<p>How was it decided what aspects of Western language Mandarin would inherit and why?</p>
<p>Ex: Western punctuation (! . ?), left to right writing style (in the mainland at least), pinyin vs bopomofo, etc.</p>
<p>Why did they decide to overhaul the language to read left to right top to bottom instead of top to bottom right to left, but choose not to inherit something like spaces? It's not as if a native Mandarin speaker has any trouble reading top to bottom right to left. Was that change made to make it easier for foreigners? If so, why not add spaces as well? If not, why change it at all?</p>
<p>Just wondering the historical context for how these decisions were made.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-21T04:32:25.307Z
I would like to take on just one aspect, i.e. writing "Right-to-Left" Since young, I've got drummed into me by my grandfather that "Right" is "Good", and "Left" is "Bad / Evil"  Born left-handed, every time I used the left hand for the chopsticks, I got knocked on the knuckles. You guessed it, I am now a proficient right-hand chopstick, pen user. Still its my left for the "heavy" stuff, like playing ping pong, knives, slapping someone, etc. As for Top-to-Bottom, it is a no-brainer. I've yet to come across a culture that writes from "Bottom-to-Top" So, right-hand, right-side, right?
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-13T22:48:59.833Z
It should be noted that the official pinyin standard does specify when to use spaces, but where to add them is sometimes not completely clear. Additionally, I should note that Taiwan kept more traditional aspects. Bopomofo is still used in Taiwan, although I believe the official romanization system is now also pinyin to avoid pinyin (old standard apparently uses si for xi which is confusing). Also they kept vertical writing longer, so 行 often refers to columns instead of rows in Taiwan. Eg. the input method 行列输入法 is named after its column-row notation.
Max Xiong
<history><syntax><punctuation>
How/why was western-style punctuation inherited into Mandarin?
# How/why was western-style punctuation inherited into Mandarin?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-02-20)

How was it decided what aspects of Western language Mandarin would inherit and why?

Ex: Western punctuation (! . ?), left to right writing style (in the mainland at least), pinyin vs bopomofo, etc.

Why did they decide to overhaul the language to read left to right top to bottom instead of top to bottom right to left, but choose not to inherit something like spaces? It's not as if a native Mandarin speaker has any trouble reading top to bottom right to left. Was that change made to make it easier for foreigners? If so, why not add spaces as well? If not, why change it at all?

Just wondering the historical context for how these decisions were made.

**Tags:** history, syntax, punctuation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I would like to take on just one aspect, i.e. writing "Right-to-Left" Since young, I've got drummed into me by my grandfather that "Right" is "Good", and "Left" is "Bad / Evil"  Born left-handed, every time I used the left hand for the chopsticks, I got knocked on the knuckles. You guessed it, I am now a proficient right-hand chopstick, pen user. Still its my left for the "heavy" stuff, like playing ping pong, knives, slapping someone, etc. As for Top-to-Bottom, it is a no-brainer. I've yet to come across a culture that writes from "Bottom-to-Top" So, right-hand, right-side, right?  
> **username_2**: It should be noted that the official pinyin standard does specify when to use spaces, but where to add them is sometimes not completely clear. Additionally, I should note that Taiwan kept more traditional aspects. Bopomofo is still used in Taiwan, although I believe the official romanization system is now also pinyin to avoid pinyin (old standard apparently uses si for xi which is confusing). Also they kept vertical writing longer, so 行 often refers to columns instead of rows in Taiwan. Eg. the input method 行列输入法 is named after its column-row notation.  

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## 0 answers

