露 (lù) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

露

lù[lu4]Tone 4

dew, syrup, to show

HSK 6

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · dew, syrup, to show

Cached lesson

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:21

Writing Balance Rule: Ensure the rain radical on top is compressed horizontally to sit gracefully atop the broad bottom component, keeping the vertical center axis aligned.

1. Meaning

dew

syrupnectaroutdoorsto show or revealsurname Lu

noun / verbNeutral#weather#nature#actions#food

Sample Usage

草地上有很多露水。
cǎodì shàng yǒu hěn duō lùshuǐ.
There is a lot of dew on the grass.
他露出了笑容。
tā lùchū le xiàoróng.
He revealed a smile.

2. Sound

/[lu⁵¹]/Tone: 51

露

lùlu4

`(51)

=lù

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 touches the alveolar ridge right behind the upper front teeth, letting air flow smoothly down the sides.

Final Rhyme

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

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and plunges straight down, exactly like shouting a sharp 'No!' in English.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the fourth tone lù with the second tone lú, failing to drop the pitch steeply enough.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Chop your hand down sharply from eye level to your chest to represent the crisp, falling fourth tone pitch.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 21 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Ensure the rain radical on top is compressed horizontally to sit gracefully atop the broad bottom component, keeping the vertical center axis aligned.

4. Components

Radical 雨 · Rain radical (rain, weather)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 雨 (indicates weather or moisture)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 路 (original sound: lù)

Rain (雨) falling and pathing down roads (路) turns into glistening drops of morning dew or syrup.

⾬ Rain
各 Each / phonetic clue

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

6· Phonetic Root: 路 (lù)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined the rain symbol (雨) on top with the phonetic element (各) at the bottom to represent moisture condensing from the air into dew.

Semantic Evolution: Originally meaning morning dew, it extended metaphorically to things that are exposed in the open air, and further to the action of revealing or showing what was hidden.

In classical poetry, dew often symbolizes the fleeting and fragile nature of life.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

lộ

corresponds to the heavy falling tone in Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ロ (ro) / Kun: つゆ (tsuyu)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

로

Sound Shift Bridge: The initial 'l' and final 'u' match closely across East Asian borrowings like Japanese 'ro' and Vietnamese 'lộ'.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

At dawn, heavy rain (雨) falls on EACH (各) leaf, leaving sparkling drops of DEW that EXPOSE the spiderwebs.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

路

lùroadUses the foot/path concept with each.

露

lùdewAdds the rain (雨) radical on top for moisture.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

路(lù)

路 means road and uses the foot component (足), while 露 means dew and uses the rain component (雨).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

清晨的草地上有很多[___]水。

Clue: lù

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 露 (lù - dew/show) with 路 (lù - road) because they sound identical.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 露 mean when combined with 水 (shuǐ) to form 露水?

Production: How do you write the character for dew (lù) which has a rain radical on top?

露lùdew, syrup, to show

Speed:

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