Interpretation of 注意する: to warn or to be warned?


I'm uncertain about the usage of 注意する in this sentence from Japanese the Manga
Way, Chapter 25 page 198. The context is that a woman has noticed the
following message written on the back of her husband the section chief,
presumably by his subordinates. The translation is that given by the textbook.

> > 課長は酔うと裸になるので、奥さまから注意してください。  
>  When your husband gets drunk, he takes off his clothes, so please caution
> him.

The textbook goes on to define 注意する as "to warn/caution", and explains that から
marks 奥さま as the source of the action. But isn't she the subject of 注意する, the
one doing the warning? If it was the passive 注意させる I could understand, but it
isn't. To me this sounds more grammatical:

課長は酔うと裸になるので、(奥さまが)注意してください。

Alternatively, I'm aware that 注意する can also mean "to pay attention/to be
careful", so maybe the 奥さまから注意してください is actually a request to the section
chief, i.e. please be alerted to your behaviour (from your wife). Then 課長 is
the subject of 注意する, which now means "to be warned/aware". This seems rather
like a passive construction in disguise.

What is the correct interpretation of 注意する in this context?




It is unambiguous that the wife is the one who would be doing the warning, and
this sentence is being spoken to her, by the boss, who is directly asking her
to caution her husband.

The function of から is really very similar to "from" in English, as in going
from point A to point B, last from time A to time B, being made from
something, and others, but especially in this case, hearing something _from_
someone. Therefore the usage of から in this case basically mirrors the English
meaning: the boss wants the husband to hear it from the wife. It might be
slightly confusing because we don't use "from" as a command like that in
English. Like you can't say "Please caution your husband _from_ yourself."

The grammar of から in this case might be debatable, though. The following is my
original interpretation, with amendments later:

I admit I am kind of speculating here, but my assumption is that から is _not_
playing the exact role of が. When you make commands there is an implied
subject, so even though you don't include the subject marker in （～が）～してください,
it is understood. The 奥様から in this case is emphasizing that he wants the wife
to caution the husband _herself_ , but since there's no が and he's explicitly
saying 奥さまから, it kind of sounds like から is replacing が.

Another way to say it might be （奥さまが）自分から注意してください。 I don't know about you, but
to me it feels a little more obvious that way, and the separation of the
subject version of 奥さま and the origin-of-action version of 奥さま is shown.

EDIT:

The discussion in the comments has led to the suggestion that から may in fact
be able to mark the subject. If this is true then 奥さまが自分から注意してください is
technically different. If we permit から to be a subject marker then the
sentence can be interpreted as is: 奥さま（から・が）注意してください。




It is unambiguous that the wife is the one who would be doing the warning, and
this sentence is being spoken to her, by the boss, who is directly asking her
to caution her husband.

The function of から is really very similar to "from" in English, as in going
from point A to point B, last from time A to time B, being made from
something, and others, but especially in this case, hearing something _from_
someone. Therefore the usage of から in this case basically mirrors the English
meaning: the boss wants the husband to hear it from the wife. It might be
slightly confusing because we don't use "from" as a command like that in
English. Like you can't say "Please caution your husband _from_ yourself."

The grammar of から in this case might be debatable, though. The following is my
original interpretation, with amendments later:

I admit I am kind of speculating here, but my assumption is that から is _not_
playing the exact role of が. When you make commands there is an implied
subject, so even though you don't include the subject marker in （～が）～してください,
it is understood. The 奥様から in this case is emphasizing that he wants the wife
to caution the husband _herself_ , but since there's no が and he's explicitly
saying 奥さまから, it kind of sounds like から is replacing が.

Another way to say it might be （奥さまが）自分から注意してください。 I don't know about you, but
to me it feels a little more obvious that way, and the separation of the
subject version of 奥さま and the origin-of-action version of 奥さま is shown.

EDIT:

The discussion in the comments has led to the suggestion that から may in fact
be able to mark the subject. If this is true then 奥さまが自分から注意してください is
technically different. If we permit から to be a subject marker then the
sentence can be interpreted as is: 奥さま（から・が）注意してください。

