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For a simple example in practice, many Japanese names can be written multiple ways based on the kanji used, ending up with different meanings and different impl
by crooked-v 3y ago
For a simple example in practice, many Japanese names can be written multiple ways based on the kanji used, ending up with different meanings and different implications, while being pronounced exactly the same.
For example, the common name Michiko can be written in many different ways with many different meanings, such as:
美智子 — "beautiful wise child"
美千子 — "child of a thousand beauties"
見知子 — "child of recognition"
道子 — "child of the way"
路子 — "child of the road"
倫子 — "child of morals"
皆子 — "child of all"
通子 — "child of passage"
- akasakahakada 3y agoYou should look at something like "sousou" or "koukou", the range of meaning spread from noun to verb to adjective to everything.
- morelisp 3y agoThis is not that unusual for languages. For example, > range Can mean a wide open area, a set of things, a stovetop, a measure, to measure, to vary between extremes, to line up, or to pick an opposite side.
- akasakahakada 3y agoNo, "range" do not share the same prounciation with other word. https://www.homophone.com/search?type=begin&q=range https://www.homophone.com/search?type=begin&q=range I think what you misinterpreted is that you think "sousou" and "koukou" is a word in Japanese, no, they are sound, the prounciation.
- iainmerrick 3y agoI think they were just making the more general point that most language are very context-sensitive. “Dear” and “deer” if you want an explicit English homophone.
- akasakahakada 3y agoPlease consider the amount. How many collision can happen in one prounciation in English? It is on average 2, maximum about 4. Chinese is like 6-10, Japanese is like 10-20. If you don't do comparison, of course there is no difference.
- iainmerrick 3y agoAre you saying Japanese speech isn't fully comprehensible without seeing the written characters? If not, what are you saying? I mean, I'll believe you that there are more homonyms in Japanese, sure, but it must still operate as a spoken language somehow.
- akasakahakada 3y agoJust give more examples. Look a doctor, consult a doctor, supervise a doctor, all sound the same, have same phonic transcript, in Japanese, only differ in the Kanji/Chinese character. Either you extend the sentence and write more words, or show that you are sick and have runny nose, otherwise it is hard to convey idea clear without Kanji/Chinese characters. Often you will see people talk in Japanese will say "erh!?" then stop and both of them are confused. Half of the reason is that people are just guessing what their component trying to convey but as the conversation goes longer and having more context info, they found that they are not talking about the same thing. With lesser context info e.g. situation, places, visual clues, emotion, intonation, harder you can comprehend.
- morelisp 3y agoWhat is a "word"? Whether a sequence of sounds/symbols is one word with two unrelated meanings or two different words that are coincidentally represented the same way is quintessentially a semantic argument.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]