Why Do These Hokkien Words Sound So Similar to Japanese?
I was fascinated when I first got to know how certain Hokkien words sound so similar to Japanese or even Korean. If you don’t believe it, try reading out the following words in Hokkien: 世界 (world), 新闻 (news), 未来 (future), 简单 (simple) It sounds identical whether you vocalise these words in Hokkien or Japanese. Well,
