Chopsticks

[Mike]

Can someone tell me the difference between:

筷子 (kuai2 zi) and 箸 (zhu4) ?

Thanks,

Mike

[geek_frappa]

筷子 == 箸 !! :o) same, but.. maybe...

筷子 informal = 箸 formal ??? :o)

[Outofin]

exactly the same but 箸 is obsolete.

[kudra]

Mike, the tone: kuai4 zi, isn't it?

[Mike]

Tnx Outofin.

Absolutely right kudra it's kuai4 zi - I keep mixing up tone 2 and 4

[geek_frappa]

Outofin 箸 can be used in written form. 筷子 is common spoken form. right?

[Outofin]

geek_frappa, I don't think it's a matter of formal/informal or writing/speaking. I think many people should understand what 箸 is. But it just gives you an archaic feeling. People could be using it for this purpose.

It could be like, "hence" means "after that" in English. "He lived a solitary life hence." Sorry, I don't really know if this is a good example, because English is my secondary language.

[geek_frappa]

absolutely! cheers.

[nipponman]

箸 is definitely archaic IMHO. It seems that 筷子 won out on the popularity battle between the two.

[nnt]

Not archaic in Japanese: 箸 hashi

http://www.ohasi.com/index2.htm

[nipponman]

Careful. Many characters are common in Japanese and not in chinese, eg.謁(not that common actually),貰う, 垣, 潟 (not too common either)岐 see?

[nnt]

Many characters are common in Japanese and not in chinese

Normal . Many terms considered archaic in Chinese baihua are still used in the JKV region in their wenyan sense.