Re: [tied] seven layered-world

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, enlil@... wrote:

> Loreto:
> > You mean it (four) was associated with 'death' because they sound
> > the same anyway.
>
> Yes, in Mandarin (Chinese dialect), you have /si/ pronounced with
> falling tone (like at the end of an English sentence) means "four".
> However, /si/ pronounced with low-rising tone (like the rising
> intonation at the end of a yes-no question) is "die" or "death".
>
>
> > If you're right then it could be before the split of the Japanese
> > forms with the Chinese.
>
> I _am_ right. I speak basic Chinese for god's sakes. Second,

Japanese

> and Chinese are **NOT** related.

I don't think Loreto was claiming that the languages as wholes were
related, merely noting that a body of Japanese words come from
Chinese. If Japanese pronunciation of these words tracked Chinese
(which dialect, by the way?) for a while, and then thoroughly
assimilated them, it makes sense to talk of the 'split of the
Japanese forms with the Chinese'.

Richard.