3 ms·
> If the seemingly arbitrary and unique assignment of pronunciations to common combinations of Kanji frustrates you—[...]—and leave you wondering why anyone wou
by naniwaduni 3y ago
> If the seemingly arbitrary and unique assignment of pronunciations to common combinations of Kanji frustrates you—[...]—and leave you wondering why anyone would do such a thing, concluding that Japanese has the worst writing system ever, rest assured that they don't have the worst ever. They just have the worst writing system since the Hittites.
- resolutebat 3y agoCuneiform signs can be employed in three functions: syllabograms, Akkadograms or Sumerograms. Syllabograms are characters that represent a syllable. Akkadograms and Sumerograms are ideograms originally from the earlier Akkadian or Sumerian orthography respectively, but not intended to be pronounced as in the original language; Sumerograms are mostly ideograms and determiners. ... Thus, the sign GI 𒄀 can be used (and transcribed) in three ways, as the Hittite syllable gi (also ge); in the Akkadian spelling QÈ-RU-UB of the preposition "near" as QÈ, and as the Sumerian ideogram GI for "tube" also in superscript, GI, when used as a determiner. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hittite_cuneiform https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hittite_cuneiform