When/why did 電話する replace 電話をかける?


In some older learning material I came across, they use 「電話をかける」 for "to make
a telephone call". When/why did this come to be replaced by 「電話する」 in popular
usage?




It randomly occurred to me today that while these are indeed similar in
meaning, they are not always interchangeable. If you're talking about making a
call **to** someone/somewhere, either can be used:

> 事務所 **に** 電話する call the office
>
> 事務所 **に** 電話をかける call the office

But 電話する can also be a joint action. Consider the following:

> 彼氏 **と** 電話する talk on the phone with one's boyfriend
>
> 彼氏 **と** 電話をかける (?)

(Technically you could argue that the second sentence is grammatically
correct, but the picture it gives is that of two people dialing the same phone
together, so it doesn't match the meaning of the first.)

So while 電話する can be used in both a directional (calling to someone/somewhere)
and a joint (talking on the phone with someone) sense, 電話をかける can only be used
in a directional sense.

As a **purely speculatory** note, it may be that 電話する is more common today
because it covers more cases than 電話をかける, which may lead you to think that
電話をかける is on the way out.




It randomly occurred to me today that while these are indeed similar in
meaning, they are not always interchangeable. If you're talking about making a
call **to** someone/somewhere, either can be used:

> 事務所 **に** 電話する call the office
>
> 事務所 **に** 電話をかける call the office

But 電話する can also be a joint action. Consider the following:

> 彼氏 **と** 電話する talk on the phone with one's boyfriend
>
> 彼氏 **と** 電話をかける (?)

(Technically you could argue that the second sentence is grammatically
correct, but the picture it gives is that of two people dialing the same phone
together, so it doesn't match the meaning of the first.)

So while 電話する can be used in both a directional (calling to someone/somewhere)
and a joint (talking on the phone with someone) sense, 電話をかける can only be used
in a directional sense.

As a **purely speculatory** note, it may be that 電話する is more common today
because it covers more cases than 電話をかける, which may lead you to think that
電話をかける is on the way out.

