奇文《施氏食狮史》全文 90 多个字全部读“shi”。它想证明什么？
The essay “Shī shì shí shī shǐ” uses ~90 characters ALL pronounced “shi”. What does it demonstrate?
全球翻车率（内测预估）
A古代只有一个读音
gǔ dài zhǐ yǒu yí gè dú yīn · in ancient times it had only one reading
B作者不会别的字
zuò zhě bú huì bié de zì · the author knows no other characters
C这是加密文字
zhè shì jiā mì wén zì · this is encrypted text
✓汉语同音字极多，全靠声调和汉字区分
hàn yǔ tóng yīn zì jí duō，quán kào shēng diào hé hàn zì qū fēn · Chinese has masses of homophones — tone and characters are what separate them
石室诗士施氏，嗜狮，誓食十狮——语言学家赵元任的行为艺术：拼音化？先过我这关。
Linguist Yuen Ren Chao's “Lion-Eating Poet” is a whole story where every syllable is “shi” — proof that Chinese homophones make tones and characters indispensable.