Quick Japanese/Chines Question.

Wakaranai · Jun 29, 2004, 12:51

I konw that Japanese and Chines are two different languages, as are English and Spanish.

But I have heard some people say that a lot of the same root words are the same in Japanese and Chines. I konw some Japanese but not much Chines.
My question is how much of the Spoken Japanese is the same As Chines
What Percent?

Most of the Kanji means the same in Japanese and Chines but they are pronounced different in each language right?

Once aging sorry for the odd Questions

**Glenn** · Jun 29, 2004, 12:59

Originally Posted by Wakaranai

Most of the Kanji means the same in Japanese and Chines but they are pronounced different in each language right?

Yes, and if you only know one then you will not understand the other. Also, there are countless dialects of Chinese, and many of those are mutually unintelligible.

Wakaranai · Jun 29, 2004, 13:27

Once aging thanks you Glenn for you help.

I have seen both Chines and Japanese written out in Romaji or the Roman Alphebet
and Chines and Japanese looks WAY different.

But Like I said I have heard people say that some of the root words are the same and I was wanting more info on the issue.

once agin thanks.

NekoPixan · Jul 12, 2004, 05:27

I speak japanese, and some chinese.
Some words are almost the same thing, like "denwa" (jp), in chinese you say "dian hua". "ai" means love in both languages. But still, there are only words that are similar between both languages. Grammar is a TOTALLY DIFFERENT thing. It has NOTHING to do.... actually chinese grammar is way easier than japanese.
Pronunciation is very different too. Nothing to do. So i would say japanese and chinese only share the writting system and some words (a lot of those words were created by japanese with the chinese writting system, and chinese people use them now).
Plus, chinese is a tonal language. Japanese... is not.
oh, another thing they have in common are counters. like "ippon, ni hon, san bon, etc..." but i guess chinese has more of those.
I am not a linguist (yet), but i hope this helps.

Wakaranai · Jul 13, 2004, 13:48

Thanks NekoPixan. Well for one thing I knew that Japanese and Chinese was two different languages. If you look at both of them using the Roman Alphabet you can see the Total Difference. And by when I heare Japanese speek I can understand some. But wher I here Chines speek I can not make out anything.
So what percentage of the words do they both share? I would say about 2%

By the way that is one of the reasons that I like Japanese over Chines is the tonal is hard for me in Chinese. I thank you once agin you helped clear up some by the Grammer issue I did not know if Chinese had that same Gramer as Japanese or not. But Know I know.

Jun 29, 2004, 12:51	#1
Wakaranai Regular Member Join Date: Jun 8, 2004 Posts: 74	Quick Japanese/Chines Question. I konw that Japanese and Chines are two different languages, as are English and Spanish. But I have heard some people say that a lot of the same root words are the same in Japanese and Chines. I konw some Japanese but not much Chines. My question is how much of the Spoken Japanese is the same As Chines What Percent? Most of the Kanji means the same in Japanese and Chines but they are pronounced different in each language right? Once aging sorry for the odd Questions __________________ + = Prohibition I will drink to that. Yes it is a very lame joke

Jun 29, 2004, 12:59	#2
Glenn 考え中 Join Date: Jan 8, 2004 Posts: 5,544	Originally Posted by Wakaranai Most of the Kanji means the same in Japanese and Chines but they are pronounced different in each language right? Yes, and if you only know one then you will not understand the other. Also, there are countless dialects of Chinese, and many of those are mutually unintelligible. __________________ Avoid Mojibake! -- 文字化けを避ける！ Dictionary at Goo - English-Japanese, Japanese-English, Japanese Language Teach Yourself Japanese and Teach Yourself Japanese Message Board Jim Breen's online dictionary and kanji lookup

Jul 12, 2004, 05:27	#4
NekoPixan Junior Member Join Date: Jan 16, 2004 Age: 24 Posts: 13	Chinese I speak japanese, and some chinese. Some words are almost the same thing, like "denwa" (jp), in chinese you say "dian hua". "ai" means love in both languages. But still, there are only words that are similar between both languages. Grammar is a TOTALLY DIFFERENT thing. It has NOTHING to do.... actually chinese grammar is way easier than japanese. Pronunciation is very different too. Nothing to do. So i would say japanese and chinese only share the writting system and some words (a lot of those words were created by japanese with the chinese writting system, and chinese people use them now). Plus, chinese is a tonal language. Japanese... is not. oh, another thing they have in common are counters. like "ippon, ni hon, san bon, etc..." but i guess chinese has more of those. I am not a linguist (yet), but i hope this helps.

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Jun 29, 2004, 13:27	#3
Wakaranai Regular Member Join Date: Jun 8, 2004 Posts: 74	Once aging thanks you Glenn for you help. I have seen both Chines and Japanese written out in Romaji or the Roman Alphebet and Chines and Japanese looks WAY different. But Like I said I have heard people say that some of the root words are the same and I was wanting more info on the issue. once agin thanks.

Jul 13, 2004, 13:48	#5
Wakaranai Regular Member Join Date: Jun 8, 2004 Posts: 74	Thanks NekoPixan. Well for one thing I knew that Japanese and Chinese was two different languages. If you look at both of them using the Roman Alphabet you can see the Total Difference. And by when I heare Japanese speek I can understand some. But wher I here Chines speek I can not make out anything. So what percentage of the words do they both share? I would say about 2% By the way that is one of the reasons that I like Japanese over Chines is the tonal is hard for me in Chinese. I thank you once agin you helped clear up some by the Grammer issue I did not know if Chinese had that same Gramer as Japanese or not. But Know I know.