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September 25, 2005
Question Number 3
Question 3...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?
Reading Kana would be more difficult if a person had left brain damage. This is becuase Kana is based on the sound system of the language and the left hemisphere of the brain is superior for linguistic processing and understanding language based on words alone. With the left hempisphere damaged, people would have a hard time hearing the language and relating them to the words.
Reading Kanji would be more difficult if a person had right brain damage. This is because Kanji is based on symbols corresponding with a word and not on the sounds of the language and the right hemisphere of the brain is superior for nonverbal information, so with this hemisphere damaged, people would have a harder time putting together these symbols and relating them to words.
Posted by lcisnelson at September 25, 2005 12:07 PM