なお

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
尚 猶 尚お (obsolete)

/napo/ → /nafo/ → /nawo/ → /nao/

From Old Japanese.

The okurigana spelling 尚(な)お (nao), or more accurately its historical kana usage counterpart 尚(な)ほ (naho), used to be very common and the de facto standard, but has become obsolete since the introduction of modern kana usage in 1946. Compare 古(いにしえ) (inishie) and its historically common spelling 古(いにし)へ (inishihe).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) なお [náꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [na̠o̞]

Adverb

なお • (nao) ^{←なほ (nafo)?}

1. furthermore, in addition
2. still, as always
3. even more

Conjunction

なお • (nao) ^{←なほ (nafo)?}

1. moreover, furthermore, in addition, note that

Etymology 2

Alternative spelling
直

Adjective

なお • (nao) ^{←なほ (nafo)?†}-nari

1. common, ordinary, straight

Adverb

なお • (nao) ^{←なほ (nafo)?}

1. normally, usually

Etymology 3

Various nanori readings.

Proper noun

なお • (Nao) 

1. 奈緒, 直緒, 奈央, 奈穂: a female given name
2. 南朋: a male or female given name

References

1. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN