Homophones and Simplified Characters

There are approximately 1，700 possible syllables in Mandarin.As a result，there are many homophones-syllables which sound the same but mean different things.Theseare distinguished in written Chinese by using different characters for each one.

Not all the following characters are pronounced with the same tone，so to Chinese ears they sound different.To Westerners’ears，however，they all sound the same.These syllables can be distinguished in speech from the context because most of them usually appear in combination with other syllables.For example：

lisIf you look closely，you will notice that some of the characters above have parts in common.These parts give you a clue to how to pronounce the characters.

Simplified Characters

In an effort to increase literacy，the Chinese government has simplified more than 2，000 characters in frequent use.4These simplified characters are also used in Singapore，but in the districts such as Taiwan，Hong Kong，Macao and in Malaysia the traditional characters are still used.

qingquang

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