Apart from the difference in the written from of Chinese characters (e.g. between simplified characters and traditional characters, the standardization of written Chinese in different places) between Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, it is commonly accepted that there are also differences in vocabularies. For example, ball pen “原子筆” is commonly used in Traditional Chinese while “圆珠笔” is commonly used in Simplified Chinese; North Korea in Traditional Chinese is “北韓” while it is “朝鲜” in Simplified Chinese; Sydney in Traditional Chinese is “雪梨” while it is called “悉尼” in Simplified Chinese.
Fundamental differences
Due to the differences, a saying called “simplified term” appeared. As a matter of fact, this is not the fundamental difference between Traditional and Simplified Chinese. It is rather because of the population using these two kinds of writing forms, especially after the separation of and reduced interaction between mainland China and Taiwan due to political reasons in the mid-20th century, bringing about the variation in language-using habit. This phenomenon has become prominent since 1980s as a result of different technological terminology.
The variation in language-using habit also exists between mainland China, Singapore and other places where Simplified Chinese are used. Therefore, some suggested the correct way of mentioning should be “mainland Chinese term”, “Singaporean term” instead of “simplified term”.
At present, Simplified Chinese is mainly used in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore and some other Chinese communities in Southeast Asia.
