I’m only asking from a practical language use perspective because I know there’s historical reasons why it evolved the way it did and it’s part of the culture etc. however when somebody asks why are kanji still used? It’s so hard to learn. The response sometimes is to try to defend why kanji have a practical modern use in the language and not that kanji is still used just for historical reasons and that’s the way it evolved just like almost every other language. For example, you need the kanji because reading in only hiragana is a mess. True, but most languages have spaces between their words instead of using a different writing system. Or there’s lots of homonyms so the kanji make it clearer which meaning they intend. Again that is helpful, however how do people talk? You can’t speak kanji so it can’t be that big of a problem to hinder communication right?
Are there other reasons why kanji are beneficial for communication or are needed for the language to function? Could it be possible to rework the writing system without destroying the language?
by Airvian94