China Adopts a New Alphabet

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 27, 1913

China Adopts a New Alphabet

THE new leaders in China have determined to abolish the old system of writing, which required the students to memorize eight thousand ideograms as a preliminary to the pursuit of written learning. Steps were taken some time ago to construct an alphabet and substitute it for the previous mode of writing. The alphabet adopted consists of forty-two characters, of which twenty-three are vowels and nineteen are consonants. Of the vowels four are taken from Greek, four from Russian, five from Latin, and one from Chinese. Of the nine remaining vowels, two are modified or elongated signs, and seven are reversed ideograms. Of the consonants, fourteen are taken from Latin, three from Russian, and two from Greek. With these it is possible to write all the words used in the vulgar tongue in any part of China.