| Watakusi wa saikin, gendai no konpyûta siyô to Nihongo ni tuite
kenkyu site orimasu. Gengogakusya mo konpyûta no nôryoku ya
mondaiten ni tuite iken o happyo suru sekinin ga aru to omou kara desu. |
I am currently engaged in research on contemporary computer usage and the
Japanese language. Linguists too, I believe, have a responsibility to present their
views on the potentials and problems of computers. |
| Sate, Amerika no zen- Kôsei Kyôiku tyôkan, John Gardner-si no
kotoba de hazimetai to omoimasu. Sore wa "aizyô nasi no hihan to hihan nasi no
aizyô (Eigo de iu to, "unloving criticism and uncritical love") to iu kotoba
desu. Gardner-si wa, Amerikazin no aikokusyugi ni tuite Amerika o sukosi de mo
hihan site wa ikenai to syutyô suru hito wa kangaetigai da, aizyô nasi ni
syakai ya bunka no ketten o hihan bakari suru koto wa motiron warui keredo, hihan
sore zitai o kiratte kokusuisyugi o susumeru koto mo syôrai no tame ni yoku
nai, to iimasita. Kono koto wa bokoku igai no syakai to bunka ni tai suru baai de
mo onazi de wa nai desyô ka? Gengogakusya ya rekisigakusya mo "aizyô nasi
no hihan to hihan nasi no aizyô" to iu ryôkyokutan o sakeru yô ni
sita hô ga ii to omou no desu. Watakusi wa Nihon no gengo to bunka o senmon ni
site, Nihon ni tai site aizyô o motte orimasu kara koso, Nihongo no
hyôkihô ya Nihonzin no yomikaki nôryoku ni tuite no teisetu o mondai
ni site iru wake desu. Iwayuru zyôhôka syakai no zidai ni hairi, ippan no
hitobito ga pasokon ya wâpuro o kozin-yô ni tukau yô
ni naru ni turete, nettowâku tûsin, kyôiku-yô
sohutowea, sôzôteki na puroguramingu nado ga
yôkyû sarete kite iru desyô. Mosi sono konpon ni aru yomikaki
nôryoku no henka to genzyô o gokai sureba, gôriteki na
konpyûta siyôhô o kaihatu dekinai darô to omou kara
desu. |
Let me begin by quoting the former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and
Welfare, John Gardner. I am thinking of his phrase "unloving criticism and
uncritical love." By this, he meant that it was wrong for proponents of American
patriotism to oppose even the slightest criticism of the United States: although it
is bad to dwell unsympathetically on finding fault with social and cultural
shortcomings, it is equally bad for the future of society to advance nationalism
and eschew all criticism. I think that this is also true when considering foreign
societies and cultures. Linguists and historians would do well to avoid the twin
extremes of "unloving criticism and uncritical love." As someone professionally
involved with the language and culture of Japan, I have an affection for the
country, but for that very reason, I wish to call into question the accepted theory
of Japanese script and literacy. As we enter the age of the so-called informational
society, and as more and more ordinary people begin to use computers on an
individual basis, demands on network communications, educational software, creative
programming, and so on, will steadily increase. Unless we understand the present
situation and history of literacy, which underlies all these applications, we
cannot hope to develop a rational basis for computer usage. |
| Sate, hyôi mozi to iu kotoba wa Nihongo ni tuite no hon ni yoku dete imasu
kara kokugogaku no yôgo da to itte mo ii hodo desu ga, hyôi mozi to iu
mono wa zissai ni sonzai site iru desyô ka? Kyakkanteki ni kangaete miru to,
dono gengo mo konponteki ni wa hanasu mono desu. Mozi wa syakaiteki,
rekisiteki na men ga arimasu ga, mozi wa kotoba no imi no moto de wa arimasen.
Tatoeba, itizi mo yomenai mômoku no hito de mo, hoka no syôgai ga nai
kagiri, bokokugo ga kanzen ni hanaseru yô ni narimasu. Sitagatte,
hanasi-kotoba to wa mattaku kankei ga nai mozi nado to iu mono wa muimi na gainen
desu. Gengo no imi wa gengo no kôzô kara hassei si, mozi wa sono han'ei
de sika nai wake desu. Kore wa toku ni kore kara no konpyûta o kangaeru
toki ni wasurete wa ikemasen.... |
The term "ideographic characters" appears so often in books on the Japanese
language that one might say it has become a stock phrase of Japanese linguistics. I
wonder, however, whether such things as "ideographs" actually exist. When examined
objectively, all languages are fundamentally speech. Characters are not the
source of the meanings of words, although they do have their social and historical
aspects. For example, blind people who cannot read a single character can
nonetheless speak their native tongues perfectly, unless they suffer from some
other handicap. The very idea of characters totally divorced from speech is
therefore meaningless. For the meaning of language emerges from the structure of
language, of which writing is merely a reflection. It is particularly important
that we not forget this when we consider the computers of the future.... |