Chinese words you may already know

These are Chinese loan words in the English language.
I am sure some of them must be really familiar to you.

English	Chinese	Pinyin	Meaning
Bok choy	白菜	bai2 cai4	Chinese Cabbage
China	秦	qin2	Qin - First dynasty in Chinese history
Chop suey	杂碎	za2 sui4	Miscellaneous bit
Chow	炒	chao3	Stir fry
Chow mein	炒面	chao3 mian4	Fried noodle
Coolie	苦力	ku3 li4	Bitter labor
Dimsum	点心	dian3 xin1	light refreshments
Feng shui	风水	feng1 shui3	geomantic omen
Ketchup	茄汁	qie2 zhi1	Tomato sauce
Kowtow	叩头	kou4 tou2	Bow one's head
Kungfu	功夫	gong1 fu1	skill; martial art
Lychee	荔枝	li4 zhi1	A sweet Chinese fruit (litchi)
Mahjong	麻将	ma2 jiang4	A Chinese (tile) game
Oolong	乌龙	wu1 long2	Black dragon tea
Pinyin	拼音	pin1 yin1	Sound spelling
Silk	丝	si1	Silk
Tai chi	太极	tai4 ji2	Ultimate
Tao (Dao)	道	dao4	Way
Tofu	豆腐	dou4 fu3	Bean curd
Typhoon	台风	fai2 feng1	Hurricane
Wok	镬	huo4	Cauldron
Wushu	武术	wu3 shu4	Martial art
Yen	圆	yuan2	Monetary Unit(Dollar)

Interesting Chinese characters ( radical-radical compounds : 會意字 ) with common radical "人"

In radical-radical compounds (會意字), each component(radical) of the character hints at the meaning. Therefore it's really easy to guess the meaning of the character by knowing basic radicals in the character. This rule does not apply to all Chinese characters.

仲 ( zhong4 ) : 2nd in seniority
Note : person 人 in the middle 中
Example : 仲裁 ( zhong4 cai2 ) -- arbitration

伴 ( ban4 ) : a partner; companion or associate
Note : person's 人 other half 半
Example : 伴奏 ( ban4 zou4 ) -- to accompany (musically)


体 ( ti3 ) : body
Note : person 人 and trunk 本
Example : 体重 ( ti3 zhong4) -- body weight

信 ( xin4 ) : letter; to believe
Note : person's 人 word 言
Example : 信箱 ( xin4 xiang1 ) -- mailbox

Chinese characters with repeating component parts 1

三 ( san1 ) : three
Note : three ( 一 : one )
Example : 第三 ( di4 san1 ) -- third; No. 3

众 is Simplified version of 眾
众 ( zhong4 ) : multitude; many people
Note : three ( 人 : person )
Example : 众人 ( zhong4 ren2 ) -- (n) everyone

劦 ( xie2 ) : join strength
Note : three ( 力 : force )

品 ( pin3) : conduct; grade; product
Note : three ( 口 : mouth )
Example : 品行 (pin3 xing2) -- (n) behavior; moral conduct

垚 ( yao2) : embankment
Note : three ( 土 : earth; soil )

Some Interesting Chinese Characters 1

串 ( chuan4 ) : to string together
Note : Pictograph of object strung together.
Example : 一串 ( yi1 chuan4 ) -- strand

中 ( zhong1) : within; center; middle; China; Chinese
Note : 丨bisecting an enclosure 囗.
Example : 中餐 ( zhong1 can1) -- Chinese food

井 ( jing3 ) : well
Note : Pictograph of a field divided into lots with well at center.
Example : 油井 ( you2 jing3 ) -- oil well

仁 ( ren2) : humane
Note : Feelings between two 二 people 人 .
Example : 仁慈 ( ren2 ci2 ) -- benevolent; kind

仙 ( xian1) : immortal
Note : Person 人 in 山 mountains ( Ancient Chinese belief ).
Example : 仙境 ( xian1 jing4 ) -- fairyland