# There is a ship stuck in the Suez Canal.



## yuechu

大家好！
I was thinking of how to translate the following sentence into Chinese: There is a ship stuck in the Suez Canal.
Would it be 苏伊士运河有一条船（被？）卡住在里面? (堵？) (Feel free to change this completely!)
Thanks!


----------



## Lamb67

搁 qian 搁字的解释---在线新华字典


----------



## SimonTsai

有一艘船被卡在蘇伊士運河裏。

'條' is usually used for boats. In this case we have a megaship, so we need '艘'.


----------



## yuechu

Oh, I'd forgotten about 一艘 (this measure word). Thanks, Simon! 
In this context, would you pronounce 卡 "kǎ" or "qiǎ"?


----------



## SimonTsai

(ka, 3)


----------



## T.D

Using 卡 emphasises the fact that the ship got stuck and cannot move. 
Using 堵 implies the ship is blocking the canal (and others cannot pass)


----------



## Skatinginbc

有艘船卡在蘇伊士運河(裡，動彈不得，導致航道堵塞癱瘓)。


----------



## yuechu

Thank you all for your help! 

In Mainland Mandarin, would 卡 be pronounced qiǎ here? (The dictionary I use says that there are sometimes regional differences but I'm not sure if it's for this context or not!)


----------



## Skatinginbc

SimonTsai said:


> 有一艘船*被*卡在蘇伊士運河裏。


請問: 這艘船*被*什麼卡住? 強風嗎? 強風已過, 就不能說它還被強風夾在河裏。泥砂嗎? 泥砂被撞, 是受害者。
我又想: 究竟是誰卡誰? 是河卡住船, 還是船卡住河 (船卡住航道)?


----------



## SimonTsai

有【被】沒【被】都行。強風把船卡在運河裏。小新把鋼達姆丟在地上，去門口迎接娜娜子。小新不在客廳了，鋼達姆 (被) 丟在地上。強風已過，但船仍 (被) 卡在運河裏。


----------



## Skatinginbc

卡: 被夾住或堵塞而不能活動

我（用身體包括手臂、肘和腿）把他卡住/夾住/堵住, 我離開了, 他還被我 (的身體) 卡住/夾住/堵住嗎?  沒!
強風 (用本身的力量) 把船卡住/夾住/堵住, 強風離開了, 船還被強風 (本身的力量) 卡住/夾住/堵住嗎?  沒!

我（用箱子）把他卡住/夾住/堵住, 我離開了, 他還被我 (搬動過的箱子) 卡住/夾住/堵住嗎?  是!
我（用繩子）把他綑住, 我離開了, 他還被我 (動過的繩子) 綑住嗎? 是!
強風 (用泥砂) 把船卡住/夾住/堵住, 強風離開了, 船還被強風 (搬動過的泥砂) 卡住/夾住/堵住嗎?  是!

泥砂被強風搬動過嗎? 是強風用泥砂撲埋船 (i.e., 船被泥砂卡住; passive voice, 船是 patient of the action), 還是船失控撞進泥砂 (i.e., 船卡在砂堆中; active voice, 船是 agent of the action)?


----------



## yuechu

Someone from Mainland China told me they prefer pronouncing 卡 "kǎ" in this context as well!


----------



## SimonTsai

強風把船卡在運河裏。強風動的是船，不是河底的泥沙，但船確實被泥沙卡住了。

有人從樓上墜下，掉到天井的網子上。網子原本就在那兒，但我們仍說人被網子接住了。


----------



## 2PieRad

yuechu said:


> In Mainland Mandarin, would 卡 be pronounced qiǎ here? (The dictionary I use says that there are sometimes regional differences but I'm not sure if it's for this context or not!)


卡qia3 is indeed somewhat dialectical...isn't it? And I think qia3 is more appropriate for smaller scale "卡ings". Not quite right for big boats in big canals.

Perhaps 手指卡qia3在门里. In that sense, it might be translated as _pinch _whereas 卡ka3 couldn't. Not sure though...need confirmation.


----------



## T.D

According to 新华字典：

When it is 'inbetween something and cannot move or blocking the way', it's qiǎ
鱼刺卡在喉咙里。

When it is 'to block' or 'to strangle', it's kǎ
卡住敌人的退路。


----------



## SuperXW

T.D said:


> According to 新华字典：
> 
> When it is 'inbetween something and cannot move or blocking the way', it's qiǎ
> 鱼刺卡在喉咙里。
> 
> When it is 'to block' or 'to strangle', it's kǎ
> 卡住敌人的退路。


好难区分啊……
按上面的意思是说，被动的叫qia3，主动的叫ka3？


----------



## T.D

SuperXW said:


> 好难区分啊……
> 按上面的意思是说，被动的叫qia3，主动的叫ka3？


我个人的理解是，qiǎ是一个状态，而kǎ是一个动作。不过我感觉日常生活中分得其实也没那么清楚，你说有一根鱼刺kǎ在喉咙里了我觉得也完全OK。


----------



## 2PieRad

T.D said:


> 鱼刺卡在喉咙里。





T.D said:


> 你说有一根鱼刺kǎ在喉咙里了我觉得也完全OK。


But this example is fairly analogous to the original, isn't it?
鱼刺 ≈ 船
喉咙 ≈ 运河
ka3 and qia3 are both fine for 鱼刺、喉咙 but qia3 isn't appropriate for 船，运河。Why? Is it a matter of size, as I mentioned in #14?

How would you read my example in #14, then? 手指、门。 qia3 or ka3?
Both are fine, and would mean essentially the same thing, right? Though I feel that qia3 emphasizes the fact that the door _closed_ on your finger and _pinched _it, whereas ka3 simply suggests that your finger is stuck there - the door might have closed on your finger, or 是你自己把手指塞进去的，现在拔不出来了。  Thus, I actually feel that ka3 is more of a 状态 while qia3 is more of a 动作. Perhaps qia3 implies the 门 closing, the 喉咙 constricting, but a 运河 cannot "shrink" to trap a ship.


Just found this thread: Pronunciation: 卡


----------



## T.D

Size doesn't matter I suppose. 
This is purely my assumption. When we say kǎ, it emphasises the fact that the ship is BLOCKING the canal (other ships cannot pass); while qiǎ emphasising that the ship got STUCK in the canal. (it cannot move)


----------

