rikforto > 2 hours ago
(26-06-2026, 08:13 PM)Jorge_Stolfi Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.But it is quite misleading to say that the hanzi "represent words, not ideas". The hanzi 人 does not represent any specific string of sounds. Presumably it did when people started writing the symbol that evolved into this glyph; but that word and its language have died long ago and do not matter any more. And probably that language had tens of thousands of words that never received a written symbol.I cannot stress enough: It is your position that Chinese people do not have a way to represent their words. I am not misrepresenting you and I do not misunderstand you. You may prefer a verbiage to describe this supposed Chinese illiteracy that flatters your position more, but people who cannot write are not literate; as you say, they are like a drunk European king drawing pictures.
Jorge_Stolfi > 1 hour ago
(2 hours ago)rikforto Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I am not misrepresenting you and I do not misunderstand you.Yes you are. Grossly and offensively. And it is getting worse each time. Stop saying what you think my "position" is.
Quote:I did answer that question---I told you that we disagree about what it means and that we should explore that.I asked three questions. You did not answer any of them. Their meaning is quite clear; there is nothing to "explore". The answers can only be "yes" or "no".