Chinese sounds different (each variant or “dialect”, sounds distinct from each other, but all uses the same Kanji characters (Japanese Kanji originated from the same origins as Chinese Hanzi; Kanji literally means Hanzi (漢字))
When I was a kid and I watched Detective Conan in the Mandarin dub, I they just pronounce the Kanji in Mandarin and that’s their official translated name.
Hypothetically, if Japanese didn’t make modifications their written script, they would probably be all using Kanji and it would just feel like another “dialect” of Chinese, it would be much easier to learn, since you’re just substituting sounds and not leaning it from scratch. (Which means, hypothetically, on such a timeline, I could probably learn this version of Japanese, and watch Anime without subtitles lol)
Chinese variants are kinda interesting. I haven’t spoken Mandarin for like 15 years, but because I speak Cantonese at home, I kinda “maintained” the overall language, so I could still form a Mandarin sentence by simply imagining the Chinese characters (or rather, the concept of the characters), then substituting the sounds with Mandarin sounds (I still kinda remember the pronounciations)
My (Italian) last name sounds exactly like a Cantonese insult.
I found that out in HS, when working in my friends family’s Chinese Restaurant. Dude was my best friend for like 2 years prior, 1st generation, raised bilingual and immersed in both cultures…would think he’d tell me before the cooks.
W/e at least I still got an envelope every Lunar New Year.
The romanization is how it’s read in Japanese.
Chinese sounds different (each variant or “dialect”, sounds distinct from each other, but all uses the same Kanji characters (Japanese Kanji originated from the same origins as Chinese Hanzi; Kanji literally means Hanzi (漢字))
When I was a kid and I watched Detective Conan in the Mandarin dub, I they just pronounce the Kanji in Mandarin and that’s their official translated name.
Hypothetically, if Japanese didn’t make modifications their written script, they would probably be all using Kanji and it would just feel like another “dialect” of Chinese, it would be much easier to learn, since you’re just substituting sounds and not leaning it from scratch. (Which means, hypothetically, on such a timeline, I could probably learn this version of Japanese, and watch Anime without subtitles lol)
Chinese variants are kinda interesting. I haven’t spoken Mandarin for like 15 years, but because I speak Cantonese at home, I kinda “maintained” the overall language, so I could still form a Mandarin sentence by simply imagining the Chinese characters (or rather, the concept of the characters), then substituting the sounds with Mandarin sounds (I still kinda remember the pronounciations)
My (Italian) last name sounds exactly like a Cantonese insult.
I found that out in HS, when working in my friends family’s Chinese Restaurant. Dude was my best friend for like 2 years prior, 1st generation, raised bilingual and immersed in both cultures…would think he’d tell me before the cooks.
W/e at least I still got an envelope every Lunar New Year.
“It is like your name… Sykes. I’m sure it doesn’t bother you at all that it sounds like ‘ss’ai k’ss,’ two words in my language which mean ‘excrement’ and ‘cranium.’”
[beat]
“Shithead.”