🚀 go-pugleaf

Zhong Qiyao <zhong@accton.com.tw> writes:

[regarding the representation of Chinese dialects or, rather,
 languages, by characters rather than phonemic representation]

>     Characters are created as needed.

They are in most cases inappropriate. It is only in the
case of such languages as Mandarin, with a very small
number of possible syllables, that one could resort to
them, using, for newly created characters, a classifier
and a phonetic element. When creating such new characters,
however, the phonetic element should be *exact*, not 
approximate as it is now (due to phonological evolution).
Even if tone is represented separately, this means, for
most languages, setting up a list of all possible
syllables, each with its standard phonetic character.
Phonological divergence makes it impossible for
all Chinese dialects and languages to share the same
set of standard phonetic characters. You end up with
an unmanageable mess that has to learnt by rote for
each language and dialect.

Character representation is further unable to
record phonological evolution.

Draw your own conclusions.