> the Kana both evolved more or less as short hand writing systems (and both are much easier to learn/write than Kanji). Today Katakana is primarily used to spell out foriegn words (for instance, computer becomes "kompuutaa" in Katakana). Hiragana is used by children (and often times small hiragana, called "furigana", is written over Kanji so that it's more accessible -- note that much of high school is spent studying Kanji). Kanji is basically annoying to foriegners trying to learn the language (this is and has been my biggest stumbling block in my studies) as there are 1,945 "standard" Kanji with the average educated adult knowing 3,000+. That's a lot to memorize...

It's even worse in classic Chinese, though the saving grace is that the written language is a universal bridge across the totally different Chinese dialects. I understand schoolchildren need some 2,500 to 3,000 characters just for basic vocabulary. To read the daily newspaper, you'd need to know 5,000 characters. There have been many attempts to modernize (i.e. simplify) the written form yet still retain the beautiful brushstroke characteristics.


> > > Ste "Boku wa gaijin desu yo!" phen
> >
> > Okay, so don't keep us in suspense, man. Out with it!
>
> Not that interesting: "I am a foriegner, you know." Except "foriegner" is the dictionary definition, "gaijin" is much ruder a name than foriegner, and really is almost a racial slur...
>
> Stephen

Say that "gaijin" sounds familiar! In secret Asian speak, let's see, doesn't that mean "white foreign devil"? Or is it "round eyes"? "Big nose"? "Yellow-hair"? And all sorts of rude epithets for those up-to-no-good, pale-skinned greedy imperialistic snobs who bring bad joss into the house of the venerable ancestors! Aiya!

Oh wait. I forgot. In Japanese, I was once told it's a highly civilized language where in fact it's *impossible* to swear at, or directly insult somebody. So instead you can be extremely rude to a person by using the incorrect verb addresses (like using the military imperative address to a buddhist monk, and vice versa). Has this convention (the lack of insult words) changed in the last 20 years?

Wolfspirit