Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-02

has aroused great ambition among the
intelligentsia to introduce the Roman
alphabet. in printing, not the old
classic Chinese. but The verflacular Of
the masses Of people.
- -
It Is not to be assumed because the
Japanese derived their idso5raph writ
ing from the Chinese, that the two
languages are alike. According to W. M.
McGovern. Phi. D., in his book, Mod
ern Japan:
THE Chinese and japanese tongues
are, in their essence. almost as far
apart as Chinese and English. certain
ly far more different than Anglo-SaXon
and Latin. for the latter are both
Aryan languages, while there Is not
even racial affinity between the Chinese
and japanese. japanese, like
English. is poiysyllabic. while Chinese
Is monosyllabic. In Chinese, there Is
no tense, no number. no case. and even
no distinction between a verb and
noun. japanese. like many European
languages, has a highly complicated
syntax, single sentence being Of in
terminable length. Chinese is extreme
ly terse. pithy and to the point
1t can be readily seen that the DIFF
ferences between the two languages now
form barrier against mutual under
standing Of the masses In China and
Japan. for the ideographs Of the one
are meaningless to the other. But when
both use the same alphabet they will
begin to comprehend each others
thoughts And that means that quar-
ter of the population of the globe will
be drawn closer together In understand
Ing and mutual sympathy.
n X
In China the movement for SYSTEM
attic language for the masses, which
could be written intelligently. began
about 10 years ego through the awaken
ing of revolutionary Young China"
The literary language requires some
10000 ideographs, but the Chinese Re-
naissance movement has reduced the
language to 1000 ideographs. which q
lower class Chinaman learns in four
months. at teaching cost of 81. He
is delighted to discover at the end OF
his four months that he can really read
and understand the vernacular papers,
which do not use the literary Chinese.
MANY students ere ambitious. then. to
continue their education. and they be-
come intelligent as to the news of world
affairs. Their horizons widen.
Z
dent Dictator. has desreed that all pee
ple must learn the use Of the Roman
alphabet which must supersede the
Arabic-almost as complicated as the
Chinese SO, IN all villages and cities
the public squares have been converted
into language schools for adults. as we'll
as for children, and the people are
eagerly studying their A. B and Cs.
%* ~
1t Is we'll known that the Turkish re-
public has undertaken to Europeani2s
its people, in dress and customs. It is
now doing the same in language. There
is no section Of the world where the
confusion of tongues. as at the Tower
of Babel. persists as it does in Turkey.
In a book, Turkey: World Problem
of Today" Talcott Williams says:
Races. tongues and faiths. bitterly
held and bitterly prosecuted. divide Tur-
key as they did western Europe for SIX
or eight centuries. 500 to 1900. and as
they still divide eastern Europe, which,
like Asiatic Turkey. has none of the
training, Moderation and amalgamation
which Europe has gained in the last 700
years. In those years the uniform
tongues and organized. consolidated
countries of Europe of the west have
emerged. Turkey today. as to local
tongues and races. is as the United
Kingdom, France. Spain and Italy were
in 1000 to 1900"
What will it mean to those mixed
races when all their languages are writ
ten or printed with the same alphabet?
Mr.. Talcott Williams adds: The differ
ence which separates the Turkish en-
pire In Asia from every other adjoining
land is that in all cities and in most of
the rural districts these languages are
intermixeG"
Downright. 195s by Paul V. Collins1