An answer to Dr. Qian’s question 钱学森之问的答案

An answer to Dr. Qian’s question

Dr. Qian Xuesen, a renowned Chinese scientist, more than once asked a former Chinese premier a question. “Why do our schools always fail in training outstanding talent”, he asked. Talent here refers to scientific and technological talent only. There may be many answers to the question Dr. Qian posed. However, many people often ignore an answer – the limitation of the written language, or Chinese characters, on human thinking.

Why is the answer ignored? The reason is that until now the linguists in the world have not yet known what a Chinese word is, or what a Chinese unit is. The linguistic professors in China have been debating whether a Chinese word is a Chinese character or a group of Chinese characters for decades without a result. As a result, they cannot correctly compare Chinese and alphabet languages, such as English, and they do not know the gap between them. Some people in China even think that Chinese characters are better than alphabets, and so they resist Chinese alphabets.

Creating a scientific theory requires human brain thinking, and language is a thinking tool. If the other conditions are the same, language is the determining factor. Hence, the advanced language promotes human thinking while the backward language limits human thinking.  

Numerous overseas Chinese have achieved great successes in scientific field. Among them, quite a few have won the Nobel Prize. However, until now, people cannot create scientific theories in written Chinese. The reason is that the written Chinese limits human thinking.

The linguists sometimes confuse the spoken language with the written because they often shorten both two phrasal terms of “the spoken language” and “the written language” to a word of “language”. Compared to the spoken, the written is a superior tool for human thinking. Therefore, the sophistication or primitiveness of a written language may be decisive in human thinking.

How does the written Chinese limit thinking? Let me try to explain by contrasting Chinese with English. In general, the more units, the more advanced the language. Units, or basic units, are words. That is to say, the more words, the more advanced the language.

Chinese characters are Chinese words. Chinese has only ten thousand words while English has more than one million words that are still growing. This is the gap between Chinese and English. The reason is that the quantity of Chinese words is finite and fixed.

The small quantity of the Chinese words limits Chinese people thinking severely. Therefore, the number of Chinese words is too small and finite is an answer to Dr. Qian’s question.

reference: New Concept Linguistics

钱学森之问的答案

中国著名的科学家钱学森不止一次地问中国前总理一个问题。 “为什么我们的学校总是培养不出优秀人才？”他问。这里的人才是指科技人才。钱学森提出的问题可能有许多答案。然而，许多人总是忽略一个答案，那就是书面语言的限制，或者说中文汉字对人类思维的限制。

为什么会忽略这个答案（原因）？因为直到现在，世界上的语言学家还不知道什么是中文的word。或者说，什么是中文的单位？中国的语言学教授一直在争论中文的单位是一个字，还是一个词，至今也没有结果。所以他们不能正确地比较中文和拼音文字，如英文。他们也不知道中文和英文的差距。中国还有些人甚至认为汉字比拼音文字好，所以他们抵制汉语拼音文字。

创造科学理论要靠人类的大脑思维，language是思维的工具。如果其他条件大体相当，那么language就是决定的因素。因此，先进的language促进人类的思维，落后language限制人类的思维。

许多海外华人在科技领域取得了巨大成功。其中不少人还获得了诺贝尔奖。然而至今还没有人使用中文创造出科学理论。原因就是中文限制了人的思维。

语言学家常常混淆语言和文字这两个概念。原因就是他们常常把 spoken language 和 written language 这两个词简化成一个字language。和口语相比，书面语言是更先进的思维工具。因此，书面语言的先进与落后在人类思维中的作用是决定性的。

中文是如何限制思维的？我们可以从中文和英文的比较中找到答案。一般来说，单位越多，书面语言越先进。单位，也叫基本单位，就是word。也就是说，基本单位越多，书面语越先进。

中文的基本单位就是汉字。中文只使用一万个基本单位，而英文已经超过了一百万个，而且数量还在不断增加。这就是中文和英文之间的差距。原因就是中文基本单位的数量太少，而且是不能发展。

中文基本单位的数量太少，严重限制了中国人的思维。因此，中文基本单位的数量不能增加，而且数量太少，就是钱学森之问的一个答案。

参考：新概念语言学

Classification of Chinese Languages

Classification of Chinese Languages

Is Chinese a language or a group of languages? Before we answer the question, let's define the word “language” at first. There are four languages commonly used by humans: signed, spoken, written, and Braille.

We take English as an example. If you define “English” as the written English, then there is only one English. If you define “English” as the spoken English, there may be many English languages. For example, British English, American English, Canadian English, Australian English, South Africa English, India English, Hawaii English, Texas English, etc., and as many as you can name.

Similarly, if you define Chinese as a written language, there is only one form -- Baihuawen. If you define Chinese as spoken, the answer varies. For example, there are two -- southern and northern, or six, seven, eight dialects, or as many as you want. The truth is that we cannot classify spoken languages by each spoken language itself, because everybody speaks differently, strictly speaking. Usually we classify spoken languages by the group of people, like countries, areas, tribes etc., as we need. Therefore, the classification of spoken languages belongs to sociology, instead of linguistics.

Welcome to New Concept Linguistics.

Chinese Languages 的分类

Chinese 是一种language还是一组language？在我们回答问题之前，让我们先定义language。人类通常使用四种language：手语，口语，书面语，和盲文。

我们以English为例。如果你定义English 为英文，那么只有一种英文。如果你定义English 为英语，可能有许多英语。例如，英国英语，美国英语，加拿大英语，澳大利亚英语，南非英语，印度英语，夏威夷英语，德克萨斯英语等，以及更多的你能说出来的各种英语。

同样的道理，如果你定义Chinese为中文，那么现在中文只有一种，就是白话文。如果你定义Chinese为汉语，那么答案有多种。例如两种话 -- 南方话和北方话。或者六种，七种，八种方言。或者你想说有多少种就多少种。因为严格地说，我们每个人说的话都不同，现实的情况是，我们并不根据口语本身对口语进行分类。通常，我们是按照我们的需要，根据人群，如国家，地区，部落等，对口语进行分类。因此，口语的分类属于社会学，而不是语言学。


请参考新概念语言学。

Is Chinese a language or a group of languages?

Is Chinese a language or a group of languages?

We must separate spoken language and written language here. We cannot classify spoken languages by spoken language itself, because everybody speaks differently, strictly speaking. Usually we classify spoken languages by the group of people, like countries, areas, tribes etc., as we need. However, we classify written language by the written language itself. That is why so many spoken Chinese and only one written Chinese in China.

Reference: New Concept Linguistics

Chinese是一种language还是多种language？

这里我们必须把口语和书面语分开。我们不能根据口语本身对口语进行分类，因为严格来说，每个人说话都不同。 通常，我们是根据自己的需要，按照人群（如国家，地区，部落等）对口语进行分类。 但是，我们是根据书面语本身对书面语进行分类。 这就是为什么中国有这么多种口语，而只有一种书面语。

参考：新概念语言学

Language And Dialect 语言和方言

Language And Dialect

Language is a tool of people for communication. In contrast to language, dialect is non-mainstream language. Generally, a dialect is a language spoken in a small area.

Dialect is associated with inconvenient and closed communication environment. With social development and traffic becoming convenience, dialect is bound to disappear because the dialect speakers are getting old and at last die, and their descendants are becoming to speak common language, which is a slow process, step-by-step process.

Therefore, the disappearance of dialects is irreversible unless communication is restricted again.

语言和方言

语言是人类交流的工具。相对于语言，方言是非主流语言，通常，说方言的地区是小地方。

方言总是和交通不方便和封闭的环境有关系。随着社会的发展和交通变得方便，方言必然消失，因为说方言的人会变老，最后死亡，他们的后代开始说通用的语言，不过这个过程是缓慢的，渐进的。

因此，方言的消失是不可逆转的，除非交流再次受到限制。

Chinese morphology (5)

Chinese morphology (5)

What is a Chinese word?

 

In linguistics, a word is the smallest unit of a written language. For example, apart from punctuation marks, an English sentence comprises a word or many words. A Chinese sentence contains a Chinese grapheme or many Chinese graphemes, which we usually call Chinese characters. A Chinese grapheme is the smallest unit of written Chinese. Therefore, a Chinese grapheme is a Chinese word linguistically. By this, it is meant that, a Chinese grapheme, or a Chinese character, is a Chinese word. 

Linguistically, morphology is the study of the forms of words, not the meanings of words. The form of an English word is the spaces, which separate either one or multiple letters, while the form of a Chinese word is a grapheme, which is structured by one or multiple strokes in a rectangle shape. 

We should not regard two Chinese characters as a word because two Chinese characters can represent one word concept such as 苹果 meaning “apple”. In addition, we should not regard one Chinese character as a phrase because one Chinese character can represent a phrase concept such as 姓 meaning “family name”. 

In an English sentence, a group of words is a phrase, so a group of Chinese characters is a Chinese phrase. However, many linguists regard a Chinese grapheme as a Chinese character, and a group of Chinese graphemes as a Chinese word. I believe this is a mistake.

Here's my argument:

If you regard a Chinese grapheme as a Chinese character, a group of Chinese graphemes is a group of Chinese characters, instead of a Chinese word. The reason is that “word” is not a plural noun form of “character”.

If you regard a group of Chinese characters as a word, a Chinese character is a part of a Chinese word. However, a word is the smallest unit in a sentence, which cannot be divided into parts. For example, an English word cannot be divided into letters because even a single letter is still a word in a sentence like I and a. Please note that apart from punctuation marks, an English sentence is made up of a word or words only. That is to say, letters cannot stand alone in a sentence. If it stands alone, it is a word. Therefore, there is not any letter in a sentence.

A group of Chinese characters is not a unit. They are several units in a sentence. If you regard a group of Chinese characters as a word, which means you do not acknowledge a Chinese character a word, you cannot answer the question: what is a unit in a Chinese sentence? The reason is that a Chinese character is a word, and a word is a unit. Some linguists regard both a Chinese character and a group of Chinese characters as the smallest unit in a Chinese sentence, which is self-contradictory.

In a logical discourse, to have an identity means to have a single identity. Therefore, an object cannot have two identities. Some linguists make a Chinese grapheme have two identities, character and word, which violates the law of identity. Accordingly, I believe this is an error.

Finally, a Chinese grapheme, or a Chinese character is a word, and a group of Chinese characters is a phrase.

Chinese translation: 

什么是中文word？ 

语言学里，word是书面语言的最小单位。例如，除了标点符号，英语句子是由一个或者多个word组成。中文句子是由一个或者多个汉字组成，汉字我们通常简称为字，所以字是中文的最小单位。因此，语言学里一个汉字就是一个中文word。这意味着，一个汉字，或者一个字，就是一个中文word。 

语言学上，morphology就是研究word的形式，而不是word的意义。 英文word的形式就是分隔一个或多个字母的空格，而中文word的形式就是方块形状的，由笔画写成的汉字。

我们不能因为两个汉字可以表示一个英文word代表的概念，如apple的意思是“苹果”。就把两个汉字看成一个word。同样，我们也不能因为一个汉字可以表示一个英文phrase代表的概念，如family name的意思是“姓”，就说一个汉字就是一个phrase。

在英文句子里，几个（一组）word是一个phrase，因此几个汉字就是一个中文phrase。然而，许多语言学家把一个汉字叫做character，把几个汉字叫做一个word。我认为他们的说法是错误的。 

下面是我的论点： 

如果你把汉字叫做character，那么几个汉字就是几个character，而不是一个word。因为word不是character的复数形式。 

如果你把几个汉字看成一个word，那么一个汉字就是部分word。然而，word是句子里的最小单位，它不能被分成几个部分。例如，英文的word不能被分成几个字母，因为句子里的一个字母仍然是一个word，如I和a。请注意，除了标点符号之外，句子只有word，没有字母。字母不能在句子里独立存在，如果一个字母独立存在句子里，这个字母就是一个word。所以句子里面没有字母。 

几个汉字不是一个单位，它们是句子里的几个单位。如果你把几个汉字看成一个word，你就回答不了这个问题：什么是中文句子里的单位？原因是汉字是中文句子里的word，也就是单位。有些语言学家把一个汉字，和几个汉字，都看成一个单位，这是自相矛盾的。 

在一个逻辑过程中，具有身份identity意味着只能有一个身份；一个对象object不能有两个身份。这些语言学家在一个逻辑过程中，让一个汉字有了两个身份，character和word，这违反了同一律law of identity。所以我日文他们是错误的。 

总而言之，一个汉字，或者一个Chinese character，就是一个word。几个汉字就是一个phrase。 

Chinese morphology (4)

Chinese morphology (4)

Linguistic Terms Translation

The correct Chinese translation for "word" is 字.

The correct English translation for 词 is phrase.

Shortly, word = 字. Phrase = 词.

Chinese translation

语言学术语翻译

word 中文的正确翻译是：字。

“词”英文的正确翻译是： phrase.

简单地说： word = 字。 phrase = 词。

Chinese morphology (3)

Chinese morphology (3)
Question

Question 1: Is one Chinese character a word?
If your answer is yes, then, logically, two Chinese characters are two words.
If your answer is no, please answer question 2: What is a Chinese word?

If you insist that two Chinese characters is a word, then you are also saying one Chinese character is not a word. Accordingly, please answer question 3: Is the Chinese character 我 (I) in a Chinese sentence a word or not?

If you regard both one Chinese character and two Chinese characters are a word, then, unfortunately, you are not making any logical sense.


Chinese translation
问题

问题1：一个汉字是一个word吗？
如果你的答案是yes，那么两个汉字就是两个word，而不是一个word。
如果你的答案是no，那么请回答问题2：什么是一个中文word？

如果你非要认为两个汉字是一个word，言下之意就是，一个汉字就不是一个word。那么请回答问题3：中文句子里的“我”是不是一个word？

如果你认为一个汉字和两个汉字都是一个word，这显然逻辑不通，自相矛盾。

Chinese morphology (2)

Chinese morphology (2)

An open letter to linguists.

Respected Linguists,

Chinese is my first language. I'm writing to you about an issue regarding Chinese morphology.  A few days ago, in my emails to a prominent Sinologist, I pointed out an erroneous statement in his article that regards the formation of a Chinese word by two Chinese characters. In his response to my opinion, he advised that since 1930s reputable linguists all over the world have consented that a Chinese word is composed by two or multiple Chinese characters. However, I believe this is a serious mistake. 

Here are my reasons. In a sentence word is the basic, or the smallest, unit. Two and multiple words should form a phrase. Thus, in the case of Chinese where a sentence is composed by individual characters, a Chinese character should be the basic unit. And hence, each Chinese character functions as a single word. In my opinion, this is an evident logic problem. Further, if we accept the fact that a Chinese character is actually a word, then two or multiple Chinese characters should form a phrase. In light of the above analysis, it is incredible that all the "reputable" linguists have agreed to determine the formation of a Chinese word as two or multiple characters. 

After all, due to my strong belief that precise determination is a serious matter for any science, I'm anxiously appealing to professionals in the hope to right a wrong technical term. I implore that you and your colleagues, being responsible linguistic specialists, review my blog titled "what is a Chinese word?" which I'm attaching with this mail. Any of your feedback will be greatly appreciated. Should you find my view false, please kindly let me know what and why. Otherwise, your valuable support will doubtlessly help to spread the word wide and further. 

Thank you for your time and look forward to your reply. 

Sincerely,
Wang Yujiang



给语言学家们的公开信

尊敬的语言学教授们： 

我的母语是汉语，我写信给你们请教一个关于中文问题。前些日子，我给一位著名的汉学家写信，指出他在文章里把两个汉字当作一个word是错误的。他告诉我，从上个世纪三十年代起，全世界所有知名的语言学家都是把两个或者多个汉字叫做一个word。我认为这是一个严重的错误。 

下面我的理由。 word是句子里最小的单位，或者说，基本单位。 两个和多个word就组成一个phrase。 中文的句子由汉字组成，那么汉字就是基本单位。 因此，每一个汉字就是一个word。 在我看来，这是一个明显的逻辑问题。 此外，如果我们接受一个汉字实际上是一个word的事实，那么两个或多个汉字就是组成一个phrase。 根据以上分析，所有“著名的”语言学家都同意两个或多个汉字是一个中文word，不可思议。

总之，我相信概念准确对于任何科学都至关重要，我迫切希望专家学者改正这个语言学术语。 我恳请你和你的同事，负责任的语言学家，审查附在这个邮件后面的我的博客“什么是一个中文word？” 我感谢你们的任何反馈。 如果你们认为我的理论错误，请告诉我错在哪里和为什么错。如果你们认为我正确，让更多的人知道是你们的最有力的支持。

感谢你们的时间，期待你们的回复。
王玉江

Chinese morphology (1)

Chinese morphology (1)

What is a Chinese word? -- One Chinese character or two Chinese (multiple) characters?

You may have been very well familiar with Chinese language. However, I'm afraid that you probably don't know what a Chinese word is even you are a reputable linguist. Everyone knows what a word is in English. It is formed by a letter or multiple letters separated by spaces or punctuation marks in a sentence. Therefore, even though you don't speak English, you can easily recognize an English word as a single composition of letter(s) in between spaces. A word, also known as the smallest unit, is the basic part in a sentence. Other than punctuation marks, a sentence is built by one or multiple words.

In China, everyone knows that a Chinese sentence is formed by one or Chinese characters. To put it in another way, characters are the smallest units for a Chinese sentence. Hence, a Chinese character functions exactly as a word in a Chinese sentence. From the above logic then, I have concluded that two or multiple characters should not have been regarded as a "word". Instead, "phrase" is perhaps a much more appropriate identity in this case. Nevertheless, over the years, linguists along with Sinologists have been labeling "two Chinese characters" as a "word".

If you are one of them and insist this is a fact, I assume you're also saying that a Chinese character is not a word. Then, what on earth is a Chinese character? From a linguistic perspective, a word is the smallest unit in a sentence. According to this, both a character and a letter in a sentence shall be called a "word". For instance, when letter "I" and "a" appears in an English sentence, they are "words" instead of "letters". The same argument should be applied to a Chinese sentence, where a character functions as a "word" as opposed to a "character".  Therefore, I confidently believe that the habitual identification of two Chinese characters as a "word" doesn't make sense, that it is a mistake in fact.

Such erroneous view may have been caused by the numerous existence of meaningful phrases that are shaped by "double characters" in Chinese, as "have to" in English. Whereas "have to" means the same as "must", it is evidently a "two-word" phrase, instead of a single word. Further, linguistically speaking, morphology is the study of the forms of words, not the meanings of words. In the case of English, we can tell the form of a word by the spaces which separate either one or multiple letters. For Chinese, a character is structured by one or multiple strokes in a square shape.

Thus, if you accept that a Chinese character forms a word, then two characters should be regarded as a phrase. Otherwise, if you still believe two characters make a Chinese word, then you must deny that a Chinese character can be a word. If you regard both one and two Chinese characters as a word, it is a self-contradiction. In addition, because of word's property being a unit in writing, computer is capable of word-count while it is lame in terms of counting phrases. As a matter of fact, because two or multiple characters do not present themselves as a single unit, computers to this day can only count the number of Chinese characters only.

Finally, I'm firmly convinced that a character in a Chinese sentence is a unit, or a word. Therefore, two or multiple characters form a phrase. Space is not used for Chinese scripts in the same way as for English, so Chinese "compound word" simply doesn't exist.  

Chinese translation

Chinese morphology (1)

什么是中文word？一个汉字，还是两个（多个）汉字？

可能你已经非常熟悉中文。 但是你不一定知道什么是中文的word，哪怕你是一个著名的语言学家。每个人都知道什么是英文的word。 它是句子里，由空格或者标点符号隔开的，一个字母或多个字母组成。因此即使你不懂英语，你也能很容易看出，空格之间，由字母组成的一个单位。word是句子的基本单位，也叫最小单位。 除了标点符号之外，一个句子由一个或多个word组成。

在中国，大家都知道中文的句子由一个或者多个汉字组成。 也就是说，汉字就是中文句子的最小单位。因此，汉字就是中文句子中的word。根据以上逻辑推理，我得出结论，两个或多个汉字不能被当作一个word。这种情况叫phrase应该更准确。然而多年来，语言学家和汉学家都把“两个汉字”叫做一个word。

如果你和他们一样，坚持（两个汉字是一个word）这个观点，我认为你只能不承认一个汉字是一个word。 那么，一个汉字究竟是什么？从语言学的角度来看，句子里最小的单位是word。 根据这一点，句子里的一个汉字或者一个字母都应该叫做word。例如，当字母“I”和“a” 出现在英语句子中时，它们是word而不是“字母”。同样的道理，中文句子中的一个汉字也是word，而不是character字符。因此，我坚信，习惯性地把两个汉字叫做一个word不能自圆其说，实际上是一个错误。

这种错误的观点可能是因为中文里有很多两个汉字组成代表一个意义的phrase词引起的。就像英文里的have to。虽然have to和must意思差不多，但是，have to是一个（两个word的）phrase，不是一个word。此外，语言学里，morphology是研究word的形式，不是word的意义。 以英文为例，英文word的形式是空格之间的字母组成。中文word的形式是方形当中的笔划组成。

因此，如果你认为一个汉字是一个word，那么两个汉字就是一个phrase。反之，如果你认为两个汉字是一个word，那么你就必须否认一个汉字是一个word。 如果你把一个汉字和两个汉字都看成一个word，这是自相矛盾的。此外，由于word是文字的单位，计算机能够统计word的数量，（phrase不是一个单位）计算机不能统计phrase的数量。

最后，我坚信，中文句子里的一个汉字是一个单位，也就是一个word。 因此，两个或多个汉字就是一个phrase。 中文没有英文里的空格，所以中文没有复合word。

The basic units of language

The basic units of language 

What are the basic units of language? This is the wrong question, since there are different kinds languages which have different basic units. For example,  

The basic units of body language are body movements.  

The basic units of spoken language are speaking sounds. 

The basic units of hieroglyphics are pictographs. 

The basic units of modern written language are words. 

  

The basic units of language in General Linguistics is the study of units in written language, neither spoken nor body language. Most linguists are not hearing impaired people. They all speak and write so they have tended to conflate or confuse the speaking sound and the pronouncing of a letter and a word. 

A phone is one of sounds in speaking. Phonemes are not the smallest units of sound in speaking, but the pronouncing of letters, precisely, letters of IPA.  

Syllables are not the single units of speaking, but parts of a word.  

Without writing, there are neither phonemes nor syllables in speaking. Therefore, the basic units of language usually refer the basic units of written language.

语言的基本单位 

语言的基本单位是什么？这是一个错误的问题。因为不同的语言有不同的基本单位，例如： 

肢体语言的基本单位是身体的动作。 

口头语言的基本单位是说话的声音。 

象形文字的基本单位是象形文字。 

现代书面语言的基本单位是word。 

普通语言学里面的基本单位是指书面语言的单位，不是口语和肢体语言的单位。大多数语言学家都不是聋哑人和盲人，他们能说会写，因此他们常常把说话的声音和读字母的声音混为一谈。 

phone 是说话的声音， phoneme 是一个读字母的声音，严格地说，是读国际音标的声音。 

音节不是一个说话声音的单位，而是划分word读音的单位。 

如果没有文字，口头语言里不可能有 phoneme 和 syllable 这两个概念。所以说所谓语言的基本单位就是书面语言的基本单位，也就是文字的基本单位。 

Is there a common language in the world?

Is there a common language in the world? 

Is there a common language, lingua franca, in the world? No. If it is a spoken language, hearing impaired people cannot use it. If it is a written language, visually impaired people cannot read it. So it is impossible that there is a common language in the world. 

If taking hearing and visually impaired people aside, is there a common language in the world? Yes, it is. After age of discovery, people in the world need a common language to communicate. 

The basic building blocks of a common language is convenient communication and easily accessible. Now English is practically common language, especially on the internet. However it is not the only one language in the world. The reason is that the world is so large, and the population is so big. In addition, language are changing all time.  

Chinese translation

世界上有通用语言吗？ 

世界上有通用语言吗？没有。因为如果这种语言是口语，聋哑人肯定听不见。如果这种语言是书面语，也就是文字，盲人肯定看不见。所以世界上不可能有通用语言。 

如果不考虑聋哑人和盲人，世界上有没有通用语言？肯定有。大航海以后，全世界人民需要一种通用语言来交流。交流和接触是通用语言的基石。 

现在英语就是实际上的通用语言，尤其是在因特网上。然而世界上不可能只有一种语言，因为世界这么大，人口这么多。还有语言是不断变化的。 

The fundamental gap between written Chinese and English

The fundamental gap between written Chinese and English

The fundamental gap between written Chinese and English is the number of words, basic units of written language. Chinese has about ten thousand words in a dictionary while the number of English is more than four hundred thousands. If you count a noun with plural and singular forms as two words, and a verb conjugation, together with prefixes and suffixes, the number of English word may be over a billion.  

The word in written language is similar to the pixel in digital imaging. The more pixels in an image, the closer the result can resemble the original. The more words in a language, the clearer the thought can be illustrated. The number of words is a significant criterion. It is clear evident when you compare the science books written in these two different languages. 

The basic units in written language are pictograms and words. Pictograms in writing enable humans to write and record history. Growing number of words emancipate thinking and enable humans to access and develop science.  

中英文之间真正的差距

中英文之间真正的差距是word数量的差距，或者说是基本单位数量的差距。中文字典里有大约一万个word，英文字典里有四十多万个。如果算上名词的单数和复数，动词各种不同的时态变化word的前缀和后缀，英文word总数可能超过一百万。

书面语言里的word有点像数码相机的像素。数码照片的像素越多，照片越清晰。书面语言的word越多，意思表达越清楚。word的数量至关重要。如果你比较中英文的科举书籍，这种差距非常明显。

书面语言的基本单位是象形文字和word，象形文字使人类有了书写记录历史。不断增加的word解放了人类的思想，使人类发现和发展了科学。

Why Did Lu Xun Say

Why Did Lu Xun Say If The Chinese Characters Are Not Eliminated, China Is Doomed?

Why did Lu Xun say if the Chinese characters are not eliminated, China is doomed? You will realize what he said after you read the following paragraph that Lu Xun wrote in "silent China".

The ethnic nature of the Chinese tends to go for a settlement in a conflict. For instance, your suggestion for installing a window to enhance brightness in the house would not be acceptable. However, if you instead call for taking down the rooftop, they would then agree to install a window as a compromise. In the same reasoning, without being pushed for drastic measures toward a reform, they simply would never choose to go for a moderate peaceful step.

Reference: Lu Xun, the preeminent writer of the twentieth century in China.

Chinese translation

为什么鲁迅说汉字不灭中国必亡？

为什么鲁迅说汉字不灭中国必亡？如果你读了下面他在《无声的中国》里的这段话，你就会明白为什么。

中国人性情是总喜欢调和、折中的。譬如你说，这屋子太暗，须在这里开一个窗，大家一定不允许的。但如果你主张拆掉屋顶，他们就会来调和，愿意开窗了。没有更激烈的主张，他们总连平和的改革也不肯行。

Lu Xun Said

Lu Xun Said

Lu Xun said if the Chinese characters are not eliminated, China is doomed. I say if pinyin is not in use, science in China is always falling behind. The reason is that the number of Chinese words is too small. No one has been able to produce any scientific theory in Chinese as a result of the small number of Chinese words, which limits our mindset.
I do not advocate abolition of the Chinese characters right now. Rather I am in favor of a multi-script system, in which pinyin will be permitted without restriction. The purpose of the using pinyin is to increase the number of Chinese words. 
Although characters and pinyin will coexist for a period time to come, I predict that Chinese characters will be abandoned eventually sooner or later in the future.


Reference: Lu Xun, the preeminent writer of the twentieth century in China.

Chinese translation
鲁迅先生说

鲁迅先生说，汉字不灭，中国必亡。我说，不使用汉语拼音，中国科学一定落后。原因是中文 word 数量太少了。数量少到已经严重限制我们的思维，以至于至今还没有人能使用汉字创造出科学理论。
我反对现在停止使用汉字，而是主张立即放开使用汉语拼音，也就是中文里同时使用汉字和拼音。使用拼音的目的就是为了增加中文的 word。
虽然汉字和拼音会同时存在一段时间，但是我认为汉字将来迟早会被淘汰的。

Two Kinds of Chinese Dictionaries

Two Kinds of Chinese Dictionaries

There are two kinds of dictionaries in Chinese. One is Zidian, and the other is Cidian.
Zidian means characters' dictionaries, or words' dictionaries. Chinese words are Chinese characters.
Cidian means phrases' dictionaries, which collect not only words but phrases also.
The difference between them is the size. Therefore words dictionary is a pocket dictionary, and phrases dictionary is a large dictionary.

Reference: New Concept Linguistics

字典和词典

中文有两种dictionary，字典和词典。
字典只解释汉字。
词典除了解释汉字，还解释词。
它们的区别是体积，字典是袖珍型，词典是大块头。

参考：新概念语言学