mei
part of speech
Mandarin pinyin (méi = not have; měi = beautiful, every; Měiguó = America); name (Mei) — not an English word
meaning for a pupil
1) (Mandarin, pinyin) «Méi» means «not» or «don't have»: «méiyǒu» is «there isn't» or «I haven't got». tree →
2) (Mandarin, pinyin) «Měi» means «beautiful» and also «every»: «měitiān» is «every day». tree →
3) (Mandarin, pinyin) «Měiguó» means «America», the USA, literally «beautiful country». tree →
4) (a name) Mei is a girl's name, used in China and Japan. To an English ear it sounds like «may». tree →
sense in the lessons
In Mandarin lessons pupils learn «méi guānxi» (it doesn't matter, no problem), «méiyǒu» (haven't got) and «měitiān» (every day). In stories and anime Mei is a character's name. Heard on the street in Chinatowns and Chinese families, «méiyǒu» is a common short answer meaning «no, there isn't any».
examples
- In Mandarin, «méi guānxi» means «never mind». tree →
- «Wǒ méiyǒu gēge» means «I haven't got an older brother». tree →
- «Měitiān» means «every day». tree →
- «Měiguó» is the Mandarin name for America. tree →
- My friend Mei is learning the violin. tree →
- Pinyin «mei» sounds like the English name «May». tree →
- «Méiyǒu!» the shopkeeper said — there were none left. tree →
note
Not an English word. In pinyin the tone mark changes the meaning: «méi» (rising: not have) and «měi» (dipping: beautiful, every) are different words. As a name it takes a capital: «Mei». Do not read it as «me» or «my».
In the corpora
- Mei says the First Emperor was the greatest ruler ever; the teacher says he was a tyrant.
- Mei also says the Great Wall is one wall you can see from space.
- Mei says China built the Silk Road and only silk went along it.
- Mei says it has 9,999 rooms because only Heaven may have 10,000: a lovely legend, but surveys count about 8,700.
- Mei once read that China discovered America in 1421.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «mei» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.