Character: 脑 (nǎo) brain

脑 (nǎo) means brain, the character is visualized as a piece of meat next to an open skull, showing the the brain on the inside
Pinyin nǎo
Meaning brain; mind; essence
Radical 月 繁體字 腦
the written pattern 月, highlighted in red, is found in the character 脑 (nǎo) brain 月

writing patterns, not components

Chinese character compound ideographcategory: compound ideograph

Chinese character left right structurestructure: left right

10stroke count

HSK 1

Stroke order of the Chinese character 脑 (nǎo) brain. There are 10 strokes, and the character is written first from the left, then top to bottom

Breakdown

脑 (nǎo) “brain” consists of three parts. On the left is the radical 月 (yuè) “moon,” but it is actually a simplification of 肉 (ròu) “flesh.” On the top left, we have 亠, a component that represents hair, something covering the brain. Below 亠 is 凶 (xiōng) “ominous,” a pictographic component that represents the brain itself.

nǎo
脑
brain		 yuè
月
moon		 péng
朋
companion		 fú
服
to serve
亠
component		 shì
市
market		 chōng
充
to fill
xiōng
凶
ominous		 xiōng
匈
Hungary		 xiōng
汹
torrential rush

脑 (nǎo) was originally a phono-semantic compound character, but it has lost the phonetic component.

Used as a morpheme/word

Even though 脑 (nǎo) itself can stand for the word “brain” or “head,” it is more common to use 脑袋 (nǎodài) instead. Since the brain is the most important organ and is inside of our head, it can signify “head,” “essence,” or “intellect” as a morpheme.

Wordlist

  • HSK 1: 电脑 (diànnǎo) computer
  • HSK 5: 脑袋 (nǎodài) brain
  • HSK 6: 伤 脑筋 (shāng nǎojīn) troublesome
  • Advanced: 脑海 (nǎohǎi) the mind
  • Advanced: 首脑 (shǒunǎo) leader

How to pronounce

This character sounds like “now.”

3rd Pinyin Yale IPA
Initial n- n [n]
Final -ao au [aʊ]

Chinese character practice sheet

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