# 無可奈何
## Chinese

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

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): wúkěnàihé
    (Zhuyin): ㄨˊ ㄎㄜˇ ㄋㄞˋ ㄏㄜˊ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): mou$^4$ ho$^2$ noi$^6$ ho$^4$
* Southern Min
    (Hokkien, POJ): bû-khó-nāi-hô
    (Teochew, Peng'im): bho$^5$ ko$^2$ nai$^6$ ho$^2$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: wúkěnàihé
*** Zhuyin: ㄨˊ ㄎㄜˇ ㄋㄞˋ ㄏㄜˊ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: wúkěnàihé
*** Wade–Giles: wu$^2$-kʻo$^3$-nai$^4$-ho$^2$
*** Yale: wú-kě-nài-hé
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wukeenayher
*** Palladius: укэнайхэ (ukɛnajxɛ)
*** Sinological IPA : /u³⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ naɪ̯⁵¹ xɤ³⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: mou$^4$ ho$^2$ noi$^6$ ho$^4$
*** Yale: mòuh hó noih hòh
*** Cantonese Pinyin: mou$^4$ ho$^2$ noi$^6$ ho$^4$
*** Guangdong Romanization: mou$^4$ ho$^2$ noi$^6$ ho$^4$
*** Sinological IPA : /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: bho$^5$ ko$^2$ nai$^6$ ho$^2$
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: bô khó năi hó
*** Sinological IPA : /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 | mou$^4$ | ho$^2$ | naai$^6$ | no$^6$ | ho$^4$ |
* 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
    From: 11th 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

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

#### Descendants

* → 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