It needs them because there are too few unique syllables in Mandarin. I'm sure a linguist can provide the proper terminology, but there are only around 400 unique sounds in Mandarin, ignoring tones. Even adding five tones still only increases this to ~1500 (not all are used). Compare this to English, where estimates are in the 10-15k range.
There are therefore an enormous number of homophones in Mandarin, which makes it very challenging to comprehend without context. I've often had native speaking friends eavesdrop on a conversation, only to tell me that they're not sure what is being discussed.
It also means that the language cannot be usefully written phonetically, and thus unique characters are required.
There are therefore an enormous number of homophones in Mandarin, which makes it very challenging to comprehend without context. I've often had native speaking friends eavesdrop on a conversation, only to tell me that they're not sure what is being discussed.
It also means that the language cannot be usefully written phonetically, and thus unique characters are required.
some discussion here:
https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/40574/why-does-m...
https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/39695/does-chine...
https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/14596/how-many-s...