What is the difference between simplified Chinese and traditional?

The most obvious difference between traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese is the way that the characters look. Traditional characters are typically more complicated and have more strokes, while simplified characters are, as the name suggests, simpler and have fewer strokes.

Are simplified and traditional Chinese mutually intelligible?

Chinese is not a language but a family of languages. That means that, evolving from a common ancestor, the current “dialects” or languages are not necessarily mutually intelligible between them.

Should I learn Traditional Chinese or simplified Chinese?

In essence, if you plan to use your Chinese where simplified characters are used (mainland China and Singapore, for instance), then learn simplified. If you plan to go to Taiwan or Hong Kong, you will be better off learning traditional first.

Is simplified or traditional easier?

Some people may claim that Simplified Chinese is easier to learn, but it is only partially true. Simplified Chinese characters contain fewer strokes and may be easier to remember for new learners. The actual effort involved in learning either traditional or simplified characters is quite similar.

How traditional Chinese characters are simplified?

The ways how Traditional Chinese characters are simplified are not random and there are strict rules. Generally there are six rules: 1. Simplifying Radicals and Elements Every character that has certain Radicals and Elements are replaced by the simplified version and are easy to spot.

What are the rules for character simplification?

Generally there are six rules: 1. Simplifying Radicals and Elements Every character that has certain Radicals and Elements are replaced by the simplified version and are easy to spot. When two or more characters share the same pronunciation, only the simple and easy one was kept to carry on the meanings of both or all.

How to change a character in a story?

1. Replacing the complicated element of a character with a simplified form. 2. Retaining a part of the traditional character and removing unnecessary elements. 3. Reverting to the ancient form that is simpler than its modern one. 4. Merging two characters that sound the same or similar. 5.

Do simplified characters carry over across the writing system?

Although only a small number of simplified parts of characters (like yán 言) are consistently carried across the writing system, many of the whole-character simplifications are also picked up in additional simplifications when they occur as parts of other words.

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