Japanese Conveys Information More Slowly Than Other Languages
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Japanese Conveys Information More Slowly Than Other Languages
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Re: Japanese Conveys Information More Slowly Than Other Languages
#2maybe conversational Japanese lets more go unspoken.
From the little Japanese I speak I've found that this is indeed the case. Japanese speakers will happily leave out subject, topic, or object of a sentence when it can be inferred from context.
Re: Japanese Conveys Information More Slowly Than Other Languages
#3maybe conversational Japanese lets more go unspoken. From the little Japanese I speak I've found that this is indeed the case. Japanese speakers will happily leave out subject, topic, or object of a sentence when it can be inferred from context.
Inferring from context.. like many programming languages.
Is there a programming language you would say most resembles Japanese in spirit?
Re: Japanese Conveys Information More Slowly Than Other Languages
#4maybe conversational Japanese lets more go unspoken. From the little Japanese I speak I've found that this is indeed the case. Japanese speakers will happily leave out subject, topic, or object of a sentence when it can be inferred from context.
Exactly, the less formal the japanese is, the more unspoken words are left to be guessed by the context...
Another interesting thing about japanese is that because of the lower number of different syllables it's easier to understand in situations when it's not possible hear clearly (like on mobile phones when the reception is not good). I've remarked on it when living there and had a researcher working in the field confirm me that it was the case (not to sure of the details but that was during a discussion on voice compression).
Re: Japanese Conveys Information More Slowly Than Other Languages
#5maybe conversational Japanese lets more go unspoken. From the little Japanese I speak I've found that this is indeed the case. Japanese speakers will happily leave out subject, topic, or object of a sentence when it can be inferred from context.
Exactly, the less formal the japanese is, the more unspoken words are left to be guessed by the context... Another interesting thing about japanese is that because of the lower number of different syllables it's easier to understand in situations when it's not possible hear clearly (like on mobile phones when the reception is not good). I've remarked on it when living there and had a researcher working in the field c…
Maybe this explains why Hatsune Miku can perform live shows for millions around the world while people still have trouble taking Microsoft Sam and Anna seriously.
Re: Japanese Conveys Information More Slowly Than Other Languages
#6maybe conversational Japanese lets more go unspoken. From the little Japanese I speak I've found that this is indeed the case. Japanese speakers will happily leave out subject, topic, or object of a sentence when it can be inferred from context.
Inferring from context.. like many programming languages. Is there a programming language you would say most resembles Japanese in spirit?
No, its more like a unified diff.
Re: Japanese Conveys Information More Slowly Than Other Languages
#7I remember seeing some mention that English has by far more words than most languages.
Saying "Ontology recapitulates phylogeny" in other languages is allegedly hard.
Re: Japanese Conveys Information More Slowly Than Other Languages
#8This explains every Final Fantasy game ever made.
Re: Japanese Conveys Information More Slowly Than Other Languages
#9It's also subject to poor interpretation:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3gj7y_lost-in-translation_...
Re: Japanese Conveys Information More Slowly Than Other Languages
#10Japanese don't think in terms of syllables. Ideograms are very often multi-syllabic (as opposed to Chinese) and the amount of "context" is by far the highest I've ever seen. Being such a high-context culture very little needs saying and most can be inferred.
Actually I'd say it's one of the most efficient languages I know in terms of what needs saying and how quickly they get their point across.
Now, drawing any comparisons is extremely hard because context doesn't translate, so by definition you cannot create a benchmark. For instance, they convey far more information about social nuance and politeness, to levels that would need whole paragraphs per sentence to explain.
Also, syllables are a horrible benchmark for Japanese since all their syllables are extremely short and quick to pronounce. Their encoding, so to speak, consists of a smaller unit size and a bigger number of units. They have a compression system for text, which is the mixture of kanji and kana.
This basically goes to show how unique Japanese is in many respects and how differently they communicate.