Sample Sentences About Rules and Restrictions

制約 (seiyaku: restriction, limitation, condition)     rule + to contract

彼はこの新しい法律によって自由が制約を受けると感じている。
Kare wa kono atarashii hōritsu ni yotte jiyū ga seiyaku o ukeru to kanjite iru.
He feels this new law will restrict his freedom.

彼 (kare: he)
新 (atara(shii): new)
法律 (hōritsu: law)     law + law
自由 (jiyū: freedom)     as one pleases + to be based on

Ah, interesting breakdown! Of course, 自 generally means “self,” but here and in a few other compounds, the meaning is “as one pleases,” according to Halpern.

受 (u(keru): to undergo)
感 (kan(jiru): to feel)

The compound 制約 also plays a part in the expression 島の制約 (shima no seiyaku, island + rule + to contract), “island constraint,” which refers to the inherent constraints of living on an island, particularly a tiny or less populated one.

彼女がパリに出たのは島の制約が嫌だったからだ。
Kanojo ga Pari ni detano wa shima no seiyaku ga iyadatta karada.
It’s because she didn’t like the island constraint that she left for Paris.

彼女 (kanojo: she)     he + woman
出 (de(ru): to go out)
嫌 (iya: disagreeable)

Here’s the postscript to that story: Soon after arriving in Paris, she developed パリ症候群 (Pari shōkōgun: Paris syndrome (i.e., psychological problems associated with living in Paris), illness + symptom + group). How flattered Parisians must be to hear that this syndrome exists!

あの島にスーパーを出すなら、島の制約を考慮に入れなければならない。
Ano shima ni sūpā o dasu nara, shima no seiyaku o kōryo ni irenakereba naranai.
If you want to open a supermarket on that island, you have to take the island constraint into consideration.

出 (da(su): to produce)
考慮に入れる (kōryo ni ireru: to take into consideration)     to consider + to consider + to enter

規約 (kiyaku: agreement, rules)     rule + agreement

新しい規約は全会一致で承認された。
Atarashii kiyaku wa zenkai-itchi de shōnin sareta.
The new regulations were unanimously approved.

新 (atara(shii): new)
全会一致 (zenkai-itchi: unanimous)
     all + assembly + accord (last 2 chars.)

The last characters, 一致, break down as same + to bring about. I didn’t realize that 一 could mean anything but “one”!

承認 (shōnin: approval, recognition)
     to agree to + to approve

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