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I'm having trouble understanding a translation I've encountered in Makino and Tsutsui's Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese grammar, under とする1.

The original sentence is as follows:

一男【かずお】を養子【ようし】とすることには依存【いぞん】はない。

Which the textbook translates into:

I have no objection to regarding Kazuo as our adopted son.

According to the dictionaries, 依存 can only assume the meaning of "dependence", not "objection".

デジタル大辞泉:

「依存」とは、他に頼って存在、または生活すること。「会の運営を寄付金に―する」「―心」

EDICT:

dependence; dependent; reliance

Which should make the original sentence, given the lack of any context, translate into something like this:

There is no dependence on regarding Kazuo as (our) adopted child. (???)

The meaning of this sentence is unclear, although it would have probably made more sense given the broader context that I don't have.

My question is whether it is possible for 依存 to be interpreted as "objection" in this (or any other) sentence and why.

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Who wrote this textbook?

The word it should have used is 「異存」, not 「依存」.

Both words are pronounced いぞん but only 異存 will fit in the context.

「異存」 means "objection".

「異存はない」 means "to have no objection" 

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  • Thanks, this explains everything. Should have guessed, considering I've encountered a similar issue before. The book in question is "Dictionary of intermediate Japanese grammar" (日本語文法辞典) by Seiichi Makino and Michio Tsutsui, which is quite reputable, as far as I know. Perhaps a newer edition has this example corrected.
    – undercat
    Jul 27, 2014 at 4:35

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