Gan, Gann or Kan is a group of
Sinitic languages
The Sinitic languages (漢語族/汉语族), often synonymous with "Chinese languages", are a group of East Asian analytic languages that constitute the major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. It is frequently proposed that there is ...
spoken
natively by many people in the
Jiangxi province of China, as well as significant populations in surrounding regions such as
Hunan,
Hubei,
Anhui, and
Fujian. Gan is a member of the
Sinitic languages
The Sinitic languages (漢語族/汉语族), often synonymous with "Chinese languages", are a group of East Asian analytic languages that constitute the major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. It is frequently proposed that there is ...
of the
Sino-Tibetan language family, and
Hakka is the closest Chinese variety to Gan in terms of phonetics.
Different dialects of Gan exist; the
Nanchang dialect is usually taken as representative.
Classification
Like all other varieties of
Chinese, there is a large amount of mutual unintelligibility between Gan Chinese and other varieties. Within the variation of Chinese dialects, Gan has more similarities with
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
than with
Yue or
Min. However, Gan clusters more with
Xiang than Mandarin.
Name
* ''Gan'': the most common name. Also spelled ''Gann'' to reflect the falling tone of the name in Mandarin. Scholars in mainland China use ''Gan'' or ''Gan dialect.''
* ''Jiāngxīhuà'' ("Jiangxi language") is commonly used in Chinese, but since the borders of the language do not follow the borders of the province, this name is not geographically exact.
* ''Xi'' ("right-river language"): an ancient name, now seldom used, arising from the fact that most Gan speakers live south of the
Yangtze River, beyond the right-hand bank when traveling downstream.
Region
Most Gan speakers live in the middle and lower reaches of the
Gan River, the drainage area of the
Fu River, and the region of
Poyang Lake
Poyang Lake (, Gan: Po-yong U), located in Jiujiang, is the largest freshwater lake in China.
The lake is fed by the Gan, Xin, and Xiu rivers, which connect to the Yangtze through a channel.
The area of Poyang Lake fluctuates dramatically be ...
. There are also many Gan speakers living in eastern
Hunan, eastern
Hubei, southern
Anhui, northwest
Fujian, etc.
According to the ''Diagram of Divisions in the People's Republic of China'', Gan is spoken by approximately 48,000,000 people: 29,000,000 in Jiangxi, 4,500,000 in Anhui, 5,300,000 in Hubei, 9,000,000 in Hunan, and 270,000 in Fujian.
History
Antiquity
During the
Qin Dynasty (221 BC), a large number of troops were sent to southern China in order to conquer the
Baiyue territories in
Fujian and
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...
, as a result, numerous
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive v ...
emigrated to
Jiangxi in the years following. In the early years of the
Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
(202 BC),
Nanchang was established as the capital of the Yuzhang
Commandery () (this name stems from the original name of
Gan River), along with the 18 counties () of
Jiangxi Province
Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north into hi ...
. The population of the Yuzhang Commandery increased from 350,000 (in AD 2) to 1,670,000 (by AD 140); it ranked fourth in population among the more than 100 contemporary commanderies of China. As the largest commandery of
Yangzhou, 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 and NorthernChina, the first large-scale emigration in the history of China took place. Large numbers of people in central China relocated to southern China in order to escape the bloodshed caused by
invasion of the Five Babarian 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 dialects. After centuries of rule by the
Southern Dynasties, Gan still retained many original characteristics despite having absorbed some elements of Mandarin. 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
Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north into hi ...
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.
Late traditional period
Mandarin Chinese evolved into a
standard language
A standard language (also standard variety, standard dialect, and standard) is a language variety that has undergone substantial codification of grammar and usage, although occasionally the term refers to the entirety of a language that includes ...
based on
Beijing Mandarin, owing largely to political factors. At the same time, the differences between Gan and Mandarin continued to become more pronounced. However, because
Jiangxi borders on Jianghuai, a Mandarin,
Xiang, and
Hakka speaking region, Gan proper has also been influenced by these surrounding varieties, especially in its border regions.
Modern times
After 1949, as a "dialect" in
Mainland China, Gan faced a critical period. The impact of
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
is quite evident today as a result of official governmental language campaigns. Currently, many youths are unable to master Gan expressions, and some are no longer able to 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 Gan Chinese.
Languages and dialects
There are significant differences within the Gan-speaking region, and Gan constitutes more languages than listed here. For example, in Anfu county, which was categorized as Ji-Cha, there are two main varieties, called Nanxiang Hua (Southern region) and Baixiang Hua (Northern region). People from one region cannot even understand people from the other region if they were not well educated or exposed to the other.
The ''
Language Atlas of China'' (1987) divides Gan into nine groups:
Cities marked with * are partly Gan-speaking.
Phonology
Grammar
In Gan, there are nine principal
grammatical aspect
In linguistics, aspect is a grammatical category that expresses how an action, event, or state, as denoted by a verb, extends over time. Perfective aspect is used in referring to an event conceived as bounded and unitary, without reference to ...
s or "tenses" – initial (), progressive (), experimental (), durative (), processive (), continuative (), repeating (), perfect (), and complete ().
The
grammar
In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...
of Gan is similar to southern Chinese varieties. 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."
Vocabulary
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
Chu or CHU may refer to:
Chinese history
* Chu (state) (c. 1030 BC–223 BC), a state during the Zhou dynasty
* Western Chu (206 BC–202 BC), a state founded and ruled by Xiang Yu
* Chu Kingdom (Han dynasty) (201 BC–70 AD), a kingdom of the Ha ...
region dating to China's
Spring and Autumn period
The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...
.
Additionally, there are numerous interjections in Gan (e.g. 哈, 噻, and 啵), which can largely strengthen sentences, and better express different feelings.
Writing system
Gan is written with Chinese characters, though it does not have a strong written tradition. There are also some
romanization schemes, but none are widely used. When writing, Gan speakers usually use
written vernacular Chinese, which is used by all Chinese speakers.
See also
*
Protection of the Varieties of Chinese
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
Classification of Gan DialectsJiangxi Provincial Gazetteer: dialects 江西省志: 方言志
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gan
Culture in Jiangxi
Varieties of Chinese