流

liú
verb HSK 4 #1,621

Meanings

  1. 1 to flow
  2. 2 current; stream

Characters

Contains 水 (water radical) - water flowing.

Examples

HSK 3
Héshuǐ zài liú.
The river water is flowing.
HSK 4
这里人流量很大。
Zhèlǐ rénliúliàng hěn dà.
The foot traffic here is very heavy.
HSK 5
Tā liú le yǎnlèi.
She shed tears.

Components

radical
氵 shuǐ
water (left-side radical)
Left water radical - three strokes, the compressed left-side form of 水. Carries the meaning: anything liquid, any movement of water. Same radical groups 流 with 河 (river), 海 (sea), 江 (river), 泪 (tear), 沟 (ditch) - the entire wet-and-flowing family.
phonetic
㐬 liú
drifting baby; flow
Right phonetic 㐬 - 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 硫 (sulphur), 琉 (lapis lazuli), 梳 (comb).

Stroke Order

流 liú