Also, Japanese Kanji, as annoying as they can be, have a use. Japanese has a very simple syllable structure which, combined with many Chinese loanwords, makes for a very high number of homophones. Kanji help distinguish them from each other. The Japanese do have a syllabary however, but it is only used in certain contexts. The Chinese have no syllabary; everything has meaning (I heard Chinese ballots in Massachusetts were pulled because Mitt Romneys name translated to rainbow farmer :D
Only the Chinese ever created a writing system that was based solely on concepts. Egyptian Heiroglyphics was an Abjad, an alphabet without vowels, like Arabic, or indeed Phoenician :D. Certain glyphs were only added to the end of words to make the meaning clearer if need be
Here's a possibly fun activity for your youngins. I thought it up and Im wondering if itll work.
Have a kid write a sentence, with the intent of it becoming a short story. After he writes it, he passes the paper to the next kid. They dont read aloud or offer input. Each sentence is written independently. Pass it around X number of times until its finished.
As an aside, they can write comments on a separate piece of paper in regards to questionable grammar. Number each sentence.
I recently had the pleasure of getting to see, up close, some early cuneiform tablets. They were fairly small--I'd say roughly the size of a handful of loose change; according to the curator of the exhibit in which they were displayed, the small tablets generally tended to be the earliest such tablets and were usually sales records kept by merchants. That, if you ask me, is a clear example of how essential trade and economy are to the development of human civilization.
At University, I took a class on mediums of communication in which one of the professor's (absurd) theses was that computers and information technology are destroying knowledge because mediums of storage, e.g., discs, are perishable.
"At University, I took a class on mediums of communication in which one of the professor's (absurd) theses was that computers and information technology are destroying knowledge because mediums of storage, e.g., discs, are perishable."
Ok I saw the Ural video about a year ago. When I came across your channel it reminded me about that video. I looked for it on your channel, but could not find it. Could you give me directions?
Wow, you know education is in a serious hole when even the teachers don't know what "phonics" means. Kids really aren't taught to sound things out anymore?
hey thre cropper you use to do book updates when you would buy new books ect but its bee awhile since you have done that have you gotten newer books in the past say 2 to 4 months?? if so brign back some updates i liked when you did that
Ok I saw the Ural video about a year ago. When I came across your channel it reminded me about that video. I looked for it on your channel, but could not find it. Could you give me directions?
wow! mad interesting!
lrow213 1 year ago
The Korean alphabet, hangul, is phonetic.
Heraclitean 3 years ago
Also, Japanese Kanji, as annoying as they can be, have a use. Japanese has a very simple syllable structure which, combined with many Chinese loanwords, makes for a very high number of homophones. Kanji help distinguish them from each other. The Japanese do have a syllabary however, but it is only used in certain contexts. The Chinese have no syllabary; everything has meaning (I heard Chinese ballots in Massachusetts were pulled because Mitt Romneys name translated to rainbow farmer :D
cockroach2 3 years ago
Only the Chinese ever created a writing system that was based solely on concepts. Egyptian Heiroglyphics was an Abjad, an alphabet without vowels, like Arabic, or indeed Phoenician :D. Certain glyphs were only added to the end of words to make the meaning clearer if need be
cockroach2 3 years ago
Nice, nice video, dude.!
UnionKid15 3 years ago
Here's a possibly fun activity for your youngins. I thought it up and Im wondering if itll work.
Have a kid write a sentence, with the intent of it becoming a short story. After he writes it, he passes the paper to the next kid. They dont read aloud or offer input. Each sentence is written independently. Pass it around X number of times until its finished.
As an aside, they can write comments on a separate piece of paper in regards to questionable grammar. Number each sentence.
pairunoyd 3 years ago
p.s. theyre aspiring to make it a story. Theyre not simply writing random sentences.
pairunoyd 3 years ago
The distance sounder...haha awesome I wish we called it that. Kind of sounds like an Native American name, Sitting Bull and Distance Sounder.
Aristotle100 3 years ago
I recently had the pleasure of getting to see, up close, some early cuneiform tablets. They were fairly small--I'd say roughly the size of a handful of loose change; according to the curator of the exhibit in which they were displayed, the small tablets generally tended to be the earliest such tablets and were usually sales records kept by merchants. That, if you ask me, is a clear example of how essential trade and economy are to the development of human civilization.
Aotommo 3 years ago
I thought "papyrus" was pronounced "Puh-Pie-Rus"
DotPaulish 3 years ago 2
At University, I took a class on mediums of communication in which one of the professor's (absurd) theses was that computers and information technology are destroying knowledge because mediums of storage, e.g., discs, are perishable.
qtronman 3 years ago
"At University, I took a class on mediums of communication in which one of the professor's (absurd) theses was that computers and information technology are destroying knowledge because mediums of storage, e.g., discs, are perishable."
Haha, wow....
Beethovens7th 3 years ago
Ok I saw the Ural video about a year ago. When I came across your channel it reminded me about that video. I looked for it on your channel, but could not find it. Could you give me directions?
lengthyounarther 3 years ago
Wow, you know education is in a serious hole when even the teachers don't know what "phonics" means. Kids really aren't taught to sound things out anymore?
nine9s 3 years ago
hey thre cropper you use to do book updates when you would buy new books ect but its bee awhile since you have done that have you gotten newer books in the past say 2 to 4 months?? if so brign back some updates i liked when you did that
marxbroths 3 years ago
I posted a comment, I think it disappeared.
Ahh well, I'm doing a video on Japanese soon.
PortfolioManager1987 3 years ago
"I posted a comment, I think it disappeared."
Maybe you didn't hit 'post comment'? I never saw it...
MrCropper 3 years ago
Yeah...Chinese has 45,000 characters, with about 10,000 in common use.
chris3443 3 years ago
The knotted writing was particularly interesting.
Thanks cropper!
603881 3 years ago
great vid... should have mentioned mao's changes
gabrielevery 3 years ago
Love the vids, new subscriber.
Is that the Decline and Fall of the roman empire behind and to your right?
How many languages can you speak and to what degree of proficiency.
Did you once make a vide about health care in the USSR based on a book review of a book titled "Beyond the Urals"?
lengthyounarther 3 years ago
"Is that the Decline and Fall of the roman empire behind and to your right?"
Yes
"How many languages can you speak and to what degree of proficiency."
German (very little), Russian (very little), and a few Latin and Greek roots. And English.
"Did you once make a vide about health care in the USSR based on a book review of a book titled "Beyond the Urals"?"
Yes. : )
MrCropper 3 years ago
Ok I saw the Ural video about a year ago. When I came across your channel it reminded me about that video. I looked for it on your channel, but could not find it. Could you give me directions?
lengthyounarther 3 years ago
"Could you give me directions?"
It is on my old channel, cropperb.
MrCropper 3 years ago
Really interesting very thanks Brandon.
bmtimv 3 years ago