Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Writing Systems: All East-Asian but Different Scripts

Abstract

Abstract The three East-Asian scripts—Chinese (characters and Pinyin), Japanese (multi-scripts), and Korean (alphabetic Hangul)—are discussed. Under each script, a brief historical account of the given writing system, the key features of the script, and the strengths and weaknesses as a script are described. The commonalities and differences among the three scripts are next discussed. Since it is claimed that Asian orthography, particularly Chinese characters, curbs Asians’ creativity (Hannas, 1997, 2003), East-Asian students’ performance in international comparison tests is reviewed in comparison to that of American counterparts. Finally discussed are the implications of script differences among the three writing systems for script relativity.