Michelle Lee

5/28/14
Honors 212 B

Is a Universal Writing System Possible?

Responding to writing 4 and 5

In class, we have covered the influence of Chinese characters throughout East

Asia and the basic writing systems of China, Japan, and Korea. From the information I

have learned in class and from reading my classmates responses, I have come to the

conclusion that it is not possible to have an ideographic universal writing system. From

the class definition of an ideograph, it is a visual symbol that represents an idea without

representing any specific word or phrase. Therefore, Chinese characters are not

ideographic, and could possibly serve as the universal writing system, but highly

unlikely.

The question of whether a universal writing system is possible has been raised

early in the class. Before reading my classmates responses, I wondered why it wouldnt

be possible, because Ive always thought that a universal ideographic system already does

exist. However, the author of writing 5 brings up an interesting point of how an ideogram

is not precise and the fact that ideograms as a universal writing system would bring many

obstacles. Such as the ideogram with the red boarder and a cigarette and smoke with a red

line crossed through. Seeing this, I would immediately interpret it as no smoking, but

what would people from other cultures think after seeing this? In some cultures, people

may not smoke with a cigarette, so some may interpret the ideogram as something

completely different. I remember going on an airplane when I was young, and seeing this

ideogram on the ceiling and wondering what it meant. As odd as it may sound, I thought

the cigarette was just a simple horizontal white line and the smoke looked like a baby. I
thought it meant no babies, but I knew that was wrong. Only after time and being

exposed to the ways of our culture is when I finally learned that the ideogram meant no

smoking. Ideograms can be interpreted in many ways, and is not cross-cultural.

On the contrary, author of writing 4 brings up an interesting point that a universal

writing system, such as Chinese characters can eventually develop with the understand of

their culture. I agree with the statement, culture is of greater importance than writing;

since writing, is in a way, used to preserve the culture we have inherited. However, the

author also states that it will be difficult for non-Chinese speakers to learn the characters.

Therefore, if cultural influence is ingrained within that person, then how will non-

Chinese speakers ever learn the universal writing system? Since the world is full of

diverse cultures, a universal Chinese writing system would be extremely difficult to learn.

The author did mention that neighboring countries such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam

adopted the characters because those countries were able to absorb the Chinese culture.

As the author of writing 5 says, East Asia countries can read the Chinese

characters because they are culturally congruous with their own languages. A Westerner

could learn Chinese, but since there are not many similarities between the Roman

alphabet and Chinese characters, it would pose a challenge for Westerners. I agree with

this statement because this explains my fathers experience of learning languages. He is

Korean-American, born in Japan and living in the U.S for most of his life. Having

exposure to the Japanese culture, he had no trouble learning Japanese and eventually

speaking it fluently. As an adult, he is learning Chinese as a hobby, and claims that it

comes naturally to him, since he is familiar with the Japanese culture and language.

However, my father recently told me that when he was in high school, he learned French,
and received his lowest grade in that class. His poor performance in that class could have

been due to the lack of understanding of the French culture. A Westerner could have a

similar experience with learning the Chinese writing system.

Hannas, in Asias Orthographic Dilemma, describes Westerners initial reaction

to Chinese characters. Since they are used to a much simpler writing system, their first

reaction typically is a mixture of awe and confusion, followed by the question, asked in

innocence, Why dont we just write with letter? (Hannas 74). He then mentions that

some students go on to master the characters, and claims it to be a better alternative to the

alphabet. However, they then retreat to their own alphabetic world with the same

smugness and righteousness that a Western student gets from a two-week tour "laboring"

in a Chinese peasant commune (Hannas 74).

The author of writing 4 does mention that sometime in the future, as the world

becomes more globalized and cultures merge together, a universal writing system may

emerge. I do agree with this, but in reality, will cultures ever merge together? Each

country has its own unique historical background, lifestyle, and economical standing. A

culture is the personality of the nation. I dont think that it is theoretically possible for

cultures to combine into one, but if people really wanted to learn a culture to understand

their writing system, it would take a long process to do so. Japan was able to achieve this,

but even then, two more scripts developed as a result of simplification.

The process of using characters for a different spoken language requires several

stages. The spoken language is first translated into Chinese, and then phonologically

adapted, while borrowing some Chinese vocabulary. In Japanese, this is called the on

reading. When a new writing system is introduced, people will be unfamiliar with the
Chinese grammar, so marginal notations will be used. In Japanese, this was called the

Kambun Kundoku, which changed the syntax and inserted case marking particles in

addition to translating the words. The final step of simplification will occur to the

Chinese characters used as phonograms. In Japanese, simplification reduced

multivalency, and eventually developed hiragana and katakana. Using this process, it is

theoretically possible for a nation with a different spoken language to learn Chinese

characters, but as a whole would take several hundred years.

An ideographic writing system would be impossible to be understood universally,

and Chinese characters would be highly unlikely as well. Our world is composed of

various cultures, and a clear understanding of every culture is required for an ideographic

writing system. As the Chinese writing system is not ideographic, it would still be

difficult for Westerners to absorb the system of Chinese characters without the cultural

exposure to East Asia. Not to mention, the intricate process it takes for a new spoken

language to use Chinese characters. I not only believe that a universal writing system is

unfeasible, but also unnecessary. The world consists of a multitude of spoken languages

with its distinctive writing systems, and that should never change.
 Citation

Hannas, William C. 1997. Asias orthographic dilemma. Honolulu: University of Hawaii

Press.