Lou-lat, Ui-bun hiaN. Bun-te si tui chit-phiN po-to lai khoaN, in a-tok-a iau-si m-chai-iaN lan si Tai-ong-lang, m-si Tiong-kok-lang iah Chi-na-lang. Beh an-choaN in chiah e7 liau-kai--leh? Lan ai it-tit kong, it-tit ka in kiong-tiau.

Lip-bun

-----Original Message-----
From:  [[mailto:owner-taigu@](<https://web.archive.org/web/20060117063151/mailto:owner-taigu@>)...] On Behalf Of 
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2003 11:18 AM
To: "Taiwanese First"; 
Cc: 
Subject: RE: [TGB] Taioanji e poto: Star Telegram ?5-28-2003 lash of symbols

Dear Uibun,

Li si ti chian tiong chut si e chheng-lian. Li e chian-tau seng-chek si pit pat-lang kha toa, kho-leng tioh kong-jim li cho tai-chiong (admiral) chiah tioh.

Tan Pheksiu.


"Taiwanese First"  wrote:

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> Back to Home > Thursday, May 29, 2003
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>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Posted on Wed, May. 28, 2003
>
> Clash of symbols
> A UTA graduate who wants to change Taiwan's writing system has his work cut out
> By Patrick Mcgee
> Star-Telegram Staff Writer
>
>
> STAR-TELEGRAM/MATT SLOCUM
> Wi-vun Taiffalo Chiung intends to write articles and give lectures arguing for the Romanization of Taiwanese, a Chinese dialect, when he returns to his native Taiwan.
>
>
> STAR-TELEGRAM/MATT SLOCUM
> A Chinese dictionary can contain more than 40,000 Han characters.
>
> ARLINGTON - Six years of graduate education at the University of Texas at Arlington landed Wi-vun Taiffalo Chiung a teaching job before he even earned his doctorate this month. Now he hopes to use what he learned to change a nation.
>
> He wants to help shift the Taiwanese writing system from its ancient roots in Chinese characters to a Romanized alphabet -- the alphabet in which this article is written -- to make it easier to learn and to use.
>
> "It's better, it's more efficient," said Chiung, 32, who wrote his dissertation comparing the learning abilities of Asians who use Han characters and those who use a Romanized alphabet.
>
> In his research, Chiung said he saw Vietnamese students learn a variety of subjects much more quickly, using a Romanized alphabet, than Taiwanese students, who he said were overwhelmed by the thousands of Han characters.
>
> Many Asian peoples such as the Vietnamese, Koreans and Japanese adopted Han characters writing from China, much the same way the ancient Greeks borrowed their alphabet from the Phoenicians. A Chinese dictionary can contain more than 40,000 characters, and a knowledge of 3,000 to 4,000 characters is needed to read a newspaper, according to Encarta, an online encyclopedia. Each character is a symbol for a complete word.
>
> Vietnam is one of the few Asian countries that changed its writing from one system to another. The Vietnamese switched to the Western alphabet in the 16th century after European missionaries translated it into Roman script. The Romanized alphabet can be seen on the frequently accented letters on the signs of Vietnamese businesses in east Arlington.
>
> Chiung said the missionaries did the Vietnamese a favor.
>
> He returns to his native Taiwan on Saturday to teach Taiwanese literature at National Cheng-Kung University. But he also intends to write articles and give lectures arguing for the Romanization of Taiwanese, a Chinese dialect.
>
> Some academics and nonprofit groups in Taiwan have also been arguing for Romanization, but experts say Chiung has his work cut out for him if he wants to change the writing system of 21 million people.
>
> "This has been tried. The Chinese government pushed really hard, and that was done with the absolute might of the Chinese government in the '50s and '60s, and it failed," said Kuo-ming Sung, chairman of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Lawrence University in Wisconsin.
>
> Sung and Tej Bhatia, linguistics professor at Syracuse University in New York, said campaigns to Romanize an Asian language often have a political agenda, such as trying to assert independence from China's strong cultural influence.
>
> A Romanized alphabet is not significantly easier either, which is why so many English-speaking children have to struggle through "Hooked on Phonics" classes, Bhatia said.
>
> He also said that the Romanized alphabet cannot articulate some of the unique sounds of a Chinese dialect.
>
> Chiung agrees that his endeavor will be politically difficult because the Taiwanese government is reluctant to snub the powerful Chinese. And, culturally, some don't want to abandon their ancient writing for a Western alphabet. And Chiung doesn't deny that politics has at least something to do with his stance.
>
> "Taiwan has its own right to choose whatever writing system we want to use," he said. China claims Taiwan as a breakaway province.
>
> "Actually, I would suggest that China adopt Romanization, too," Chiung said.
>
> That's preposterous, said Chi-chiang Huang, professor of Chinese language at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York.
>
> "I am strongly against the Latinization of Chinese characters," he said. "Anybody who argues for the change of the Chinese writing system to alphabet needs to spend time studying traditional Chinese literature and culture."
>
> Not practical, Chiung responded.
>
> "It's not necessary for everyone to learn classical Chinese. It's not useful in daily life," he said.
>
> He said it's worth the effort to get his fellow Taiwanese to change, despite the obstacles.
>
> "If you don't try it, then there's not any chance," he said.
>
> Alphabets
>
> Different languages have different number of letters in their alphabets.
>
> English 26
> Hebrew 23
> Arabic 28
> Greek 24
>
> Chinese doesn't have letters, but instead has tens of thousands of characters, each standing for a word.
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------
> Patrick McGee, (817) 548-5476 
>
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