5 Interesting Facts About the Chinese Language
China is the largest population in the world, which makes it a major player in the international economy, as well as politics. Using Chinese products or visiting Chinese cities is a lot different than understanding the language that is spoken in China.
It is a very difficult language to learn, there is no doubt about it, but many people aren’t aware that Chinese language does not have verb tenses, singular and plural, as well as no alphabets. This makes it relatively easier to learn as well.
Here are a few interesting facts about the Chinese language that everyone should know:
There are 50,000 Characters
There are no alphabets in the Chinese language arranged in a segment which can be learned. It has standalone characters, which is what makes Chinese language so daunting.
The language stems from almost 50,000 different characters, which seems almost impossible to learn at first. However, you can read around 97% of the everyday Chinese language if you understand just 2,500 characters. This seems like a more manageable task.
Chinese Grammar is relatively Simple
Compared to the characters, Chinese grammar is relatively simple. It doesn’t have any verb conjugations and most of the tenses are usually expressed in phrases, “tomorrow, in future” etc. There are no gender specific nouns, or singular or plural nouns.
This makes Mandarin much easier to understand once the characters are learned.
Chinese is the Fastest Growing Language
Chinese is the fastest growing language in the world, and the second fastest growing language in the West. The reason why this is so is that China is the largest population in the world and is expected to become the largest economy in the world soon, overtaking the US.
The increased number of companies and businesses looking to expand into China is the reason for the language’s popularity.
Chinese Writing is Over 3,000 Years old
Chinese may be the most ancient languages spoken today. Chinese writing has been found engraved in bones of animals that are traced back to the 1600 B.C.
Latin alphabets on the other hand only are dated back to the 7th Century B.C.
Chinese Language can unlock both parts of the brain
People who speak languages such as English only use the left side of their brain. However, studies have suggested that people who learn and speak Chinese, unlock both the temporal lobes of the brain. This happens because it is important to distinguish between different words that have the same pronunciation but with different intonation.
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