～所
～しょ · ～sho · JLPT N2 · noun
topographic point
🚪 所 = door 戸 + axe 斤: the spot where you work, as in 事務所 office
As a suffix, ～所 (sho) turns an activity into the place where it happens: 事務所 (jimusho) is an office, 研究所 (kenkyūjo) is a research institute, and 停留所 (teiryūjo) is a bus stop. It also appears on its own as ところ (tokoro), meaning place.
所 — door 戶 (left) + axe 斤 (right)
Originally a sound: an axe (斤) chopping wood near a door (戶), with 戶 also hinting at the pronunciation. Over time it was borrowed to mean 'place' or 'location,' and later became a grammatical particle nominalizing verbs ('that which…'). The concrete 'chopping' sense faded entirely.
～じょ · ～jo · JLPT N2 · noun
topographic point
🏢 所 = 戸 door + 斤 axe: a door cut in a wall marks a place
As a suffix, ～所 turns an activity into the place where it happens: 研究所 kenkyūjo (research institute), 事務所 jimusho (office). It is read jo in some words and sho in others, as in 台所 daidokoro (kitchen) and 場所 basho (place).
所 — door 戶 (left) + axe 斤 (right)
Originally a sound: an axe (斤) chopping wood near a door (戶), with 戶 also hinting at the pronunciation. Over time it was borrowed to mean 'place' or 'location,' and later became a grammatical particle nominalizing verbs ('that which…'). The concrete 'chopping' sense faded entirely.