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English equivalent would be writing something like "Aldwych", "Leicester Square" or "River Thames" on a sign, and expecting me, a foreigner, to pronounce it cor
by poincaredisk 2y ago
English equivalent would be writing something like "Aldwych", "Leicester Square" or "River Thames" on a sign, and expecting me, a foreigner, to pronounce it correctly.
- Terr_ 2y agoNo, because without tones it can be ambiguous even for native speakers. If you still don't believe me--or those Wikipedia links I already provided--you test it yourself by finding a native Mandarin speaker. Ask them to decisively determine the meaning and pronunciation of certain Chinese words only from their pinyin with the accents stripped out, such as ma or hua. There's a store with snacks and produce. Do you want to eat lizi, or do you want to eat lizi? (Don't bother squinting, it's the same letters.)
- fennecbutt 2y agoTbf the only reasons these spellings still exist is so that the British can sneer at anybody trying to pronounce them. After moving here A: they weren't that tricky anyway (shire is a given, the only one I had to learn was *eicester) and B: I just get em to pronounce words in Maori.