Ian_Lee Posted December 12, 2003 at 08:51 PM Report Posted December 12, 2003 at 08:51 PM Does anybody notice that Cantonese (or some other dialects) sounds funny under simplified script? Putonghua has 4 tones while Cantonese has 9. Some words in Putonghua share the same pronounciation with entirely different meanings. But for these words, Cantonese has different pronounciations. But those scholars in Beijing simplifed the written script based on Putonghua. For instance, in Putonghua, the first characters in "Orchid" and "Basketball" have the same sound. So under the simplified script, the "Basket" is deleted and replaced by a simplifed-strokes "Orchid". "Basketball" becomes "Orchid Ball" under the simplified script! But in Cantonese, the first characters in "Orchid" is pronounced as "Lan" while that of "Basketball" as "Nam"! Quote
Quest Posted December 12, 2003 at 11:50 PM Report Posted December 12, 2003 at 11:50 PM change of the characters does not affect the pronunciations in anyway. Cantonese can be written in both traditional and simplified characters just fine. Quote
skylee Posted December 13, 2003 at 12:36 AM Report Posted December 13, 2003 at 12:36 AM Ian, I think you've got the wrong idea. In simplified Chinese some characters with the same pronounciation in Putonghua are combined into one, such as 后 and 後 are combined into 后, and 奸 and 姦 are combined into 奸. But this is done without regard to Cantonese whatsoever. This is why there is a confusion in the case of 籃球, because 蘭 and 籃 do not share the same pronounciation in Cantonese. You can look at it this way - the simplified character for 蘭 (can't type simplified characters now) has two pronounciations in Cantonese, lan and lam. But just as Quest says, both Putonghua and Cantonese can be written in both simplified and traditional Chinese characters. The scripts do not affect the pronounciations. Quote
skylee Posted December 21, 2003 at 10:34 AM Report Posted December 21, 2003 at 10:34 AM I have just checked my dictionary (現代漢語詞典). It says that "orchid" and "basket" do not share the same simplified form. Orchid is "兰", whereas basket is "篮". Quote
Ian_Lee Posted December 22, 2003 at 07:45 PM Author Report Posted December 22, 2003 at 07:45 PM Skylee: You are correct. I just verified it at: http://chineseculture.about.com/library/symbol/blcc_basketball.htm I apologize for my mistake. Quote
pazu Posted December 22, 2003 at 07:50 PM Report Posted December 22, 2003 at 07:50 PM One Simplified Chinese character that I hate most is 只, it was modified from two Trad Chinese characters, 只 and 隻, they share the same Mandarin pronunciation, though with a very different meaning. Another one is what 后 and 後. Quote
Ian_Lee Posted December 22, 2003 at 08:21 PM Author Report Posted December 22, 2003 at 08:21 PM Pazu: Something out of topic. I used to read your travel diary on Tibet. Your journal was very riveting, succinct and vivid. Where do you plan to go next? Quote
pazu Posted December 22, 2003 at 08:25 PM Report Posted December 22, 2003 at 08:25 PM Ian, thanks for spending your time to read my logs on the internet, and it's nice to hear that you found them r s and v. Anyway, been saving money again and I'm going to Vietnam in January 2004. Haha. Quote
hparade Posted March 24, 2004 at 08:34 PM Report Posted March 24, 2004 at 08:34 PM FYI, 兰 was the simplied version for 藍 (blue) also, but when they found there's confusion in 兰花 (orchid) & 兰(藍)花 (blue flowers), this simplification is aborted, now 藍's simplified script is 蓝, i think this is one of the ridiculous simplification in 二簡方案 that got aborted Quote
Guest cavebear Posted March 25, 2004 at 08:07 AM Report Posted March 25, 2004 at 08:07 AM When I was in south China I noticed that quite some young people do not want to learn and speak their own dialects. Even in Guangzhou the Cantonese is threatened. A grave concern. A lot of Chinese culture and heritage is preserved in the dialects. Quote
smithsgj Posted March 25, 2004 at 08:48 AM Report Posted March 25, 2004 at 08:48 AM 決 is an eve sillier simplification. Just removes one stroke from the 三點水. Quote
Lu Posted March 25, 2004 at 11:56 AM Report Posted March 25, 2004 at 11:56 AM And what about 来 and 來? Doesn't help much. Quote
Quest Posted March 25, 2004 at 05:30 PM Report Posted March 25, 2004 at 05:30 PM When I was in south China I noticed that quite some young people do not want to learn and speak their own dialects. Even in Guangzhou the Cantonese is threatened.A grave concern. A lot of Chinese culture and heritage is preserved in the dialects. flooding migrants! grrr I mean they are free to come, but don't move the whole town over! Quote
ananda Posted March 26, 2004 at 02:00 PM Report Posted March 26, 2004 at 02:00 PM And what about 来 and 來? Doesn't help much. I think the latter is the traditional form, and the former is simplied. Quote
hparade Posted March 26, 2004 at 04:18 PM Report Posted March 26, 2004 at 04:18 PM 決 is an eve sillier simplification. Just removes one stroke from the 三點水. i think they adopt the variant of 決 which already exist Quote
hparade Posted March 26, 2004 at 04:22 PM Report Posted March 26, 2004 at 04:22 PM And what about 来 and 來? Doesn't help much. the number of strokes is only 1 less, i think the point is to make the strokes "easier" to write :? Quote
Quest Posted March 26, 2004 at 08:17 PM Report Posted March 26, 2004 at 08:17 PM the number of strokes is only 1 less, i think the point is to make the strokes "easier" to write that was not the only thing they considered. Quote
shibo77 Posted April 26, 2004 at 10:10 AM Report Posted April 26, 2004 at 10:10 AM Ey! 决 looks coole with 2 dots! Erghhhh! I do this sometimes... - Shibo Quote
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