無可奈何

See also: 无可奈何

Chinese

	cannot; can't	how; what; what is to be done how; what; what is to be done; what can be done
trad. (無可奈何)	無可	奈何
simp. (无可奈何)	无可	奈何
alternative forms	無可柰何／无可柰何

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): wúkěnàihé

(Zhuyin): ㄨˊ ㄎㄜˇ ㄋㄞˋ ㄏㄜˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): mou⁴ ho² noi⁶ ho⁴
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): bû-khó-nāi-hô

(Teochew, Peng'im): bho⁵ ko² nai⁶ ho²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wúkěnàihé
  - Zhuyin: ㄨˊ ㄎㄜˇ ㄋㄞˋ ㄏㄜˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wúkěnàihé
  - Wade–Giles: wu²-kʻo³-nai⁴-ho²
  - Yale: wú-kě-nài-hé
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wukeenayher
  - Palladius: укэнайхэ (ukɛnajxɛ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /u³⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ naɪ̯⁵¹ xɤ³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: mou⁴ ho² noi⁶ ho⁴
  - Yale: mòuh hó noih hòh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: mou⁴ ho² noi⁶ ho⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: mou⁴ ho² noi⁶ ho⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mou̯²¹ hɔː³⁵ nɔːi̯²² hɔː²¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bû-khó-nāi-hô
  - Tâi-lô: bû-khó-nāi-hô
  - Phofsit Daibuun: bu'qoynaixhooi
  - IPA (Xiamen): /bu²⁴⁻²² kʰo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ nãi²²⁻²¹ ho²⁴/
  - IPA (Taipei): /bu²⁴⁻¹¹ kʰo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ nãi³³⁻¹¹ ho²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bu²³⁻³³ kʰɤ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ nãi³³⁻²¹ hɤ²³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: bho⁵ ko² nai⁶ ho²
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: bô khó năi hó
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /bo⁵⁵⁻¹¹ kʰo⁵²⁻³⁵ nai³⁵⁻¹¹ ho⁵²/

Middle Chinese: mju khaX najH|naH ha

Rime
Character	無	可	奈	奈	何
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/2	2/2	1/2
Initial (聲)	明 (4)	溪 (29)	泥 (8)	泥 (8)	匣 (33)
Final (韻)	虞 (24)	歌 (94)	泰 (25)	歌 (94)	歌 (94)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	I	I	I	I
Fanqie	武夫切	枯我切	奴帶切	奴箇切	胡歌切
Baxter	mju	khaX	najH	naH	ha
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/mɨo/	/kʰɑ^X/	/nɑi^H/	/nɑ^H/	/ɦɑ/
Pan Wuyun	/mio/	/kʰɑ^X/	/nɑi^H/	/nɑ^H/	/ɦɑ/
Shao Rongfen	/mio/	/kʰɑ^X/	/nɑi^H/	/nɑ^H/	/ɣɑ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/muə̆/	/kʰa^X/	/naj^H/	/na^H/	/ɦa/
Li Rong	/mio/	/kʰɑ^X/	/nɑi^H/	/nɑ^H/	/ɣɑ/
Wang Li	/mĭu/	/kʰɑ^X/	/nɑi^H/	/nɑ^H/	/ɣɑ/
Bernard Karlgren	/mi̯u/	/kʰɑ^X/	/nɑi^H/	/nɑ^H/	/ɣɑ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	wú	kě	nài	nuò	hé
Expected Cantonese Reflex	mou⁴	ho²	naai⁶	no⁶	ho⁴

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*ma [k]ʰˤa[j]ʔ nˤa[t]-s [ɡ]ˤaj/

(Zhengzhang): /*ma kʰaːlʔ naːls|naːds ɡaːl/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	無	可	奈	何
Reading #	1/3	1/1	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	wú	kě	nài	hé
Middle Chinese	‹ mju ›	‹ kha^X ›	‹ naj^H ›	‹ ha ›
Old Chinese	/*ma/	/*[k]ʰˁa[j]ʔ/	/*nˁa[t]-s/	/*[ɡ]ˁaj/
English	not have	may; acceptable	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	無	可	奈	奈	何
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/2	2/2	1/2
No.	13117	7446	9349	9350	7458
Phonetic component	無	可	奈	奈	可
Rime group	魚	歌	歌	祭	歌
Rime subdivision	0	1	1	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	無	可	奈	柰	何
Old Chinese	/*ma/	/*kʰaːlʔ/	/*naːls/	/*naːds/	/*ɡaːl/

Verb

無可奈何

to have no way out; to have no alternative; to have no choice; to feel helpless about; to be unable to do anything with; to resign oneself to (doing something unpleasant); to be at the end of one's resources
- 無可奈何花落去，似曾相識燕歸來。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  无可奈何花落去，似曾相识燕归来。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: 11^th century, Yan Shu, “Sand of Silk-Washing Stream – A New Piece of Ci and a Cup of Wine”
  Wúkěnàihé huā luòqù, sìcéngxiàngshí yàn guīlái. [Pinyin]
  [I] feel helpless about the flowers falling downwards / and seem to recognize the swallows coming back.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 沒辦法 (“there is nothing to be done; it cannot be helped; there is no choice; there is no way”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		沒辦法, 無可奈何, 沒奈何, 無可如何, 無計可施
Mandarin	Beijing	沒法子, 沒法兒, 沒轍, 沒門兒, 沒治, 沒咒兒念
	Taiwan	沒辦法
	Tianjin	沒門兒, 沒咒兒念
	Harbin	沒轍, 沒門兒, 沒場兒, 沒咒兒念
	Malaysia	沒辦法
	Singapore	沒有辦法, 沒辦法
Cantonese	Guangzhou	冇辦法, 冇符, 冇計, 冇收
	Hong Kong	冇辦法, 冇計, 冇符, 冇收, 冇法子
	Taishan	冇符, 冇計, 冇法子
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	冇辦法
	Singapore (Guangfu)	冇辦法
Hakka	Meixian	無辦法, 無結煞, 無法, 無變
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	無法度, 無辦法
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	無法度, 無辦法
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	無法度, 無辦法
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	無法度, 無辦法
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	無法度, 無辦法
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	無法度, 無辦法
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	無能耐
Southern Min	Xiamen	無法度, 無法, 無法無度, 無辦法, 無變步, 無變, 無步, 無路, 無奈何
	Quanzhou	無法度, 無法, 無變步, 無變, 無步, 無路, 無奈何
	Zhangzhou	無法度, 無法, 無法無度, 無變, 無步, 無路, 無奈何, 無奈得何
	Zhao'an	無變
	Dongshan	無變
	Kaohsiung	無法度
	Yilan	無法度
	Changhua (Lukang)	無法度
	Taichung	無法度
	Taichung (Wuqi)	無法度
	Tainan	無法度, 無步, 無路, 無奈何, 無奈得何
	Taitung	無法度
	Hsinchu	無法度
	Penghu (Magong)	無法度, 無奈何
	Penang (Hokkien)	無法度, 無辦法, 無變
	Singapore (Hokkien)	無變, 無法度, 無法, 無辦法
	Manila (Hokkien)	無法, 無辦法, 無法度, 無變, 無路, 無奈何
	Chaozhou	無變
	Shantou	無辦法, 無計, 無變
	Jieyang	無變, 無步
	Singapore (Teochew)	無變

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (無可奈何):

→ Korean: 무가내하(無可奈何) (muganaeha)

References

Fielde, Adele Marion (1883) “無／无 (bô̤)”, in A Pronouncing and Defining Dictionary of the Swatow Dialect, Arranged According to Syllables and Tones, Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, page 15

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