COMMENTS:
Voted : Yes, that would be practical
The Chinese, Japanese and Korean way of writing is not as practical and developed as the Western alphabet way in which each individual character represents a sound- and thus makes the Western alphabetical way more phonetic and practical (there are other phonetical alphabets out there as well (such as the Russian one), but since Western languages are currently so widespread, it would be most practical to adopt that alphabet if having to adopt any).
And yes, the character in the picture above is apparently a real Chinese character. It is a type of noodle. But using the Western way of writing it- it is simply 'Biang biang'.
NOTE: obviously the languages have already been adapted to use the Western alphabet- but this ballot is asking if the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans should completely convert the way they use their languages to that form.
Voted : Yes, that would be practical
They have been trying to do that since 1978 methinks. They know their writing system is not practical but it must be hard to change the habits of 1.3 billion people.
The Turkish language was completely converted to the Latin alphabet a while back- and their old system was already phonetic, so their need to do so was less than that of the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans.
no reason they can't have both. depends whether the meessage they're conveying is technical or poetic.
It would be hard to change now, although computers would be easier with a Western alphabet. The traditional style combines art and language.
Hello Yes. As my Korean dry cleaner once told me: All chinese men die before ever seeing every letter in the Chinese alphabet.
skylab - It wouldn't be that hard. Yes, it would take time for a smooth transition, but it could be done nonetheless. The Turkish language was converted to teh Western alphabet, and the Turkish language is still definitely just as Turkish as it ever was.
Using the Western alphabet for Japanese, Korean and Chinese languages would be practical and rational.
It has been hinted that it should be kept as it is artistic. The ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics were artistic too, but they got rid of that system anyway, and advanced themselves to expressing themselves in a more developed way- Arabic (which has its own phonetic alphabet). Using pictures to represent words isn't as good as phonetic alphabet systems.
So other than 'artistic' arguments which are more about sentimentalism rather than reason and logic, I don't see why the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans should not completely convert their languages to be used in the Western alphabet form.
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