---
title: chinaman — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «chinaman» in the school dictionary: A chinaman was an old word for a man from China. Say «a Chinese person» instead. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# chinaman

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** chinaman, you, old tale, we · **What happens:** be, say, call · **To what, where:** old word, Chinese person, courtier · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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«chinaman» in the school dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 2 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [chinaman in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/chinaman.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

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Usage: old use, now offensive — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A chinaman was an old word for a man from China. Say «a Chinese person» instead.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A chinaman was an old word for a man from China.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:chinaman:m1:1
# text = A chinaman was an old word for a man from China.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	chinaman	chinaman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	China	China	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | a chinaman | a old word |  |  |  | for a man from China | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Say «a Chinese person» instead.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:chinaman:m1:2
# text = Say «a Chinese person» instead.
1	Say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	Chinese	Chinese	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
7	instead	instead	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* | a Chinese person |  |  |  | instead *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent person=Topic |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The old tale calls the emperor's courtier a chinaman, but today we say Chinese person.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:chinaman:x1:1
# text = The old tale calls the emperor's courtier a chinaman, but today we say Chinese person.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	tale	tale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	calls	call	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	emperor	emperor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	courtier	courtier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	chinaman	chinaman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
13	today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl:unmarked	_	_
14	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
16	Chinese	Chinese	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** *speech: assert* | present | the old tale | the emperor's courtier |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent courtier=Recipient |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | we | Chinese person |  |  | today |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent person=Topic |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Say Chinese person, not chinaman.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:chinaman:x2:1
# text = Say Chinese person, not chinaman.
1	Say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	Chinese	Chinese	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	chinaman	chinaman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* | Chinese person and chinaman |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent person=Topic |

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**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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