On Mon, 2 Dec 1996, Caroline Ann Seawright wrote:

I can think of a few reasons why 'ou' is better than 'o'...

It shows the difference between a short Japanese 'o' and the lengthened
Japanese 'o'... And it also shows the difference between 'oo' and a
lengthened Japanese 'o', as they sound the same.

'o' System			Hepburn System

honto				hontou

okii				ookii

(I assume that the 'o' system
doesn't show the two 'o's, as
it's a lengthened sound...)

Er,  was taught the 'o' system in college.  It DOES show the double 'o'.
I did, in fact, learn 'ookii' and 'honto'.  I've seen 'hontou' used in
my kanji workbook, tho.

Basically, the 'o' system doesn't show pronunciation, where as the 'ou'
system does.

Notquitetrue.

Damon Casale, scyth@prolog.com / scyth@andrew.cmu.edu
You have entered the dimwit zone...