「竜の歯を依り代とした人型はコルキス王の魔術と聞く。 その娘、王女メディアは稀代の魔女と謳われたそうだが？」
Does this mean:
The human form who made the dragon tooth as a vessel
or
A human form which was a dragon tooth made vessel.
How does にする・とする work before a name?
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1Related: japanese.stackexchange.com/q/18593/5010– narutoApr 22, 2016 at 8:08
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I found that, but my question here is if :XをYとするN means: "N makes X into Y" or if it means "N is X made into Y".– SplikieApr 22, 2016 at 8:14
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1As you can see in the linked question, XをYとする/したN is simply "N where X is Y" or "N with X as Y". BTW what's 人型? Is that a type of magic in this novel?– narutoApr 22, 2016 at 8:19
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Yes, I read it a long time ago so I don't remember what it was specifically. It was not that important since it was never mentioned again.– SplikieApr 22, 2016 at 8:26
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1 Answer
A を B に／とする means either make A into B or have A as B. Whether the change of state is involved or not (i.e. A is "made" into B or originally so) is unspecified and always left ambiguous, so you can only choose the right side from context.
人型 that made a dragon tooth into the (spirit) vessel
or
人型 using a dragon tooth as the (spirit) vessel
(I don't have any idea what 人型 stands for, though...)
This type of ambiguity is parallel to that of English passive construction.
The project is finally completed. → changes from "WIP" to "done".
The project is already completed. → keeps the "done" state.
If you dig a little deeper, using the particle に or と makes some difference in nuance. According to this page, と suggests the result is authentic, finalized, or established, whereas に comparatively ad-hoc, questionable, or figurative.
There are some idioms exclusively allow either of them.
○ 身を粉にする
× 身を粉とする
answered Oct 17, 2016 at 11:06
