NDT-DEV email list created

[Jason Zurawski <>]

Highly interesting, thanks for the lesson and the help!

-jason

On Oct 9, 2012, at 2:17 PM, Alan Whinery 
<>
 wrote:

> On 10/9/2012 12:51 PM, Jason Zurawski wrote:
>> Hey Alan;
>> 
>> The localization information for NDT is stored in the Applet directory of 
>> the main repo (and packages of course):
>> 
>> http://code.google.com/p/ndt/source/browse/#svn%2Ftrunk%2FApplet
>> 
>> Currently I see we have a couple of translations, but no mandarin.  If 
>> your wife is willing to oblige, you could just send the translation to 
>> this list and we could integrate it in for a future release.  
>> 
>> Thanks;
>> 
>> -jason
> 
> Thanks. FYI, Mandarin is a spoken language; Chinese script is distinct
> from the dialectic speech that derives from it.
> 
> The differences between Mandarin, Wu, Yue (Cantonese), Hakka, etc are
> largely about different ways to pronounce the syllable/thought
> represented by a written Chinese character. So to a significant extent,
> persons who share no common spoken language can communicate by writing.
> There are, of course, some dialectic idioms and expression differences,
> but something on the order of the American/British English differences,
> with a little repetition and puzzle solving, two literate Chinese
> persons can communicate. They can also communicate with a Japanese
> person who is well-versed in Kanji, although there is much more puzzling
> and differences in expression than between Chinese dialects.
> 
> The two big modern Chinese writing families necessary to reach 99.99% of
> Chinese people would be simplified Chinese script (which includes new,
> less complicated characters imposed by Mao after the revolution) used in
> the PRC, Singapore and Malaysia, and classical Chinese script which is
> used in the global diaspora, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. So, for the
> purpose of CANS, the simplified script is the thing, and once that's
> done, the change to classical involves, for the most part, one-to-one
> character substitutions. Still, even where it seems simple, a person who
> is literate in the appropriate system should be engaged to proofread.
> 
> My wife is literate in classical; her undergrad degree is in Chinese
> Literature, and she is fluent in Yue-Cantonese and Mandarin. When she
> reads simplified, she sometimes stops to puzzle, and usually ends up
> understanding, more from experience than from similarity in the
> characters. Many characters in simplified and classical are actually the
> same, so there is much common ground.
> 
> I will consider it part of the mission of CANS WGs to bring this about,
> anybody who's reading this and is literate and interested on
> participating is welcome to let me know.
> 
> Sorry for the novel, but I find all this interesting...
> 
> -Alan