TEACHERS DISCUSSION FORUM
Return to Index › Re: "Learning Mandarin, whatever it takes"
#1 Parent Ralph - 2012-07-08
Re: "Learning Mandarin, whatever it takes"

“The Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den (simplified Chinese: 施氏食狮史; traditional Chinese: 施氏食獅史; pinyin: Shī Shì shí shī shǐ) is a 92-character modern poem written in Classical Chinese by Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982), in which every syllable has the sound shi (in different tones) when read in modern Mandarin Chinese…
The text, although written in Classical Chinese, can be easily comprehended by most educated readers. However, changes in pronunciation over 2,500 years resulted in a large degree of homophony in Classical Chinese, so the poem becomes completely incomprehensible when spoken in Modern Standard Chinese or when written in romanization.”
This dont peticularly amount to nothing , and il'l tell you why ,, the poem was written this way ON PURPOSE ,,, it is intentionaly indeciferable in mandarin/pinyin ,., it was written to make a point ,,,,

but we can take extreme cases from any language and show how it is ilogical , impossable , ridiculos, impractical etc ,, i could say "the sixth sick sheep's sixth sheep is sick" ,, a ha!!! english is impossable to prnounce , isnt it ? ,,,

if we want to compare clasical chinese and modern mandarin , maybe we should also compare chaucerian english to modenr english ,,,,, bayowolfe is not entirely comprahensable to the average modern ameracan reader ,,,,,,, or maybe thats just my ( much derided ) southern u .s. education talking !!

Return to Index › Re: "Learning Mandarin, whatever it takes"





Go to another board -