as in shaku (ugliness).9
Furthermore, Chinese character words entered Japan where Yamato words had already existed, so an enormous number of synonyms developed. Hayashi
It should also be noted that of the two, Yamato words and Chinese character words, the latter more frequently have favorable connotations and give pleasing impressions. Thus, a barber (tokoya san) is not satisfied if he is not called a rihatsugy (hairdresser), and when we go to a department store and ask, “Where are the omocha (toys) sold?” the clerk might respond, “Do you mean the gangu (plaything) department?”
The following senry (satirical verse)* illustrates the point:
Shitsunen to It sounds better
ieba kikiyoi To say “lapse of memory”
monowasure. Rather than “forgetfulness.”
There are many other similar verses:
Sakkaku to It sounds better
ieba kikiyoi To say “an erroneous perception”
kanchigai. Rather than “a misunderstanding.”
Such depreciation of Yamato words has been foolish.
Moreover, when the Chinese character words displaced Yamato words, it was not done thoroughly, so in some cases the sphere of influence is divided. On the whole, this has resulted in an asymmetric system. For example, in counting persons we say hitori (one person), futari (two persons), sannin (three persons), yottari or yonin (four persons), gonin (five persons). Likewise, in counting days we say ichinichi (one day), futsuka (two days), and mikka (three days).† I think it would be better to reserve the Yamato words hitori and futari for special cases such as “bachelorhood” or “a young couple” respectively, and to use the Chinese character words for numerals in general.
Originally the ren’y (continuative) form* of verbs of Yamato words could form nouns, but the introduction of Chinese character words nipped this development in the bud. Linguist Izui Hisanosuke says: “The noun form for the verb kuu (to eat) or taberu (to eat) is now usually shokuji and that for yomu (to read) is usually tokusho or etsudoku.”
Several years ago, when I took part in the editing of NHK’s Nango Iikae Sh (Anthology of Simplified Terms fordifficult Words), the chairman asked, “How can we say insotsu (to lead a party) in some other way?” I said, “Tsurete aruku will be all right, won’t it?” “No, I mean the noun insotsu,” he said. I was at a loss for an answer as it would not look right to say tsurete aruki† (taking along). It seems we cannot avoid retaining the word insotsu after all. Insotsu-sha (the person who leads a party of people), also seems to have no counterpart in Yamato words.
Chinese character words—what shall we do with them?
One of the fascinating things about Chinese character words is that they offer the possibility of combining a number of word roots to form innumerable new words. Sports editors create baseball terms like kaish (an outstanding victory), rakush (an easy victory), shinsh (a narrow victory), sampai (a crushing defeat), and sekihai (a regrettable defeat). To describe the pitching, they have created such words as kky (a good pitch), akky (a wild pitch), kant (pitching the whole game), and shitt (a bad pitch). Recently such expressions as zekkky (a great pitch) and myt (a fine pitch) have appeared. The remarkable thing is that people understand the meaning if they see the written characters. We combine shgakk (elementary school) and chgakk (middle school) and call this shchgakk, and when we want to express the plural of kikan (organs), we say shokikan. Such tricks as these are possible only with Chinese character words.
In short, Chinese character words have many good points, and it would be unwise policy to heedlessly decrease them. Then, what measures should we take?
The first thing that recommends itself is the borrowing of Western words without translating them one by one into Chinese character words. Many people of nationalistic persuasion would object to such a policy. However, although we say we are borrowing foreign words, we have always first Japanized the words thoroughly. When the Japanese say rajio for the English word “radio,” the word they are using is something quite different from the original. It is no longer English or any other language; it is genuine Japanese.
Secondly, we must get rid of the idea that names of things should look important. You go to a library, for example. You are given a card called etsuran-hy (a perusal slip) at the entrance. On it you write your name and the name of the book you want to read, and take it to the etsuran-gakari (perusal clerk). The books you borrowed are to be taken to the room called etsuran-shitsu (reading room), where you read. There may be some charm in thedifficult word etsuran, but we can easily say tokusho-shitsu (reading room) for etsuranshitsu. As etsuran-gakari refers to someone who does not actually do the reading himself, this name is awkward. It had better be changed to kashidashi-gakari (a lending clerk). Etsuran-hy can be changed to mshikomi-hy (application slip) or it can simply be called kdo (card), for no other card is used in the library. If this can be done, there will be no need to use thedifficult Chinese character word etsuran. Ridiculously enough, the use of Chinese character words up to now reveals the feeling in Japan that names should lookdifficult and important.
What we call mugen-kid (endless track; a Chinese character word) in Japanese is Raupenkette in German, which, if translated literally, means imomushi-gusari (caterpillar chain; a Yamato word). The coiner of mugen-kid will probably not be satisfied if we use the term imomushi-gusari. We do not expect to go so far, but we would like to coin new words with popular connotations in the same spirit. As Kuwabara Takeo11 has said, it is better to call a thermometer a netsu-hakari (a measure for fever) than ken’onki (temperature-detecting instrument), for the former, composed of Yamato words, is more simple, homely, and easy to understand than the latter, which is composed of stiff Chinese characters which aredifficult to comprehend unless you see them written. And, for the same reason, tmegane (literally, distance-viewing glasses) is a better term for binoculars than sganky.
Thirdly, in order to avoid the disadvantages of Chinese character words, those composed of two characters should, after careful selection, be treated as words understandable on the same level as Yamato words. On the other hand, the
