Re:Ask HN: Did knowing or learning a not-so-famous natural l...
by k__ on Monday November 14, 2016 @11:59AM
(#12951186)
English: What is this? (3)
German: Was ist das? (3)
Japanese: Are wa nan desu ka. (5)
And this is just a simple example. Often the sentences get even longer when set in past tense or in some of the "politeness forms".
Maybe that's the reason they use these symbols, they allow for compact writing of even long sentences.
On the other hand, the Japanese I met didn't really "talk" the way I learned it at university. Noone said stuff like "Are wa nan desu ka", they just said "Are wa?"
German: Was ist das? (3)
Japanese: Are wa nan desu ka. (5)
And this is just a simple example. Often the sentences get even longer when set in past tense or in some of the "politeness forms".
Maybe that's the reason they use these symbols, they allow for compact writing of even long sentences.
On the other hand, the Japanese I met didn't really "talk" the way I learned it at university. Noone said stuff like "Are wa nan desu ka", they just said "Are wa?"