sometimes helplessly.

I found following examples in Aozora Bunko.

批判を甘受する (accept criticisms)
定めを甘受する (accept fate)
懲戒を彼は甘受した (accept being reprimanded)
不幸を甘受しています (accept misfortune)
盛んな歓迎を甘受する (accept being greeted enthusiastically - I think this implies that the character rather wants to enter the place quietly)

With 甘受, you are on the receiving (受) end of something - punishment, criticism, etc; this is an inherently passive action. Following is not.

服従 has a different case frame - it takes the form of Xに服従する whereas the other two take the form of Xを遵守／甘受する. In some cases, に服従する and を遵守する can both fit, as in 命令に服従する and 命令を遵守する, although 服従 implies subjugation while 遵守 implies (willful) compliance.