chi
part of speech
noun (chi — the Greek letter; chi or qi — Chinese idea); (Mandarin, pinyin) chī, "to eat"
meaning for a pupil
1) The 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet, written χ, said "kye" (rhymes with "sky"). tree →
2) (Chinese tradition) Also spelled qi: in Chinese belief, a life energy said to flow through the body and nature, used in tai chi, kung fu and traditional medicine. tree →
3) (Mandarin, pinyin) chī means "to eat", as in chī fàn, "eat a meal". It sounds like "chir" to an English ear and is not an English word. tree →
sense in the lessons
In maths and science the Greek letter χ appears in statistics (the chi-squared test). In PE and culture lessons, tai chi is a slow exercise from China. In Mandarin on the street, "chī fàn le ma?" means "Have you eaten?", a friendly greeting. Phrases: "tai chi", "chi-squared".
examples
- Grandma does tai chi in the park every morning. tree →
- Chi is the Greek letter that looks like an x. tree →
- Some people believe chi flows through the body. tree →
- In Mandarin, chī means "to eat". tree →
- My friend said "chī fàn le ma?" to his grandad. tree →
- Scientists say there is no proof that chi exists as a real energy. tree →
note
Pronounced "kye" for the Greek letter and "chee" for the Chinese energy (qi). "Qi" is the official pinyin spelling of the energy word. Saying "chi" is a belief in Chinese tradition, not a scientific fact. The Greek χ is not the English letter x.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «chi» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.