Guess what I just saw ion a billboard - anyone read mandarin?
- Thread starter MJK
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It reads in short
"used car fleet sales lot" in blue
"professional ?? please call" in red
"26633167" in blue (the phone number, I can not read it too well)
Than on the samll white sign above it on the right side pole. It has the neme of the dealer.
"used car fleet sales lot" in blue
"professional ?? please call" in red
"26633167" in blue (the phone number, I can not read it too well)
Than on the samll white sign above it on the right side pole. It has the neme of the dealer.
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Mandarin is actually a dialect. The text is composed of Chinese characters. In fact, the aforementioned text is actually Japanese using Chinese characters. Confused now?
Steve
Original poster said he/she was in Taiwan when he/she took this photo. So, how did you reach a conclusion that those texts were Japanese???whiteNSXs said:
Japanese makes use of Chinese characters, but in no way in hell the Chinese characters are actually Japanese.
Disclaimer: I do not read Chinese nor Japanese. I have no intension of trolling, but just displaying what I learned.
Taiwan was occupied by Japanese for the longest time. It is very common to see a lot of Japanese influences in Taiwan. The TEXTs are in Japanese composition, but the characters are Chinese characters( Hanji.) How did I reach the conclusion that the texts were Japanese? Very simple. I read, write, speak Chinese fluently and understand fairly Japanese texts in Hanji. I have never said the Chinese characters were actually Japanese like you stated.mohaji said:
Steve
whiteNSXs said:
I've got to ask, are you from Taiwan? Because I was, so I am really not sure what you are talking about...
No, I am not from Taiwan. I just have had an inquiring mind since day one. If you are from Taiwan, how can you not know that Taiwan was occupied by Japanese from late 1800's to 1945? How can you not notice quite a few older Taiwan folks speak Japanese? How about the older residential areas that look like Japanese buildings with even Japanese furnitures such as Taptapmi?(sp?)THonda said:
Steve
whiteNSXs said:
maybe in isolated areas there are still japanese influence, but if you haven't visited it recently you should...and i still do not know how you got the conclusion from that road sign it was japanese composition, w/ chinese characters..... but before we go on and on about this, whatever
"Whatever" does not appropriately answer your question. I studied Chinese since childhood and had 2 years of Chinese Literature in college. And I read Chinese periodicals regularly and I am an OLD guy!THonda said:...and i still do not know how you got the conclusion from that road sign it was japanese composition, w/ chinese characters..... but before we go on and on about this, whatever
Please take my words for it.Steve
I'm not trying to start any mud flinging but I'm just so mixed up after reading above. It was my understanding that China (Taiwan) had a written language before Japan, and that the Japanese learned to write using Chinese characters. (Kana) I'm not trying to sound like a know it all, this is just what I've been taught.
Think of the Chinese characters as building blocks of words and sentences just like the English letters. With different combinations of characters/letters, you form different languages. For example, Porsche is no doubt German, and Porches is English. The individual characters on that billboard are no doubt Chinese characters, but the sentence/phrase those particular characters formed is Japanese.JDM JUNKIE said:
Steve
whiteNSXs
You are correct in some regards, but not totally right.
The exact translation word for word.
center old car volume sale wide facility
The first 3 characters promounce in Taiwanese means used car, which was influnce by Japanese, because lots of the Older Taiwanese wording usage were influnce by Japan.
The next two characters was actually translate from english. Volume Sales=Fleet sale. Which in terms promos lower prices. (Volume discount)
The last 2 characters just means wide lot, facility.
Correct me if you think I'm wrong
You are correct in some regards, but not totally right.
The exact translation word for word.
center old car volume sale wide facility
The first 3 characters promounce in Taiwanese means used car, which was influnce by Japanese, because lots of the Older Taiwanese wording usage were influnce by Japan.
The next two characters was actually translate from english. Volume Sales=Fleet sale. Which in terms promos lower prices. (Volume discount)
The last 2 characters just means wide lot, facility.
Correct me if you think I'm wrong
The first 3 characters "center ancient car" is Japanese. Chinese will called them "second hand car" or "changed hand car" or simply "old car." The 4th and 5th characters have also been commonly used in Japanese wholesale business. The characters "Liang Fan" are not necessarily translated from English. Regardless of the origin of the 4th and 5th characters, Chinese do not use these two characters for the volume sale business, but rather use "Pay Fa" (group distributions)
The last 2 characters "Guong Chang" are used both in Chinese and Japanese. So this phrase composition is Japanese. One can argue that the phrase is Chinese but then it will be an extremely awkward phrase. Surely, Chinese can understand the phrase just because they can decipher each character. In fact it is a very common trend for Chinese business people to compose sentences in Japanese but one needs to know the distinction.
Steve
The last 2 characters "Guong Chang" are used both in Chinese and Japanese. So this phrase composition is Japanese. One can argue that the phrase is Chinese but then it will be an extremely awkward phrase. Surely, Chinese can understand the phrase just because they can decipher each character. In fact it is a very common trend for Chinese business people to compose sentences in Japanese but one needs to know the distinction.
Steve
It's all Dutch to me .........
whiteNSXs said:
I don't know any Chinese and I won't pretend to know a lot of Japanese. In fact the only Kanji I can make out are the easy ones furoi and kuruma. What I'm still confused on is the absence of any Japanese particles like no to ga wa. I guess what I want to know is if you pronounce the whole billboard in Japanese would it make sense I'm guessing not.
you do promounce it in Chinese
I know you pronounce it in Chinese,awsomr1 said:
what I was trying to say is this:The Billboard is said to be Japanese text using Chinese characters. If this is so you should be able to read it in Japanese which you can not. Both languages use the same characters but have their own pronunciations, so again my point is I’m confused as to how it is Japanese origin, and not just an awkward phrase.
Back in the days some people moved from mainland China to the islands of Japan. Japan occupied Taiwan and left some influence. So it all goes back to Chinese afterall. 
What makes you think that you cannot read the phrase in Japanese? Any Japanese who knows Hanji will be able to read it. I had no idea what "center ancient car" was since it is purely Japanese.JDM JUNKIE said:
Steve
I just don't see how the sign is purely composed of Japanese text, like I stated before it seems odd not to have any particles like wa, I'm not saying that the kana are not Japanese just that I don't see how it is composed more so in the Japanese style that in the Chinese language. By the way I'm unsure what you are trying to say above it seems like you are agreeing with me that if you read it in Japanese you wouldn't know what "center old car" meant. I honestly believe you know what you are talking about and know more on the subject than myself. I just don't understand what you are trying to say.whiteNSXs said:
If you don't want to waste time explaining it to me I'll understand, I'm just trying to see it from your view point, which happens to differ from what I have learned.
whiteNSXs said:
Steve,
You are just one consonant off, Chinese characters in Japanese are called Kanji.
Just thought I would throw that in, I can't comment on anything else.
Kevin
My bad, Hiroshima-san! When are you going to get another NSX?khiroshima said:Steve,
You are just one consonant off, Chinese characters in Japanese are called Kanji.
Just thought I would throw that in, I can't comment on anything else.
Steve
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