窿 (lóng) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

窿

lóng[long2]Tone 2

cavity

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · cavity

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:16

Writing Balance Rule: The top roof component (穴) must sit wide and balanced over the lower phonetic component (隆), ensuring the vertical centerline remains straight.

1. Meaning

cavity, hole, arch

deep pitvault or dome

NounLiteraryBound morpheme#geography#structures#topography

Sample Usage

山窿
shān lóng
cave, mountain tunnel
天窿
tiān lóng
natural sinkhole in the sky or roof

2. Sound

/[lʊŋ³⁵]/Tone: 35

窿

lónglong2

´(35)

=lóng

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

long

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "o" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

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 touching the upper alveolar ridge behind the front teeth.

Final Rhyme

ong

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: -ong rhymes with rung

Mouth Shape Guide: Combine initial 'h-' (h) with final '-ong' (oong).

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 like a questioning English sentence (e.g., 'What?'), starting mid-pitch and climbing to the top.

Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 2, lóng shifts slightly to a higher rising contour before the next syllable.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the rising Tone 2 (lóng) with the flat Tone 1 (lōng) or dipping Tone 3 (lǒng).

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Raise your hand upward and outward from left to right, matching the rising pitch of Tone 2.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 16 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top roof component (穴) must sit wide and balanced over the lower phonetic component (隆), ensuring the vertical centerline remains straight.

4. Components

Radical 穴 · Cave Radical (cave, hole, pit)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 穴 (Indicates caves, holes, and subterranean spaces)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 隆 (original sound: lóng)

The cave radical (穴) at the top establishes the semantic field of a hollow space, while the phonetic component 隆 (lóng) provides the exact pronunciation and hints at a swelling or massive structure.

穴 Cave or hole roof at the top
隆 Phonetic indicator at the bottom providing the sound 'lóng'

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

3· Phonetic Root: 隆 (lóng)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from 穴 (cave) as the meaning classifier and 隆 (mound/abundant) as the sound component to denote deep cavities, arched vaults, and underground chambers.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referring to deep mountain caverns or holes, it extended in modern literary usage to refer to various cavities, arches, and structural vaults.

Often preserved in regional topolects and literary compounds rather than everyday spoken vernacular.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: リュウ

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

륭

Sound Shift Bridge: The -ong final maps closely to historical entering/ nasal rhymes across East Asian linguistic strata.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine exploring a deep cave (穴) where a massive mound of treasure (隆) sits hidden inside the dark cavity (窿).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

隆

lónggrand, prosperous, intensePhonetic Core (声旁)

癃

lónginfirmity; retention of urine+ 疒 (sickness)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

隆(lóng)

隆 means prosperous or mound, while 窿 features the cave roof (穴) explicitly indicating a hole or cavity.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这个山洞里面有一个很深的[___]。

Clue: lóng

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 窿 with 隆 due to their identical pronunciation and shared phonetic component.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the top radical 穴 tell you about the meaning of 窿?

Production: How do you write the character for 'cavity/hole' (lóng) combining the cave roof and the phonetic part?

窿lóngcavity

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