Table of Contents
Why are Asian languages so different?
“Asia” is huge, much much bigger than Europe, with deserts, mountains, mighty rivers, and the sea separating some languages from the others. So Malay and Cambodian are quite far apart, and Japan was isolated for centuries from the rest of the continent.
Why do Japanese use counters?
In Japanese, counter words or counters (助数詞, josūshi) are measure words used with numbers to count things, actions, and events. In Japanese, as in Chinese and Korean, numerals cannot quantify nouns by themselves (except, in certain cases, for the numbers from one to ten; see below).
How different are Asian languages?
To the untrained eye or ear, Asian languages can appear completely incomprehensible and indistinguishable from each other. The written characters may as well be hieroglyphs and unlike some other languages, listening in on a conversation isn’t going to give you much to go on.
What do all Asian languages have in common?
they share the same Subject-Object-Verb sentence structure. they both have particles, small words that mark the components of a sentence such as the topic, the subject, object and so on. verbs in both languages change according to politeness level. there are no tones.
What is the most beautiful language in Asia?
The Japanese language is one of the most popular and beautiful languages in Asia. It is an ancient language of Asia. It is a very musical language. And it is not harsh at all.
How many different counters are there in Japanese?
around 500 counters exist, though not all of them are in common (or even uncommon) use. As this is a reference guide, we highly recommend you CTRL/CMD+F to find the counter you’re looking for. If we have an individual (and more thorough) separate article for the counter, there will be a link to take you there.
What was Japan’s first language?
| Languages of Japan | |
|---|---|
| Main | Japanese |
| Regional | Ryukyuan (Okinawan et al.), Ainu, Hachijō |
| Minority | Nivkh, Orok |
| Immigrant | Korean, Chinese |
Do all Asian languages have tones?
The tones in each of the Asian languages present a different set of challenges for anybody who is learning them, regardless whether your own language has tones or not. But there is actually one simple system that unifies the layout of tones in all languages, which I will present to you here, then get into the actual tones of each language.
How to use a counter in Japanese?
When using a counter, pay attention to the word order. It is different from English order. A typical order is “noun + particle + quantity—verbs.”. Here are examples. Hon o ni-satsu kaimashita. 本を二冊買いました。 I bought two books.
Do Chinese languages with more tones have more single syllable words?
Chinese languages that have more tones have a higher percentage of single-syllable words (like Cantonese). Chinese languages that have fewer tones have a higher percentage of two- or three-syllable words (like Mandarin).
How do you count objects in Japanese?
Every language has a different way of counting objects; the Japanese use counters. They are similar to English expressions such as “a cup of ~”, “a sheet of ~” and so on.