哪怕
nǎ pà · HSK 4
even if
哪 (which) + 怕 (fear) = 'which to fear?' → no matter what
哪 means 'which/where' and 怕 means 'to fear'. Together they form a rhetorical 'which is there to fear?' — i.e. 'even if', 'no matter how'. Often paired with 也 in the second clause: 哪怕…也… = 'even if…, still…'.
哪 — mouth 口 + that 那
A phono-semantic compound. The mouth radical 口 signals a spoken word or question particle, while 那 (nà, 'that') supplies the sound. Originally a variant of 那, it later specialized as the interrogative 'which?' in Mandarin.
怕 — heart radical 忄 + white 白
A semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 忄 signals an emotion, while 白 (bái) supplies the sound, which shifted over time to pà. The combination came to mean 'fear'—a feeling in the heart—though 白 contributes only phonetically, not by meaning.