This results in 46 distinct letters, almost double the number used in the English alphabet. The phonology of Japanese is mercifully quite simple. If we were to use a syllabic writing system for ...

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. Who created the alphabet and decided its order?

“Without a means to translate the writing ... from whom the English word “phonics” derives — are credited with creating “the prototype for all alphabets in the world,” according ...