The body Lesson 18 of the chinese street course of Mova's primary school: 16 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: the lesson at school .
0 At Lín's house you trip over the cat and his mum rushes in: "nǎr téng?" — "where does it hurt?" — and you point and say "zhèr téng", it hurts here. 2 Tones turn body parts into numbers and food: ěr (dipping) is in ěrduo, ears, but èr (falling) is two; jiǎo is a foot, but jiǎozi are dumplings and jiào is "to be called". 3 Some body words make every playground giggle: pìgu (PEE-goo) is bottom, a childish word, not a rude one; but one word for mouth turns up in a rude "shut up!", so say "bié shuō le" instead. 4 Never mock the shape of someone's eyes or pull your eyes to "look Chinese": that is racism, not a joke. 5 "tóu" (rising) means head; "tóu téng" is a headache, and grannies may fondly touch a child's head. 6 "yǎnjing" means eyes; "bì shàng yǎnjing" means close your eyes; mocking eye shapes or pulling your eyes is racism. 7 "ěrduo" means ears; "nǐ de ěrduo hóng le" (your ears have gone red) means you're embarrassed; ěr dips, while èr (two) falls. 8 "bízi" means nose; "liú bítì" is a runny nose, and "wā bíshǐ" (picking your nose) is a word kids find hilarious. 9 "zuǐba" means mouth; the dentist says "zhāng zuǐ", open your mouth; zuǐ also turns up in a rude "shut up!", and the soft way is "bié shuō le". 10 "yá" (rising) means tooth or teeth; "wǒ diào yá le!" is "my tooth fell out!"; in some Chinese families a lost bottom tooth is thrown onto the roof, not left for a fairy. 11 "shǒu" (dipping) means hand; "xǐ shǒu" means wash your hands, before eating; shòu (falling) means thin. 12 "jiǎo" (dipping) means foot; "wǒ de jiǎo téng" is "my foot hurts"; jiǎozi are dumplings and jiào is "to be called". 13 "dùzi" means tummy; "dùzi téng" is tummy ache, and "dùzi jiào le" (my tummy is calling) means it rumbled. 14 "tuǐ" means leg; "wǒ de tuǐ suān le" is "my legs are aching"; jītuǐ (chicken leg) is a favourite food. 15 "pìgu" means bottom or bum; it is a childish word, not a rude one, and "fàng pì" (to fart) makes every playground laugh. 16 "téng" (rising) means "it hurts"; "nǎr téng?" is "where does it hurt?", "zhèr téng" is "it hurts here", and "bù téng" is "it doesn't hurt". ← previous Hungry, tired, shy, excitednext → Animals and "what animal are you?"↑ back to Chinese street This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/18-the-body/