Thursday, September 11, 2008

Fun quirks of language 06

I love the Chinese language, what with it being one of the oldest languages on earth, with script that just looks awesome when written correctly with a brush. However, it does have its limitations. Saussure had something to say, I think, about a language becoming inflexible if its written form, that is, the symbols, are too closely associated with the meaning. I'm inclined to agree, but I'm not here to debate that point.

What made Chinese REALLY annoying for me to learn was the ridiculous abundance of homonyms, the classic example being this poem:
石室詩士施氏,嗜獅,誓食十獅。
氏時時適市視獅。
十時,適十獅適市。
是時,適施氏適市。
氏視是十獅,恃矢勢,使是十獅逝世。
氏拾是十獅屍,適石室。
石室濕,氏使侍拭石室。
石室拭,氏始試食是十獅。
食時,始識是十獅,實十石獅屍。
試釋是事。
Can't read? No problem! EVERY single character is pronounced 'shi'. That's right, it is damn near impossible to verbally communicate this poem word for word to someone else. Well... at least it rhymes, eh? Have a peep at the Wiki for a translation.

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