Re: tlug: kanji or romaji for Japanese? (was: parallel-port IDE)

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <turnbull@example.com>]

>>>>> "Kei" == Kei Furuuchi <kfur@example.com> writes:

    Kei> I think Japanese as spoken language is like English without
    Kei> using articles or pronouns. It may work, but accidents
    Kei> happen.

All languages have ambiguities.  Even programming languages are not
immune: according to Watts Humphrey, something like 10% of syntax
errors in programs are not caught by the compiler.  (He mostly was
discussing PL/I and Pascal.)

Japanese can be spoken (and written) in a precise way, and it's not
necessarily even that ugly (thus I am told; I have no expertise to
justify expressing my own opinion in this matter).  But Japanese don't
like to hear it (again, thus I am told).  It's too "ritsukuppoi"
(logic-chopping).  Many of my colleagues prefer writing in English
because they needn't deal with this burden.

As for ambiguous English:  check out Bill Clinton's testimony.

And there are many Japanese constructs and words I miss in English:
"deshou" first and foremost, but "yahari" and "sasuga" would be
useful; and some more subtle things like "joushiki," which is most
accurately translated as "conventional wisdom" most of the time, but
the English version is normally considered an oxymoron (in America,
anyway).  Sometimes I'd like a word that's more approving (eg, what is
avoiding NIH syndrome but submitting to joushiki?).  So Japanese can
(at least sometimes) be more accurate than English.

-- 
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