Category: Asian Languages

Categories
Pronunciation Chinese Phonetics Language And Music

The Chameleon Tone: Unlocking the Musical Logic of Mandarin’s Tone Sandhi

Estimated read time 6 min read

Mandarin is famously a tonal language, but what many learners quickly discover is that the tones they memorize often change in mysterious ways during conversation. This isn’t a mistake—it’s a fundamental feature called ‘tone sandhi,’ a set of rules that governs the musical rhythm of the language. This article demystifies the most famous of these rules, revealing the elegant logic behind Mandarin’s chameleon-like tones.

Categories
Culture Linguistics Japanese Sociolinguistics

Speaking in Tones: The Art and Science of Politeness in Japanese (Keigo)

Estimated read time 6 min read

Beyond “konnichiwa” lies Keigo, a complex system of Japanese politeness that goes far beyond simple pleasantries. This linguistic art form embeds social status and relationships directly into the grammar, transforming every verb and noun. Delve into the world of respectful, humble, and polite speech to understand how an entire language is built around social harmony.

Categories
Linguistics Asian Languages Endangered Languages Syntax

The Ainu Language: A Linguistic Island in Japan

Estimated read time 6 min read

On the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, a language isolate with no known relatives is fighting for survival. The Ainu language, with its unique polysynthetic grammar and rich oral traditions of epic poems, tells the story of Japan’s indigenous Ainu people. This post explores its fascinating structure, its history of suppression, and the recent efforts to bring it back from the brink.