Not 大風 but 台風??

So I was ready for this one. I had it all figured out. I just learned 風, the sound was ‘fuu’. Obviously ‘typhoon’ was going to be ‘big wind’! The sound and the meanings just lined up! Imagine my surprise.
Go figure language.

So, why is ‘typhoon’ 台風 and not 大風??

Thanks in advance to any knowledgeable people out there!

1 Like

See Plantron’s answer here: https://community.wanikani.com/t/台風/13930

3 Likes

Ah, der, of course someone has asked this already. Thanks for the quick answer, that explains a lot!

I’m always curious about the evolution of words and phrases in languages. It’s interesting stuff. :slight_smile:

1 Like

y-you’re interesting stuff!

c:

2 Likes

It is indeed - for me, learning the etymology helps cement things better than memorising and often even better than the mnemonics WK is grounded in.

I recently learned 身 (lvl8 ‘somebody’ vs 者 ‘someone’) is actually a pictograph of a pregnant woman, which helped me remember which one has ‘~body’ in it.

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.