How to Write 呐 (nà) — Meaning “to shout; (particle)”

Imagine a person opening their mouth (口) to shout loudly because something is happening inside (内) the room. The shape of 内 even looks like a person standing inside a box. This visual helps you connect the mouth and the inside meaning to the act of shouting.

Write the left part 口 first, making it small and narrow, then write 内 on the right. A common mistake is making the left mouth too large or forgetting the small downward stroke inside 内 (the 人 part). Keep the two parts balanced so the character is not too wide.

呐 has the mouth radical plus 内 (inside), while 卟 has the mouth radical plus 卜 (divination) and is rare, used only in a few words. 古 has the mouth radical with 十 (ten) above it and means ‘ancient’. Visually, 内 in 呐 has a 人 (person) inside an enclosure, which 古 and 卟 do not have.

呐 appears mainly in the common word 呐喊 (nà hǎn), meaning ‘to shout’ or ‘to cry out’, often used for rallying calls or expressing strong emotion. It is also found in 唢呐 (suǒ nà), a traditional Chinese woodwind instrument. Culturally, 呐喊 is famous as the title of a collection of short stories by the writer Lu Xun.

Common words containing 呐 include: 呐喊 (nà hǎn) — to shout; to cry out; 唢呐 (suǒ nà) — Suona (Chinese woodwind instrument); 呐呐 (nà nà) — stammering; speaking haltingly.