Gan (linguistics)

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

Contents

1 Classification
2 Geographical distribution

2.1 Dialects

3 Writing system
4 External links

Classification

Like all other varieties of Chinese, there is plenty of dispute as to whether Gan is a language or a dialect. Please see Identification of the varieties of Chinese 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, which is used by all Chinese speakers.

External links

Chinese: spoken varieties

Categories:

Gan | Hakka | Hui | Jin | Mandarin | Min | Ping | Xiang | Wu | Cantonese
Danzhouhua | Shaozhou Tuhua

Subcategories of Min:

Subcategories of Mandarin:

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

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