чи

чи • (či)

1. man

• гӏадан (ʻadan)
• инсан (insan)

Cognate of Mandarin Chinese 汽 (qì)

• IPA^(key): /t͡ɕʰi⁴⁴/

чи • (či) (III)

1. steam

Cognate of Mandarin Chinese 氣／气 (qì)

• IPA^(key): /t͡ɕʰi²⁴/

чи • (či) (I)

1. gas

 

• (archaic or dialectal) че (če)

From Proto-Mordvinic *či~*ši, inherited from Proto-Finno-Ugric *kečä (“circle, ring”). Cognates include Moksha ши (ši, “sun, day, weather”), Finnish kehä (“circle, ring”), Eastern Mari кече (keče, “sun, day”), Komi-Zyrian киш (kiš, “ring, halo”), archaic Hungarian kégy.

The *kəči > *či shift possibly influenced by *ve (“night”).

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

чи • (či)

1. (astronomy) sun

   Synonym: чипай (čipaj)

   чись пиди ― čiś piďi ― the sun is blazing

2. day

   тундонь чи ― tundoń či ― a spring day

   • 1821, Novum Testamentum Mordvinice litt. cyrill.‎^[1], page 138:

     Не чытнесте, лись Кесарьсто Августань кармавтомо тѣймексъ сю̂рмацтомо вясеме масторонь кялесъ.

     Ne čiťńeśťe , ľiś Kesaŕsto Avgustań karmavtomo tejmeks śûrmactomo väśeme mastoroń käľes.

     In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire [Roman] world.

This entry needs an inflection-table template.

• B. A. Serebrennikov, R. N. Buzakova, M. V. Mosin (1993) “чи”, in Эрзянь-рузонь валкс [Erzya-Russian dictionary], Moscow: Русский язык, →ISBN
• “päike”, in [ERSA] Eesti-ersa sõnaraamat [Estonian-Erzya Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Instituut, 2019
• Entry #275 in Uralonet, online Uralic etymological database of the Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics.

From Proto-Mongolic *či.

чи • (çi)

1. you (subject pronoun: the person being addressed) (singular)

From Classical Mongolian ᠴᠢ (či), from Middle Mongol ᠴᠢ (či), from Proto-Mongolic *či. Cognate with Dongxiang chi.

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ɕʰi/
• Syllabification: чи (1 syllable)

чи • (či) (Mongolian spelling ᠴᠢ (či))

1. (informal) you (subject pronoun: the person being addressed)

Possibly akin to Mongolic *či; compare Mongolian чи (či) and Tungusic *si, compare Nanai си (si).

• IPA^(key): /cʰi/

чи (ț’i)

1. you, thou

From Middle Persian kē.

чи • (ḱi)

1. who

Inherited from Old Slovak či, from Proto-Slavic *či. Cognates include Polish czy and Slovak či.

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡ʃi]
• Rhymes: -i
• Hyphenation: чи

чи (či)

1. if, whether
   • 2024 September 17, А. Балатинац, “Учителька хтора жиє свой сон (I) [A teacher who is living her dream (I)]”, in Руске Слово‎^[2]:

     На руски язик ше ходзело пейц годзини тижньово, и нєшка так, алє теди нїхто анї нє роздумовал чи пойдзе чи нє пойдзе на годзини, то ше подрозумйовало – гвари Наталия.

     Na ruski jazik še xodzelo pejc hodzini tižnʹovo, i nješka tak, alje tedi njixto anji nje rozdumoval či pojdze či nje pojdze na hodzini, to še podrozumjovalo – hvari Natalija.

     Rusyn language was taught for five lessons per week, and it's the same now, but back then no one even thought of whether to go to class or not, it was taken for granted – says Natalija.

2. or

   Synonyms: або (abo), лєбо (ljebo)

• Often doubled. When doubled, the usage translates to "whether … or".

чи (či)

1. interrogative particle: introduces a yes-no question; whether
   • 2024 August 3, А. Саванович, “Рударенє ядариту: Розвойна шанса, чи еколоґийна катастрофа? [Jadarite mining: A development opportunity, or an ecological disaster?]”, in Руске Слово‎^[3]:

     Колумна готова, батерия витримала. Чи витрима Сербия на литиюму – то питанє за шицких нас.

     Kolumna hotova, baterija vitrimala. Či vitrima Serbija na litijumu – to pitanje za šickix nas.

     The column is ready, the battery is durable. Whether Serbia can survive on lithium – that's a question for all of us.

• Used at the beginning of sentences or clauses.

• Medʹeši, H., Fejsa, M., Timko-Djitko, O. (2010) “чи”, in Ramač, Ju., editor, Руско-сербски словнїк [Rusyn-Serbian Dictionary] (in Pannonian Rusyn), Novi Sad: Faculty of Philosophy
• Fejsa, M., Šlemender, M., Čelʹovski, S. (2022) “whether”, in Анґлийско-руски словнїк [English-Rusyn Dictionary] (in Pannonian Rusyn), Novi Sad: Faculty of Philosophy; Ruska matka, →ISBN, page 375

Akin to Udi хунчи (χunči).

чи • (či)

1. sister

Inherited from Old Ruthenian чи (či), from Old East Slavic чи (či), from Proto-Slavic *či, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷéy, initially instrumental singular of pronoun *kʷo-／*kʷe-.

• IPA^(key): [t͡ʃɪ]

• Audio:

  (file)

чи • (čy)

1. interrogative particle: introduces a question
2. if, whether

чи • (čy)

1. or

• або́ (abó)

• Bilodid, I. K., editor (1970–1980), “чи”, in Словник української мови: в 11 т. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language: in 11 vols] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka