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   XPost: sci.electronics.design   
      
   On Sat, 24 Aug 2024 14:08:01 +0100, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:   
      
   > On Sat, 24 Aug 2024 12:32:59 GMT Jan Panteltje    
   > wrote:   
   >   
   >> But chances are by the time they arrive at Mars they need Chinese Visa   
   >> and money, pay landing rights.   
   >   
   > 	 I always thought that that was one of the things Jos   
   > Whedon got right in Firefly - two languages in space Chines and English   
   > with people speaking a pidgin of both.   
      
   But there are multiple Chinese languages. I know they are commonly called   
   “dialects”, but it is also pointed out that, say, Mandarin and Cantonese   
   are more different from each other than, say, English and Norwegian.   
      
   There is the saying “a language is a dialect with an army”. I suppose   
   there is a corollary to that: China ceased being a bunch of independent   
   states around 220 BC.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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