The Shwa Alphabet for Japanese	Contents
日本語のためのシュワー

I don't have to explain to you that Japanese writing is crazy - you learned that in school. There are more than 20,000 kanji, but we only use about 6,000-7,000, and the average person only knows about 3,000. Each kanji has several readings, both onyomi and kunyomi, and each reading has many kanji, so the writing system doesn't really record spoken Japanese - it's almost a different language. For instance, when we read a passage aloud, we often need to add additional explanation.

In addition, we use hiragana, katakana and rōmaji because the kanji can't write okurigana, joshi, gairaigo, and even many Japanese words and names. But why do we need all three phonetic alphabets when only one would be enough? The answer is "history", but we don't still wear kimono and geta, even though those are historic, too!

It has been estimated that it takes a Japanese student two full extra years of school to learn how to write his native language, compared to students in other countries. Those are two years in which we could be learning science, or engineering, or even a foreign language, to help Japan become a great country. Instead, we are wasting our time memorizing Chinese characters!

And think how convenient it would be if we shared a script with foreigners. When we travel abroad, we could read names like Louvre, Παρθενών, Эрмитаж, الأقصر, and ताजमहल. And foreigners (and schoolchildren) could read the names of buildings and train stations all over Japan.

People say that we need the kanji because so many Japanese words sound alike. For example, the word yōshi means

• adopted child 養子
• looks 容姿
• main idea 要旨
• blank form 用紙

If we are going to write with a phonetic script, why don't we just use one of the existing kana? Two reasons: first, it doesn't help us communicate with foreigners, and second, the kana aren't actually very good at writing Japanese! Consider the word kyakkō 脚光, which would be written きゃっこう in hiragana, even though it's only two syllables (and two characters in kanji). Between chō-on, daku-on, yō-on and soku-on, there are too many awkward mechanisms: we deserve a better script! Even Hebon-shiki would be better than kana, but Shwa is better still.

One of the most unusual aspects of our current writing system is that it employs 4 different scripts - kanji, katakana, hiragana and romaji, each in particular contexts. But Shwa uses one gait for all of these, the Abugida gait (which is like our kana).

Here are all the Shwa letters you need to write Japanese:

Most of them require no explanation. Like in Hebon-shiki, the letters show the sounds as they are pronounced .

Here are some hints for the vowels :

• The top row shows the short vowels. They are written low by default.
• Vowels without preceding consonants are written with the Break.
• Long vowels are always written a second copy of the vowel, preceded by the Break, instead of with a semivowel.
• Long o is never written with a u, and long e is never written with a i.
• Voiceless vowels are written normally, as if they were voiced.
• The vowel of the last mora in a word before the pitch drop is written high.

The consonants change to show their actual pronunciation :

• ti is written chi, and tya tyo tyu are written cha cho chu.
• tu is written tsu.
• di is written dji, and dya dyo dyu are written dja djo dju.
• du is written dzu.
• si is written shi.
• zi is written dji, and zya zyo zyu are written dja djo dju.
• Before e a o u, z- is written dz- at the beginning of words.
• hu is written fu.
• hy is written ç, and hi is written çi.
• g is written ng except at the beginning of words (including the second word of a compound word). The particle ga is always written nga.
• Rendaku is also written as pronounced, so the ta of Tanaka changes to a da in Yamada , and Mr. Takata and Mr. Takada can both spell their names correctly.
• A -y- is used for yō-on.
• The soku-on is spelled as a Catch, even at the end of words.
• The mikan, the moraic nasal, is spelled with the prenasal prefix, indicating that it assimilates to the following consonant. The actual pronunciation is not written.

This is a level of spelling which is closer to speech than the current Japanese writing, so it takes some getting used to. Here is a chart of all the Shwa kana :

Shwa also uses the Abugida long marks for Japanese:

Now that you've learned the script, why don't you try reading a sentence?