does it make sense to talk about サ変名詞{さへんめいし} as 他動詞{たどうし} or 自動詞{じどうし}?

Question

Does it make sense to talk about サ変名詞 as being 自動詞 or 他動詞? If so, surely some are 他動詞： 車{くるま}を運転{うんてん}する。
日本語{にほんご}を勉強{べんきょう}する。
庭{にわ}を散歩{さんぽ}する。

But, what about 自動詞? Perhaps this posting of mine from awhile ago describes 自動詞としてのサ変名詞 (but maybe not)？ More likely, I have insufficient vocab knowledge to think of even one.

And, in a broader context, I am interested in if, in a transitive sentence (regardless of if it is サ変名詞 or not), with a specified direct object, must "を" always be the final 助詞{じょし}?

thank you.

Answer 1

Yes, it makes sense to talk about the transitivity of verbal noun plus する constructions. I would simply link you to the introduction of The Light Verb Construction in Japanese: The Role of the Verbal Noun, but I suppose it's better if I repeat some of the examples here. All of the following examples are taken from page 8:

First, intransitive verbal noun + する constructions:

1. 到着する　arrive
2. 誕生する　be born
3. 死亡する　die

Second, transitive verbal noun + する constructions:

1. 警告する　warn
2. 破壊する　destroy
3. 攻撃する　attack

Third, verbal noun + する constructions which can be either transitive or intransitive:

1. 移動する　move
2. 破損する　damage / be damaged
3. 紛失する　lose
4. 縮小する　shrink / become shrunken
5. 終了する　finish
6. 増加する　increase

No, を arguments don't need to be final; they can be scrambled out of their basic position. Because most constituents in a Japanese sentence are marked (e.g. with case markers like を or postpositions of some kind), sentence order is relatively free, although certain orders may differ in emphasis, and the order isn't entirely free.

If you want details about sentence order, I suggest you ask a separate question about it.