Re: Chinese forced to change their name hanzi

From: William J Poser (wjposer@ldc.upenn.edu)
Date: Tue Apr 21 2009 - 17:42:35 CDT

  • Next message: William J Poser: "Re: Chinese forced to change their name hanzi"

    >What's more surprising, the character is not that obscure. I asked my
    >Chinese friend (he's from Taiwan, if that matters) without showing him
    >the article, "do you know the character cheng, written like three
    >horses"? He immediately said, "yes, it means to run very fast".

    Not so surprising, I think. Due to the simplification of the writing
    system, most people in Mainland China are familiar with considerably
    fewer characters than are their counterparts in Taiwan. Obscure in
    Mainland China need not be obscure elsewhere.

    Bill

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