Chinese
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /t͡ʃaɪˈniːz/
ipa: /ˈt͡ʃaɪniːz/
ipa: /ˌt͡ʃaɪˈniz/
ipa: /ˈt͡ʃaɪˌniz/
note: Canada, idle-idol split
ipa: /ˌt͡ʃʌɪˈniz/
note: Canada, idle-idol split
ipa: /ˈt͡ʃʌɪˌniz/
ipa: [(ˌ)t͡ʃəɪˈniːz]
ipa: [ˈt͡ʃəɪˌniːz]
rhymes: -iːz
Etymology: From China + -ese under influence of Portuguese chinês, replacing older Chinish. Doublet of chinois. In its orientalist sense of "generically exotic, backwards, or poorly organized", sometimes a deliberate marketing strategy to increase sales, as with the German Chinese checkers. In its sense related to the orientation of stage lighting's barn doors, a reference to a supposed resemblance to East Asian eyes.
Senses: examples: text: The Chinese have an incredible history.
text: If the Chinese were a people like the Russians, the Germans or the French, we (I address chiefly American and British readers) would observe any marked increase in their industrial activity or in their national aggressiveness with some misgiving, possibly, but […]
ref: 1900, Jared Sparks, Edward Everett, Henry Cabot Lodge, The North American Review, volume 171, page 390:
text: I have given these points to make it clear that the Chinese are a people of strong emotion; and that this emotion is highest and purest when running in the channels of filial piety and loyalty.
ref: 1934, Chinese Affairs, volume 65, page 23:
text: After Pearl Harbor, American sympathy for the Chinese grew even stronger, for the Chinese were a people who had long been bravely resisting Japanese aggressors.
ref: 2002, Sino-American Relations, volume 28, page 60:
text: China is a country with a 5,000 year uninterrupted civilisation, and the Chinese are a people that keep moving forward amid trials and tribulations.
ref: 2019 September 30, Jiang Jiang, “I am proud of my country”, in Times of Malta:
glosses: The citizens of China, particularly citizens of the People's Republic of China.
examples: text: The Chinese are present in all parts of the world.
glosses: The Han Chinese, whether in China or overseas.
examples: text: 你好 is read “Nǐ hǎo” and means “Hello” in Chinese.
text: The resulting Belter creole is a crazy mix of English, Chinese, romance languages like French, German, Persian, Hebrew, Zulu, and a few other surprises. Farmer says he has over 1,000 Belter words in his personal dictionary, and he keeps adding more as the show’s producers and fans request them.
ref: 2019 December 22, Annalee Newitz and Cyrus Farivar, “Nick Farmer knows dozens of languages, so he invented one for The Expanse”, in Ars Technica:
glosses: The Standard Chinese language, written in Chinese characters and spoken and spelled using Standard Mandarin pronunciation.
examples: text: Suzhounese and Hakka are lesser-known varieties of Chinese.
glosses: The branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family including Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, Southern Min, and other closely related language varieties and dialects.
examples: text: Hong Kong still uses traditional Chinese.
glosses: The logographic writing system shared by most Sinitic languages.
Synonyms: sense: People of China
word: Seres
sense: People of China
word: Sinae
sense: People of China
word: Cathayans
sense: People of China
word: Serians
sense: People of China
word: Sinaeans
sense: People of China
word: Sericans
sense: People of China
word: Chinesians
word: Putonghua
word: Guoyu
word: Huayu
word: Guanhua
word: Hanyu
word: Zhongwen
Derived terms: American-born Chinese
American Chinese
Ancient Chinese
anti-Chinese
Archaic Chinese
British-born Chinese
British Chinese
Burmese Chinese
Chicom
Chinee
Chinese-like
Chinesely
Chineseness
Chinesery
Chinese Tatar
Chinesian
Chinglish
Classical Chinese
Conchin-Chinese
C-pop
Early Middle Chinese
Gan Chinese
General Chinese
Great Chinese Famine
Great Chinese Wall
hacked by Chinese
Hakka Chinese
Han Chinese
Hokkien Chinese
Hoochew Chinese
Indo-Chinese
it's all Chinese to me
Korean Chinese
learn Chinese
Literary Chinese
mainland Chinese
Malaysian Chinese
Mandarin Chinese
Middle Chinese
Min Chinese
Old Chinese
overseas Chinese
Red Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Singaporean Chinese
South African Chinese
Standard Chinese
Standard Written Chinese
Straits Chinese
Teochew Chinese
Thai Chinese
Traditional Chinese
traditional Chinese medicine
Vernacular Chinese
Vietnamese Chinese
Waxiang Chinese
written Chinese
Wu Chinese
Xiang Chinese
Yue Chinese