Why Mandarin is a ridiculous language.

[GoldDiggingWhore]

The thing about the Chinese language is that it has a very limited amount of sounds in it. This leads to a large number of homophones. For a non-native speaker, this can make things somewhat confusing. To show you just how obscene it can get, I present to you the following poem: "Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den."

To summarize, this poem is 92 characters long, and each one is pronounced "shi" (which in Chinese sounds more like "sure"). Wanna hear a dramatic reading of it? HERE YA GO. It's mind blowing. Mind-blowingly confusing.

So yeah. Just thought I'd share that with you. Chinese is still a cool language but HOLY FREAKING HELL is it hard to learn.

EDIT: Apparently that's not the only Chinese article of its kind. Apparently this is an actual THING there. For crying out loud...  

[Shannon Kyra Liannanon]

Hey! I’m talking! cat_scream

da fuq? X'D
voice version won't load but the reading is weird as hell, including the translation. the dude is eating stones XD
EDIT: i wanna learn Japanese owo

Ok, I’m done. Go back to your babble

 

[BlueCowGirl]

my old apartment mate was learning it and the same word, depending on the ton and face could mean cow to kitten lol, it was funny watching her become frustrated  

[GoldDiggingWhore]

BlueCowGirl

my old apartment mate was learning it and the same word, depending on the ton and face could mean cow to kitten lol, it was funny watching her become frustrated

Yeah, and even though shi is a really extreme example, there are other lesser examples all over the language. For instance, "mai" is the word for buy. It's also the word for sell. SERIOUSLY? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, ANCIENT CHINESE PEOPLE?  

[Sagebomb]

Honestly I know more cantonese than I know manderin. But Im more of a outlier than a mainlander. (And I only know a few phrases in Cantonese)  

[GoldDiggingWhore]

Sagebomb

Honestly I know more cantonese than I know manderin. But Im more of a outlier than a mainlander. (And I only know a few phrases in Cantonese)

According to the wiki article, apparently "when the same passage is read in Cantonese, there are seven distinct syllables - ci, sai, sap, sat, sek, si, sik - in six distinct tone contours, leaving 22 distinct character pronunciations... However, it is still debatable whether the passage is any more comprehensible when read aloud in other dialects than it is in Mandarin."

Also, I thought that four tonal contours was bad, I can't imagine trying to learn six.  

[ShadowedMoonlight]

That poem always blows my mind.
Most languages are weird when you get down to it, but tonal languages get a special prize. Isn't there that exercise where you say "ma" a bunch of times with a different tone each time and if you get it right it means "Does mother scold the lazy horse"?  

[GoldDiggingWhore]

ShadowedMoonlight

That poem always blows my mind.
Most languages are weird when you get down to it, but tonal languages get a special prize. Isn't there that exercise where you say "ma" a bunch of times with a different tone each time and if you get it right it means "Does mother scold the lazy horse"?

As a matter of fact, yes there is. And it, too, is ridiculous.

Gah, this language -_-;  

[Shannon Kyra Liannanon]

Hey! I’m talking! cat_scream

went to the 3rd largest book sale in the USA and got some books on learning Japanese, with all the kanji, romanji, kana and stuff.
use it in my art owo

Ok, I’m done. Go back to your babble

 

[Clover_IceQueen]

There was an episode of The Big Bang Theory about that.