Quote:
Originally Posted by maianhvk
SE Asian languages are all like that?
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Probably in some way or another. But Behassa Malay is pretty easy. It uses the Roman alphabet and no tones. Passa Thai uses a really pretty set of 'letters' that to me look as if they should be read from right to left but are actually read left to right, but with lots of accent marks, and the tones make a very big difference. I believe Mandarin uses four tones, and of course, 350,000 funny little pictures that all have to be memorized instead of letters.
Japanese has no tones at all, although you do hear some at times, such as rising tone for questions. And in Japanese, the verb almost always comes at the very end of the sentence, so you can never interrupt someone when speaking because you don't know what they are going to say until they are finished! Also, instead of 47 pronouns, Japanese seems to have 147 different ways to apologize or say 'excuse me!'
Give me something simple like Behassa Malay... Want to make an adverb or adjective stronger? Just say it twice. He runs fast fast! She's pretty pretty!
Stitchawl