ishtar, Shanghainese is VERY different from Cantonese and Mandarin (the offical “state” language of mainland China). To my ear it has a more nasal sound. If you want to hear the difference between Cantonese and Shanghainese in the field, as it were, rent the movie by Wong Kar Wai called “In the Mood for Love.” The actress Rebecca Pang (she plays the landlord/neighbor) speaks only Shanghainese in the movie, while everyone else speaks Cantonese.
Re: Japanese. It’s not correct to say that Japanese and Chinese writing is the same. Japanese uses three different writing systems: Katakana, kirigana and Kanji. The first two are phonetic systems, the third is Chinese characters. But in Japanese, the meanings of the Chinese characters are often different from the Chinese meanings.
Oh, and yes, there are two different Chinese character sets, one is called “Simplified Chinese” and used on the mainland and in Singapore, the other is called “Traditional Chinese” and used in Hong Kong and Taiwan (and in most calligraphy and old manuscripts).
bd, you’re a panic!
Bronski Beat vs. Pet Shop Boys???
nas vs jay-z (nas, all the way)
Donatella v. Corrine Rossi
ishtar, Shanghainese is VERY different from Cantonese and Mandarin (the offical “state” language of mainland China). To my ear it has a more nasal sound. If you want to hear the difference between Cantonese and Shanghainese in the field, as it were, rent the movie by Wong Kar Wai called “In the Mood for Love.” The actress Rebecca Pang (she plays the landlord/neighbor) speaks only Shanghainese in the movie, while everyone else speaks Cantonese.
Re: Japanese. It’s not correct to say that Japanese and Chinese writing is the same. Japanese uses three different writing systems: Katakana, kirigana and Kanji. The first two are phonetic systems, the third is Chinese characters. But in Japanese, the meanings of the Chinese characters are often different from the Chinese meanings.
Oh, and yes, there are two different Chinese character sets, one is called “Simplified Chinese” and used on the mainland and in Singapore, the other is called “Traditional Chinese” and used in Hong Kong and Taiwan (and in most calligraphy and old manuscripts).
The Clash!
The Who vs. The Rolling Stones vs. Led Zeppelin?
LZ for me…big time!
ramones
Beethoven vs. Mozart