NounをAdjectiveとするNoun meaning something like a normal adjective

Question

This is a bit embarrassing, but on no less than the very first line of Komi-san, in Japanese, I'm presented with the following:

Now I've searched for a solid hour and found no definition for NounをAdjectiveとするNoun that makes sense in this context. Specifically:

人付き合いを苦手とする症状

DeepL gives something along the lines of "The symptoms of bad social disposition".

The English translation gives something like "it's a condition where a person has trouble communicating with other people"

I'm now unsure if the first big line is crucial here. I'm just kind of stumped as to how this grammar works.

Does it help? [Meaning of ~を~に(して) / ~を~として / ~を~にする / ~を~とする / ~を~にした / ~を~とした](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/73082/) — Jimmy Yang, Jan 22 '22 at 05:36
I think this is either another usage, or I just don't get it: this talks about "use something as something", but applying that here gets us "using social skills as bad" which just sounds odd — Riolku, Jan 22 '22 at 05:48
Using one-on-one English translation to understand each word is bad. 苦手 has another meaning, look up! — Jimmy Yang, Jan 22 '22 at 05:55
I mean I can rephrase to "using social skills as bad at (social skills)" but I don't really think that's helping understanding — Riolku, Jan 22 '22 at 06:08
Hmm, this phrase difficult to translate naturally... how about "condition when one considers socializing as something they are bad at" — Jimmy Yang, Jan 22 '22 at 06:16
That's interesting... I'm still not sure if I'm missing something but that feels like a better translation — Riolku, Jan 22 '22 at 06:18
Another related：https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/44656/45489 — sundowner, Jan 22 '22 at 07:29

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 22 '22 at 08:28

「AをBとする」 can mean not only "to regard A as B", "to use A as B", but also "to have A as B", or even "(Speaking of the subject,) A is B."

マリアを母とし、... (≈マリアが母で...)
日本語を母語とし、... (≈日本語が母語で...)
先天性心疾患治療を得意とします。 (≈先天性心疾患治療が得意です。)

I think this usage sounds pretty literary. (These examples above sound more literary than the rephrased counterparts in the brackets.) 　

And 「AをBとするXX」 can mean "XX having A as B", "XX with A being B", or "XX, where A is B" (≈「AがBであるXX」「AがBのXX」), as in...

「遺伝子組換えでない食品を原材料とする場合」 (≈遺伝子組換えでない食品が原材料である場合), "a case where 遺伝子組み換えでない食品 is (a product's) ingredient"

「日向灘を震源とする地震」 (≈日向灘が震源である地震), "an earthquake with 日向灘 being its 震源"

「中学生を対象とするコンクール」 (≈中学生が対象のコンクール), "a competition where 中学生 are its 対象"

「日本語を母語とする者」 (≈日本語が母語である者) "someone having Japanese as their native language" ⇒ "someone whose native language is Japanese"

Similar examples:

「治療を目的とする手術」 (≈治療が目的である手術)

「ストーブを原因とする火災」 (≈ストーブが原因の火災)

「外科を専門とする医師」 (≈外科が専門の医師)

「英語を不得意とする学生」 (≈英語が不得意な学生)

Similarly...

「人付き合いを苦手とする症状」≈「人付き合いが苦手である症状」

I think it can be understood as (literally) "a symptom where socialising is one's weakness", ⇒ "A symptom where one is bad at socialising".

Thanks so much! And just to clarify, these usages of とする sound pretty literary, is that right? — Riolku, Jan 22 '22 at 17:11
@Riolku Yeah, they sound pretty literary/formal. The examples I gave above (eg 英語を不得意とする学生) sound more literary/formal than the rephrased counterparts (eg 英語が不得意な学生). — Chocolate, Jan 23 '22 at 02:00

NounをAdjectiveとするNoun meaning something like a normal adjective

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