Acao

It is composed of two syllables: "A" and "Cao".

Spelling	a
Closest English pronunciation	/ɑ:/
Hint	As the a in English "art".
Chinese Pinyin	ā á ǎ à
Common characters in names	阿

Spelling	cao
Closest English pronunciation	/tsaʊ/
Hint	"hats" + "now". Not /kaʊ/ as in English "cow".
Chinese Pinyin	cāo cáo cǎo cào
Common characters in names	曹 操 草