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Harnji: Difference between revisions
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==Han Characters== | ==Han Characters== | ||
*Han Characters are used to write many modern and old languages. Today they are used in the Chinese languages, Japanese, and Korean. They were used in Vietnamese in the past. | *Han Characters are used to write many modern and old languages. Today they are used in the Chinese languages, Japanese, and Korean. They were used in Vietnamese in the past. | ||
*In most cases, Written Taiwanese uses the ''Harnji'' script (as does Mandarin), although there are a number of special characters which are unique to Taiwanese and which are sometimes used in informal writing. Where Han characters are used, they are not always etymological or genetic; the borrowing of similar-sounding or similar-meaning characters is a common practice. | |||
*The problem with using only Chinese characters to write Taiwanese is that about 15 percent of running text would not be definitively associated with a particular character. | *The problem with using only Chinese characters to write Taiwanese is that about 15 percent of running text would not be definitively associated with a particular character. | ||
*Another issue is | *Another issue is ''Harnji'' often have several pronunciations. See for yourself: [[wikt:zh-min-nan:老|老]] Note the different literary ([[buun]]/文) and colloquial ([[peh]]/白) readings. See [[Buun-peh-i-thak]]. | ||
**Colloquial Taiwanese has roots in [[Sioxngkor Harngie|Old Chinese]]. | **Colloquial Taiwanese has roots in [[Sioxngkor Harngie|Old Chinese]]. | ||
**Literary Taiwanese, which was originally developed in the 10th century in Fujian ([[Hokkiexn]]) and based on [[Middle Chinese]], was used at one time for formal writing, but is now largely extinct. | **Literary Taiwanese, which was originally developed in the 10th century in Fujian ([[Hokkiexn]]) and based on [[Middle Chinese]], was used at one time for formal writing, but is now largely extinct. | ||