In order to preserve distinctive cultures, people anxiously figure out writing systems of their languages as recording tools. Mandarin, Taiwanese and Hakka languages are three major and the most popular dialects of Han languages spoken in Chinese society. Their writing systems are all in Han characters. Various and independent phonetic…

In this study, we present the analyses stemming from a survey administered to 2149 foreign language learners at Michigan State University. We had three goals. First, we aimed to compile a profile of language learners' technological acumen, access to and ownership of technology, and the current uses of technology across a wide range of languages…

The table of 545 simplified Chinese characters indicates the proper forms for general use according to the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The simplified characters are arranged according to a system that combines stroke counting and stroke order. Alongside the simplified characters are their traditional and more complex forms,…

Difficulties in transcription from the Hebrew to the Roman alphabet are discussed. The resolution of some of the problems in Judeo-Spanish texts using the "aljamiado" writing system are reviewed, including the use of some Hebrew consonants as vowels, representation of Judeo-Spanish sounds non-existent in Hebrew, and phonetic variations…

Describes how the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies in Taipei has used computers: 1) to select new vocabulary from texts for glossing; 2) to sort vocabulary for index listings; and 3) to print portions of textbooks. Problems with phonetic transcriptions and quality of print for Chinese characters are discussed. Samples are…

This is a collection of reference materials to be used with the Chinese-Mandarin Basic Course textbooks. This collection consists of information on romanization systems, indexes for reading and writing characters, and other tables for quick reference. (NCR)

Examines Korea's experience with abandoning Chinese characters for an all-phonetic script. Despite efforts to replace characters with "all-hangul" in South Korea, reform opponents reinstated Chinese characters. In North Korea, a similar reform was also rescinded. Certain "linguistic" problems need to be solved for the reform to…

Lessons are presented on Mandarin Chinese concerning how to convert from the Yale romanization system to the Wade-Giles romanization system. The Yale system is the one most widely studied in the United States. Since biographical and geographical names in newspapers, magazines, books, and maps are still spelled out in the Wade-Giles romanization…

EKTB, a new transliteration scheme for Hebrew based on the historical development of the alphabet, treats Latin characters as graphic variants of Hebrew letters and permits Hebrew to be used with standard equipment while maintaining its traditional writing methodology. (Author/CB)

Reviews the history and development of the Pinyin grapheme system for the transcription of Chinese, and contrasts Pinyin graphemes with those of several other systems for Chinese. It is argued that Pinyin should be accepted as the standard system for Chinese transcription. (JL)

University students in Taiwan evaluated seven prepared Taibun reading samples on six characteristic scales. Results reveal that Han character-only orthography received the highest rating, Han-Roman mixed received the second highest, and Roman-only received the lowest.(Author/VWL)

Problems in the translation of Judeo-Spanish texts go beyond the problems normally associated with translation. Aside from near-native control of two languages, the translator must have knowledge of vocabulary that is not completely Spanish and an understanding of the unique orthographic history of the Judeo-Spanish dialect. There are Spanish…

This Chinese-English glossary provides a ready-reference to all lexical items introduced in the 180 lessons of the Chinese-Mandarin Basic Course. The contents are arranged alphabetically from Chinese to English. Each entry has a reference number that corresponds to the lesson number of the basic course in which the item was introduced. (NCR)

The relatedness of phonological coding to the articulatory mechanisms in visual word recognition vary in different writing systems. While articulatory suppression (i.e., continuous verbalising during a visual word processing task) has a detrimental effect on the processing of Japanese words printed in regular syllabic Khana script, it has no such…

Beginning Pashto is part of a set of materials for teaching oral and written Afghan Pashto. The Pashto writing system is taught in the first unit of the book and is used in the presentation of the material from then on. In the first three units, material is provided also in a romanized transcription. After that, the transcription of a word or…