liú
verb HSK 2 #1,621

Meanings

  1. 1 to flow
  2. 2 current; stream

Characters

Contains (water radical) - water flowing.

Examples

HSK 2
Héshuǐ zài liú.
The river water is flowing.
HSK 4
Tā liú le yǎnlèi.
She shed tears.
HSK 4
这里人流量
Zhèlǐ rénliúliàng hěn dà.
The foot traffic here is very heavy.

Components

radical
shuǐ
water (left-side radical)
Left water radical - three strokes, the compressed left-side form of . Carries the meaning: anything liquid, any movement of water. Same radical groups with (river), (sea), (river), (tear), (ditch) - the entire wet-and-flowing family.
phonetic
liú
drifting baby; flow
Right phonetic - supplies the sound (liú, exact match). Pictographically depicts a baby being washed away in water, head-down with hair streaming, the very picture of 'drift, flow.' Adds a faint semantic flavour reinforcing the water radical: not just any water but moving, carrying, sweeping water. Same phonetic in (sulphur), (lapis lazuli), (comb).

Stroke Order

liú