I just happened across an Asahi Shinbun article with a headline that reads:
日本{にほん}の子{こ}どもの幸福度{こうふくど}は6位{い} 豊{ゆた}かさの一方{いっぽう}、深刻{しんこく}な貧困{ひんこん}
(-) Compacting articles as much as possible is a standard practice in every newspaper in the world. Yet, the 3 character long "子ども" was written instead of the 2 character long "子供".
(-) My understanding is that "ども" in "子供" is not 送{おく}り仮名{がな}。 If somehow it is, I hope someone can elaborate? "送り仮名" does not happen after tangible nouns, right?
The writer of that headline absolutely has a reason for writing "子ども", but I cannot imagine what it is. Conserving space in a newspaper is paramount, and "子供" looks good to me.
thank you.
I do see people spelling 友達 as 友だち though, etymologically relating it to the 〜たち suffix. Or is it because 達 is not very common?
– ithisa Dec 29 '13 at 21:02