lu

See also: Appendix:Variations of "lu"

Languages (35)

Äiwoo • Asturian • Bakung • Basque • Betawi • Chinese • Cornish • Corsican • Danish • French • Friulian • Hausa • Ido • Indonesian • Iranun • Japanese • Jingpho • Linngithigh • Malay • Mandarin • Muong • Neapolitan • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old French • Sassarese • Sicilian • Sumerian • Tocharian A • Veps • Vietnamese • Welsh • Zazaki • Zou

Page categories

Translingual

Symbol

lu

(international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Luba-Katanga.

English

Etymology 1

Noun

lu (uncountable)

Archaic form of loo (“card game”).

Verb

lu (third-person singular simple present lus, present participle luing, simple past and past participle lued)

Archaic form of loo (“beat at card game”).

Etymology 2

A romanization of Chinese 路 (lù, “route”)

Noun

lu (usually uncountable, plural lus)

(historical) Synonym of route or circuit: an administrative division of imperial China.

References

“lu”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

UL, Ul, ul

Äiwoo

Noun

lu

life

References

Ross, M. & Næss, Å. (2007) “An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?”, in Oceanic Linguistics, volume 46, number 2. Cited in: "Äiwoo" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.

Asturian

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *illu, from Latin illum, accusative of ille. Compare Spanish lo.

Pronoun

lu, la f, lo n

Third-person singular direct object; him, it

Bakung

Etymology

From Proto-Kenyah *lu, from Proto-North Sarawak, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qahəlu, from Proto-Austronesian *qaSəlu (“pestle”).

Noun

lu

pestle for pounding rice

References

Smith, A. (2017) The Languages of Borneo: A Comprehensive Classification, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Basque

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lu/, [lu]

Noun

lu inan

pussy, vagina

Declension

Declension of lu (inanimate, ending in vowel)

	indefinite	singular	plural
absolutive	lu	lua	luak
ergative	luk	luak	luek
dative	luri	luari	luei
genitive	luren	luaren	luen
comitative	lurekin	luarekin	luekin
causative	lurengatik	luarengatik	luengatik
benefactive	lurentzat	luarentzat	luentzat
instrumental	luz	luaz	luez
inessive	lutan	luan	luetan
locative	lutako	luko	luetako
allative	lutara	lura	luetara
terminative	lutaraino	luraino	luetaraino
directive	lutarantz	lurantz	luetarantz
destinative	lutarako	lurako	luetarako
ablative	lutatik	lutik	luetatik
partitive	lurik	—	—
prolative	lutzat	—	—

Betawi

Alternative forms

elu (extended form)
eluh (extended form)
lo
luh

Etymology

from Hokkien 汝 (lú).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lu/
- Audio: (file)
IPA^(key): /luh/
IPA^(key): /əˈlu/ (extended form)
- Audio: (file)
IPA^(key): /əˈluh/ (extended form)
Hyphenation: lu

Pronoun

lu

you (personal pronoun)
you (direct object of a verb)
you (object of a preposition)
you (indirect object of a verb)
your (belonging to me)

Usage notes

Used mainly in a common situation, especially between friends or by someone older in terms of speaking to a younger person. As for the usage by a younger person speaking with an older person, there is no agreement whether it is appropriate to do so or not: some would regard it as inappropriate, some other would not. Grijns (1991) noted that some Batavians use this pronoun when speaking to God.

Synonyms

énté

References

Grijns, C.D. (1991) Jakarta Malay, volume 2, Leiden: KITLV Press, page 122.

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of l u – see 嚕 (“Cantonese particle”). (This term is a variant form of 嚕).

Cornish

Etymology

From Old Cornish luu, from Proto-Brythonic *llʉɣ, from Proto-Celtic *slougos.

Noun

lu m (plural luyow)

army, troop, fleet

Corsican

Etymology

From Latin ille (“that”), from Old Latin olle (“that”). Cognates include Italian lo (“him”), il (“the”) and French le (“the, him”).

Article

lu

Archaic form of u.

Pronoun

lu

Archaic form of u.

References

“lu” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa
“u, lu” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

Danish

Verb

lu

imperative of lue

French

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ly/
Audio: (file)
Homophones: lue, lues, lus, lut, lût

Participle

lu (feminine lue, masculine plural lus, feminine plural lues)

past participle of lire

Friulian

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *illu, from Latin illum. Compare Italian lo.

Pronoun

lu (third person masculine direct object)

him

Related terms

lui
i

Hausa

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lûː/
- (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [lûː]

Ideophone

lû

swinging motion

Ido

Etymology

Back-formation from ilu (“he, him”), elu (“she, her”) and olu (“it”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lu/

Pronoun

lu (plural li)

Third-person singular pronoun for referents of any gender; he/him, she/her, it or that
Me ne savas ka lu es viro o muliero.
I don't know if he/she is a man or a woman.

Usage notes

Lu is widely used in Ido, and not exclusively when a gendered possessive determiner is inappropriate, but also in order to avoid repetition depending on the user's preferences.

Derived terms

li (“they, them”)
lua

Related terms

ilu (“he, him”) (masculine)
elu (“she, her”) (feminine)
olu (“it”) (neuter)

Indonesian

Etymology

From Betawi Udik lo (“you”), from Hokkien 汝 (lú). Doublet of lo.

Pronoun

lu

(chiefly Jakarta, slang) Second-person singular pronoun: you, your, yours

Synonyms

Indonesian informal second-person pronouns:

anta (informal, mainly used by Muslim community)
antum (informal, mainly used by Muslim community)
coen (slang, East Java)
ente (informal, mainly used by Betawi ethnic group)
kamu (intimate)
ko, kowe (informal, Java)
kon, koen (colloquial, East Java)
lu, lo, loe, elu (informal, mainly used by Betawi ethnic group)
mika, mike (informal, Eastern Sumatra)

Iranun

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *luheq.

Noun

lu

tear

Japanese

Romanization

lu

Rōmaji transcription of る゚
Rōmaji transcription of ル゚

Jingpho

Etymology

Borrowed from Burmese လှူ (hlu).

Verb

lu

to offer
to donate

References

Kurabe, Keita (2016 December 31) “Phonology of Burmese loanwords in Jinghpaw”, in Kyoto University Linguistic Research‎^[1], volume 35, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 91–128

Linngithigh

Pronoun

lu

he/she/it (third-person singular nominative pronoun)

Malay

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lu/
Rhymes: -u

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Hokkien 汝 (lú).

Pronoun

lu (Jawi spelling لو)

you
Synonyms: kamu, engkau, kau, awak, anda, hang

Derived terms

lu orang

Etymology 2

Clipping of dulu.

Adverb

lu (Jawi spelling لو)

(colloquial) Alternative form of dulu.
Aku gerak lu.
I'm going first.

Mandarin

Romanization

lu (lu⁵ / lu⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄌㄨ)

Hanyu Pinyin reading of 氌 / 氇

lu

Nonstandard spelling of lū.
Nonstandard spelling of lú.
Nonstandard spelling of lǔ.
Nonstandard spelling of lù.
Nonstandard spelling of lǖ.
Nonstandard spelling of lǘ.
Nonstandard spelling of lǚ.
Nonstandard spelling of lǜ.

Usage notes

Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Muong

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *m-luː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *bluuʔ.

A great number of Muong lects, as well as Vietnamese, had replaced this native etymology with Sinitic 腿 (tuǐ).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lu¹/

Noun

lu

(Mường Bi) thigh
Synonym: tùi

Neapolitan

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lu/

Pronoun

lu

Alternative form of 'u

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

lu m

(dialectal) alternative form of lur (“lur, trumpet”)

References

Ivar Aasen (1850) “Lu”, in Ordbog over det norske Folkesprog‎^[2] (in Danish), Oslo: Samlaget, published 2000

Old French

Alternative forms

lou, leu

Etymology

Reduced form of Latin lupus.

Noun

lu oblique singular, m (oblique plural lus, nominative singular lus, nominative plural lu)

wolf

Sassarese

Alternative forms

l' (apocopic, before a vowel sound)
-llu (pronoun, enclitic)
-ru (pronoun, enclitic)

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *(il)lu, from Latin illum, accusative of ille (“that”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lu/, (after a vowel) /ru/

Article

lu m sg (plural li, feminine la)

Sassarese definite articles
	singular	plural
masculine	lu/l'	li/l'
feminine	la/l'	li/l'

the (masculine singular)

Usage notes

Becomes l' before a vowel.

Pronoun

lu m (plural li, feminine la)

(followed by chi) that
Di curori vi ni so umbè. Ca è lu chi tu priferi?
There are lots of colors. Which one do you prefer?
(literally, “Of colors there are a lot. Which one is that which you prefer?”)
him (accusative)
Lu cunnosci? ― Do you know him?
it (accusative)
Abà ti lu diggu ― Now I'll tell you (literally, “Now I tell it to you”)

References

Rubattu, Antoninu (2006) Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes

Sicilian

Etymology 1

From the apheresis of Vulgar Latin *illu, from Latin illum, from ille.

Alternative forms

u

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lu/ (stressed)
IPA^(key): /lu/ (unstressed)

Article

lu m sg (f la, plural li)

(masculine singular definite article) the
Synonym: u

Usage notes

This article is nowadays an obsolete variant, unlike its illiquid counterpart u. It is currently used only in some restricted areas where it is still withheld in conversational communications.
Today it is mostly used in crystallized contexts, such as singing, poetry or sayings and proverbs. In all these cases this definite article is more euphonetic than the variants, now predominant, which have undergone the lenition of the initial liquid consonant.
Its use is however almost undisputed before nouns (or nominalized forms of other parts of speech, most often adjectives) that begin with vowels. In this case the form is an apocopic l'. Otherwise, illiquid definite articles are phonetically absorbed by the following noun. I.e: l'arancinu (liquid) and ârancinu (illiquid).

Inflection

Sicilian articles
	Masculine singular definite article	Feminine singular definite article	Masculine and feminine plural definite article
Definite articles (liquid)	lu	la	li
Definite articles (illiquid)	u	a	i
Definite articles	nu (also: un,'n)	na

Etymology 2

From the apheresis of Vulgar Latin *illu, from Latin illum, from ille.

Alternative forms

-lu (enclitic)
u (illiquid form)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lu/ (stressed)
IPA^(key): /lu/ (unstressed)

Pronoun

lu m sg (plural li, female la)

(accusative) him
Synonym: u

Lu canusci? ― Do you know him?
(accusative) it, this or that thing
Synonym: u

Quannu ti lu desi. ― When I gave it to you.

Usage notes

This pronoun is now an obsolete variant. It is currently used only in some restricted areas where it is still withheld in conversational communications.
Today it is mostly used in crystallized contexts, such as singing, poetry or sayings and proverbs. In all these cases this definite article is more euphonetic than the variants, now predominant, which have undergone the lenition of the initial liquid consonant.
Its use is however almost undisputed before words that begin with vowels. In this case the form is an apocopic l'.

Sumerian

Romanization

lu

Romanization of 𒇻 (lu)

Tocharian A

Etymology

From Proto-Tocharian *luwā-, from Proto-Indo-European *luh₂eh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂w- (“to seize, gain”). Compare Tocharian B luwo. Related to Old Church Slavonic ловъ (lovŭ, “hunt”), Serbo-Croatian lȏv (“chase; game animal”); compare also Ancient Greek λέων (léōn, “lion”).

Noun

lu

animal

Veps

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *luu, from Proto-Uralic *luwe.

Noun

lu

bone

Inflection

Inflection of lu (inflection type 13/ma)
nominative sing.	lu
genitive sing.	lun
partitive sing.	lud
partitive plur.	luid
	singular	plural
nominative	lu	lud
accusative	lun	lud
genitive	lun	luiden
partitive	lud	luid
essive-instructive	lun	luin
translative	luks	luikš

inessive	lus	luiš
elative	luspäi	luišpäi
illative	luhu	luihe

adessive	lul	luil
ablative	lulpäi	luilpäi
allative	lule	luile

abessive	luta	luita
comitative	lunke	luidenke
prolative	ludme	luidme

approximative I	lunno	luidenno
approximative II	lunnoks	luidennoks
egressive	lunnopäi	luidennopäi

terminative I	luhusai	luihesai
terminative II	lulesai	luilesai
terminative III	lussai	—

additive I	luhupäi	luihepäi
additive II	lulepäi	luilepäi

Derived terms

References

Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “кость”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎^[3], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

Vietnamese

Etymology

Compare Khmer លូ (luu, “large jar”).

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [lu˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [lʊw˧˧]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [lʊw˧˧]
Audio (Hà Nội): (file)

Noun

(classifier cái) lu

big vase used to contain water

Welsh

Pronunciation

(North Wales) IPA^(key): /lɨː/
(South Wales) IPA^(key): /liː/

Noun

lu

Soft mutation of llu.

Mutation

Mutated forms of *llu*
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
llu	lu	unchanged	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Zazaki

Alternative forms

lû

Noun

lu

fox (Vulpes vulpes)

Zou

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lu˧/

Noun

lu

head

References

Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 42

		Singular			Plural
		Nominative	Possessive		Nominative	Possessive
		Nominative	Singular	Plural	Nominative	Singular	Plural
First person		me	mea	mei	ni	nia	nii
Second person	Formal	vu	vua	vui	vi	via	vii
Second person	Familiar	tu	tua	tui	vi	via	vii
Third person	Masculine	ilu, il	ilua	ilui	ili	ilia	ilii
	Feminine	elu, el	elua	elui	eli	elia	elii
	Neuter	olu, ol	olua	olui	oli	olia	olii
	Common	lu	lua	lui	li	lia	lii
	Reflexive	su	sua	sui	su	sua	sui
Indefinite		onu, on	onua	onui	onu, on	onua	onui
Notes
The possessive plurals are seldom used.
The shortened forms are preferred.
The pangendered forms are preferred to the gendered or neuter forms in most scenarios.

Person	Number (and clusivity)	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative
First	Singular	ayong	ninh	thom	thon
	Dual inclusive	linggay	linh	linam	lingg
	Non-singular exclusive	nan	nanh	nanam	nangg
	Plural inclusive	puy	punh	punam	pungg
Second	Singular	tru	nanh	kom	kon
	Dual	poy	ponh	ponam	pongg
	Plural	irae	iraenh	iraenam	iraengg
Third	Singular	lu	ngonh	ngom	ngon
	Dual	lawuy	lawunh/lanh	lawunam	lawungg
	Plural	'ar	'anh	'anam	'angg

Malay personal pronouns
		singular	plural
1^st person	standard	saya / ساي aku / اکو, ku- / كو- (informal/towards God) -ku / -كو (informal possessive) hamba / همبا (dated)	kami / کامي (exclusive) kita orang / كيت اورڠ (informal exclusive) kita / کيت (inclusive)
1^st person	royal	beta / بيتا
2^nd person	standard	kamu / کامو anda / اندا (formal)
	standard	engkau / اڠکاو, kau- / كاو- (informal/towards God) awak / اوق (friendly/older towards younger) -mu / -مو (possessive)	awak semua / اوق سموا kamu semua / كامو سموا kalian / کالين (informal) kau orang / كاو اورڠ (informal)
	royal	tuanku / توانكو
3^rd person	standard	dia / دي ia / اي beliau / بلياو (honorific) -nya / -ڽ (possessive)	mereka / مريک dia orang / دي اورڠ (informal)
3^rd person	royal	baginda / بݢيندا	mereka / مريک dia orang / دي اورڠ (informal)