Why is しない used instead of じゃない?

Question

So I have the following two sentences from the Yotsuba manage chapter 15.

うまいか？変な味しないか？

I have seen some typos with the manga on the site I'm reading it at, but I don't think this is one. I'm confused as to why しない is used instead of じゃない。しない means doesn't do. The literal translation would be "Does it not do weird flavor instead" instead of "Is it not a weird flavor." Could this be a mistake in the whoever wrote the javascript/markup for this site or does しない translate as "Doesn't taste" here? I think I've come across instances like this before where する is used somewhat loosely.

Answer 1

Sensory Expressions

「うまいか？変{へん}な味{あじ}しないか？」

is perfectly natural-sounding.

It makes little sense to you because you think 「しない」 means "does not do" when the truth is that 「する」 has so many meanings.

「Adjective + 味 + が + する」 = "Something tastes [adjective]."

In the phrase in question, the particle 「が」 is omitted because it is colloquial speech. Thus, the line means:

"Is it good/yummy? Doesn't it taste weird?"

Likewise, we also often say:

「Adjective + 匂{にお}い + が + する」 = "It smells [adjective]."

「Adjective + 音{おと} + が + する」 = "It sounds [adjective]."

「Adjective + 肌{はだ}ざわり + が + する」 = "It feels [adjective] to the skin."

Finally, you can use 「じゃない」 instead of 「しない」. It would still be grammatical, but less natural-sounding.

If the 「が」 were not omitted, however, you could NOT use 「じゃない」 as it is ungrammatical to say 「～～がじゃない」.

Answer 2

It's not a typo. You're right, it's the verb する. 味(が)する means 'to taste' or 'to have a taste'.

  する doesn't always mean to do, it's also used to turn a noun into a verb. They are called verbal nouns.

  For example: 勉強する (to study) 仕事する (to work)