赣语

Gan (Jiangxi)

Sinitic (Gan)

FamilySinitic (Gan) Speakers~22M ScriptSimplified Chinese CountriesChina (Jiangxi, eastern Hunan, southern Anhui, southwestern Hubei) Official inNo (regional) Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3gan

Gan Chinese (赣语) is the principal Sinitic variety of Jiangxi Province, with ~22M speakers spilling into eastern Hunan, southern Anhui, and southwestern Hubei, with Nanchang as the prestige center. Gan preserves several Middle Chinese features lost in Mandarin — including final stop consonants in some sub-varieties and conservative tone categories — and its vocabulary retains numerous archaic Sinitic items. Gan shares deep historical connections with Hakka via shared substrate and migration history, and several classifications group them together as a Hakka-Gan supergroup. The province's short name "Gan" (赣) gives both the language and the Gan River (赣江) their name.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Gan (Jiangxi)

Water

/sui˨˩˧/

Fire

/fo˨˩˧/

Sun

日头

/ɲit˥tʰɛu/

Moon

月光

/ŋyot˥kuɔŋ˦˨/

Mother

妈妈

/ma˦˨ma/

Father

爸爸

/pa˥pa/

Eat

/t͡ɕʰiat˥/

Drink

/hot˥/

Love

/ŋoi˨˩/

Heart

/ɕin˦˨/

Tree

/ɕu˨˩/

House

/uk˥/

Dog

/keu˨˩˧/

Cat

/mau˦˨/

Hand

/ɕeu˨˩˧/

Eye

眼睛

/ŋan˨˩t͡sin˦˨/

Hello

你好

/n̩˨˩hau˨˩˧/

Thank you

谢谢

/ɕia˨˩ɕia/

One

/it˥/

Good

/hau˨˩˧/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Gan) languages

Meaning Gan (Jiangxi)Sichuan MandarinWuhan MandarinXiang (Hunan)Ningbo WuTianjin MandarinJianghuai Mandarin
Water /sui˨˩˧/ /suei˨˩˧/ /suei˨˩˧/ /ɕy˦˩/ /sɿ˨˩˦/ /ʂwei˨˩˧/ /suei˨˩˦/
Fire /fo˨˩˧/ /xo˨˩˧/ /huo˨˩˧/ /xo˦˩/ /hu˨˩˦/ /xwo˨˩˧/ /xuo˨˩˦/
Sun 日头 /ɲit˥tʰɛu/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˩iaŋ˧˥/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˧iaŋ˨˩˧/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˩ian˩˧/ 日头 /ɲiʔ˩˨dɤu/ 日头 /ʐʅ˥˩tʰoʊ˨˦/ 日头 /ʐəʔ˦˦tʰəu˨˦/
Moon 月光 /ŋyot˥kuɔŋ˦˨/ 月亮 /ye˨˩liaŋ˥˩/ 月亮 /yɛ˨˩˧liaŋ/ 月亮 /ye˨˦liaŋ/ 月亮 /ɲyəʔ˩˨liaŋ/ 月亮 /ɥɛ˥˩ljaŋ/ 月亮 /yeʔ˥˥liaŋ˦˦/
Mother 妈妈 /ma˦˨ma/ 妈妈 /mama/ 妈妈 /ma˨˩˧ma/ 妈妈 /ma˧ma/ 阿妈 /aʔ˦˦ma/ /ma˩˩/ /ma˧˧/
Father 爸爸 /pa˥pa/ 爸爸 /papa/ 爸爸 /pa˨˩˧pa/ 爸爸 /pa˥˧pa/ 阿爸 /aʔ˦˦pa/ /pa˥˩/ /pa˥˥/
Eat /t͡ɕʰiat˥/ /tsʰɨ˧˥/ /tʂʰʅ˥˥/ /t͡ɕʰi˨˦/ /t͡ɕʰiʔ˥˥/ /tʂʰɨ˩˩/ /tʂʰʅ˥˥/
Drink /hot˥/ /xo˧˥/ /xo˥˥/ /xo˨˦/ /hoʔ˥˥/ /xɤ˩˩/ /xəʔ˥˥/
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Han readings compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Gan) languages

Character Gan (Jiangxi)Northeastern MandarinJianghuai MandarinThai Mandarin (heritage)Hakka ChineseTianjin MandarinTaiwan Mandarin
it⁵ /it̚˥/ yi⁵⁵ /i˥˥/ yiq⁵ /iəʔ˥/ /i˥˥/ yit /jit̚˨/ yi²¹ /i˨˩/ /i˥˥/
oe²¹ /ɵ˨˩/ er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/ er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/ èr /ɑɻ˥˩/ ngi /ŋi˥˥/ er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/ èr /ɑɻ˥˩/
san⁴² /san˦˨/ san⁵⁵ /san˥˥/ san³³ /sã˧˧/ sān /san˥˥/ sâm /sam˦˦/ san²¹ /sɑn˨˩/ sān /san˥˥/
si⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ si⁵³ /sɿ˥˧/ si⁵¹ /sɿ˥˩/ /sɿ˥˩/ si /si˥˥/ si⁵³ /sɿ˥˧/ /sɿ˥˩/
ng²¹³ /ŋ̩˨˩˧/ wu²¹³ /u˨˩˧/ wu³⁵ /u˧˥/ /u˨˩˦/ ńg /ŋ̩˧˩/ wu¹³ /u˩˧/ /u˨˩˦/
liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/ liu⁵³ /liou˥˧/ liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/ liù /ljou˥˩/ liuk /liuk̚˥/ liu⁵³ /liou˥˧/ liù /ljou˥˩/
qhit⁵ /tɕʰit̚˥/ qi⁵⁵ /tɕʰi˥˥/ ciq⁵ /tsʰiəʔ˥/ /t͡ɕʰi˥˥/ chhit /tsʰit̚˨/ qi²¹ /tɕʰi˨˩/ /t͡ɕʰi˥˥/
pat⁵ /pat̚˥/ ba⁵⁵ /pa˥˥/ baq⁵ /paʔ˥/ /pa˥˥/ pat /pat̚˨/ ba²¹ /pa˨˩/ /pa˥˥/
jiu²¹³ /tɕiu˨˩˧/ jiu²¹³ /tɕiou˨˩˧/ jiu²¹² /tɕiɤu˨˩˨/ jiǔ /t͡ɕjou˨˩˦/ kiú /kiu˧˩/ jiu¹³ /tɕiou˩˧/ jiǔ /t͡ɕjou˨˩˦/
sit⁵ /sɨt̚˥/ shi³⁵ /ʂʐ̩˧˥/ sheq⁵ /ʂəʔ˥/ shí /sz̩˧˥/ sṳ̍p /sɨp̚˥/ shi⁴⁵ /ʂʐ̩˦˥/ shí /sz̩˧˥/
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