"The unilingual republic of the world": Reactions to the 1872 proposal to make English the national language of Japan

要旨

In 1872, Mori Arinori, the newly-appointed Japanese ambassador to Washington, wrote to the linguist William Dwight Whitney concerning Mori´s proposal to make English the national language of Japan, replacing Japanese. Whitney´s response welcomed the idea of teaching English throughout Japan but explained why, from a linguist´s point of view, Japanese neither could nor should be replaced. He was also unreceptive to Mori´s suggestions for regularising English, levelling out strong past-tense verb forms and etymological spellings. Mori nevertheless had his proposal published in American newspapers, where it received widespread attention, including a mention in President Grant´s Second Inaugural Address.

主題