吉安贛語

Gan (Jiʼan)

Sino-Tibetan (Sinitic, Gan — 吉茶片)

FamilySino-Tibetan (Sinitic, Gan — 吉茶片) Speakers~0.5–1M (Jiʼan, not separately documented) ScriptLatin CountriesChina (Jiangxi — Jiʼan 吉安) Official inNo (regional/colloquial only; not official in any jurisdiction)

Ji’an Gan (吉安赣语; internal tag gan_ja) refers to the urban speech of Ji’an in south-central Jiangxi, China, not to neighboring Ganzhou. It belongs to the Jicha branch of Gan, a grouping that includes local varieties across Ji’an prefecture and extends into parts of western Jiangxi and eastern Hunan; urban Ji’an therefore cannot represent the whole branch. Like other Sinitic varieties, it is tonal and makes use of classifiers and aspect particles, but local phonology, vocabulary, and grammar differ from Standard Mandarin and Nanchang Gan. Research on Ji’an speech documents tone sandhi and interrogative constructions, while the Jicha branch varies in checked-tone retention, nasalized finals, and the merger or distinction of /n/ and /l/. Chinese characters are used in writing without a separate standardized orthography, and Standard Mandarin dominates education and formal public life as local Gan recedes among younger speakers.

Where it is spoken

31 core words in Gan (Jiʼan)

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

/ȵi˧˩/

Name

名字

/miaŋ˩˧ sɿ/

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

/ə˨˩/

Hello

你好

/n̩˨˩hau˨˩˧/

Thank you

谢谢

/ɕia˨˩ɕia/

Good

/hau˨˩˧/

Words compared

Compared with related Sino-Tibetan (Sinitic, Gan — 吉茶片) languages

Meaning Gan (Jiʼan)Gan (Jiangxi)Xiang Chinese (Yongzhou dialect)Xiang (Hengyang)Xiang (Hunan)Sichuan MandarinWuhan Mandarin
Water /sui˨˩˧/ /sui˨˩˧/ /tshui˨˩/ /ɕyei˥˩/ /ɕyei˦˩/ /suei˥˧/ /suei˦˨/
Fire /fo˨˩˧/ /fo˨˩˧/ /fu˨˩/ /xo˥˩/ /xo˦˩/ /xo˥˧/ /huo˦˨/
Sun 日头 /ɲit˥tʰɛu˨/ 日头 /ɲit˥tʰɛu/ /nit˥˦/ 太陽 /tʰai˥˩ iaŋ˥˩/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˩ian˩˧/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˩iaŋ˧˥/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˧iaŋ˨˩˧/
Moon 月光 /ŋyot˥kuɔŋ˦˨/ 月光 /ŋyot˥kuɔŋ˦˨/ /ŋɔ̃˥˦/ 月亮 /ye˨˩ liaŋ˥˩/ 月亮 /ye˨˦liæn˨˩/ 月亮 /ye˨˩liaŋ˨˩˧/ 月亮 /yɛ˨˩˧liaŋ/
Star /ɕiaŋ˧˧/ /ɕiaŋ˦˨/ /ɕin˧˧/ /ɕin˧˧/ /ɕin˧˧/ 星星 /ɕin˥ɕin/ /ɕin˥˥/
Mother 妈妈 /ma˦˨ma˦˨/ 妈妈 /ma˦˨ma/ /ma˧˥/ 媽媽 /ma˥˩ ma˥˩/ 妈妈 /ma˧ma/ 妈妈 /ma˥ma/ 妈妈 /ma˨˩˧ma/
Father 爸爸 /pa˥pa˥/ 爸爸 /pa˥pa/ /pa˧˥/ 爸爸 /pa˨˩ pa˥˩/ 爸爸 /pa˥˧pa/ 爸爸 /pa˨˩˧pa/ 爸爸 /pa˨˩˧pa/
I /ŋo˧˩/ /ŋo˨˩˧/ /ŋo˦˩/ /ŋo˨˩/ /ŋo˦˩/ /ŋo˥˧/ /ŋo˦˨/
Page 1/4

Han readings compared

Compared with related Sino-Tibetan (Sinitic, Gan — 吉茶片) languages

Character Gan (Jiʼan)Gan Chinese (Fuzhou)Gan (Jiangxi)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˥/
Page 1/7

Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.