漏 (lòu) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

漏

lòu[lou4]Tone 4

to leak

HSK 5

Guru Deep Dive

English · to leak

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Left-right

Strokes:14

Writing Balance Rule: The left water radical (氵) takes up about one-third of the width, while the right phonetic component (屚) claims the remaining two-thirds with a strong downward sweep.

1. Meaning

to leak, to drip

to divulge or leak informationto leave out by mistake or omitwater clock or hourglass (historical)

Verb / NounNeutral#fluid dynamics#communication#omission

Sample Usage

屋顶漏水了。
wū dǐng lòu shuǐ le.
The roof is leaking water.
我不小心漏掉了一个问题。
wǒ bù xiǎo xīn lòu diào le yí gè wèn tí.
I accidentally left out a question.

2. Sound

/[loʊ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

漏

lòulou4

`(51)

=lòu

Initial Consonant

Type: Alveolar Lateral

Sounds like: l sound

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Air flows freely around both sides of tongue.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip taps against the alveolar ridge right behind the upper front teeth.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: ou rhymes with oh

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

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

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and drops sharply to the bottom, mimicking an emphatic English command or a disappointed sigh.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the falling Tone 4 (lòu) with Tone 1 (lōu) or Tone 3 (lǒu).

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A swift, sharp karate chop downward from high to low, representing a sudden drop or leak.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 14 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left water radical (氵) takes up about one-third of the width, while the right phonetic component (屚) claims the remaining two-thirds with a strong downward sweep.

4. Components

Radical 氵 · Water Radical (Water, liquids, streams)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 氵 (Indicates liquids, dripping, or water escaping.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 屚 (original sound: lòu)

Water (氵) escaping underneath a shelter or covering (尸, roof) through a hole (雨 drops and heavy structure), causing things to leak out.

氵 Water / liquid
尸 Roof / body structure
雨 Rain / drops

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the water signific (氵) and a phonetic component representing dripping or escaping through an aperture, originally picturing water seeping through a roof or container.

Semantic Evolution: Expanded from literal water leaks (dripping roof, leaking boat) to abstract leaks of information (divulging secrets) and accidental omissions (leaving something out).

Historically used in '漏刻' (lòukè), an ancient Chinese water clock used for measuring time by the regulated flow of water.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ロウ / Kun: も.る / も.らす

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine heavy rain pouring onto a roof (尸 + 雨), and because of a hole, WATER (氵) begins to LEAK right onto your head with a sharp drop!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

漏

lòuto leakBase character with water (氵).

镂

lòuto carve / engraveReplaces water with metal (钅), meaning to carve metal.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

陋(lòu)

Uses the enclosure radical (阝/enclosure) instead of water (氵), meaning crude or humble.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

下雨天，屋顶开始[___]水了。

Clue: lòu

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the Tone 4 pitch direction with Tone 2, leading to mispronunciation as 'lóu' (tower).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does lòu mean when paired with 水 (shuǐ)?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to leak' using the water radical?

漏lòuto leak

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