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Gan (linguistics)

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Gan 赣语
Spoken in:	China
Region:	central and northern Jiangxi, estern Hunan, parts of Fujian, Anhui, Hubei
Total speakers:	20 million~50 million
Ranking:	42 [1]
Language family:	Sino-Tibetan Chinese Gan
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	`zh`
ISO 639-2:	`chi (B)`	`zho (T)`
ISO 639-3:	`gan`
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Gàn (赣语) is one of the major divisions of spoken Chinese, a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Gan speakers are concentrated in and typical of Jiangxi Province, as well as the northwest of Fujian; and some parts of Anhui and Hubei in mainland China.

Different dialects of Gan exist, and the representative dialect is the Nanchang dialect.

The name "Gàn" comes from the shortened name of Jiangxi Province (through which the Gan River flows).

The classification of Gan is a subject of ongoing debate. Like all other varieties of Chinese, there is large amount of dispute as to whether Gan is a language or a dialect. It could be generally divided into three viewpoints:

The first viewpoint considers Gan to be a dialect of Chinese, which is supported by the scholars in mainland China. Actually Gan, with Xiang, were divided out of the region of Mandarin until 1937. and there are some Gan speakers that think Gan to be a dialect, mostly owing to the politic factors or the national emotion, also because Gan has some more similarities with Mandarin, compared with Cantonese or Min.

The second viewpoint considers Gan to be a language with Hakka, called “Gan-Hakka”, or to be a group of languages with Hakka and Cantonese, because there are quite many similarities among the three.

The third viewpoint considers Gan to be an independent language. Because Gan is not intelligible with other Chinese languages, and linguistically, it should be divided into different languages in case of intelligibility.

Please see Identification of the varieties of Chinese for the issues surrounding this dispute.

^{This short section requires expansion.}

Gan:the formal name.

Jiangxinese:the most common name. But there are several languages in Jiangxi, and there also many Gan speakers out of Jiangxi, so this name is not very exact.

Xi:ancient name. Now it is seldom used.

Gan dialect:the name used by the scholars in mainland China. And “Gan” is also used.

Right-river language:because most of Gan speakers live in the south of Yangtze River, so this name was used in ancient China.

In ancient times, Jiangxi was divided into the same politic division with its neighboring provinces. Large numbers of people immigrated into Jiangxi naturally resulted in some similarities with the surrounding languages, Gan and Hakka are the most similar.

**Index of Overall Mutual Intelligibility between Gan and other Chinese Languages (mean correlation)**
	Hakka	Mandarin	Min Bei	Xiang	Min Nan	Cantonese	Wu
Gan	65.6%	55.8%	54.2%	52.2%	50.4%	49.5%	48.1%

**Index of Mutual Phonological Intelligibility between Gan and other Chinese Languages (mean correlation)**
	Min Bei	Xiang	Min Nan	Wu	Hakka	Mandarin	Cantonese
Gan	77.8%	77.5%	72.7%	70.8%	68.9%	67.6%	64.7%

**Index of Mutual Lexical Intelligibility between Gan and other Chinese Languages (mean correlation)**
	Xiang	Mandarin	Wu	Hakka	Cantonese	Min Bei	Min Nan
Gan	55.5%	46.9%	32.8%	27.2%	23.7%	18.4%	14.4%

The area coloured in light yellow shows the Gan-speaking region in the PRC.

Gan speakers almost live in the middle and lower reaches of Gan River, the drainage area of Fu River and the region of Poyang Lake, there are also many Gan speakers living in eastern Hunan, eastern Hubei, southern Anhui and northwest Fujian, etc.

According to the《Diagram of Divisions in the People’s Republic of China》(《中華人民共和國行政區劃簡冊》)(2004), Gan is spoken by approximately 48,000,000 people, while 29,000,000 in Jiangxi [2],4,500,000 in Anhui [3]、5,300,000 in Hubei [4]、9,000,000 in Hunan [5]、270,000 in Fujian [6].

Ancient Ages

During the Qin Dynasty (221 BC), a large number of troops were sent to southern China in order to conquer the Baiyue (百越) territories in Fujian and Guangdong, as a result, numerous Han Chinese immigrated to Jiangxi in the years following. In the early years of the Han Dynasty (202 BC), Nanchang was established as the capital of the Yuzhang Commandery (豫章郡) (this name stems from the original name of Gan River), along with the 18 counties (縣) of Jiangxi Province. The population of the Yuzhang Commandery increased to 1,670,000 (by AD 140) from 350,000 (in AD 2), with a net growth of 1,320,000. The Yuzhang Commandery ranked forth in population among the more than 100 contemporary commanderies of China. As the largest commandery of YangZhou (揚州), Yuzhang accounted for two fifths of the population and Gan gradually took shape during this period.

Middle Ages

As a result of continuous warfare in the region of central China, the first large scale immigration in the history of China took place. Large numbers of people in central China relocated to southern China in order to escape the bloodshed and at this time, Jiangxi played a role as a transfer station. Also, during this period, ancient Gan began to be exposed to the northern Mandarin Guan-hua (官話) dialects. After centuries of rule by the Southern Dynasties, Gan still retained many original characteristics despite having absorbed some elements of Guan-Hua. Up until the Tang Dynasty, there was little difference between old Gan and the contemporary Gan of that era. Beginning in the Five Dynasties period, however, inhabitants in the central and northern parts of Jiangxi Province began to migrate to eastern Hunan, eastern Hubei, southern Anhui and northwest Fujian. During this period, following hundreds of years of migration, Gan spread to its current areas of distribution.

Recent History

Guan-hua evolved into a language based on Beijing Mandarin, owing largely to political factors. At the same time, the differences between Gan and Guan-hua continued to become more pronounced. However, because Jiangxi borders on Jianghuai, a Guan-hua, Xiang, and Hakka speaking region, Gan proper has also been influenced by these surrounding languages, especially in its border regions.

Modern Times

After 1949, as a “dialect” in Mainland China, Gan faced a critical period. The impact of Mandarin is quite evident today as a result of official governmental linguistic campaigns. Currently, many youths are unable to master Gan expressions, and some are no longer able speak Gan at all.

Recently, however, as a result of increased interest in protecting the local language, Gan now has begun to appear in various regional media, and there are also newscasts and television programs broadcast in the Gan language.

History of Gan

According to 《Atlas of Chinese languages》(《中國語言地圖集》)(1987), there are 9 dialects in Gan.

dialect	representative	Provinces	Cities
Chang-Du	Nanchang dialect	northwestern Jiangxi	(Jaingxi) Nanchang City, Nangchang, Xinjian, Anyi, Yongxiu, Xiushui, De'an, Xingzi, Duchang, Hukou, Gao'an, Fengxin, Jing'an, Wuning, Tonggu; (Hunan) Pingjiang.
Yi-Liu	Yichun dialect	central and western Jiangxi	(Jiangxi) Yichun City, Yichun, Yifeng, Shanggao, Qingjiang, Xingan, Xinyu City, Fen yi, Pingxiang City, Fengcheng, Wanzai; (Hunan)Liuyang, Liling.
Ji-Cha	Ji'an dialect	central and southern Jiangxi, eastern Hunan	(Jiangxi) Ji'an City, Ji'an, Jishui, Xiajiang, Taihe, Yongfeng, Anfu, Lianhua, Yongxin, Ninggang, Jianggangshan Wan'an, Suichuan; (Hunan)Youxian, Chaling*, Linxian.
Fu-Guang	Fuzhou dialect	central and eastern Jiangxi, southwestern Fujian	(Jiangxi) Fuzhou City, Linchuan, Chongren, Yihuang, Le'an, Nancheng, Lichuan, Zixi, Jinxi, Dongxiang, Jinxian, Nanfeng, Guangchang*; (Fujian)Jianning, Taining.
Ying-Yi	Yingtan dialect	northeastern Jiangxi	(Jiangxi) Yingtan City, Guixi, Yujiang, Wannian, Leping, Jingdezhen*, Yugan, Poyang, Pengze, Hengfeng, Yiyang, Chuanshan.
Datong	Daye dialect	southeastern Hubei, eastern Hunan	(Hubei) Daya, Xianning City, Jiangyu, Puxin, Chongyang, Tongcheng, Tongshan, Yangxin, Jianli; (Hunan)Linxiang, Yueyang*,Huarong.
Lei-Zi	Leiyang dialect	estern Hunan	(Hunan) Leiyang, Changning, Anren, Yongxing, Zixing City.
Dong-Sui	Dongkou dialect	southwestern Hunan	(Hunan) Dongkou, Suining, Longhui*.
Huai-Yue	Huaining dialect	southwestern Anhui	(Anhui) Huaining, Yuexi, Qianshan, Taihu, Wangjiang, Susong, Dongzhi, Shitai, Guichi*.

Ps: name with * means Gan is partly spoken in this city.

Like other Chinese tonal language, the function of tones in Gan is to distinguish the words’ meaning, and the tones may change in some cases.

The eight tone of ancient Chinese has been reserved in Gan: (Yin & Yang) level, (Yin & Yang) rising, (Yin & Yang) departing, (Yin & Yang) entering. Some dialects of Gan has reserved all of them.

Gan (e.g. Nanchang dialect) has 19 syllable onset(聲母), 65 syllable rimes(韻母) and 7 tones.

tones of Gan

yin level (42)/ IPA: [˦˨]

yang level (24)/ IPA: [˨˦]

rising (213)/ IPA: [˨˩˧]

yin departing (55)/ IPA: [˥˥]

yang departing (21)/ IPA: [˨˩]

yin entering (5)/ IPA: [˥]

yang entering (21)/ IPA: [˨˩]

Ps: the 6th and 7th tone has the same pitch with 4th and 5th tone. But they are added -t, -k in the final to distinguish the phonetic transition. The definition of tone contains the pitch and phonetic transition, so there are still 7 tones in Gan.

Gan has 6 vowels:i, y, e, a, o, u.

	Apical	Front		Mid	Back
High	ɿ	i	y				u
Mid				ə
Mid		ɛ				ɔ
Low					ɑ

In each cell below, the first line indicates IPA, the second indicates pinyin.

			Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Alveo-palatal	palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stops	Unv	Unasp	[p] b 巴			[t] d 打			[k] g 加
Stops	Unv	Asp	[pʰ] p 怕			[tʰ] t 讀			[kʰ] k 卡
Affricates	Unv	Unasp			[ʦ] ts 渣		[ʨ] j 記
Affricates	Unv	Asp			[ʦʰ] ts 茶		[ʨʰ] ch 喫
Fricatives	Unvoiced			[ɸ] f 花	[s] s 紗		[ɕ] sh 曉			[h] h 蝦
Nasals	Voiced		[m] m 麻					[ɲ] gn 魚	[ŋ] ng 牙
Laterals	Voiced					[l] l 啦

Ps: Ø is an initial without sound.

opening finals(24):

[a] a 媽	[ia] ia 惹	[ua] ua 瓦		[ai] ai 崽	[au] au 冇		[uai] uai 外
[o] o 荷		[uo] uo 禾		[oi] 〔oi 礙〕	[ɨu] iu 仇	[iu] iiu 有	[ui] ui 微
[e] e 擿	[ie] ie 葉	[ue] ue 哇(叫)	[ye] ye 越	[ei] ei 恁(邊)	[ɛu] eu 浮	[iɛu] ieu 妖
[ɿ] i 痴	[i] ii 依	[ɨi] ĳ 非	[y] y 於		[u] u 烏

nasal finals(19):

[an] an 鹹		[uan] uan 晚		[aŋ] ang 彭	[iaŋ] iang 影	[uaŋ] uang 汪
[on] on 漢		[uon] uon 碗	[yon] yon 遠	[ɔŋ] ong 胖	[iɔŋ] iong 陽	[uɔŋ] uong 王
[en] en 痕	[iɛn] ien 言				[uŋ] ung 翁	[iuŋ] iung 用
[ɨn] in 深	[in] iin 因	[un] un 問	[yn] yn 雲

entering finals(20):

[at] at 抲		[uat] uat 濩		[aʔ] ak 客	[iaʔ] iak 喫	[uaʔ] uak 刮
[ot] ot 磕		[uot] uot 闊	[yot] yot 月	[ɔʔ] ok 殼	[iɔʔ] iok 雀	[uɔʔ] uok 擴
[ɛt] et 虱	[iɛt] iet 咳	[ut] ut 窟	[uɛt] uet 國			[uʔ] uk 哭	[iuʔ] iuk 肉
[ɨt] it 濕	[it] iit 日		[yt] yt 曲

independent finals(3):

[m̩] m 唔	[n] n 乃(你)	[ŋ̍] ng 五

consonantal finals	-t	-k	-n	-ng
IPA	[-t]	[-ʔ]	[-n]	[-ŋ]
Example	白	拍	冰	碰

春曉　　孟浩然	Tsun1 Shieu3　　 Mung5 Hau5-lan4
春眠不覺曉，	tsun1 mien4 bit6 jyot6 shieu3,
處處聞啼鳥。	tsu2 tsu2 wun4 tii2 nieu3.
夜來風雨聲，	ya5 lai4 fung1 yu3 sin1,
花落知多少？	fa1 lok7 tzi1 do1 sieu3?

In Gan, there are 9 principal grammatical tenses – initial （起始）, progressive （進行）, experimental （嘗試）, durative （持續）, processive （經歷）, continuative （繼續）, repeating （重行）, perfect （已然）, complete （完成）.

The grammar of Gan is similar to southern Chinese languages. The sequence 'subject verb object’ is most typical, but ' subject object verb ' or the passive voice (with the sequence ' 'object subject verb') is possible with particles. Take a simple sentence for example: "I hold you." The words involved are: ngo ("I" or "me"), tsot dok ("to hold"), ň ("you").

Subject verb object (typical sequence): The sentence in the typical sequence would be: ngo tsot dok ň. ("I hold you.")
Subject lat object verb: Another sentence of roughly equivalent meaning is ngo lat ň tsot dok, with the slight connotation of "I take you and hold" or "I get to you and hold."
Object den subject verb (the passive voice): Then, ň den ngo tsot dok means the same thing but in the passive voice, with the connotation of "You allow yourself to be held by me" or "You make yourself available for my holding."

Gan does not have a strong written tradition, and it is written in Chinese characters. There are also some plans of Romanization, but not very popularly used.

In Gan, there are a number of archaic words and expressions originally found in ancient Chinese, and which are now seldom or no longer used in Mandarin. For example, the noun ‘clothes’ in Gan is ‘衣裳’ while ‘衣服’ in Mandarin, the verb ‘sleep’ in Gan is ‘睏覺’ while ‘睡覺’ in Mandarin. Also, to describe something dirty, Gan speakers use ‘下里巴人’, which is a reference to a song from the Chu （楚國） region dating to China's Spring and Autumn Period.

Additionally, there are numerous interjections in Gan （e.g. 哈、噻、啵）, which can largely strengthen sentences, and better express different feelings.

Gan speakers usually use Vernacular Chinese as the written form, which is used by all Chinese speakers.^[1]