宜春話

Gan Chinese (Yichun dialect)

Sino-Tibetan (Sinitic, Gan — 宜浏片)

FamilySino-Tibetan (Sinitic, Gan — 宜浏片) Speakers~1M (Yichun) + ~5.2M Gan total ScriptLatin CountriesChina (Jiangxi — Yichun 宜春) Official inNon-official (classified as Chinese dialect in PRC; scholarly debate on independent language status)

Yichun Gan (宜春赣语; internal tag gan_yc) is a Sinitic variety spoken in and around Yuanzhou District of Yichun, in western Jiangxi, China. Under the Language Atlas of China classification, it belongs to the Yiliu branch of Gan, although speech across Yichun prefecture varies between counties. Descriptions of the urban Yuanzhou system report five citation-tone categories—Yinping, Yangping, Shang, Qu, and a checked tone—and nasal codas /n, ŋ/ together with glottal /ʔ/ in checked syllables. Its sound correspondences and vocabulary distinguish it from Nanchang Gan, Xiang to the west, and neighboring Hakka varieties, so forms cannot safely be transferred from a supposed prestige variety. Chinese characters are used when it is written, but there is no separate standardized orthography; Standard Mandarin dominates education and formal media, while local Gan remains a community language and is documented through dialect surveys and language-resource projects.

Where it is spoken

31 core words in Gan Chinese (Yichun dialect)

Water

/ʂui̯˨˩˥/

Fire

/hu̯o˨˩˥/

Sun

/ɲɪk̚˧˩/

Moon

/ŋɔk̚˥˥/

Star

/ɕiaŋ˦˨/

Mother

/ma˧˩/

Father

/pa˥˥/

I

/ŋo˨˩˧/

You

/ȵi˨˩˧/

Name

名字

/miaŋ˨˦ sɿ/

Eye

/ŋan˧˩/

Hand

/ʂəu̯˧˧/

Heart

/tɕɪn˥˥/

Love

/ɛ˨˩˥/

Tree

/tʂu˨˩˥/

House

/u̯ok̚˧˩/

Dog

/kəu̯˥˥/

Cat

/mau̯˧˩/

Eat

/tɕɪk̚˧˩/

Drink

/ɬak̚˥/

One

/ɪ˧˧/

Two

/ə˨˩/

Hello

你好

/ni˥˥ hau̯˨˩˥/

Thank you

多謝

/to˥˥ ʂɛ˥˦/

Good

/hau̯˨˩˥/

Words compared

Compared with related Sino-Tibetan (Sinitic, Gan — 宜浏片) languages

Meaning Gan Chinese (Yichun dialect)Xiang Chinese (Yongzhou dialect)Gan (Jiangxi)Gan (Jiʼan)Jianghuai MandarinGan Chinese (Fuzhou)Tianjin Mandarin
Water /ʂui̯˨˩˥/ /tshui˨˩/ /sui˨˩˧/ /sui˨˩˧/ /suei˨˩˦/ /ʂui˧˨/ /ʂwei˩˧/
Fire /hu̯o˨˩˥/ /fu˨˩/ /fo˨˩˧/ /fo˨˩˧/ /xuo˨˩˦/ /huo˧/ /xwo˨˩˧/
Sun /ɲɪk̚˧˩/ /nit˥˦/ 日头 /ɲit˥tʰɛu/ 日头 /ɲit˥tʰɛu˨/ 日头 /ʐəʔ˦˦tʰəu˨˦/ 日头 /ɲɪʔ˥ tʰɔu˥/ 日头 /ʐʅ˥˩tʰoʊ˨˦/
Moon /ŋɔk̚˥˥/ /ŋɔ̃˥˦/ 月光 /ŋyot˥kuɔŋ˦˨/ 月光 /ŋyot˥kuɔŋ˦˨/ 月亮 /yeʔ˥˥liaŋ˦˦/ 月光 /ŋuəʔ˥ kuaŋ˥/ 月亮 /ɥɛ˥˩ljaŋ/
Star /ɕiaŋ˦˨/ /ɕin˧˧/ /ɕiaŋ˦˨/ /ɕiaŋ˧˧/ /ɕin˧˩/ /ɕiaŋ˦˨/ /ɕiŋ˨˩/
Mother /ma˧˩/ /ma˧˥/ 妈妈 /ma˦˨ma/ 妈妈 /ma˦˨ma˦˨/ /ma˧˧/ /mu˧/ /ma˩˩/
Father /pa˥˥/ /pa˧˥/ 爸爸 /pa˥pa/ 爸爸 /pa˥pa˥/ /pa˥˥/ /bu˥/ /pa˥˩/
I /ŋo˨˩˧/ /ŋo˦˩/ /ŋo˨˩˧/ /ŋo˧˩/ /o˨˩˨/ /ŋo˨˩˧/ /wo˩˧/
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Han readings compared

Compared with related Sino-Tibetan (Sinitic, Gan — 宜浏片) languages

Character Gan Chinese (Yichun dialect)Gan (Jiʼan)Gan Chinese (Fuzhou)Gan (Jiangxi)Gan Chinese (Yingtan)Northeastern MandarinTianjin Mandarin
it¹ /it̚˨˦/ it⁵ /it̚˥/ it⁵ /it̚˥/ it⁵ /it̚˥/ it⁵ /it̚˥/ yi⁵⁵ /i˥˥/ yi²¹ /i˨˩/
ŋ² /ŋ̩˦/ oe²¹ /ɵ˨˩/ oe²¹ /ɵ˨˩/ oe²¹ /ɵ˨˩/ ɛ²¹ /ɛ˨˩/ er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/ er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/
san³ /san˧˩/ san⁴² /san˦˨/ san⁴² /san˦˨/ san⁴² /san˦˨/ sã⁴² /sã˦˨/ san⁵⁵ /san˥˥/ san²¹ /sɑn˨˩/
si⁵ /sɿ˥/ si⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ si⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ si⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ sɿ⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ si⁵³ /sɿ˥˧/ si⁵³ /sɿ˥˧/
ŋ⁴ /ŋ̩˨˩˧/ ng²¹³ /ŋ̩˨˩˧/ ng²¹³ /ŋ̩˨˩˧/ ng²¹³ /ŋ̩˨˩˧/ ŋ̩²¹³ /ŋ̩˨˩˧/ wu²¹³ /u˨˩˧/ wu¹³ /u˩˧/
liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/ liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/ liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/ liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/ liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/ liu⁵³ /liou˥˧/ liu⁵³ /liou˥˧/
tɕʰit⁵ /tɕʰit̚˥/ qhit⁵ /tɕʰit̚˥/ qhit⁵ /tɕʰit̚˥/ qhit⁵ /tɕʰit̚˥/ tɕʰit⁵ /tɕʰit̚˥/ qi⁵⁵ /tɕʰi˥˥/ qi²¹ /tɕʰi˨˩/
pat¹ /pat̚˨˦/ pat⁵ /pat̚˥/ pat⁵ /pat̚˥/ pat⁵ /pat̚˥/ pat⁵ /pat̚˥/ ba⁵⁵ /pa˥˥/ ba²¹ /pa˨˩/
tɕiu⁴ /tɕiu˨˩˧/ jiu²¹³ /tɕiu˨˩˧/ jiu²¹³ /tɕiu˨˩˧/ jiu²¹³ /tɕiu˨˩˧/ tɕiu²¹³ /tɕiu˨˩˧/ jiu²¹³ /tɕiou˨˩˧/ jiu¹³ /tɕiou˩˧/
sit¹ /sɨt̚˨˦/ sit⁵ /sɨt̚˥/ sit⁵ /sɨt̚˥/ sit⁵ /sɨt̚˥/ sɨt⁵ /sɨt̚˥/ shi³⁵ /ʂʐ̩˧˥/ shi⁴⁵ /ʂʐ̩˦˥/
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