4 ms·
> everything about Chinese is not based on pronunciation Then how can Chinese speakers understand each other when they speak?
by pmoriarty 3y ago
> everything about Chinese is not based on pronunciation
Then how can Chinese speakers understand each other when they speak?
- numpad0 3y agoUsually from contexts. If datastream could be interpreted as "correct horse battery staple" or "add salt to taste" and the situational context is a cooking instruction, the latter interpretation has to be correct.
- inkblotuniverse 3y agoHistorically, people from different regions would be able to read each other's writing (send letters to each other) even if their spoken dialects/languages were mutually incomprehensible. You get this in European history, too, just not to the same degree.