HanziGuru.屋 · wū
屋
wū[wu1]Tone 1

house, room

HSK 3
Guru Deep Dive

English · house, room

Cached lesson
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Topology:Semi-enclosure
Strokes:9
Writing Balance Rule: The roof crown (尸) must be wide and shelter the inner component (至) gracefully without collapsing.
1. Meaning

house or room

buildingcompartment
NounNeutralBound morpheme#architecture#buildings#living spaces
Sample Usage
  • 屋子
    wūzi
    room / house
  • 房屋
    fángwū
    houses / buildings
2. Sound
/[u⁵⁵]/Tone: 55
屋
wūwu1
++
¯(55)
=wū
Initial Consonant
w
Type: Labio-Velar Glide (Zero Initial)
Sounds like: Zero-initial glide u
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Round lips tightly before gliding into vowel.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips are tightly rounded, tongue is pulled back toward the soft palate.
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 like a musical note sung continuously without rising or falling.
👂
Listening trap: Confusing it with the third-tone wǔ (5) or fourth-tone wù (cause/matter) because English speakers often drop the pitch on level tones.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Keep your hand flat and steady at eye level, making a straight horizontal line to represent the high level pitch.
3. Writing

Topology: Semi-enclosure · Strokes: 9 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The roof crown (尸) must be wide and shelter the inner component (至) gracefully without collapsing.

4. Components

Radical 尸 · Corpse radical / Roof crown (shelter, corpse, or building structure)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 尸 (Represents a protective roof or covering over a living space)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 至 (original sound: zhì / wū phonetic derivation)

Underneath a protective roof crown (尸), someone has arrived (至) to settle into their new house.

  • 尸 roof / shelter
  • 至 arrive / reach
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined a roof/shelter element with a phonetic indicator representing a place where people arrive and stay.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from general shelter to specific meanings of 'house', 'room', and 'building structures'.

  • In ancient times, it denoted a covered dwelling or tent.
6. Sinosphere
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine walking up to a new HOUSE (wū) where a friendly ghost under a ROOF (尸) has ARRIVED (至) to welcome you inside.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
屋
wūhouseBase character with roof and arrival
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
握(wò)
Has the hand radical (扌) meaning 'to hold/grasp' instead of the roof radical (尸).
喔(ō)
Has the mouth radical (口) indicating an interjection or sound.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
请进我的[___]坐一会儿吧。
Clue: wū
Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting that 屋 is primarily a bound form in modern Chinese and is almost always paired with 子 (wūzi) or 房 (fángwū) in everyday speech.

Memory Prompts
Recognition: What does 屋 mean when seen in compounds like 屋子?
Production: How do you write the character for 'house/room' with 9 strokes starting with a roof?
Real-World Video Context

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

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