How to Write 噜 (lū) — Meaning “to grunt or mumble”

Imagine a person sleeping with their mouth (口) open, making a loud "lu" sound like a snore. The right part 鲁 looks like a fish (鱼) above a sun (曰), so picture a fish snoring — fish don't snore, but the silly image helps you remember 噜 for snoring sounds.

Write the left 口 first with three strokes (vertical, horizontal bend, horizontal). Then write the right part 鲁, starting with the fish head (⺈), then the middle 田 (or 曰?), and finally the fish tail (一). A common mistake is making the left 口 too large — it should be small and high, while the right 鲁 is wider and taller.

噜 uses 口 with 鲁 and means a grunting or snoring sound. 㕡 is an extremely rare character (not in modern use) that originally meant a hole or ravine. 喿 (zào) combines three mouths (品) on top of 木 (wood), and means a noisy chirping or chattering of birds — visually it shows many mouths, unlike 噜's single mouth.

噜 appears in common onomatopoeic words like 呼噜 (hū lū) for snoring or a cat's purr, and 嘟噜 (dū lū) for muttering or a cluster of grapes. It is not in the HSK list but is frequently heard in daily conversation and children's stories when describing sleep sounds. The reduplicated form 噜噜 (lū lū) is also used for repeated grunting or purring.

Common words containing 噜 include: 呼噜 (hū lū) — snore / purr; 嘟噜 (dū lū) — A cluster (of grapes, etc.) / To mutter; 噜噜 (lū lū) — grunting or purring sound.