楼上
loú shàng · HSK 1
upstairs
🏢⬆️ 楼 (building) + 上 (up/above) = upstairs
楼 means a multi-story building; 上 means up or above. Together they literally read as 'building-above', meaning the floor above — upstairs. The reverse, 楼下, means downstairs.
楼 — wood radical 木 + 婁 (lóu, phonetic)
楼 is a phono-semantic compound. The 木 radical signals wood, fitting a multi-storied wooden building, while 婁 supplies the lóu sound. Originally written 樓, it referred to a tower or upper story, and today means a multi-floor building or a specific floor.
上 — horizontal line above a baseline
上 is an indicative character (指事): a short stroke placed above a longer reference line shows the concept of 'above' or 'up'. The earliest oracle-bone forms used two horizontal lines for this; the modern shape added a vertical stroke for clarity. The core meaning of 'upper, above, to ascend' has stayed stable for millennia.