HanziGuru.乌 · wū
乌
wū[wu1]Tone 1

crow, black

HSK 6
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烏
Multiple Readings (多音字):
Guru Deep Dive

English · crow, black

Cached lesson
1 / 1
Topology:Single character
Strokes:4
Writing Balance Rule: Keep the vertical proportions compact and ensure the horizontal stroke inside is precisely centered to prevent the character from looking lopsided.
Simplification Logic: The traditional character 烏 has 10 strokes and depicts a bird with an eye. The simplified form 乌 reduces it to 4 strokes by removing the internal dot representing the bird's eye to make writing faster and simpler.
1. Meaning

crow / raven; black

surname Wuabbreviation for Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and other countries starting with Wu
noun / adjectiveNeutral#animals#colors#surnames#geography
Sample Usage
  • 乌云
    wū yún
    dark clouds
  • 乌鸦
    wū yā
    crow
2. Sound
/[u⁵⁵]/Tone: 55
乌
wūwu1
++
¯(55)
=wū
Initial Consonant
w
Type: Labio-Velar Glide (Zero Initial)
Sounds like: Zero initial vowel start
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Round lips tightly before gliding into vowel.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue stays low and back, lips rounded into a tight 'oo' shape.
Final Rhyme
u
Vowel Group: -u vowel group
Sounds like: oo sound as in 'boot'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'oo'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T1 (55)
1st Tone (High-Flat)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is a high, steady pitch, similar to holding a musical note flat at the very top of your vocal range.
Sandhi: No special tone sandhi rules apply to this character individually.
👂
Listening trap: Beginners often confuse the high level Tone 1 (wū) with the rising Tone 2 (wú) if spoken quickly in a sentence.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Hold your hand flat and steady at eye level, making a flat horizontal motion from left to right to match the high, level pitch of Tone 1.
3. Writing

Topology: Single character · Strokes: 4 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the vertical proportions compact and ensure the horizontal stroke inside is precisely centered to prevent the character from looking lopsided.

Simplification Logic: The traditional character 烏 has 10 strokes and depicts a bird with an eye. The simplified form 乌 reduces it to 4 strokes by removing the internal dot representing the bird's eye to make writing faster and simpler.

4. Components

Radical 火 · Fire radical (or Bird-derived shape) (fire / bird form)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 乌 (Pictographic representation of a dark bird (crow))

Originally a picture of a crow. Notice it looks very similar to the character for bird (鸟 niǎo), but the middle dot (the bird's eye) is missing. Since a crow is so pitch black, its eye disappears in the feathers!

  • 乌 Represents a crow or pitch black darkness
5. History
Liushu category: Pictogram (象形)

Origin: In Oracle Bone script, 乌 was drawn as a detailed silhouette of a bird with dark feathers. Because crows are entirely black, the character naturally extended its meaning from the bird itself to the color black.

Semantic Evolution: From 'crow' -> 'black feathers' -> 'pitch black' -> general color black, and later used phonetically for foreign geographic names starting with 'Wu'.

  • In Chinese folklore, the three-legged crow (三足乌) lives in the sun and represents solar energy.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
ô
High level tone in Mandarin corresponds to level/ ngang tone in Sino-Vietnamese.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: オ (o) / ウ (u) / Kun: からす (karasu)
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
오
Sound Shift Bridge: The Sino-Xenic readings preserve the ancient Chinese 'o/u' vocalization for 'crow'.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story

A crow (乌) is so pitch black that when it flies into a dark cave, it loses its eye—that is why the middle dot is missing compared to the regular bird character (鸟)!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
鸱
chīowl / kiteCombines bird/wu elements for raptor species.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
鸟(niǎo)
鸟 has a dot inside representing the bird's eye, whereas 乌 is missing the eye because the crow is completely pitch black.
马(mǎ)
马 (horse) has a flat bottom stroke, whereas 乌 finishes with a hook/vertical stroke configuration at the base.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
天上布满了[___]云，看样子快要下雨了。
Clue: wū
Common Learner Pitfall

Writing 乌 with a dot inside by confusing it with 鸟 (niǎo), forgetting that the crow is 'black' and its eye is hidden.

Memory Prompts
Recognition: When you see the 4-stroke character 乌 without an eye dot, what does it mean?
Production: How do you write the character for 'crow' or 'black' (wū)?
Real-World Video Context

Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.

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