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> Chinese is a highly context-sensitive language. If > people have no difficulty in communicating with other > monosyllabic characters, why would they g

> Chinese is a highly context-sensitive language. If > people have no difficulty in communicating with other > monosyllabic characters, why would they get confused > when they refers to chemical elements? That does't sound > making sense. From what you quoted, emphasis my own. > "there are so many homophones and near-homophones *among them*" If the context is "chemical elements", and lots of them sound very similar, I suspect that's going to be a problem.

muddyrivers 12y ago
I think it is a false statement that "there are so many homophones". In mainland system, I haven't found two elements with the same (pronunciation, tone). They could sound the same for non-native speakers, but they sound different for native speakers. I don't think this is hard to understand.
- jzwinck 12y ago
  How do Chinese people differentiate 珠 "pearl" from 朱 "vermilion" in a spoken context such as "What material is best worn by an emperor?" These seem to be homophones, yet the words are similar enough in usage that it may not be clear from the context which one is meant (as opposed to 豬 "pig" which again has the same pronunciation but is less likely to be ambiguous).
  - vysaga 12y ago
    There are other equivalent words. For instance, 珍珠 for pearl (I actually never heard anyone use 珠 alone）. No idea what "vermilion" means in your question. If it refers to the color, then you can say “朱红” or “朱红色”. In fact, very few words in spoken Chinese are monosyllabic, so it is highly unlikely to confuse a chemical element with other things. Moreover, you can always say "chemical element" + 元素 (element) or 原子 (atom) if you are afraid of confusing people; for instance, 氢原子，碳元素, though it is hardly necessary, as I never encountered the problem the author described in my 5+ years of studying chemistry in Chinese.
- TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago
  Simply a tone difference doesn't prevent confusion, though. Tones can be gotten wrong or misheard. If tones always solved this, then four would not be associated with death, surely?
allemagne 12y ago
At the very least the phrases "great problems" and "challenging, to say the least" are called into question by the first-hand experience of the user you're responding to.
vysaga 12y ago
For instance? I don't find any two sound similar. If one pronounces the tones correctly, it is not hard for the listener to distinguish at all.

muddyrivers 12y ago

I think it is a false statement that "there are so many homophones". In mainland system, I haven't found two elements with the same (pronunciation, tone). They could sound the same for non-native speakers, but they sound different for native speakers. I don't think this is hard to understand.

jzwinck 12y ago
How do Chinese people differentiate 珠 "pearl" from 朱 "vermilion" in a spoken context such as "What material is best worn by an emperor?" These seem to be homophones, yet the words are similar enough in usage that it may not be clear from the context which one is meant (as opposed to 豬 "pig" which again has the same pronunciation but is less likely to be ambiguous).
- vysaga 12y ago
  There are other equivalent words. For instance, 珍珠 for pearl (I actually never heard anyone use 珠 alone）. No idea what "vermilion" means in your question. If it refers to the color, then you can say “朱红” or “朱红色”. In fact, very few words in spoken Chinese are monosyllabic, so it is highly unlikely to confuse a chemical element with other things. Moreover, you can always say "chemical element" + 元素 (element) or 原子 (atom) if you are afraid of confusing people; for instance, 氢原子，碳元素, though it is hardly necessary, as I never encountered the problem the author described in my 5+ years of studying chemistry in Chinese.
TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago
Simply a tone difference doesn't prevent confusion, though. Tones can be gotten wrong or misheard. If tones always solved this, then four would not be associated with death, surely?

allemagne 12y ago

At the very least the phrases "great problems" and "challenging, to say the least" are called into question by the first-hand experience of the user you're responding to.

vysaga 12y ago

For instance? I don't find any two sound similar. If one pronounces the tones correctly, it is not hard for the listener to distinguish at all.