奈

See also: 柰

奈 U+5948, 奈 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5948 ← 奇 [U+5947] CJK Unified Ideographs 奉 → [U+5949]

Translingual

Han character

奈 (radical 37 大+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 大一一火 (KMMF), four-corner 4090₁, composition ⿱大示)

Derived characters

• 捺

Descendants

• な
• ナ

References

• KangXi: page 251, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5893
• Dae Jaweon: page 511, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 532, character 2
• Unihan data for U+5948

---

Chinese

simp. and trad.		奈

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (奈) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
	Old Chinese
奈	*naːls, *naːds
柰	*naːds
渿	*naːds
捺	*naːd

A variant of 柰.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): nài (nai⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄋㄞˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): noi⁶
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): nai
• Min Nan (POJ): nāi / tā / ta / tāi

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: nài
    • Zhuyin: ㄋㄞˋ
    • Wade-Giles: nai⁴
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: nay
    • IPA ^(key): /naɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: noi⁶
    • Yale: noih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: noi⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: noi⁶
    • IPA ^(key): /nɔːi̯²²/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: nai
    • Hakka Romanization System: nai
    • Hagfa Pinyim: nai⁴
    • IPA: /na̯i⁵⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, mainstream Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: nāi
    • Tâi-lô: nāi
    • Phofsit Daibuun: nai
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /nãɪ²²/
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /nãɪ³³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /nãɪ⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou, variant in Taiwan, Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tā
    • Tâi-lô: tā
    • Phofsit Daibuun: da
    • IPA (Xiamen): /ta²²/
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /ta³³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ta⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: mainstream Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ta
    • Tâi-lô: ta
    • Phofsit Daibuun: daf
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /ta⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāi
    • Tâi-lô: tāi
    • Phofsit Daibuun: dai
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /taɪ²²/

Note:

• nāi - literary;
• ta/tai/tā - vernacular (limited, e.g. 無奈何).

---

• Middle Chinese: /nɑi^H/, /nɑ^H/▼

Rime
Character	奈	奈
Reading #	1/2	2/2
Initial (聲)	泥 (8)	泥 (8)
Final (韻)	泰 (25)	歌 (94)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	奴帶切	奴箇切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/nɑiH/	/nɑH/
Pan Wuyun	/nɑiH/	/nɑH/
Shao Rongfen	/nɑiH/	/nɑH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/najH/	/naH/
Li Rong	/nɑiH/	/nɑH/
Wang Li	/nɑiH/	/nɑH/
Bernard Karlgren	/nɑiH/	/nɑH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	nài	nuò

• Old Chinese▼

  (Baxter-Sagart): /*nˤa[t]-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*naːls/, /*naːds/

Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	奈
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	nài
Middle Chinese	‹ najH ›
Old Chinese	/*nˤa[t]-s/
English	cope with
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
Reading #	1/2	2/2
No.	9349	9350
Phonetic component	奈	奈
Rime group	歌	祭
Rime subdivision	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	奈	柰
Old Chinese	/*naːls/	/*naːds/

Definitions

奈

1. how; why (used in rhetorical questions)
2. to bear; to stand; to endure
3. (Taiwan) The SI unit prefix nano-

Compounds

• 不奈
• 不奈何
• 不奈煩／不奈烦
• 不寧奈／不宁奈
• 可奈
• 叵奈
• 基奈
• 奈上祝下
• 奈何 (nàihé)
• 奈何橋／奈何桥
• 奈升
• 奈及利亞／奈及利亚 (Nàijílìyà)
• 奈向
• 奈守
• 奈曼
• 奈洛比 (Nàiluòbǐ)
• 奈煩／奈烦
• 奈秒

• 奈米 (nàimǐ)
• 奈良 (Nàiliáng)
• 奈良時代／奈良时代
• 如之奈何 (rú zhī nàihé)
• 寧奈／宁奈
• 尀奈
• 山奈
• 山奈鉀／山奈钾
• 康奈爾／康奈尔
• 康奈爾大學／康奈尔大学
• 怎奈
• 末奈何
• 欽奈／钦奈 (Qīnnài)
• 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
• 澀奈／涩奈

• 無可奈何／无可奈何 (wúkěnàihé)
• 無奈／无奈 (wúnài)
• 無奈我何／无奈我何
• 無如奈何／无如奈何
• 無計奈何／无计奈何
• 爭奈／争奈
• 神奈川縣／神奈川县
• 莫可奈何
• 萬般無奈／万般无奈
• 葛林奈爾／葛林奈尔
• 葛林奈爾大學／葛林奈尔大学
• 蘇爾奈／苏尔奈
• 西奈 (Xīnài)
• 西奈半島／西奈半岛 (Xīnài Bàndǎo)
• 西奈協定／西奈协定
• 西奈山
• 頗奈／颇奈
• 香奈兒／香奈儿

---

Japanese

Kanji

奈

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

1. Abbreviation of 奈良: the city of Nara
2. what
3. (obsolete) apple tree

Readings

• Goon: な (na, Jōyō); ない (nai)
• Kan’on: だ (da); だい (dai)
• Kun: いかん (ikan, 奈); いかんせん (ikansen, 奈); いかんぞ (ikanzo, 奈); からなし (karanashi, 奈)
• Nanori: なに (nani); なん (nan)

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• 柰

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • IPA^(key): [ka̠ɾa̠na̠ɕi]

Noun

奈 (hiragana からなし, katakana カラナシ, rōmaji karanashi)

1. Obsolete form of 唐梨.
2. (by extension) Obsolete spelling of 林檎 (“apple”)

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• 如何

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • IPA^(key): [ikã̠ɴ]

Pronoun

奈 (hiragana いかん, rōmaji ikan)

1. Alternative form of 奈何 (“what”)

---

Korean

Hanja

奈 • (nae, na) (hangeul 내, 나, revised nae, na, McCune-Reischauer nae, na)

1. but, how
2. bear, stand, endure

---

Vietnamese

Han character

奈 (nại, nhự)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.