More Changes to Chinese Characters?

I nearly died when I saw the (partial) list of proposed changes to simplify Chinese characterseven more.

Some of the proposed changes in the characters.

There were disagreements between GB and I (as usual) about whether the changes are good for the growth of the language. I do agree that, eventually, man will adapt and the new thing will come out well, but I do not agree that this is good for the growth of the language.

Let us take as an example the language I am most intimate with – English. The language has evolved over a period of time due to certain reasons, all of which are due to normal human interactions.

1. Words gaining new meanings over time. Meat referred to all food in the days of Shakespeare, but refers only to the body parts of animals today. Gay was a whole lot more innocent in the 18th Century, but has a very different meaning today.


2. New words are coined or borrowed. Ketchup and tea were borrowed from Chinese, knightfrom German, bungalow from Hindi and parley from French.


3. The alphabet remained essentially the same, with “J” and “V” being additions along the way to the Greek alphabet.

The changes to Chinese characters, on the other hand, are neither natural nor a result of human interactions, but decided by force of fiat by cultural entities given the power to enforce this fiat.

The Chinese language is not phonetic but pictorial in nature. With the move from traditional script to simplified, it has already lost much of its pictorial representation, making the words easier to write but harder to remember and associate. Simplifying the script is akin to inventing new alphabets for the English language, each with its own phonetic equivalent!

For the Chinese-challenged like me, I really dread having to learn new sets of characters! Well, I am ethnic Chinese, and so Chinese I must learn, fiat or no fiat. 加油！Go on!