Re: Word count of minimum vocabulary

"Mok-Kong" == Mok-Kong Shen <mok-kong.shen@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

Mok-Kong> There is a Chinese character, referred to below as "tze"
Mok-Kong> (since it sounds like that, but I don't know the correct
Mok-Kong> official phonetic transcription), that in
Mok-Kong> Chinese-English dictionary commonly translates to the
Mok-Kong> English word "word".

That's <zi4>, and means precise "character". And since each character
is always pronounced as 1 syllable in any Chinese language, <zi4> is
often used as a synonym for "syllable" by the laymen. (Few Chinese
know or understand the word for "syllable".) That's true even for
illiterates. They know what a <zi4> is, even if they can't write
them. Even the illiterates can tell you how many <zi4> there are in a
given sentence, either given to them in speech or in writing. (They
can't read, but they can count!)


Mok-Kong> A sentence consisting of 10 Chinese characters is said
Mok-Kong> to have 10 "tze" in Chinese.

Exactly.


Mok-Kong> From what you wrote above I understand that a "word" in
Mok-Kong> Chinese in your definition may consist of one or more
Mok-Kong> "tze", thus differing from the dictionary connotion.

Right. But come to think about it: what is a "word"?


Mok-Kong> But this apparently wouldn't matter, since definitions
Mok-Kong> can be different and yours is to be preferred for
Mok-Kong> linguistic reasons, I presume.

That's true. But what is a "word"? Is "train station" one word?


Mok-Kong> However, there seems to be a problem nevertheless. The
Mok-Kong> common Chinese translation of "liver disease" consists
Mok-Kong> of two Chinese characters (two "tze"), with the first
Mok-Kong> denoting liver and the second denoting desease (each of
Mok-Kong> them could also be employed singly with their respective
Mok-Kong> meaning in some proper context). Now, if these two
Mok-Kong> characters in Chinese are considered together to be one
Mok-Kong> single "word", shouldn't the corresponding English
Mok-Kong> "liver disease" also be considered as one single "word"
Mok-Kong> instead of two words?

Why must one word in English always map to one word in Chinese? Why
are you judging the word-boundary of Chinese using word-boundary
information from English? Once more: what is a "word"?


Mok-Kong> It's quite possible that I have gravely misunderstood
Mok-Kong> you. Could you kindly give an example illustrating your
Mok-Kong> point? Thanks.

French: "pommes de terre" <--> English: "apples". 3 words vs. 1 word.
There must be something wrong?

French: "la coupe du monde" translates to English "World Cup". 2
words vs. 4 words. Anything wrong?



--
Lee Sau Dan 李守敦 ~{@nJX6X~}

E-mail: danlee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Home page: http://www.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/~danlee
.

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