A Simplified Alphabet For Japan

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 66, 10 December 1938, Page 1 (Supplement)

A Simplified Alphabet For Japan

H A FEW years ago Kemal Ataturk with one stroke of the pen /tk . abolished the nse-trf-the Arabic alphabet, and put in its place / Ik the Roman alphabet suitably adapted to fit the needs of the Jk Turkish language,” writes Mr. Harold E. Palmer, late Linguistic Adviser to the Japanese Department of Education, in the "Empire Review.” “Another triumph for the ABC is the recent, sanctioning by the Japanese Government of the ‘Nihonsiki,’ or the Roman alphabet adapted bo the needs of the Japanese language. It is also a triumph for internationalism and the cause of rational language reform. “Of all the writing-systems of the world that of Japanese has the reputa tion of being the most complicated and cumbrous. It is made up of Some thousands of Chinese characters mixed in witli two phonetic syllabaries called ‘kana.’ “It follows naturally Hurt a considerable portion of the eight to fifteen years of education must be devoted to the learning of reading and writing. “It is therefore not surprising that Western scholars and others have

wondered why the Japanese, with their tendency, Jp.jidoitt .time-saving and modern procedures, have not long since discarded this unscientific ami cumhrous method of writing. "Nor is it surprising that a considerable number oi Japanese educationists have urged for the past eighty years that their language should be freed fiom the encumbrance of its writing-system and their children from the immense memorizing burden that it represents. "Some forty-five years ago Dr. Tanakadate started a campaign for the Romanization of Japanese. “His efforts were resisted—chiefly by those whose watchword seems to have been ‘Roman characters for the foreigner and Japanese script tor the Japanese.’ "After over forty years of struggle and controversy, his efforts were, rewarded when the Ministry of Education declared the Roman transliteration of the ‘kana’ a's official, and suitable tor being taught in schools. lids decision has great significance."