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September 24, 2005
Chapter 2 of Language
Question #3
Q: In Japanese, there are several writing systems. Kana is phonetic (like English-the spelling corresponds to sounds, more or less) and Kanji is symbolic (like Chinese- words are represented as pictures). Reading which language would be more affected by left brain damage (and back it up with reasons) and reading which language would be more affected by right brain damage?
A:In the Japanese writing system it would be more difficult to read or understand Kana, if someone had left hemisphere damage. This would be because Kana is based on the sound system of the language (spelling corresponds to sound), and the left hemisphere of the brain deals with understanding language based on words. Written material was to be processed in the left hemisphere to be understood. This portion of the brain directly relates to linguistic naming.
Reading the Kanji language would be more difficult if a person had right hemisphere damage, because Kanji involves symbols where words are represented by pictures. This would occur, because the right hemisphere deals with interpreting visual information and making sense of it. In all actuality both hemispheres work together to interpret both visual and linguistical information.
--Yasmin
Posted by lcisperez at September 24, 2005 09:34 PM