奈何

Chinese

	how can one help	carry; what; how carry; what; how; why; which
trad. (奈何)	奈	何
simp. ^#(奈何)	奈	何
alternative forms	柰何

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): nàihé

(Zhuyin): ㄋㄞˋ ㄏㄜˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): noi⁶ ho⁴
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): nai-hò
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): nāi-hô͘ / nāi-hô / tā-ôa / ta-ôa / tāi-ôa

(Teochew, Peng'im): nai⁶ ho²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)
  - Hanyu Pinyin: nàihé
  - Zhuyin: ㄋㄞˋ ㄏㄜˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: nàihé
  - Wade–Giles: nai⁴-ho²
  - Yale: nài-hé
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: nayher
  - Palladius: найхэ (najxɛ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /naɪ̯⁵¹ xɤ³⁵/
  - Homophones:
    [Show/Hide]
    ^edit
    ^edit
    奈何
    奈河
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: noi⁶ ho⁴
  - Yale: noih hòh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: noi⁶ ho⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: noi⁶ ho⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /nɔːi̯²² hɔː²¹/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: nai-hò
  - Hakka Romanization System: nai ho^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: nai⁴ ho²
  - Sinological IPA: /nai̯⁵⁵ ho¹¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: nāi-hô͘
  - Tâi-lô: nāi-hôo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: naixhoo
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /nãi⁴¹⁻²² hɔ²⁴/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: nāi-hô
  - Tâi-lô: nāi-hô
  - Phofsit Daibuun: naixhooi
  - IPA (Taipei): /nãi³³⁻¹¹ ho²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /nãi³³⁻²¹ hɤ²³/
  - IPA (Xiamen): /nãi²²⁻²¹ ho²⁴/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /nãi²²⁻²¹ ho¹³/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou, variant in Taiwan, Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tā-ôa
  - Tâi-lô: tā-uâ
  - Phofsit Daibuun: daxoaa
  - IPA (Xiamen): /ta²²⁻²¹ ua²⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /ta⁴¹⁻²² ua²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /ta³³⁻²¹ ua²³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /ta³³⁻¹¹ ua²⁴/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ta-ôa
  - Tâi-lô: ta-uâ
  - Phofsit Daibuun: da'oaa
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /ta⁴⁴⁻³³ ua²³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /ta⁴⁴⁻³³ ua²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāi-ôa
  - Tâi-lô: tāi-uâ
  - Phofsit Daibuun: daixoaa
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /tai²²⁻²¹ ua¹³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: nai⁶ ho²
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: năi hó
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /nai³⁵⁻¹¹ ho⁵²/

Middle Chinese: najH|naH ha

Rime
Character	奈	奈	何
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/2
Initial (聲)	泥 (8)	泥 (8)	匣 (33)
Final (韻)	泰 (25)	歌 (94)	歌 (94)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I	I
Fanqie	奴帶切	奴箇切	胡歌切
Baxter	najH	naH	ha
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/nɑi^H/	/nɑ^H/	/ɦɑ/
Pan Wuyun	/nɑi^H/	/nɑ^H/	/ɦɑ/
Shao Rongfen	/nɑi^H/	/nɑ^H/	/ɣɑ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/naj^H/	/na^H/	/ɦa/
Li Rong	/nɑi^H/	/nɑ^H/	/ɣɑ/
Wang Li	/nɑi^H/	/nɑ^H/	/ɣɑ/
Bernhard Karlgren	/nɑi^H/	/nɑ^H/	/ɣɑ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	nài	nuò	hé
Expected Cantonese Reflex	naai⁶	no⁶	ho⁴

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*nˤa[t]-s [ɡ]ˤaj/

(Zhengzhang): /*naːls|naːds ɡaːl/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	奈	何
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	nài	hé
Middle Chinese	‹ naj^H ›	‹ ha ›
Old Chinese	/*nˁa[t]-s/	/*[ɡ]ˁaj/
English	cope with	what
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	奈	奈	何
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/2
No.	9349	9350	7458
Phonetic component	奈	奈	可
Rime group	歌	祭	歌
Rime subdivision	1	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	奈	柰	何
Old Chinese	/*naːls/	/*naːds/	/*ɡaːl/

Adverb

奈何

(literary) how; what
- 其自亡奈何？ [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]
  From: Commentary of Gongyang, c. 206 BCE– 9 CE
  Qí zì wáng nàihé? [Pinyin]
  How did it die on its own?
(literary) what is to be done; what can be done
(literary) to no avail

Verb

奈⫽何 (verb-object)

(literary) to do something to somebody
to deal with; to cope with

Noun

奈何

(literary) way out

Derived terms

不奈何
奈何橋 / 奈何桥 (nàihéqiáo)
如之奈何 (rú zhī nàihé)
末奈何
民不畏死，奈何以死懼之 / 民不畏死，奈何以死惧之
沒做奈何處 / 没做奈何处
沒及奈何 / 没及奈何
沒奈何 / 没奈何 (mònàihé)
沒極奈何 / 没极奈何
沒計奈何 / 没计奈何
無可奈何 / 无可奈何 (wúkěnàihé)
無如奈何 / 无如奈何
無計奈何 / 无计奈何
綿綿不絕，縵縵奈何 / 绵绵不绝，缦缦奈何
莫可奈何

Japanese

Kanji in this term
奈	何
いかん
Grade: 4	Grade: 2
jukujikun

For pronunciation and definitions of 奈何 – see the following entry.

【如何いかん】

[noun] the whatevers, the whys and wherefores; however [it may be]

[adverb] howsoever, however [it may be]

Alternative spelling
奈

(This term, 奈何, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)