Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-04-26
JAPAN'S LANGUAGE.
OBSTACLES TO ITS ADJOURNMENT
TO EUROPEAN TRAVELLERS.
Characters Adopted from the Chinese-Ths
Varieties of vernacular in Constant
Use-DinicuIties which Ex-
asperate the Learner.


no OhDtUBSB ulDua or, more DrODprIY.
sylla baries, consists of about forty eight
character, and these, by certain side marks,
may have the consonant sound of the sylla-
ble changed, as IRA" becomes "taD or ida. y
Thus, within certain limits, the characters
may be made to represent quite a variety
of sounds, the base or vowel always remain
ing the same. This inevitably leads to the
repetition Of words having different signifi-
cations. 10 long as the syllabaries are of
such limited number. In short, the pure
Japane g Is midway between the phonio
method, more or less perfectly developed
In the alphabet Of western nations and
the Geographic system prevalent in China.
The word wa represents five or six different
nouns In itself, and many more In It's com.
pounds The word hi represents a dozen or
more objects, and the word ku nearly as
many. Thus difficulty sometimes arises In
trying to pepresent ones ideas, especially IL
he has limited vocabulary.
On the morning Of my arrival at Yoko-
hama heard man speak to a Chinese serv-
ant 10 English, German, Japanese, and Chi
nese all in the same breath. Thus arises a
mongrel language. which defies all rule,
OF grammar, rhetoric, or logic. There are
several causes at work to prevent the
foreigner acquiring the language OF the
AaAAh' F"but ehcio oio uihily SJyNs VI speech
depending for their application upon the
rank or condition OF the person speaking or
the one addressed. To start with, there Is
children's language. This is not the mere
"ootsey-tootsey" Of the fond American
mother, but is a real variation of the yer
nacular. Second, there is a household Ian
guage, az distinguished from that Of the
street or the rostrum. There Is a form of
expires Ion appropriate in addressing supe-
rlors, and another in speaking to interiors
Ihe changes in the forms Of address are not
always accomplished by prefixes and sutiixes
but oy the use OF an entirely different ex-
preston.
This IS particularly exasperating to the
learner, for when he, by patient labor, i'm
agines himself the master of a thought in the
proper language, he may insult a hgh-rank
parsonage by using cody language. In
speaking to a high-rank person IL become,
necessary to use many honorfc particles,
sometimes almost hiding the main word,
which Ill itself Is very familiar. Thus one al.
ways feels degree OF uncertainty in attack
ing purely vernacular expression. The
standard test Is probably the language OF
upper classes in the capital l am told that
IN some OF the provinces the spoken language
differs considerably from this standard.
Hence travellers in remote country districts
lind a little difficulty in making their wants
known. This difference seems almost en-
tlrely one one OF articulation, tue written
words being the same.
When l first arrived In the country l
stopped az an English hotel, where l sup
posed we would have servants who could
speak Engiish. Early IN the morning, as is
Tue custom OF the country, the servant
COMES p9nLlY TO the room. bringing toast
and tea The partner OF my joys and sor-
rows, VINO was en- de'habille, plunged be.
meath the bed clothes with q smothered
scream turned to my saffron friend and
asked him the time OF day. lie looked puz-
zied, and, seiz'ng my shoes, carried them
below for polishing. When he returned
repeated my question, when he dodgei out
and soon returned with some glasses OF
water was about to interrogate further
concerning the flight OF time when a large
clock IN the vicinity struck the hour OF z,
snus renewing Doth parties.
Yes, the japanese spoken colloqutally is
oiihcuit, Dut the written language Is stupe-
Tying. There are some several "hands, "
varying from the rigid mathematical square
nand an the way 70 the grass hand, which
looks Ike tangled skein oil yarn done in
INK. Inc strokes follow q certain order, but
IL Is very diincuit TO detect IL. The writing
u uohe VIVID very small prush Instead ol
pen, ana tne syiiaoles are connected in per-
lectiy bewildering continuous strokes. The
ordinary characters on tea box are very
clear and intelligible compared with this.
ihere are very iew foreigners VINO e'sr
thoroughly master TINS written Language,
even tnougn ,hey become goou students IN