, 1885-04-16
JAPAN'S LANGUAGE.
OBSTACLES TO ITS ADJOURNMENT
TO EUROPEAN TRAVELLERS.
Character. Adopted from the chInese-Ths
Varieties Of vernacular In Constant
use-Dimculties which Ex-
asPerate the Learner.


~ ,
aylla baries, consists Of about forty eight
charncters, and those, by certain side marks,
may have the ~consonant sound OF the sylla-
BILE changed. as FRA" becomes sta or @da. Z"
Thus, within certain limits, the characters
may DO made TO represent quite a variety
OF sounds, tho base or vowel always remain
ing the same. This inevitably loads to the
repetition Of words having different signid-
cations, SO long rs the ~syllabaries are Of
such a limited numbor. In short, the pure
JapaneIe Is mid way between the phonic
method, mora 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 its com
pounds. tbs word hi represents a dozen or
more objects, and the word ku nearly as
many. Thus difficulty sometimes arises in
trying to represent ones ideas, especially IL
he has a limited vocabulary,
On the morning OF my arrival at Yoke
hama I heard a man speak toa Chinese serv-
ant in English, German, Japanese, and Chi
nese all In the sams breath. Thus arises n
mongrel language. which defes all rules
Of grammar, rhetoric, or logic. There are
several causes at work TO prevent the
foreigner acquiring the language Of the
land. First, there are many styles OF speech
depending for their application upon the
rank or condition OF the person speaking or
the one addressed. To start with, there is a
children's language. This is not the mere
-ootsey- tootseyn OF tho fond American
mother, but Is n real variation OF the YER
nacular. Second, there is a household Ian
guage, as distinguished from that OF tho
street or the rostrum. There Is Il form OF
expression appropriate in addressing supe-
riors, and another in speaking to interiors.
The changes in the forms OF address are not
always a~ccomplised by prefxes and s%ufixes,
but by the use OF an entirely different ex-
preston.
This Is particularly exasporating TO the
learner, for when he, by patient labor, i'm
AGNES himself the master OF a thought in the
proper language, he may insult a high-rank
parsonage by using cody language, In
speaking to a high-rank person 1t becomes
necessary TO use many honoriic particles,
sometimes almost hiding the main word,
which IN itself Is very familiar. Thus one al
ways feels a degree OF uncertainty In attack
ing a purely vernncular expression. Tho
standard test is probably the language OF
upper classes in the capital I am told that
in some OF the provinces the spoken language
differs considerably from this standard.
Hence travellers in remote country districts
find a little difficulty in making their wants
known. This difference seems almost on
tirely one one OF articulation, tho written
words being the same.
When l first arrived in the country 1
stopped at an English hotel, where l sup
posed we would have servants who could
speak English. Early in the morning, as is
the custom Of the country, the servant
comes gently to the room, bringing toast
and tea. The partner of my joys and sor-
rows, who was en- deshabiIle. plunged be-
meath the bed clothes with a smothered
scream. 1 turned to my saffron friend and
asked him the time of day. He looked puz-
zled, and. seizing my Shoes, carried them
below for polishing. When he returned 1
repeated my question, when he lodged out
and soon returned with some glasses of
water. ! WINS about TO ~interrogate further
concerning the flight OF time when n large
clock in the vicinity struck the hour Of Z,
thus relieving both parties.
Yes, the Japanese spoken colloquially is
difficult, but the written language is stupe-
flying. There are some several "hands, -
varying from the rigid mathematical square
a all tho way to the grass hand, which
looks like n tangled skein of yarn done in
ink. The strokes follow a certain order, but
It is very difficult to detect it. The writing
Il done with a very small brush instead OF a
pen, and the syllables are connected in per-
fectly bewildering continuous strokes. The
ordinary characters on a tea box are very
clear and Ineligible compared with this.
There are very few foreigners who sver
thoroughly master this written language,
oven though they become good Students in
the colloquial.
With all its disad vantages the pure
Japanese may be fairly mastered, but there
are brought into the account alarge number
Of Chinese ideographs. IL is said that the
Chinese characters lave been used here TO a
greater or less extent for 1900 years. Ger
tain IT is that these characters are the very
bane of n foreigners existence. They are as
arbitrary as anything can well be. Some
distinguished scholars nave tried to discover
some basis Of analysis-some key TO unlock
the mystery-but after ardnous study IL
has turned out that the key Is about as
intricate as the lock it'olL. Every page OF
the daily newspaper contains these STUN
bling blocks to civilization. 1t requires the
mastery Of from 5000 to 5000 characters in
order to read current affairs, and to delve
In the hidden mines OF ancient history,
philosophy, and mythology requires about
e5.OOO or $1,000 characters. Bear in mind
that each one is arbitrary and has no rela-
ton in sight, sound, or sense with the idea
for which it stands, and you have before you
some notion OF the task set before the thor
ough Oriental scholar. The Japanese and
Chinese havo been obliged 10 learn those
s~enseless characters for the past 3 $40 years.
Is IL any wonder nat Japanese boys should
DO found deficient in reasoning nOXyersf