# 嘍囉
## Chinese
### 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): lau$^4$ lo$^4$
* Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): liu$^5$ lo$^5$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: lóuluó
*** Zhuyin: ㄌㄡˊ ㄌㄨㄛˊ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: lóuluó
*** Wade–Giles: lou$^2$-lo$^2$
*** Yale: lóu-lwó
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: louluo
*** Palladius: лоуло (loulo)
*** Sinological IPA : /loʊ̯³⁵ lu̯ɔ³⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: lau$^4$ lo$^4$
*** Yale: làuh lòh
*** Cantonese Pinyin: lau$^4$ lo$^4$
*** Guangdong Romanization: leo$^4$ lo$^4$
*** Sinological IPA : /lɐu̯²¹ lɔː²¹/
* Southern Min
** (Teochew)
*** Peng'im: liu$^5$ lo$^5$
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: liû lô
*** Sinological IPA : /liu⁵⁵⁻¹¹ lo⁵⁵/
* Middle Chinese: luw la
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 |
| Baxter | luw | la |
| 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 | lau$^4$ | lo$^4$ |

### Noun

嘍囉
* follower of villains; minion; underling; subordinate
    From: Shi Nai'an, Water Margin, circa 14th 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
    From: 5th 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

### Further reading

* 能改齋漫錄·事始·樓羅／能改斋漫录·事始·楼罗 on the Chinese Wikisource.Wikisource $^{zh}$