How Spelling Keeps Kids From Learning

Re:How Spelling Keeps Kids From Learning by kyllo on Tuesday February 10, 2015 @10:33AM (#9027692)

I like how there are two ways to say "I have a headache" in Japanese, and they are written with the exact same Chinese characters, but are pronounced completely differently:

頭が痛い (atama ga itai)

頭痛がする (zutsuu ga suru)

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Re:How Spelling Keeps Kids From Learning by iopq on Wednesday February 11, 2015 @01:13AM (#9031752)

you think that's cute?

harakiri (腹切) is seppuku (切腹) backwards

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Re:How Spelling Keeps Kids From Learning by vorg on Tuesday February 10, 2015 @04:49PM (#9030158)

Also in Chinese, "我有頭痛", tho "我有头疼" is often used in mainland speech.

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Re:How Spelling Keeps Kids From Learning by kyllo on Tuesday February 10, 2015 @05:19PM (#9030301)

"我有頭痛" sounds very Taiwanese. This usage of 有 is an artifact of Taiwanese / Minnan dialect. The Standard Mandarin （普通话） way to phrase that sentence is just "我头疼" or "我头很疼". Also like you said, 疼 sounds a little more mainland and 痛 sounds a little more Taiwanese. A general word for "pain" is 疼痛, they are really synonymous.

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