Re: The pitfall of Chinese/Mandarin
From: | Cheng Zhong Su <suchengzhong@...> |
Date: | Friday, December 7, 2001, 22:35 |
Thomas R. Wier wrote:
> > Many languages use the same word for `he' and
> `she'. (Finnish and
> > Swahili come to mind.) It's not a "mistake",
> merely an extreme
> > example of the simple fact that different
> languages classify the
> > universe differently.
> Certainly, but why is it even extreme? How is it
> more extreme
> not to include that category than some languages
> whose deictics
> include lots of categories like plant/nonplant,
> animal/nonanimal,
> human/nonhuman, shape, size, and whether it's a
> force of nature
> or not?
Answer: I think every language has some where
ambiguous. It's better improve it, not leave it alone.
Su Cheng Zhong
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