This question sounds easy and simple, but the real answer has many more layers to it. Tonal languages are languages where words can differ in meaning in tone or tone changes, in addition to consonants and vowels. There are probably at least a couple thousand of tonal languages in the world, each with differing complexity, … Continue reading Which language has the most tones?
cantonese
How did we get tones in Mandarin Chinese?
There are a bunch of tonal languages spoken throughout the world, but by a large margin, Mandarin Chinese comes up at the top in terms of number of native speakers. But its size or scope of usage is not the focus of our discussion today. One thing that intrigues me is the history of the … Continue reading How did we get tones in Mandarin Chinese?
A Non-Anglocentric Language Tier System?
1. How many languages do you know ? Okay, lemme define this question. To “know” a language, usually means to have the knowledge to speak, read, write, understand and communicate in a language. So yeah, as of now, I do know quite a bunch of languages to varying standards, like English, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, French, Japanese, […]
The Language Closet 