Letters from the Japanese alphabet. Photo: Getty Images
Letters from the Japanese alphabet. Photo: Getty Images
Wee Kek Koon
Opinion

Opinion

Reflections by Wee Kek Koon

How Chinese influenced, and was influenced by, other Asian languages

  • About 60 per cent of the words in the Japanese and Korean languages have Chinese origins
  • Over the millennia, the Chinese language has absorbed foreign words in five waves, the last of which is still ongoing

Letters from the Japanese alphabet. Photo: Getty Images
Letters from the Japanese alphabet. Photo: Getty Images
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