TSUMUGU · TOCFL B2 (est.) · 字
奈
ㄋㄞˋ · nài
verb — to do something about, cope with (mostly in 無奈, 奈何)
字源 FORM — what the parts do
A figure (大) before an altar (示) — asking what can be done when nothing can. The graph is borrowed for the cry "how to handle this?"; it survives almost only in 無奈 (no help for it) and 奈何 (what is to be done): the word for being out of options.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
站在神壇（示）前，攤開手，問一句：這可怎麼辦？
Standing before the altar (示), hands open, the one question: what is there to be done?
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(假借)奈何、無奈— how to cope; nothing to be done常用
→無可奈何— to be utterly without recourse常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
柰nàithe lookalike — 柰 carries 木 (a crabapple tree), 奈 carries over the altar耐nàia partner sound — to endure; what 無奈 leaves you doing