硫 (liú): sulfur (chemistry)

Meanings

1 sulfur (chemistry)

Characters

硫

liú

sulfur

Examples

硫是一种常见的化学元素。

Liú shì yī zhǒng chángjiàn de huàxué yuánsù.

Sulfur is a common chemical element.

火山喷发时会释放出大量的硫。

Huǒshān pēnfā shí huì shìfàng chū dàliàng de liú.

Volcanoes release a large amount of sulfur when they erupt.

Tips

memory

The 石 radical on the left means 'stone/mineral,' and 流 (liú, to flow) on the right gives the sound. Sulfur is a mineral that 'flows' when heated.

Components

radical

石 shí

stone

Left stone radical — the indexing radical. Pictograph of a piece of stone at the foot of a cliff. Anchors 硫 in the minerals family with 矿 ore, 砂 sand, 碳 carbon, 磷 phosphorus. Sulfur was found in native crystalline form, hence the stone categorization for this element.

phonetic

㐬 liú

flowing-child shape (here phonetic)

Right 㐬 supplies the sound liú (exact match). The component pictures an inverted child with flowing hair, an ancient graphic that became phonetic. Same phonetic family: 流 flow, 琉 glaze, 旒 streamer, 疏 sparse. Rare standalone; survives almost entirely as this phonetic in compound characters.