To the Editor of the "Nontu-Cunwa Dany News"
Sm=—In reply to the very me teresting letter of Mr. R. d'AUXioN be Rurre, I am fully aware of the importance of several items that have been mentioned there in order to Jdemonstrate the apparent inadequacy of the thesis of Dr. Rewer, but I Janticipate that he himself is in a position to answer so as to give a favourable impression of his own brilliant, ideas.
Regarding the JRomsnization of the Japanese Iangu-Jage, I understand that the University. Jof Taihoku (Formosa) is treating the matter thoroughly, Mr. Del Re, a member of that institution and learned friend of mine, has sent me Fecently a lengthy questionnaire about "Characters vs. Romanized Script'
But Romanization of ideographic fand other non-romanic writings 19 Jonly one instance of the efforts to Jovercome the diffeully of writing and ding those languages. A far broader plan would be that of giving fall languages orly one writing, $0 that this unique graphical expression [should be the natural medium for the interchange of thought, irrespective of the languages that are spoken.
Obviously such an artifelnl system would, be subject to eritielsm on the, Jsame lines as Volapik, Esperanto, jete, but it would probably have an leven greater success than Music nota tions, the Braille system for the blind land others that are based on visuallza tion only.
Fundamentally, 1 believe that an Ideogram denotes a thought, Independently from the language that. is Jused by the writer or by the reader Jot such a graphic sign. "On the contrary, the writing of 'a thought by Jusing phonetical signs is based on the existence of a language. With regard to the graphical rendering of thought, the voice, the word and the, fianguage are all together connections that can be dispensed with.
'The ideograms that have been used until now are visual, symbolic or conventional signs that have the most different forms. Consequently, not Jso much the learning' the writing and the reading, but still more the print-Jing and the typewriting of them Jcauses, considerable dificuities.
At the beginning 1 was thinking to supersede the ideograms (or characters) now in existence by Jothers that should be liable to be easily printed and typewritten, Later have been struck by the idea of Jstudying an organic scheme in order to create such universal ideograms that should be serviceable under the broadest range of different requisites, The system is based on ideograms that are composed only of straight strokes and of dots. The different Jcombinations and dispositions of the Jare of a number of the size of a million, 20 that not only the 100,000 different characters of an "amplified" Chinese language cold be translated jin universal ideograms, but a still greater number of additional ideas Jeould te given graphically by the An exhaustive study of the universal ideograms is of such magnitude that It would require jong work of several competent Jphilologists. In the meanwhile, last Jsummer, I have submitted a short Jpaper on the subject to the Inter-Jnational Institute of Intellectual Co-Joperstion of the League of Nations in Paris and I have been advised that the matter is now under considera tion, Probably—as usual—no far-reaching results will be attained, but possibly some sets of graphical notations of thoughts will get widely known in the future.
My aim has not been that of bridge ling differences of ideas, but merely that of endeavouring to lower "the imbecile barrier of language".
Verronio Levi-Scuire of SuvEno, Shanghai, Dec, 6.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.