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I'm still a Nihongo Noob but recently I tried to translate my Aikido certificate for fun. The important part says:

[my name]

右者{みぎもの} 今般{こんぱん} 合気道{あいきどう}

参段{さんだん} ヲ 允可{いんか}ス

which basically translates to "Person to the right - now - Aikido - 3rd rank - permission (?)"

What struck me first was that the object marker ヲ and the ス are in Katakana. I found out that this is common practice in official documents and sometimes a matter of fashion.

  1. Can someone confirm this, please?

Second I could not find out the function of the ス. According to Jisho 允可{いんか} (permission) can be both a noun and a suru-verb.

  1. If it's a noun, what does the ス mean here? And if it's used as a suru-verb, what kind of strange conjugation of する applies here?
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    Possible duplicate (regarding the す): japanese.stackexchange.com/a/2436/9831
    – chocolate ♦
    Sep 19, 2020 at 12:47
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    For katakana: japanese.stackexchange.com/q/14848/7810
    – broccoli forest
    Sep 19, 2020 at 15:40
  • @Chocolate Thanks for your hint. So if I understand this correctly, the classical す equals the modern する? Would a proper translation of 允可する then be "is permitted" or "has permission"?
    – Beeblebrox
    Sep 20, 2020 at 10:58
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    ～～を允可する。"We permit ~~." ですかね。。
    – chocolate ♦
    Sep 20, 2020 at 15:23
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    @jarmanso7 ありがとうございます。Yes, I'm in Aikikai, studying the style of Endo Sensei.
    – Beeblebrox
    Aug 29 at 16:33

1 Answer 1

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允可ス is 允可する in modern Japanese. す is the classical version of する. (允可 itself is rare in modern Japanese. We usually say 認可する or 認める today.)

Katakana was the default kana for particles, okurigana and such until relatively recently.

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