湖 (hú) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

湖

hú[hu2]Tone 2

lake

HSK 2

Guru Deep Dive

English · lake

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:12

Writing Balance Rule: The left water radical (氵) should be compressed vertically and slightly arched, leaving ample room for the right component (胡) which must stay balanced without leaning too far right.

1. Meaning

lake

body of inland water

NounNeutral#geography#nature#water

Sample Usage

这个湖非常大。
Zhège hú fēicháng dà.
This lake is extremely big.
我们在湖边散步。
Wǒmen zài húbiān sànbù.
We are taking a walk by the lake.

2. Sound

/[xu³⁵]/Tone: 35

湖

húhu2

´(35)

=hú

Initial Consonant

Type: Velar Fricative

Sounds like: h sound like in 'hat'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Gentle throat friction (like fogging glasses on a cold day).

Tongue & Mouth Position: Back of the tongue approaches the soft palate with friction, leaving the vocal cords vibrating for the vowel.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: oo sound like in 'boot'

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'oo'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T2 (35)

3 → 5 (35)

2nd Tone (Mid-Rising)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 rises from medium pitch to high pitch, matching an upward questioning inflection in English.

Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 2 syllable, the tone shifts to a higher rising contour.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse with Tone 4 (hù), which falls sharply from high to low.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 2 starts at a mid pitch and rises sharply upward, exactly like asking 'Huh?' in surprise.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 12 strokes

4. Components

Radical 氵 · Water Radical (water, liquid)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 氵 (Indicates that the word relates to water or a water body.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 胡 (original sound: hú)

Water (氵) plus the phonetic component ancient/beard (胡) creates hú, representing a large body of contained water—a lake.

氵 Water semantic radical
胡 Phonetic indicator providing the sound 'hú'

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

13· Phonetic Root: 胡 (hú)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the water sign (氵) to denote liquid and the phonetic '胡' (hú) which originally meant throat or dewlap, chosen purely for its sound.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred to inland bodies of water and expanded to describe any large freshwater or saltwater lake.

Lakes have historically been vital centers for ancient Chinese agriculture, poetry, and civilization.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

hồ

Corresponds to the Vietnamese hỏi/ngã or smooth rising tone category.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: コ / Kun: みずうみ

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

호

Sound Shift Bridge: Shared East Asian cultural vocabulary cognate across Sino-Xenic traditions.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

By the WATER (氵), an old man with a long BEARD (胡) sits fishing peacefully by the shimmering LAKE.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

胡

húbeard, recklessWithout the water radical, it means beard or foreign.

糊

húpaste, muddledUses the rice/grain radical (米) + 胡, meaning sticky paste or muddled.

蝴蝶

húdiébutterflyUses the insect radical (虫) + 胡.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

胡(hú)

胡 lacks the water radical (氵) on the left.

糊(hú)

糊 has the rice radical (米) instead of water (氵).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这座城市中间有一个美丽的[___]。

Clue: hú

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the right-side phonetic component (胡) with unrelated complex characters or forgetting the water radical.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 湖 mean and how is it pronounced?

Production: How do you write the character for 'lake' (hú)?

湖húlake

Speed:

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