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Re: Correspondence of chinese simplified & traditional
Subject:Re: Correspondence of chinese simplified & traditional From:Martin Waxman <martin -at- waxman -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 29 Jan 2003 17:49:14 -0500
Two things are being confused -- written language and spoken language.
Simplified (usually meaning fewer strokes -- but not always) is the
official (dictated use) character set of Mainland China.
Traditional is used mostly by those outside of mainland China -- the use
of simplified characters was not dictated by a government.
What happens is that most people travelling both in Mainland China and
places like Taiwan, usually learn both -- that's what I find myself doing.
Pronouncing the characters depends on which part of China you live in --
there are perhaps about 8 to 10 languages (Mandarin/putonghua, Cantonese,
Shanghainese, Hakka, etc.) that use the same simplified characters in
mainland China, but they are pronounced differently -- not mutually
intelligible as spoken languages, but almost identical as written languages
(some grammar/word order/word choices differ). It is as if you saw a
written word and pronounced it "dog" and someone else saw the same written
word and pronounced it as "perro". This is why movies in Cantonese, for
example, have subtitles -- so Mandarin speakers can read/understand the dialog.
My Palm Chinese dictionary has a button to switch between Traditional and
Simplified character displays.
Martin Waxman
412 East 55th Street, Apt. 1E
New York, NY 10022
Tel & Fax 212-759-6572
Cell 917-882-5316
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