哪吒

Chinese

	phonetic
trad. (哪吒)	哪	吒
simp. ^#(哪吒)	哪	吒
alternative forms	那吒

Etymology

Clipping of the Medieval variants of the name:

那吒俱伐羅 (MC na traeH kju bjot la),
那吒矩韈囉 (MC na traeH kjuX mjot la),

Which are transcriptions of a variant of the Indian yaksha's name Nalakuvara, possibly Pali naṭakuvera; compare Sanskrit नलकुबेर (nalakubera).

Nalakuvara was the son of the yaksha king Kubera, which in Chinese is 俱毗羅 (MC kju bjij la).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): Nézhā, Nuózhà, Nézhà

(Zhuyin): ㄋㄜˊ ㄓㄚ, ㄋㄨㄛˊ ㄓㄚˋ, ㄋㄜˊ ㄓㄚˋ
Cantonese
(Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): naa⁴ zaa¹ / no⁴ zaa¹

(Taishan, Wiktionary): na³ za^5*
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): Nà-châ
Eastern Min (BUC): Nò̤-*chiă
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): Lô-chhia / Lô-cha / Lô-tà

(Teochew, Peng'im): na⁵ za¹ / la⁵ za¹
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶no-tso

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, Mainland)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: Nézhā → Nézha (toneless final syllable variant)
  - Zhuyin: ㄋㄜˊ ㄓㄚ → ㄋㄜˊ ˙ㄓㄚ (toneless final syllable variant)
  - Tongyong Pinyin: néjhå
  - Wade–Giles: nê²-cha⁵
  - Yale: né-ja
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ne.ja
  - Palladius: нэчжа (nɛčža)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /nɤ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂä⁵⁵/ → /nɤ³⁵ ɖ͡ʐ̥ä³/
- (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: Nuózhà
  - Zhuyin: ㄋㄨㄛˊ ㄓㄚˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: nuójhà
  - Wade–Giles: no²-cha⁴
  - Yale: nwó-jà
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: nuojah
  - Palladius: ночжа (nočža)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /nu̯ɔ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂä⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese, variant)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: Nézhà
  - Zhuyin: ㄋㄜˊ ㄓㄚˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: Néjhà
  - Wade–Giles: Nê²-cha⁴
  - Yale: Né-jà
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Nejah
  - Palladius: Нэчжа (Nɛčža)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /nɤ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂä⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: naa⁴ zaa¹ / no⁴ zaa¹
  - Yale: nàh jā / nòh jā
  - Cantonese Pinyin: naa⁴ dzaa¹ / no⁴ dzaa¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: na⁴ za¹ / no⁴ za¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /naː²¹ t͡saː⁵⁵/, /nɔː²¹ t͡saː⁵⁵/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: na³ za^5*
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ⁿda²² t͡sa³²⁻³²⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Nà-châ
  - Hakka Romanization System: na^ˇ za^ˊ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: na² za¹
  - Sinological IPA: /na¹¹ t͡sa²⁴/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: Nò̤-*chiă
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /nˡo⁵³⁻⁵⁵ t͡sʰia⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Jinjiang, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lô-chhia
  - Tâi-lô: Lô-tshia
  - Phofsit Daibuun: loichiaf
  - IPA (Taipei): /lo²⁴⁻¹¹ t͡sʰia⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Xiamen): /lo²⁴⁻²² t͡sʰia⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /lɤ²³⁻³³ t͡sʰia⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Jinjiang): /lo²⁴⁻²² t͡sʰia³³/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lô-cha
  - Tâi-lô: Lô-tsa
  - Phofsit Daibuun: loizaf
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /lo²⁴⁻²² t͡sa³³/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lô-tà
  - Tâi-lô: Lô-tà
  - Phofsit Daibuun: loi'dax
  - IPA (Xiamen): /lo²⁴⁻²² ta²¹/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: na⁵ za¹ / la⁵ za¹
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: nâ tsa / lâ tsa
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /na⁵⁵⁻¹¹ t͡sa³³/, /la⁵⁵⁻¹¹ t͡sa³³/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁶no-tso
  - MiniDict: no^去 tso
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³no-tso
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /no²² t͡so⁴⁴/

Proper noun

哪吒

(Chinese folk religion) Nezha, a protection deity in Chinese folk religion

Synonyms

中壇元帥／中坛元帅 (“Marshal of the Central Altar”)
蓮花三太子／莲花三太子 (“Third Lotus Prince”)
三太子

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (哪吒):

→ Japanese: 哪(な)吒(た) (nata)
→ Korean: 나타(哪吒) (nata)
→ Vietnamese: Na Tra (哪吒)

References

“哪吒”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 [Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.