luò
noun #1,737

Meanings

  1. 1 Luo River
  2. 2 used in transliterations

Examples

HSK 4
Luòshānjī shì Měiguó zuì dà de chéngshì zhīyī.
Los Angeles is one of the largest cities in the US.
HSK 6
洛阳中国古都
Luòyáng shì Zhōngguó de gǔdū.
Luoyang is an ancient capital of China.

Tips

usage
appears most often in place names: 洛阳 (Luoyang), 洛杉矶 (Los Angeles), 洛克 (Locke/Rock). It is also a surname.

Components

radical
shuǐ
water (left-side radical form of 水)
Left is the three-drops water radical - three abbreviated waves stacked vertically, the side-form of . Anchors in the river-name family: the original Luò River was a Yellow River tributary that ran past 洛阳, capital of multiple dynasties. Same radical family: , , , .
phonetic
each (here phonetic)
Right supplies the sound - gè shifting to luò through Old Chinese velar-to-lateral drift, the same shift seen in (web), (fall), (road). Pure phonetic loan; the 'each' meaning of contributes nothing. The -phonetic family is one of the textbook clusters for the gè/luò/lù alternation.

Stroke Order

luò