Gan (linguistics)

(Redirected from Gan Chinese)

Gan (赣语)
Spoken in: China
Region: Jiangxi Province
Total speakers: 20 million
Ranking: 45
Genetic classification: Sino-Tibetan languages

 Chinese language
  Gan

Official status
Official language of: -
Regulated by: -
Language codes
ISO 639-1zh
ISO 639-2chi (B) / zho (T)
SILKNN
See also: LanguageList of languages

Gan (赣语) is one of the major divisions of spoken Chinese, concentrated in and typical of Jiangxi Province.

Contents

Classification

Like all other varieties of Chinese, there is plenty of dispute as to whether Gan is a language or a dialect. Please see here for the issues surrounding this dispute.

Geographical distribution

Gan is spoken over most of the northern two-thirds of Jiangxi Province, as well as smaller areas in Anhui, Fujian, Hunan and Hubei.

Dialects

The Nanchang variety is the canonical representative of the group. The mountainous geography of Jiangxi has resulted in a high degree of fragmentation, with many mutually unintelligible varieties. Speakers typically identify their speech as being that of a particular county, e.g., Wannianese, rather than Gan in general.

Writing system

Gan has no form of writing beyond Vernacular Chinese, used for all forms of Chinese.

External link


Chinese: spoken varieties
Categories:

Gan | Hakka | Hui | Jin | Mandarin | Min | Pinghua | Xiang | Wu | Yue
Danzhouhua | Shaozhou Tuhua | Xianghua

Subcategories of Min: Min Bei | Min Dong | Min Nan | Min Zhong | Pu Xian | Qiong Wen | Shao Jiang
Note: The above is only one classification scheme among many.
The categories in italics are not universally acknowledged to be independent categories.
Comprehensive list of Chinese dialects
Official spoken varieties: Standard Mandarin | Standard Cantonese
Historical phonology: Old Chinese | Middle Chinese | Proto-Min | Proto-Mandarin | Haner
Chinese: written varieties
Official written varieties: Classical Chinese | Vernacular Chinese
Other varieties: Written Vernacular Cantonese