HanziGuru.老 · lǎo
老
lǎo[lao3]Tone 3

old, venerable, experienced, prefix for familiarity

HSK 1
Guru Deep Dive

English · old, venerable, experienced, prefix for familiarity

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Topology:Top-bottom
Strokes:6
Writing Balance Rule: The top element (耂, a variant of 耂/土/老) must crown the character with balanced hooks, while the bottom part 匕 sits securely underneath, keeping the center of gravity stable.
1. Meaning

Old or aged in terms of people, things, or experience

Venerable and experiencedPrefix showing affection or familiarity before surnamesPrefix indicating birth order of childrenTough or overcooked in regard to food
Adjective / PrefixNeutral / Colloquial#age#experience#relationships#food quality
Sample Usage
  • 他是一位老 师。
    tā shì yī wèi lǎo shī.
    He is a teacher.
  • 这块肉太老了。
    zhè kuài ròu tài lǎo le.
    This piece of meat is too tough.
2. Sound
/[laʊ̯²¹⁴]/Tone: 214
老
lǎolao3
++
ˇ(214)
=lǎo
Initial Consonant
l
Type: Alveolar Lateral
Sounds like: l sound
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Air flows freely around both sides of tongue.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touches the ridge behind the upper teeth.
Final Rhyme
ao
Vowel Group: -a vowel group
Sounds like: -ao rhymes with ow in cow
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ow'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T3 (214)
3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 dips down like a disappointed downward sigh and then rises up with a questioning lift.
Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, lǎo changes to a 2nd tone (35).
👂
Listening trap: Beginners often fail to complete the upward bounce of Tone 3, letting it flatten into a low flat tone instead of a dipping contour.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down from medium height to a low point, then rise sharply up to the high range, matching the dipping motion of Tone 3.
3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 6 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top element (耂, a variant of 耂/土/老) must crown the character with balanced hooks, while the bottom part 匕 sits securely underneath, keeping the center of gravity stable.

4. Components

Radical 老 · Old Radical (Old age, venerable)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 老 (Represents a bent, elderly person leaning on a walking stick.)

The glyph combines an old person symbol at the top with a hair/cane stroke and a child component at the bottom, symbolizing generations and aging.

  • 土 Top component part of the elderly figure
  • 匕 Bottom element supporting the structure
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: In Oracle Bone scripts, 老 depicted an elderly person with long hair leaning heavily on a walking stick, symbolizing advanced age and wisdom.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from the literal depiction of an aged human being to broader extensions of seniority, experience, long duration, and prefixal familiarity.

  • The character has preserved its core pictographic silhouette through millennia of script evolution.
  • In traditional contexts, elders held high societal respect, anchoring the cultural weight of this word.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
lão
Matches the Vietnamese hỏi or ngã tone contour dynamically.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: ロウ (rō) / Kun: お・いる (o.iru), ふけ・る (fuke.ru)
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
로
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story

Picture an elderly person with flowing white hair leaning on a cane, proudly wearing a badge that says 'OLD' and sounding out 'lǎo' as they take a deep, curving breath.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
考
kǎoto test / to examineReplaces the bottom part with 丂 to mean testing one's knowledge.
者
zhě-er / personUses 日 instead of the bottom hooks, referring to people performing actions.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
考(kǎo)
考 has a hook at the bottom right (丂), whereas 老 has a dagger-like hook pointing left and down (匕).
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
他是我的[___]朋友。
Clue: lǎo
Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the bottom part of 老 with 考, leading to spelling and recognition errors during writing practice.

Memory Prompts
Recognition: What does 老 mean when placed before a person's surname?
Production: How do you write the character for 'old' (lǎo) and what is its tone?
Real-World Video Context

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

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