Re: Japanese Pali Orthography / Phonetics

Dr. Pind,

> There is one structural obstacle, though.
> In Japan I am called Ore Pindo, and with good reason: The phoneme /l/ does
> not exist in Japanese ...

In Lao (& Northern Thailand) it's the reverse: "R" is omitted for "L". 
Thus, if you would prefer to be called "Ol' Piin'", you could relocate to
Vientiane.  The phonetics are terrible, but the food is great.

> ... and is therefore not included in the two traditional
> syllabic writing systems katakana and hiragana. They would have to invent
> it. They probably won't.

As with the "Bopomofo extended" range, it seems to me that a few extra
curves of the brush could easily solve these problems for Japanese; and I
would be interested to hear if anyone has gone ahead and attempted this.  By
comparison, the situation in Lao & Thai phonetics is hopeless.  Frankly, if
the Japanese took an interest in Pali, the Laotians would follow; given that
the Japanese burnt down the library here (& looted & raped, etc.) it's
surprising how much positive feeling modern Laotians have for the Japanese. 
Certainly, they look to Japan more than to India (and they are barely aware
that Sri Lanka exists).  A scholarship to study in Japan is much-wished-for
fantasy among both Laotians and rural Thais; my wife and I have met several
who have attained this dream (through the notoriously corrupt Japanese
NGOs).  In any case, it seems that the "Asian co-prosperity sphere" still
exists on an emotional level here; and many look to Japan as a positive
example of industrialized Asia.  I don't think this judgement is well
informed, but (truly) my opinion doesn't matter.

E.M.

--
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