Chinese
pronunciation
How to pronounce Chinese in British English:
UK [ˌtʃaɪˈniːz]
How to pronounce Chinese in American English:
US [ˌtʃaɪˈniːz]
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- Noun:
- any of the Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in China; regarded as dialects of a single language (even though they are mutually unintelligible) because they share an ideographic writing system
- a native or inhabitant of Communist China or of Nationalist China
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- Adjective:
- of or pertaining to China or its peoples or cultures
- of or relating to or characteristic of the island republic on Taiwan or its residents or their language
Word Origin
- Chinese (adj.)
- 1570s, from China + -ese. As a noun from c. 1600. Chinee (n.) is a vulgar back-formation from this word on the mistaken notion that the word is a plural. As an adjective, Chinish also was used 16c. Chinese fire-drill "chaotic situation of many people rushing around futilely" is attested by 1962, U.S. military slang, perhaps with roots in World War II U.S. Marine Corps slang. The game Chinese checkers is attested from 1938.
Example
- 1. What do chinese really want ?
- 2. Did the chinese discover america ?
- 3. Maybe the chinese are right ?
- 4. Do you also write fiction in chinese ?
- 5. There also are several hundred chinese .