Shi shi shi shi.

There are a couple of tongue twisters that I have heard of since arriving in China, and this is one of them. Shelley has actually recited part of it for me. The word "shi" in Chinese is actually pronounced "sure", and from one of my earlier blog posts, you may know that I think it is the most common word in the Chinese language.
- It is the verb "to be" (I am, you are, etc.)
- It is the number 10, which get complicated because it is used to describe every other number. 32 is said as "three tens and two". Months are not named, but numbers. So December is the month "two and ten". So this usage of "shi"as a number comes up a lot.
- And of course, when you combine "shi" with any number of words it will change it's meaning. "Lao shi" meaning "teacher".
- I told my parents this weekend that I know every Chinese word there is to know. And I do. There really aren't that many. It's all about which tone you use and how you combine the different words and different tones to get the zillionth to the zillionth degree of meanings.

So here you have it: The actual Chinese, the pinion form spelled out, and the translation. And if you're really curious, in the pinion form here are the tones:
- 1st tone. Down slash. Start the pitch high and end low. The word is pronounced very shortly with finality.
- 2nd tone. Mini V. Start the tone high, dip down, and return to the same pitch you started at.
- 3rd tone. Straight line. Maintains the same pitch when said, which is a little bit higher on the scale than the start/end of the 2nd tone pitch."
- 4th tone. Slash up. Start the tone low and end high.