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Beginner here. I understand that Japanese has a large number of homophones,
and that kanji help readers distinguish between them. Of course, kanji are not
available in spoken Japanese. On the other hand, spoken Japanese has pitch
accent. So, is there a significant difference in ambiguity between written and
spoken Japanese? That is to say, are misunderstandings more common in one form
or the other? And how do both compare with English?
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2016-11-05T12:27:51.783
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2016-11-05T13:19:53.600
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kanji spoken-language written-language
Difference in ambiguity between written and spoken Japanese?
You are right in that misunderstanding is common in spoken Japanese. but
usually people who use Japanese know which word has ambiguity and escape the
word or confirm the kanji of the word (like checking a spell).
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2016-11-05T12:59:15.520
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2016-11-05T12:59:15.520
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I am not a native Japanese speaker, but used to speak it fluently. When I
started to learn the language, I also worried much about many homophones which
sounded same to me. Even though I knew native speakers had different accents
for many of them, I was not able to learn everything and reading words with
kanji was much more clear than listening to words that were spoken.

One thing very important to note in learning Japanese is just because there
are many homophones doesn't necessarily mean they make spoken Japanese more
confusing than other languages. All languages are understood based on context
and the syntax (grammar), collocation (of words) and idioms are the factors
that make any language more confusing than others.

Many English phrases and sentences are difficult to understand if you don't
know the context. They could make you confused sometimes if you misunderstand
the context. The same thing happens in Japanese, but I don't think Japanese
spoken language is more difficult to understand than English or other
languages that I know.

Don't worry so much about homophones. They will not bother you as much as
onomatopoeia and mimetic words in Japanese.
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2016-11-05T13:19:53.600
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