Re: Invention of the Alphabet

Lee Sau Dan wrote:
>>>>>>"Peter" == Peter T Daniels <grammatim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>
>
> >> My next question: A chinese sentence is written without
> >> spacing. So, the whole sentence is one single word?
>
> Peter> You're beginning to look like gilgames.
>
> Peter> Chinese has no spacing. Therefore spacing has no
> Peter> significance in Chinese.
>
> So, you lack a common yardstick to define the notion of "word" for
> Chinese in a way consistent with English.

He doesn't, really, because after all linguists are able to discuss what
constitutes a word even in languages that don't have a written form.

Out of curiosity, can you tell us your interpretation of the distinction
between 字(zi4) and 詞 (ci2) ?
.

Relevant Pages

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