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03-29-24 01:55 PM |
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0 users reading Why languages make no sense at all | 1 bot |
Main - General Chat - Why languages make no sense at all | Hide post layouts | New reply |
PixelDimension |
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Normal user Level: 22 Posts: 93/95 EXP: 55360 Next: 2990 Since: 06-15-14 Last post: 2587 days ago Last view: 2459 days ago |
Posted by Super-toad 65 That is because vowels in English do whatever they want - any vowel can really make almost any sound. Vowels are not really thought of as all that important in English. It is not uncommon for people to drop vowels entirely in speech - for example, the name of the Canadian city Toronto often becomes "T'ronno" in casual speech (dropping the first o and the second t), and most English speakers would pronounce my username as something closer to "Pix'lD'mension" rather than PixelDimension. Some accents/dialects also have a tendency to run syllables together - New Zealanders are famous for this, a common example being the way they say the name of their country - "New Zilnd". Example: "sun" and "son" sound the same "cot" and "caught" sound the same (in some accents/dialects, not all) "ball" and "doll" rhyme Written English and spoken English differ to a ridiculous degree. The only way to learn it correctly is to memorise almost everything, which can be very difficult if you have not grown up with the language. Add that to the unusual sounds like "th" and it is not hard to see why so many people have trouble with it. But as long as they can get the general idea of what you are saying/writing, most English speakers will be very friendly and accommodating toward people whose English is not perfect, because even the native speakers such as myself are confused by it. (For example, a common native-speaker error: Using "there is" instead of "there are" when talking about something in the plural - for example, saying "there's more boxes in the closet" instead of the correct way, "there are more boxes in the closet".) |
Yami |
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(ーωー。) Level: 60 Posts: 661/959 EXP: 1731702 Next: 41076 Since: 12-07-14 From: Japan Last post: 2453 days ago Last view: 2451 days ago |
Posted by Yoshimaster96 Call me weird, but I actually find having Kanji very convenient for languages like Japanese. The said language has a shitload of homonyms, making it often difficult to distinguish words from each other, when written in Kana-only. Thanks to Kanji, we can read a piece of text, without the need to guess whether "hashi" means "chopsticks", "bridge", or "edge of a table". |
LeftyGreenMario |
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Don't like politics? Too bad, it's-a Mario time. Level: 82 Posts: 762/2062 EXP: 5074260 Next: 134967 Since: 03-14-16 From: Stabbing Wario Last post: 390 days ago Last view: 389 days ago |
Besides, Chinese is, if you put it one way, is pure kanji. If you learn kanji, you'll have a VERY general idea about the Chinese.
Me, I had fun learning kanji. I took beginning Japanese and the teacher didn't require people to use kanji, but I did to the point where the teacher had me write hiragana so I *at least* know the word pronunciation I believe. |
Yami |
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(ーωー。) Level: 60 Posts: 665/959 EXP: 1731702 Next: 41076 Since: 12-07-14 From: Japan Last post: 2453 days ago Last view: 2451 days ago |
Well, at first, it's called "Hanzi" in Chinese, second, they're written differently, because many Characters have been simplified in Chinese, and third, there are around 300 (or even more) Kanji, that have a completely different meaning from their Hanzi counterparts.
Besides, many Kanji/Hanzi can't be used isolated. As for the third part, consider the Kanji 好: Japanese: Like. Chinese: Good. |
LeftyGreenMario |
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Don't like politics? Too bad, it's-a Mario time. Level: 82 Posts: 769/2062 EXP: 5074260 Next: 134967 Since: 03-14-16 From: Stabbing Wario Last post: 390 days ago Last view: 389 days ago |
Ah, I see. Well, I wasn't trying to imply that by learning Japanese, you learn Chinese and vice-versa, but I do think it helps a bit... unless there are cases where you need to unlearn the other.
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Lunarius |
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Member > Custom title goes here < Semi-Normal User Level: 39 Posts: 335/335 EXP: 395264 Next: 9507 Since: 11-11-12 From: The United States of America.『アメリカ合衆国。』 Last post: 2699 days ago Last view: 2572 days ago |
Isn't it simply amazing that there are over 6,500 languages in the world? Yet, most of us might not find it interesting since we won't know what something is written down in a different language. <Silvreus>I am a random person…
<Silvreus>With a random personality… <Silvreus>With a random life… <Silvreus>How fun. :P |
Yami |
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(ーωー。) Level: 60 Posts: 672/959 EXP: 1731702 Next: 41076 Since: 12-07-14 From: Japan Last post: 2453 days ago Last view: 2451 days ago |
Posted by Lunarius http://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/how-many-languages-are-there-world "The most extensive catalog of the world’s languages, generally taken to be as authoritative as any, is that of Ethnologue (published by SIL International), whose detailed classified list as of 2009 included 6,909 distinct languages". |
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