How to Write 垴 (nǎo) — Meaning “small hill”

Think of the sound 'nǎo' like 'now' and imagine yourself saying 'I will climb that small hill right now.' The right side 凶 looks like a person with arms up climbing, and the left 土 is the earth of the hill. This picture helps you recall both the shape and the meaning.

Pay attention to the right part 凶: it has an outer enclosure (first draw the left vertical and bottom horizontal as one stroke, then the right vertical) and a cross inside (two strokes: a left-falling and a right-falling). A common mistake is making the 凶 too wide or too tall, which makes the character unbalanced. Keep the left 土 slightly narrower and the right 凶 roughly the same height.

垴 (nǎo) means 'small hill' and has the right component 凶 (pit). 圻 (qí) means 'boundary' and uses 斤 (axe) on the right. 圼 (niè) is a very rare old character, possibly a variant, and is not used in modern Chinese. Visually, the right parts are clearly different: 凶, 斤, and 圼 (which has 日 inside).

垴 is not a common character in daily language; it appears mostly in place names, especially in northern China, for example 山垴 (shān nǎo) meaning 'hilltop' or 垴子 (nǎo zi) meaning 'small hill.' You might encounter it on maps, in local geography, or in regional literature, but it is not used in standard HSK vocabulary.

Common words containing 垴 include: 山垴 (shān nǎo) — Hilltop; 垴子 (nǎo zi) — small hill; 坡垴 (pō nǎo) — hilltop / top of a slope.