simplified/traditional
pengwenhua
July 17, 2008, 07:51 PM posted in General DiscussionCan one use simplified and traditional characters interchangably, or should one consistantly use one or the other?
pengwenhua
July 17, 2008, 08:10 PMzhanglihua,
Thanks for the clarification. I've been pondering this question for quite a while.
sweetwatermelon94
July 17, 2008, 08:54 PMzhanglihua, you wrote
They (traditional characters) are simply not used on the mainland anymore.
That's not true. You will see traditional characters on shop labels, restaurant menus, etc., because people want to distinguish themselves from the masses more and more.
Hong Kong is part of the mainland, and you will find there more traditional than simplified characters.
spazes
July 17, 2008, 09:50 PMWhat characters are used more frequently around Shaolin?
More importantly, do they speak Mandarin or Cantonese in the Shaolin area?
changye
July 17, 2008, 11:18 PMHi pengwenhua,
There is a good discussion about this issue here.
http://chinesepod.com/community/conversations/post/2244#comment-85361
changye
July 18, 2008, 12:59 AMP/S. Once you've got interested in the history of Chinese characters, including etymology and phonology, the knowledge of traditional characters is absolutely necessary. Some of academic books regarding Chinese characters are still written in traditional characters even in mainland China.
zhanglihua
July 18, 2008, 12:10 PMsweetwatermelon, I sincerely apologize for not mentioning Hong Kong. I neglected Macao and other regions as well because I did not intend to create a complete list. Hong Kong is special, also in terms of lingustics. I hope that everyone who expects to use their Chinese in a place where it's the official language know how to look up information concerning the writing system in use.
Of course the Traditional characters are becoming more widespread again, but I do not think that, for the purposes of a learner, this merits learning the traditional characters if their focus is not on areas where they are the principal system. As changye said, as soon as your focus shifts to more academic areas and you become interested in history, they are inevitable.
This is not a face-off between s- and t-hanzi! The initial question was about consistency, and even those shopkeepers who use traditional characters don't (or rather, shouldn't) mix them with the simplified ones. (Besides, I would have lumped these forms together as artistic portrayal, a bit like calligraphy that defies the common rules anyway) And most younger people definitely can't read traditional characters, if they're not aware of certain simplification principles they can't even guess.
@spazes Which Shaolin are you referring to?
zhanglihua
July 18, 2008, 12:17 PM@pengwenhua If you are writing a text in, let's say simplified characters, but you can't think of a certain character, it's ok to use the other form once in a while.
pengwenhua
August 08, 2008, 07:42 PMThank you all for your insights. It is interesting how such a "simple" question can evoke traditonal,regional and cultural considerations.
zhanglihua
July 17, 2008, 08:05 PMDo, by all means, use one form consistently. If your focus is on the PRC (Mainland China), use simplified characters, if you're more interested in countries like Taiwan, use the traditional characters. Younger people on the mainland would be too puzzled by the traditional ones, Taiwanese are not completely familiar with the simplifications. They are simply not used on the mainland anymore, except in calligraphy. There are some calls for a revival of the traditional ones, but to no avail.
You can learn both variants at the same time, if you so wish, but only one form should be used in a text.