Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyororin
It`s simply because English has drawn so much from other languages (both words and patterns) that it has few definite rules. There are always exceptions that make the "rules" hard to remember for a learner... Especially as the exceptions are usually quite common and encountered just as much as the patterns that do follow the rules.
Not to mention the pronunciation discrepancies that come about from melding so many different sources.
Japanese, on the other hand, is largely independent. It doesn`t draw from every which direction and therefore the rules are generally much more definite.
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Not entirely true... all of the Katakana words are drawn from other languages, and Kanji is drawn from Chinese, right?
No, the real difference is that in many cases, English keeps the spelling and pronunciation of the words it borrows, or makes only minor changes. This leads to words that sound the same but are spelled differently, and different ways to make the same sound, etc. But Japanese converts the spelling and pronunciation of words it borrows to follow its own rules, changing spelling and sounds in many cases. This keeps it more consistent, even though a great many of its words are borrowed.