Language Differences

Lost in Meaning: How Shared Chinese Characters Diverge in Korean and Japanese

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letter, Korean Hanja, Japanese Kanji

Discover how identical Chinese characters developed distinct meanings in Korean and Japanese. This article explores the historical adoption, semantic evolution, and modern usage of Hanja and Kanji, revealing surprising differences in interpretation between the two languages.   1. Introduction “Imagine looking at the same Chinese character, but a Korean and a Japanese speaker interpret it … Read more

Theories in Debate: How Scholars Explain the Gap Between Korean and Japanese

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Language Contact, Altaic Theories, and More

Scholars debate whether Korean and Japanese share common origins, or diverged through contact and convergence. Discover the key theories and debates. Although Koreans and Japanese are genetically close, their languages show significant differences. Various theories attempt to explain this linguistic divergence, but many aspects remain a mystery. When we talk about the origins of Korean … Read more