mao

«mao» in Mova's school dictionary: Mao Zedong, the leader of the Communist Party who ruled… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

proper noun (Mao — a name); Mandarin pinyin (mao)

meaning for a pupil

1) (a name) Mao usually means Mao Zedong, the leader of the Communist Party who ruled the People's Republic of China from its start until his death. tree →

2) (Mandarin, pinyin) «Máo» (毛) means hair, fur or feather, and is also a small unit of Chinese money: ten mao make one yuan. tree →

3) (Mandarin, pinyin) «Māo» (猫) means cat. It sounds like "mow" (rhymes with "cow"). It is not an English word. tree →

4) Mao is also the name of a showy, boastful peacock in Kipling's Jungle Book stories. tree →

sense in the lessons

In history lessons, Mao is a key figure of modern China: he led the Communists to power, and his rule is remembered both for uniting the country and for campaigns in which millions of people died of famine and persecution; historians and Chinese people today judge him in different ways. In Mandarin lessons and on Chinese streets, «máo» is used for money (like ten pence), and «māo» is a cat; the tone changes the meaning. Phrases: «Chairman Mao», «yí kuài wǔ máo» (one yuan fifty).

examples

• (a name) Chairman Mao led China for many years. tree →
• (a name) Mao's picture hangs over the gate in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. tree →
• (Mandarin, pinyin) Wǔ máo means five mao, half a yuan. tree →
• (Mandarin, pinyin) Wǒ yǒu yì zhī māo — I have a cat. tree →
• (Mandarin, pinyin) In Chinese, «máo» can mean fur or feathers. tree →
• Historians still argue about Mao's rule. tree →
• He dances like Mao the Peacock. tree →

note

Capital M for the person. In pinyin the tone marks matter: māo (cat, high level tone) vs máo (hair, money, rising tone). In speech the money unit is called «máo»; on notes it is written «jiǎo». It is not an English word apart from the name.

In the corpora

• In 1949 Mao Zedong won the civil war and declared the People's Republic; the Nationalists went to Taiwan.
• Mao's Great Leap Forward caused a terrible famine, and his Cultural Revolution closed schools and hurt millions.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «mao» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.