Seven Sons

I’ve been fascinated by the Chinese language since a business trip to the Central Kingdom many years ago. The grammar is similar to English (verb before object), but unlike all western languages the written form and the verbal form are completely disassociated with each other. In fact, Chinese speakers of different dialects (like Mandarin and Cantonese) can read the same books even if they can’t even begin to talk to each other. You have to learn to read by memorization, not phonics. Also, Chinese words are defined by one of 4 tones which means a word that sounds exactly the same to the western ear has four radically different meanings (The simple word MA, for example, can mean mother, horse, hemp or scold, depending on how, exactly, you pronounce it).

For a westerner learning Chinese, the strategy is to practice phrases, not individual words, so the listener can interpret what you are saying by context rather than by tone.  A useful phrase I once learned was “ching gae-woa ee-ping pijio,” which means “please may I have a glass of beer,” and I was generally well understood, in the helpful context of a hotel bar.

But what I never took the time to figure out was how Chinese play word games. With a written language that gives each word its own character and takes children 12 years or so to achieve proficiency, there can’t be things like jumbles and crossword puzzles. Even hangman would be prohibitive. And there are no such things as homonyms. But there is poetry, and the art of calligraphy has a long and proud history.

Finally, I think the article (below) about political subversion, besides being a cheerful insight into the shaky underpinnings of internet totalitarianism, gives some insight into how the Chinese play games with their language.