choline Vko-,len\ Organic compound related to vitamins in its activity. It is important in metabolism as a component of the lipids that make up cell membranes and of acetylcholine. It is also important as a source of chemi¬ cal raw materials for cells and in transport of fats from the liver. It is usu¬ ally classified with the B vitamins (see vitamin B complex) because it resembles them in function and in its distribution in foods. In humans it is interconvertible with certain other compounds, such as methionine, so deficiency does not lead to disease, but some other animals need it in their diet. Choline has various uses in medicine, nutrition, and the processing of foods and feeds.
cholla Ych6i-ya\ Any cactus of the genus Opuntia, native to North and South America, having needlelike spines partly enclosed in a papery sheath. Chollas vary greatly in size and have small flowers, sometimes chartreuse and inconspicuous, but usually of more striking colors. O. leptocaulis, the desert Christmas cac¬ tus, bears bright red fruits through the winter. Living plants serve as food for desert animals. Cholla wood, a hollow cylinder with regularly spaced holes, is used for fuel and novelties. Some cholla fruit is edible.
Chomsky, (Avram) Noam (b.
Dec. 7, 1928, Philadelphia, Pa.,
U.S.) U.S. linguist, philosopher, and political activist. He received a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1955, the same year he joined the faculty at the Massa¬ chusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Chomsky takes the proper object of study for linguistics to be the mentally represented grammars that con¬ stitute the native speaker’s knowledge of his language and the biologi¬ cally innate language faculty, or “universal grammar,” that enables the developmentally normal language learner, as a child, to construct a gram¬ mar of the language to which he is exposed. For Chomsky, the ultimate goal of linguistic science is to develop a theory of universal grammar that provides a descriptively adequate grammar for any natural language given only the kind of “primary linguistic data” available in the social environ¬ ments of children. This imperative has motivated the gradual refinement of Chomskyan linguistic theory from the early transformational grammar of the 1950s and ’60s to the Minimalist Program of the 1990s and beyond. A self-described libertarian socialist, Chomsky has written numerous books and lectured widely on what he considers the antidemocratic char¬ acter of American capitalism and its pernicious influence on the country’s politics and foreign policy, mass media, and academic and intellectual culture. See also generative grammar.
Ch'dndogyo Vchon-'do-'gyo \formerly Tonghak (Korean: "East¬ ern Learning") Korean "Religion of the Heavenly Way"
Korean religion combining elements of Confucianism, Buddhism, Dao- ism, shamanism, and Roman Catholicism. Its basic principle that “man and God are one” is realized through faith in the unity of one’s body and spirit and in the universality of God. Converts are instructed to meditate on God, pray upon leaving and entering home, dispel harmful thoughts, and worship God in church on Sundays. Ch’oe Che-u (1824-64) estab¬ lished the religion in 1860 after receiving inspiration from the Heavenly Emperor (Ch’ongju). His efforts at social change led to his execution. His successor, Ch'oe Si-hyong, was executed following the Tonghak Uprising. Today Ch’ondogyo has about three million adherents.
Chongqing or Ch'ung-ch'ing Vchurj-'chiqV conventional Chungk¬ ing \'ch3q-'kii]\ City and municipality with provincial status (pop., 2003 est.: city, 4,239,700; 2002 est.: municipality, 31,070,000), south-central China. The municipality is bordered by Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Hunan, and Guizhou provinces and has an area of 31,700 sq mi (82,000 sq km). The leading river port and industrial centre of the region, Chongqing (“Double-Blessed”) lies at the confluence of the Yangtze (Chang) and Jialing rivers. In the 11th century bc it was a feudal state under the Xi (Western) Zhou dynasty. Over the next several centuries its status alter¬ nated from being ruled by an empire in northern China to being an inde¬ pendent state. It finally came under Chinese rule in the Ming dynasty, continuing under the Qing dynasty. It was opened to foreign trade in 1890. It played a large role in the revolution of 1911. Once a city of narrow and irregular streets, Chongqing changed greatly as a result of a moderniza¬ tion program introduced during World War II, when it became the capital of Nationalist China. Since the war it has become an important industrial centre. It is home to Chongqing University (founded 1929).
Chons See Khons
Chopin \sho-'pa n ,\ English \ 'sh6-,pan\, Frederic (Francois) orig. Fryaeryk Franciszek Szopen
(b. March 1, 1810, Zelazowa Wola, near Warsaw, Duchy of Warsaw—d.
Oct. 17, 1849, Paris, France) Polish- French composer. Born to middle- class French parents in Poland, he published his first composition at age seven and began performing in aris¬ tocratic salons at eight. He moved to Paris in 1831, and his first Paris con¬ cert the next year thrust him into the realm of celebrity. Renowned as a piano teacher, he spent his time in the highest society. He contracted tuberculosis apparently in the 1830s.
In 1837 he began a 10-year liaison with the writer George Sand; she left him in 1847, and a rapid decline led to his death two years later. Chopin stands not only as Poland’s greatest composer but perhaps as the most significant composer in the history of the piano; he exhaustively exploited the instrument’s capacities for charm, excitement, variety, and timbral beauty. His innovations in fingering, his use of the pedals, and his gen¬ eral treatment of the keyboard were hightly influential. Apart from two piano concertos (both 1830) and four other works for piano and orches¬ tra, virtually all his compositions are for solo piano; they include some 60 mazurkas, 27 etudes, 26 preludes, 21 nocturnes, some 20 waltzes, 16 polonaises, 4 ballades, 4 scherzos, and 3 sonatas.
Chopin \sho-'pan\, Kate orig. Katherine O'Flaherty (b. Feb. 8, 1851, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.—d. Aug. 22, 1904, St. Louis) U.S. writer. Chopin lived in Louisiana during her marriage and began to write after her husband’s death. A local colourist and interpreter of New Orleans cul¬ ture, she foreshadowed later feminist themes. Among her more than 100 short stories are “Desiree’s Baby” and “Madame Celestin’s Divorce.” The Awakening (1899), a realistic novel about the sexual and artistic awaken¬ ing of a young mother who abandons her family, initially was condemned for its sexual frankness but was later acclaimed.
chorale Metrical hymn tune associated in common English usage with the Lutheran church in Germany. From early in the Reformation, chorales were to be sung by the congregation during the Protestant liturgy. The
Jumping cholla [Opuntia bigelovii)
GRANT HEILMAN
Frederic Chopin, detail of a portrait by Eugene Delacroix; in the Louvre in Paris, France.
GIRAUDON/ART RESOURCE, NEW VORK
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
chord ► Christ I 399
words of the Lutheran chorales were often Latin plainsong hymn texts translated into the vernacular. The melodies were often borrowed from secular song and therefore displayed great melodic and structural simplic¬ ity. In modern times the chorale is considered to be a musical setting, usually polyphonic (multivoiced), of a traditional religious text.