that’s right, but this relation can be many to one. many characters can be synonyms. and eventually, as these languages diverted, Cantonese would make one of the synonyms the standard word for something, while Mandarin would choose another synonym
Oh ok, that makes sense. I guess like regional differences in vocabulary in English. Like for example in English you would say children but in Southern Scotland you would say weans and further north you’d say bairns. Even though bairns would be written the same way in all parts of the country, you just wouldn’t use it unless you were in Scotland.
that’s right, but this relation can be many to one. many characters can be synonyms. and eventually, as these languages diverted, Cantonese would make one of the synonyms the standard word for something, while Mandarin would choose another synonym
Oh ok, that makes sense. I guess like regional differences in vocabulary in English. Like for example in English you would say children but in Southern Scotland you would say weans and further north you’d say bairns. Even though bairns would be written the same way in all parts of the country, you just wouldn’t use it unless you were in Scotland.