哪儿 from HSK Level 1 Vocabulary List

The Chinese character 哪儿 (nǎr), meaning "where", is composed of two parts: 哪 (nǎ) and 儿 (r). The character 哪 is a question word used to ask about location, while 儿 is a suffix used to indicate a place or location. Together, 哪儿 forms a compound word that means "where".The character 哪 is derived from the Old Chinese word *nˤaʔ, which was used as a question word meaning "where". This word is thought to have originated from the Proto-Sino-Tibetan language, which was the ancestor of Chinese and Tibetan languages. The character 儿 is derived from the Old Chinese word *ʔaʔ, which was used as a suffix to indicate a place or location. This word is thought to have originated from the Proto-Austronesian language, which was the ancestor of many languages spoken in Southeast Asia and Oceania.The compound word 哪儿 is first attested in written Chinese in the 13th century. It is believed to have been formed by combining the characters 哪 and 儿 to create a more specific question word for location. 哪儿 is now one of the most commonly used question words in Chinese, and it is used in both formal and informal speech.