Thingzi on my mind...

IMG_4901, originally uploaded by zawelski.

I don’t know if you knew this, but China is in the midst of a serious word shortage. At least that’s how it appears to this humble reporter trying to learn the language. Consider the example of the character “zi” (pronounced “zuh”). The character itself means “child”, but added to another syllable, it usually means “thing”. Or, “hey, this word’s a noun, in case you didn’t notice...”

Herewith, for your edification as well as mine,
a list of all of the words I know (and some that I looked up) ending with “zi”. Read it and weep...

baozi (bag thing) - steamed bread with filling
beizi - glass
chazi - fork
chongzi - bug
daizi - bag
erzi (child thing) - son
guazi - pumpkin seeds
huzi - (reckless or barbarian thing) - beard
houzi - monkey
jiazi - shelf
jiaozi - boiled dumpling
kuzi - pants
lizi - plum. (Or is it chair?)
luzi - pomelo, grapefruit
haozi - mouse or rat (more on that later)
juzi - orange
kuaizi - chopsticks
maozi - hat, cap
qunzi - skirt, dress
shaozi - spoon
shizi - lion
shuzi - comb
tanzi - blanket
tuzi - rabbit
wazi - socks
xiazi - shrimp
xiezi - shoes
yezi - leaves
zhuozi - table