# Pronunciation: 卡



## yuechu

大家好，

I was recently reading the novel 北京青年 and came across the following sentence:

"何东就被卡这儿了，上下左右全市障碍，有外因也有内因。"
[p. 38]

I noticed that 卡 is a 多音字. Should it be pronounced qia3 or ka3 here? Also, what does 卡 mean here?
Thanks!


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## kcip

Its pronunciation should be qia3; it means 夹住或被夹住,不能活动 [be wedged in between and cannot move;wedge;get stuck]。（高级汉语词典）


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## yuechu

Thanks for your helpful answer, kcip!


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## Skatinginbc

Both are OK in my opinion. 
My personal habit:
卡 qia3 (transitive)= 夹
卡 ka3 (intransitive) = 堵塞; (transitive) 把...阻挡住, 把...堵塞住, 使動彈不得

何东就卡(ka3 堵)在这儿了 vs. 何东就被卡 (qia3 夹 or ka3 堵) 在这儿了


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## fyl

I have heard (not confirmed) of the following story: There was no "ka" sound in Mandarin, and 卡 was only pronounced as qia3. In southern Chinese, 卡 is pronounced "ka" (consonant "k" in southern Chinese is often "q" in Mandarin) and people used 卡ka to transliterate foreign words. And gradually the "ka" sound became popular also in Mandarin.

If you look up in a dictionary, it is true that there are very few characters with the sounds "ka1" "ka2" "ka3" "ka4" (mostly just dialectal words, interjections and transliterations). And in 《现代汉语词典》, there are 5 meanings of 卡ka3: 1. 卡路里的简称 2. 卡片 3. 磁卡 4. 录音机上放置盒式磁带的仓室装置 5. 卡车. So if you want to follow this dictionary, it is true that 卡ka3 is mostly used for translations, and you should use qia3 here.

But in real life, I agree with Skatinginbc, both qia3 and ka3 are OK. Actually I don't distinguish the meanings of two sounds clearly (except in the translations only 卡 is possible).


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## kareno999

In reality, ka is becoming mainstream and formal whereas qia is going to remain colloquial and regional.


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## Skatinginbc

I _do _clearly distinguish their meanings.  There would be loss of intelligibility for me if one pronounces 卡脖子 (qia3) as ka3.  I honestly would not know what 卡(ka3)脖子 is supposed to mean. Also, 卡子 (qia3) = 夾子 (夾物的器具).  If I hear 卡子 (ka3), I would imagine it is some sort of card or blockage.


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## fyl

Skatinginbc said:


> 卡脖子 (qia3)  卡子 (qia3)


Oh you are right, I forgot these two. 卡 should definitely be qia3 here. I was only thinking about words like 卡住.


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## Youngfun

What's the difference between 掐脖子 and 卡脖子？and between 卡子 and 夹子？

i also sai ka when talking about computer/internet lagging.


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## yuechu

大家好！
My friend recently sent me the following messages:
我都在youtube 看 (电视剧）
因为有时候看国内的网站 网速太慢了 
太卡 

Are both pronunciations possible here? Which one is more common?
Thanks!


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## yuechu

I have another question. My friend told me today that 关卡 should be pronounced guānqiǎ but the dictionary I use has the pronunciation guānkǎ. Are both of these pronunciations common for this word? Which one would you recommend?
谢谢！


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## Skatinginbc

Only guan1 ka3 關卡 in Taiwan.
網速太卡，according to #9, is pronounced ka3.


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## retrogradedwithwind

掐脖子，是掐
卡脖子，是脖子被卡住了，通常指掐。但用作比喻义时看得明显。如商业不畅，政府工作人员到处卡脖子。

卡子和夹子。可百度发卡和发夹看看。区别似乎还是有那么点的。

关卡，是在马路上拦路收税（厘金）的税务机构。读qia。也称卡子。
网卡，似也应读qia.
但上面两个都是独ka的多。


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## M Mira

在台灣沒有聽過 卡qiă 的發音，想表達『夾』的意思也不會用卡這個字，所以也沒有人在用『髮卡』這個詞。


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## yuechu

Thanks for your reply, M Mira! How do you say 髮卡 in Taiwanese Mandarin?


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## Skatinginbc

It does not exist in Taiwan Mandarin.
What is 髮卡 anyway?  Do you mean 髮夾?


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## M Mira

我也不清楚，直接Google到的ptt文說能固定在頭髮上的飾品都可以叫髮卡... 而且Google第二頁就出現了『長髮卡住』這種搜尋結果了，或許這個詞在整個繁體中文圈沒幾個人用?

台灣這裡所謂『髮夾』大概是像英文bobby pin 那樣的東西。


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## retrogradedwithwind

关卡这词是清朝人说的，台湾肯定是存在的。

那个Bobby pin 应该既叫发卡也叫发夹。发卡这词挺普遍的。

可以去淘宝一下“发卡”。看看在台湾是不是所有的发卡都叫发夹。


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## M Mira

關卡的卡這裡也唸kă，通常是指遊戲的關卡，但是指玉門關那種關卡時我也會讀kă.


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## retrogradedwithwind

那就是qia音完全被ka音替代了。游戏的关卡显然是从古代关卡引申而来。

或许也是方言影响？


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## Youngfun

What about "卡住了" (got stuck)? What pronunciation do you use?


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