No, they're an integral part of the language. It's just that textbooks don't seem to mention it, and that reflects the poor state of pedagogy in Japanese learning. I'm convinced the people who write textbooks don't want anyone to learn, because more people speaking Japanese would diminish their own accomplishments and make them feel less special.
No they don't. There are at most two meanings between these 4 things, and both of those meanings could be extracted from context by a person speaking in a monotone.
What a lame response. Why even comment? "I've decided you're wrong and I know more than you, but of course I can't articulate why." Did I accidentally log into reddit today?
No, they're an integral part of the language. It's just that textbooks don't seem to mention it, and that reflects the poor state of pedagogy in Japanese learning. I'm convinced the people who write textbooks don't want anyone to learn, because more people speaking Japanese would diminish their own accomplishments and make them feel less special.
I had no idea, that's interesting. Where could I read more about this?
I quit studying Japanese long ago in favor of Chinese. Tones are definitely there, though. Heck English has tones.
English just has one tone that's grammatically meaningful though, and even then you can do without it through context.
What?
What!
What.
WuuuuuUUUT?
All four have different meanings.
No they don't. There are at most two meanings between these 4 things, and both of those meanings could be extracted from context by a person speaking in a monotone.
All I have to say is that we have very different views of what tones mean in speech. Having studied tonal languages, I'm sticking with my view.
What a lame response. Why even comment? "I've decided you're wrong and I know more than you, but of course I can't articulate why." Did I accidentally log into reddit today?
It would take way too long to write and I'm not wasting the finger calories.
:cringe: