luò
noun #1,737

Meanings

  1. 1 Luo River
  2. 2 used in transliterations

Examples

Luò yáng shì Zhōngguó de gǔ dū.
Luoyang is an ancient capital of China.
Luòshānjī shì Měiguó zuì dà de chéngshì zhīyī.
Los Angeles is one of the largest cities in the US.

Tips

usage
appears most often in place names: (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 Luòyáng, 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 luò web, luò fall, lù 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