嘍囉

See also: 喽啰

Chinese

FWOTD – 8 October 2022

	phonetic
trad. (嘍囉)	嘍	囉
simp. (喽啰)	喽	啰
alternative forms	嘍羅／喽罗婁羅／娄罗僂儸／偻㑩僂羅／偻罗樓羅／楼罗嘍羅／喽罗婁羅／娄罗僂儸／偻㑩僂羅／偻罗樓羅／楼罗摟羅／搂罗

Etymology

Unknown.

Attested since the Northern Qi period (c. the 550s). It is likely that this was initially an ideophonic, reduplicative and onomatopoeic word, imitating the indistinct and incomprehensible speech of barbarians.

Many recent studies (Jao, 1993; Li, 1998; Xu, 2003; Xu, 2005) have favoured the view that the two syllables in this word represent phonetic approximations of the four syllabic liquid consonants in Sanskrit ऋ (ṛ), ॠ (ṝ), ऌ (ḷ) and ॡ (ḹ), which are sounds in Buddhist chants that are minimally distinctive to the Chinese ear.

The word has a wide range of meanings; Xu (2005) has proposed the following semantic development:

“Unintelligible and abstruse speech”
> both “noisy and tedious” and “bright and capable”
> “capable person; heroic man”
> “villains; outlaws; bandits”.

Throughout history, many theories have been put forth by imperial Chinese scholars to explain the origin of the term, but most of these are now considered folk etymologies.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): lóuluó
(Zhuyin): ㄌㄡˊ ㄌㄨㄛˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): lau⁴ lo⁴
Min Nan (Teochew, Peng'im): liu⁵ lo⁵

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: lóuluó
  - Zhuyin: ㄌㄡˊ ㄌㄨㄛˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: lóuluó
  - Wade–Giles: lou²-lo²
  - Yale: lóu-lwó
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: louluo
  - Palladius: лоуло (loulo)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /loʊ̯³⁵ lwɔ³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: lau⁴ lo⁴
  - Yale: làuh lòh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: lau⁴ lo⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: leo⁴ lo⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɐu̯²¹ lɔː²¹/
Min Nan
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: liu⁵ lo⁵
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: liû lô
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /liu⁵⁵⁻¹¹ lo⁵⁵/

Middle Chinese: /ləu lɑ/

Rime
Character	嘍	囉
Reading #	1/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	來 (37)	來 (37)
Final (韻)	侯 (137)	歌 (94)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	落侯切	魯何切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ləu/	/lɑ/
Pan Wuyun	/ləu/	/lɑ/
Shao Rongfen	/ləu/	/lɑ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ləw/	/la/
Li Rong	/lu/	/lɑ/
Wang Li	/ləu/	/lɑ/
Bernard Karlgren	/lə̯u/	/lɑ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	lóu	luó
Expected Cantonese Reflex	lau⁴	lo⁴

Noun

嘍囉

follower of villains; minion; underling; subordinate
- 他手下有五六百名嘍囉，官兵不能收捕。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
  他手下有五六百名喽啰，官兵不能收捕。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]
  From: Shi Nai'an, Water Margin, circa 14^th century CE
  Tā shǒuxià yǒu wǔ liù bǎi míng lóuluó, guānbīng bùnéng shōubǔ. [Pinyin]
  He has five to six hundred underlings under him; the soldiers have no way of arresting them.
(literary, obsolete) capable person; true man
(literary, historical) rank and file of a band of outlaws

Derived terms

小嘍囉／小喽啰

Descendants

→ Thai: ลิ่วล้อ (lîu-lɔ́ɔ) (via Teochew)

Adjective

嘍囉

(literary, obsolete, onomatopoeia, ideophonic, as of foreign peoples) speaking in an indistinct and unintelligible manner; gabbling; jabbering
- 夫蹲夷之儀，婁羅之辯，各出彼俗，自相聆解。猶蟲嚾鳥聒，何足述效。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  夫蹲夷之仪，娄罗之辩，各出彼俗，自相聆解。犹虫嚾鸟聒，何足述效。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: 5^th century CE, Gu Huan (顧歡), Treatise on the Barbarians and the Chinese (夷夏論)
  Fú dūnyí zhī yí, lóuluó zhī biàn, gè chū bǐ sú, zì xiāng líng jiě. Yóu chónghuān niǎoguō, hézú shù xiào. [Pinyin]
  As for the posture of squatting on their heels [despised in Chinese culture] and talking gibberish, each of these comes out of their customs, which they understand among themselves. It’s like the chirping of insects and twittering of birds. Why would it be worth transmitting or imitating? (alluding to the “barbaric” ideology of Buddhism)
(literary, obsolete, ideophonic) noisy; clamorous; disturbing; winding; tedious
(literary, obsolete) clever and capable; bright and skilful; astute and experienced; shrewd

嘍囉