卡壳
qiǎ​ké

get stuck

卡 kǎ stuck

Origin unclear, but typically explained as being stuck between something above (上) and something below (下). The uses of 卡 to mean "card" or "calorie" are foreign phonetic loans.

Components

上
上 Iconic component
shàng, shang up
下
下 Iconic component
xià, xia under

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

咔胩佧

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

壳 ké, qiào casing Simplified

Simplified form of 殼. Phonosemantic compound. 几 represents the meaning and 㱿 represents the sound.

Components

㱿
㱿 SoundRemnant component
què, hù, qiǎng to strike from above
几
几 Meaning component
jǐ, jī small table

A table is considered to be a hard object, much like a casing.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

殼 ké, qiào casing Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 几 represents the meaning and 㱿 represents the sound.

Components

几
几 Meaning component
jǐ, jī small table

A table is considered to be a hard object, much like a casing.

㱿
㱿 Sound component
què, hù, qiǎng to strike from above

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhaewk[kʰ]ˤrok hollow shell, hollow

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart