Gan (language)

Geographical distribution

Gan is spoken by 20 to 50 million people, primarily in two thirds north of the province of Jiangxi, just as in the North-West of the Fujian, and in certain parts of the Anhui and the Hubei in continental China.

History

old Periods

During the Dynasty Qin (221 AC), important troops were sent towards southernmost China with an aim of conquering the territories Baiyue （百越） with the Fujian and the Guangdong, and consequently, of many Chinese Han emigrated with the Jiangxi in the following years.

In the first years of the Dynasty Han (202 AC), Nanchang was issued capital commandery of Yuzhang （豫章郡） (this name derives from the original name of the river Gan), with 18 told （縣） of the province of Jiangxi. The population of the commandery of Yuzhang believed consequently of 350.000 (towards 2 PC) in 1.670.000 (towards 140 PC), which represents a clear growth of 1.320.000. The commandery of Yuzhang was classified fourth among the most 100 commanderies of China. As a principal commandery of the YangZhou （揚州）, Yuzhang counted more than 40% of the population and Gan was constituted gradually during this period.

the Middle Ages Result of the regular disorders in the areas of central China, the first immigration with large scales seemed. Many people of central China emigrated towards southernmost China to escape the disorders, and Jiangxi was the principal zone of transit. Moreover, during this period, Gan was exposed with the septentrional dialects mandarins (官話). After centuries of being able by the southernmost Dynasties, Gan always showed many original characteristics although it integrated various characteristics of Mandarin. Until the Dynasty Tang, there were little difference between Gan in the past spoken and that spoken at this period. From the period of the Five dynasties, the inhabitants of north and center of the Jiangxi started to emigrate towards the Eastern Hunan, the Eastern Hubei, the south Anhui and north Fujian. During this period, following hundreds of years of migration, Gan atteient its current extension.

recent History

The standard Mandarin was from now on a language based primarily on the Dialecte of Beijing, this primarily due to political factors. Gan consequently continued to deviate from the alternatives of the close Mandarin. However, because the Jiangxi close Jianghuai, a variety of Mandarin, in area where are spoken the Xiang, and the Hakka, typical Gan was also influenced by these languages, in particular in the areas bordering.

contemporary Time

After 1949, as “a dialect” of continental China, Gan had to face one critical period. The impact of the standard Mandarin on Gan is from now on obvious, following promotion the official campaigns of the government of the RPC. Nowadays, of many young people are not able any more to control certain turnings of Gan, whereas others saventb quite simply any more the speech.

Recently however, following the renewed interest for the local languages, Gan is again used into certain media regional, of which regional radios and televisions.

Main features

Sounds

The language Gan (for example the Dialecte of Nanchang has a set of 19 syllables () （聲母）, 65 syllabic rhymes （韻母） and 7 Tons. It does not include/understand the Consonne rétroflexe （捲舌音） or the finales of R (兒化音, Suffixe - er) which exists in an important way in Mandarin. These syllables were formed with the Middle Ages, and Gan did not have the same linguistic evolution as Mandarin.

Tons

Grammar

In Gan, there exist mainly 9 grammatical times - initial the （起始）, progressive the （進行）, experimental the （嘗試）, durative the （持續）, litigious the （經歷）, continuatif the （繼續）, repetitive the （重行）, perfect the （已然）, complete the （完成）.

Vocabulary

In Gan, there exist very many words be antiquated xpressions sissus of the antiquated Chinese, and which are désormet obsolete and missings in Mandarin. for example, the word " vêtement" in Gan is `衣裳' rather than `衣服' in Mandarin, the verb `to sleep' in Gan is `睏覺' and `睡覺' in Mandarin. Also, to describe something of dirty, the speakers in Gan use `下里巴人', which is a reference to a song of the area of Chu （楚國） dating from the Period of Springs and the Falls in China.

Moreover, there exist many inetrjections in Gan (for example: 哈、噻、啵）, which can largely reinforce sentences, and makes it possible to express various feelings.

Dialects

The Dialecte of Nanchang is generally regarded as the typical form of the group. The mountainous geography of Jiangxi produced a broad fragmentation of the language, with many inintelligibles varieties. Specific speakers generally identify spoken to them as being the language about their area, for example the Wannian are born rather than like a variety from Gan.

According to the 《Diagram of divisions of the Popular republic of China》（《中華人民共和國行政區劃簡冊》）（2004), Gan is spoken by envison 48.000.000 people.

（29.000.000 in Jiangxi; 4.500.000 in Anhui; 5.300.000 in Hubei; 9.000.000 in Hunan; 270.000 in Fujian)

According to the 《Atlas of the Chinese languages》（《中國語言地圖集》）（1987）, there exist 9 dialects of Gan.

1. Chang-Jing （昌靖片）, whose Dialecte of Nanchang is the typical form.

2. Yi-Liu （宜瀏片）, whose Dialecte of Yichun is the typical form.

3. Ji-Cha （吉茶片）, whose Dialecte of Ji' year is the typical form.

4. Fu-Guang （撫廣片）, whose Dialecte of Fuzhou is the typical form.

5. Ying-Yi （鷹弋片）, whose Dialecte of Yingtan is the typical form.

6. Da-Tong （大通片）

7. Lei-Zi （耒資片）

8. Dong-Sui （洞綏片）

9. Hooted-Yue （懷嶽片）

Sources

Card ethnologue.com
Signal 100 of the languages

Simple: Gan language Zh-classical: 贛語 Zh-min-nan: Kàm-gí Zh-yue: 江西話

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