In English, sentences and words are very clearly distinguished. We know that words are the things that can't be broken up easily, and sentences are made of words put together. But this is not so clear in other languages. In English, we've only been putting spaces between our written words for about 500 years, as has almost every other phonetic language. When we speak, we don't put "spaces" between words, even though we may visualize it as being separated This only happens because our brains recognize words separately, so we perceive them as being separated.
This shows some insight into the difference between words and sentences: We have to learn words, we do not have to learn sentences. The first time you hear a new word, you probably take note of it, and because English words are derivational we sometimes can "figure out" what they probably mean. But we don't think "I've probably never heard that sentence before." even though you probably haven't heard that sentence before. That is the linguistic difference between the two "levels" of recognition.
English technically has another "deeper" level of recognition, which allows us to know what words like 'redismantle' and 'semioccastionally' probably mean. English words are made from roots from other languages like Latin and Greek. What's interesting about English is that the roots rarely sound like the modern English equivalent. For example, "automobile" and 'self-mover' do not sound similar at all, but in other languages like Chinese, the roots are in the exact same language as the words they form.
This makes for some interesting confusions in reading Chinese, since "words" are often formed from multiple characters, and reading them individually will sound as strange as reading the roots of the words in English.
For example: the Chinese word for 'physics' is "物理学" literally meaning "thing reason study." Reading the sentence "I study physics": 我学物理学” uses the character 学 "study" twice, but the second time it is in a word, and the first it acts alone. This is something we rarely see in English, since the word "study" and the root for study "-ology" look nothing alike and aren't even used in similar places in sentences.
This is where it gets confusing to English speakers learning Chinese: Sentences in English clearly correspond to sentences in Chinese, but words in English do not directly correspond to characters in Chinese. Seeing a string of characters meaning "number study" and not knowing that it is the word for "mathematics" means you've never seen this word before. In English, if you've never seen a word you're not sure what it means, but in Chinese, words come in different shapes. Just like knowing what "auto" and "mobile" mean in Greek/Latin does not mean you understand what an automobile is.
The difficult thing is that the correspondence seems one-to-one, with English words mapping to Chinese characters. But the more correct function is one that maps English word roots to Chinese characters, with the "word" level of English lost in Chinese.
This is one of many structures of language that is completely alien to those who do not speak it natively. English is one of the few major languages whose roots are often lost on us, with most people unaware of the origins or language that the words we use are constructed from.
So think about the roots of the words you use, and try to guess what the 火星 "fire star" is, and if you're reading this on our 手机 "hand machine" look up the most recent phrases you've said to people. Think about what the components mean literally, and maybe you'll find a sentences you've never seen before.
This shows some insight into the difference between words and sentences: We have to learn words, we do not have to learn sentences. The first time you hear a new word, you probably take note of it, and because English words are derivational we sometimes can "figure out" what they probably mean. But we don't think "I've probably never heard that sentence before." even though you probably haven't heard that sentence before. That is the linguistic difference between the two "levels" of recognition.
English technically has another "deeper" level of recognition, which allows us to know what words like 'redismantle' and 'semioccastionally' probably mean. English words are made from roots from other languages like Latin and Greek. What's interesting about English is that the roots rarely sound like the modern English equivalent. For example, "automobile" and 'self-mover' do not sound similar at all, but in other languages like Chinese, the roots are in the exact same language as the words they form.
This makes for some interesting confusions in reading Chinese, since "words" are often formed from multiple characters, and reading them individually will sound as strange as reading the roots of the words in English.
For example: the Chinese word for 'physics' is "物理学" literally meaning "thing reason study." Reading the sentence "I study physics": 我学物理学” uses the character 学 "study" twice, but the second time it is in a word, and the first it acts alone. This is something we rarely see in English, since the word "study" and the root for study "-ology" look nothing alike and aren't even used in similar places in sentences.
This is where it gets confusing to English speakers learning Chinese: Sentences in English clearly correspond to sentences in Chinese, but words in English do not directly correspond to characters in Chinese. Seeing a string of characters meaning "number study" and not knowing that it is the word for "mathematics" means you've never seen this word before. In English, if you've never seen a word you're not sure what it means, but in Chinese, words come in different shapes. Just like knowing what "auto" and "mobile" mean in Greek/Latin does not mean you understand what an automobile is.
The difficult thing is that the correspondence seems one-to-one, with English words mapping to Chinese characters. But the more correct function is one that maps English word roots to Chinese characters, with the "word" level of English lost in Chinese.
This is one of many structures of language that is completely alien to those who do not speak it natively. English is one of the few major languages whose roots are often lost on us, with most people unaware of the origins or language that the words we use are constructed from.
So think about the roots of the words you use, and try to guess what the 火星 "fire star" is, and if you're reading this on our 手机 "hand machine" look up the most recent phrases you've said to people. Think about what the components mean literally, and maybe you'll find a sentences you've never seen before.
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