Promiser, Promisee, partner, Theme, clause · Japanese marking · working claim, revisable
約束する is a verbal noun plus する. デジタル大辞泉 files 約束 as ［名］(スル). JMdict, on the same Weblio page as the Kenkyusha entry, labels sense 1 名詞、サ変名詞、他動詞. The head is not a lexical verb of the ［動］ class. 誓う and 請け合う are ［動ワ五（ハ四）］. 保証 is ［名］(スル), the same packaging as 約束. On this site, 属性する is the attribute-side verb of that shape. No sentence of 属性する is elicited on that page, and none is added here. 指導, on the teach page, is the documented ［名］(スル) parallel: デジタル大辞泉 prints 人を指導する立場.
The Promiser, where a line fills the subject, is は. プログレッシブ和英中辞典 prints 彼は誕生日の贈り物にカメラをくれると約束した and 彼は約束を破らなかった and 彼はよく約束を守る人だ. 研究社 新和英中辞典 prints 彼は約束を守る人だ. A が on the promiser of the active commitment is unprinted in the lines cited here. が is printed on the subject of the passive, below: 社長の椅子が約束される, 未来が約束されている.
Two marks on a person, and English does not split them. A one-directional Promisee is に. プログレッシブ和英中辞典 prints 動物園に連れて行ってやると子供に約束した, glossed “I promised my son to take him to the zoo.” 子供に is the Promisee. 動物園に is the goal of 連れて行く. デジタル大辞泉 prints 「子供に約束したことを忘れる」. A mutual appointment takes と, not that に. Progressive sense 2 prints 彼と会う約束がある, “I have an appointment to see him,” and 会社との約束を破った. Kenkyusha prints 彼女と夕食を一緒にする約束がある. Makino and Tsutsui, A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, entry to2, say to implies a bidirectional action and ni a unidirectional one, on ぶつかる: Akira wa Kimiko to butsukatta against Akira wa Kimiko ni butsukatta. That entry does not discuss 約束. The promise lines print the same two particles on two relations. English promise someone is one slot. Cambridge’s double object is Her parents promised her a new car. Progressive’s own English gloss of the headword, “promise (((a person) to do)),” puts that person inside promise and does not split に from と.
に is not always the Promisee. 日曜日にデートの約束をした has に on the day. 約束の日［時間］に is the appointed time. 誕生日の贈り物に in カメラをくれると約束した is “as a birthday present.” The English of that line, “He promised (to give) me a camera,” adds me. The Japanese line does not print a person as Promisee. Kenkyusha’s その子供に 1 日 2 時間教える約束だった has に on 教える. The gloss is “She was expected to teach the child.” That に is not the Promisee of 約束する.
The Theme を, when the noun 約束 is the thing kept or broken, belongs to another verb. Progressive and Kenkyusha print 約束を守る and 約束を破る. デジタル大辞泉 prints 「約束を交わす」 and 「結婚の約束を破る」. 守る, 破る, and 交わす take 約束 as を. They are not the light verb する.
The light-verb split. 約束する has no を on the verbal noun. Progressive’s sense-1 head is 約束する, glossed “promise (((a person) to do)); give one's word ((to a person)).” Kenkyusha’s head is the same 約束する, glossed “promise; give one's word to somebody; agree on something with somebody.” 研究社 新英和中辞典 prints two example lines side by side: 約束をする “make a promise,” and 約束する “give one's word.” を sits on the verbal noun only in 約束をする. Kenkyusha prints 会う約束をする “make an appointment with.” Progressive prints 日曜日にデートの約束をした and 私たちはマンションを借りる約束をした. In the last line, を on マンション is the object of 借りる. The light verb is をした.
A clause. Quotative と is not the partner と. Progressive prints 動物園に連れて行ってやると子供に約束した, 彼は誕生日の贈り物にカメラをくれると約束した, and 他言しないと約束するなら. Makino and Tsutsui, entry to3, the quotation particle, name 思う, 考える, 書く, 聞く, and 説明する. 約束する is not in that list. The key sentence is Hill said “Konnichi wa.” Kenkyusha prints the formula …という約束で “on the promise that…”. A full clause 行くという約束 is unprinted in the entries cited here. 行くことを約束する is unprinted. Kenkyusha prints 助け合うことを誓った on 誓う, not on 約束する. Daijisen’s 約束したこと is the object of 忘れる. 行くことを約束する reuses 約束する and the ことを shape of 誓った. It is constructed.
Control. Working claim, revisable. The dictionaries do not use the word. In 動物園に連れて行ってやると子供に約束した, the one who takes the child to the zoo is the speaker, the promiser. 子供に does not take anyone. The English gloss is “I promised my son to take him.” In カメラをくれると約束した, the one who gives is 彼, the subject of 約束した. 友達と会う約束をする reuses Progressive’s 彼と会う約束がある and Kenkyusha’s 会う約束をする. It is constructed. On that line the one who meets the friend is the promiser, and と is the partner of the appointment, not a Promisee who acts.
Copular coercion. Working claim, revisable. English promises to be and the noun’s “shows promise” are verb-built and noun-built on promise. Cambridge prints It promises to be a really exciting game and he showed great promise. Japanese does not build that reading on 約束する. デジタル大辞泉 files 有望 as ［名・形動］ and prints 「前途有望な青年」 and 「有望株」. Progressive prints 彼女の入賞は有望だ, “The prospects of her winning a prize are good.” だ is the copula. The same entry prints 彼女の前途は有望である with the English “He has bright prospects.” The gloss subject and the Japanese subject do not match. The line used here is 彼女の入賞は有望だ. Progressive’s 見込み, sense 1, headed “hope; promise,” prints 見込みのある生徒 “a promising student.” のある is ある. 期待 is a different verbal noun, ［名］(スル). デジタル大辞泉 prints 「活躍を期待している」 and 「期待薄」. 期待できる is unprinted in that entry. The commitment head on this page stays する. It is not a copula.
The assured future is still 約束, in the passive. It is not the copula of 有望だ. デジタル大辞泉 sense 3, “その実現が確実視されていること,” prints 「社長の椅子が約束される」 and 「将来が約束された人」. Kenkyusha sense 3, “見込み, 運命,” prints 君には輝かしい未来が約束されている, “A bright future is assured for you.” Progressive sense 5 prints 彼には有望な将来［教授のいす］が約束されている. 有望な modifies 将来. The matrix head is 約束されている. には on 君 and 彼 is the person the future is assured for. It is not the commitment Promisee of 子供に約束した.
誓う, 請け合う, 保証する, and 言質を与える stay on their own frames, in the related section. Each mark below is the one the entry prints. No telicity claim is made.
Where this frame diverges from English promise, and from Spanish prometer, German versprechen, French promettre, Italian promettere, and Russian обещать. English promise her a new car is one bare person and one thing. Those languages put the Promisee in a dative, a dative clitic, or a / à / a, and they do not split that person from a partner of a mutual appointment. Japanese prints に for the one-directional Promisee and と for the appointment. A second と, the quotative, introduces the clause. English uses to or that. The siblings use an infinitive marker or a finite complementizer. 約束する is a verbal noun plus する. Those pledges are lexical verbs. English promises to be and showed great promise stay with promise. Japanese builds that reading as 有望だ or 見込みのある. The passive 約束される is a third reading, still the verbal noun.