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

31 core words in Gan (Jiangxi)

Water

/sui˨˩˧/

Fire

/fo˨˩˧/

Sun

日头

/ɲit˥tʰɛu/

Moon

月光

/ŋyot˥kuɔŋ˦˨/

Star

/ɕiaŋ˦˨/

Mother

妈妈

/ma˦˨ma/

Father

爸爸

/pa˥pa/

I

/ŋo˨˩˧/

You

/ɲi˨˩˧/

Name

/miaŋ˨˦/

Eye

眼睛

/ŋan˨˩tsin˦˨/

Hand

/ɕeu˨˩˧/

Heart

/ɕin˦˨/

Love

/ŋoi˨˩/

Tree

/ɕu˨˩/

House

/uk˥/

Dog

/keu˨˩˧/

Cat

/mau˦˨/

Eat

/tɕʰiat˥/

Drink

/hot˥/

One

/it˥/

Two

/ɵ˨˩/

Hello

你好

/n̩˨˩hau˨˩˧/

Thank you

谢谢

/ɕia˨˩ɕia/

Good

/hau˨˩˧/

Cuckoo

布谷

/pu˦˥kuʔ˥/

Computer

电脑

/tiɛn˩˩lau˨˩˧/

Sushi

寿司

/sɨu˨˩sz̩˦˨/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Gan) languages

Meaning Gan (Jiangxi)Gan (Jiʼan)Sichuan MandarinTianjin MandarinJianghuai MandarinXiang (Hunan)Gan Chinese (Yichun dialect)
Water /sui˨˩˧/ /sui˨˩˧/ /suei˥˧/ /ʂwei˩˧/ /suei˨˩˦/ /ɕyei˦˩/ /ʂui̯˨˩˥/
Fire /fo˨˩˧/ /fo˨˩˧/ /xo˥˧/ /xwo˨˩˧/ /xuo˨˩˦/ /xo˦˩/ /hu̯o˨˩˥/
Sun 日头 /ɲit˥tʰɛu/ 日头 /ɲit˥tʰɛu˨/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˩iaŋ˧˥/ 日头 /ʐʅ˥˩tʰoʊ˨˦/ 日头 /ʐəʔ˦˦tʰəu˨˦/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˩ian˩˧/ /ɲɪk̚˧˩/
Moon 月光 /ŋyot˥kuɔŋ˦˨/ 月光 /ŋyot˥kuɔŋ˦˨/ 月亮 /ye˨˩liaŋ˨˩˧/ 月亮 /ɥɛ˥˩ljaŋ/ 月亮 /yeʔ˥˥liaŋ˦˦/ 月亮 /ye˨˦liæn˨˩/ /ŋɔk̚˥˥/
Star /ɕiaŋ˦˨/ /ɕiaŋ˧˧/ 星星 /ɕin˥ɕin/ /ɕiŋ˨˩/ /ɕin˧˩/ /ɕin˧˧/ /ɕiaŋ˦˨/
Mother 妈妈 /ma˦˨ma/ 妈妈 /ma˦˨ma˦˨/ 妈妈 /ma˥ma/ /ma˩˩/ /ma˧˧/ 妈妈 /ma˧ma/ /ma˧˩/
Father 爸爸 /pa˥pa/ 爸爸 /pa˥pa˥/ 爸爸 /pa˨˩˧pa/ /pa˥˩/ /pa˥˥/ 爸爸 /pa˥˧pa/ /pa˥˥/
I /ŋo˨˩˧/ /ŋo˧˩/ /ŋo˥˧/ /wo˩˧/ /o˨˩˨/ /ŋo˦˩/ /ŋo˨˩˧/
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Han readings compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Gan) languages

Character Gan (Jiangxi)Gan (Jiʼan)Gan Chinese (Fuzhou)Gan Chinese (Yingtan)Gan Chinese (Yichun dialect)Northeastern MandarinJianghuai Mandarin
it⁵ /it̚˥/ it⁵ /it̚˥/ it⁵ /it̚˥/ it⁵ /it̚˥/ it¹ /it̚˨˦/ yi⁵⁵ /i˥˥/ yiq⁵ /iəʔ˥/
oe²¹ /ɵ˨˩/ oe²¹ /ɵ˨˩/ oe²¹ /ɵ˨˩/ ɛ²¹ /ɛ˨˩/ ŋ² /ŋ̩˦/ er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/ er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/
san⁴² /san˦˨/ san⁴² /san˦˨/ san⁴² /san˦˨/ sã⁴² /sã˦˨/ san³ /san˧˩/ san⁵⁵ /san˥˥/ san³³ /sã˧˧/
si⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ si⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ si⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ sɿ⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ si⁵ /sɿ˥/ si⁵³ /sɿ˥˧/ si⁵¹ /sɿ˥˩/
ng²¹³ /ŋ̩˨˩˧/ ng²¹³ /ŋ̩˨˩˧/ ng²¹³ /ŋ̩˨˩˧/ ŋ̩²¹³ /ŋ̩˨˩˧/ ŋ⁴ /ŋ̩˨˩˧/ wu²¹³ /u˨˩˧/ wu³⁵ /u˧˥/
liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/ liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/ liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/ liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/ liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/ liu⁵³ /liou˥˧/ liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/
qhit⁵ /tɕʰit̚˥/ qhit⁵ /tɕʰit̚˥/ qhit⁵ /tɕʰit̚˥/ tɕʰit⁵ /tɕʰit̚˥/ tɕʰit⁵ /tɕʰit̚˥/ qi⁵⁵ /tɕʰi˥˥/ ciq⁵ /tsʰiəʔ˥/
pat⁵ /pat̚˥/ pat⁵ /pat̚˥/ pat⁵ /pat̚˥/ pat⁵ /pat̚˥/ pat¹ /pat̚˨˦/ ba⁵⁵ /pa˥˥/ paq⁵ /paʔ˥/
jiu²¹³ /tɕiu˨˩˧/ jiu²¹³ /tɕiu˨˩˧/ jiu²¹³ /tɕiu˨˩˧/ tɕiu²¹³ /tɕiu˨˩˧/ tɕiu⁴ /tɕiu˨˩˧/ jiu²¹³ /tɕiou˨˩˧/ jiu²¹² /tɕiɤu˨˩˨/
sit⁵ /sɨt̚˥/ sit⁵ /sɨt̚˥/ sit⁵ /sɨt̚˥/ sɨt⁵ /sɨt̚˥/ sit¹ /sɨt̚˨˦/ shi³⁵ /ʂʐ̩˧˥/ sheq⁵ /ʂəʔ˥/
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