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敢
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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Translingual
Stroke order | |||
Mainland China![]() |
Alternative forms
- In mainland China (based on Xin Zixing 新字形), the upper left component is written 乛 (one stroke).
- In other regions, the upper left component is written 丅 (two strokes) which is the orthodox form found in the Kangxi dictionary.
Han character
敢 (Kangxi radical 66, 攴+8, 12 strokes in traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean, 11 strokes in mainland China, cangjie input 弓十人大 (NJOK) or 一十人大 (MJOK), four-corner 18140 or 18440, composition ⿰⿱乛耳攵(G) or ⿰⿱丅耳攵(HTJKV))
Derived characters
References
- Kangxi Dictionary: page 472, character 26
- Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 13260
- Dae Jaweon: page 825, character 13
- Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1463, character 9
- Unihan data for U+6562
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Chinese
Glyph origin
In oracle bone script, ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意): Two hands 廾 holding a weapon 干 hunting a wild boar 豕.
In the Zhou dynasty one of the hands was removed and a phonetic component 甘 (OC *kaːm) was added. The boar shape got progressively corrupted until it looked like a hand 彐, thus obtaining the very old and rather conservative variant 𢼿.
The sound component 甘 and the weapon 干 stylized and merged into 古, leading to the seal script form 𢽤. Then, the wild boar on top stylized into 爫, thus obtaining 𠭖.
Eventually, the left half corrupted further into the traditional version ⿱丅耳, which was then stylized.
Etymology
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s/m-wam (“to dare”), which Schuessler reconstructs as *k-wam to account for the initial velar in the Chinese form. Compare Burmese ဝံ့ (wam., “to dare”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- Cantonese
- Gan (Wiktionary): gon3
- Hakka
- Jin (Wiktionary): gan2
- Northern Min (KCR): gǒ̤ng
- Eastern Min (BUC): gāng
- Southern Min
- Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): 5koe
- Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): gan3
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: gǎn
- Zhuyin: ㄍㄢˇ
- Tongyong Pinyin: gǎn
- Wade–Giles: kan3
- Yale: gǎn
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gaan
- Palladius: гань (ganʹ)
- Sinological IPA (key): /kän²¹⁴/
- (Chengdu)
- Sichuanese Pinyin: gan3
- Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: gan
- Sinological IPA (key): /kan⁵³/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
- Jyutping: gam2
- Yale: gám
- Cantonese Pinyin: gam2
- Guangdong Romanization: gem2
- Sinological IPA (key): /kɐm³⁵/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
- Wiktionary: gam2
- Sinological IPA (key): /kam⁵⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
- Gan
- (Nanchang)
- Wiktionary: gon3
- Sinological IPA (key): /kɵn²¹³/
- (Nanchang)
- Hakka
- (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
- Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kám
- Hakka Romanization System: gamˋ
- Hagfa Pinyim: gam3
- Sinological IPA: /kam³¹/
- (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
- Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kám / kam
- Hakka Romanization System: gamˋ / gam
- Hagfa Pinyim: gam3 / gam4
- Sinological IPA: /kam³¹/, /kam⁵⁵/
- (Meixian)
- (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
Note: Southern Sixian kam - variant used for the rhetorical/interrogative adverb.
- Jin
- (Taiyuan)+
- Wiktionary: gan2
- Sinological IPA (old-style): /kæ̃⁵³/
- (Taiyuan)+
- Northern Min
- (Jian'ou)
- Kienning Colloquial Romanized: gǒ̤ng
- Sinological IPA (key): /kɔŋ²¹/
- (Jian'ou)
- Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
- Bàng-uâ-cê: gāng
- Sinological IPA (key): /kaŋ³³/
- (Fuzhou)
- Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese, Singapore)
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kiám
- Tâi-lô: kiám
- Phofsit Daibuun: kiarm
- IPA (Xiamen): /kiam⁵³/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kán
- Tâi-lô: kán
- Phofsit Daibuun: karn
- IPA (Xiamen): /kan⁵³/
Note:
- káⁿ - vernacular (including the rhetorical adverb and "perhaps" in Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou);
- kám - literary (including the rhetorical adverb and "perhaps" in Xiamen, as well as the rhetorical/interrogative adverb in Taiwan);
- kiám/kán - variants used for the rhetorical adverb.
- Dialectal data
- Middle Chinese: kamX
- Old Chinese
- (Baxter–Sagart): /*[k]ˤamʔ/
- (Zhengzhang): /*klaːmʔ/
Definitions
敢
- bold; brave; daring
- to dare (to); to venture (to)
- to be sure; to be certain; to bet; to presume
- (polite) may I venture
- (literary or Hokkien, Teochew, Taiwanese Hakka, rhetorical question) can it be possible that; how
- Alternative form: (Hokkien) 豈 / 岂
- 敢通按呢? [Taiwanese Hokkien] ― Kám thang án-ne? [Pe̍h-ōe-jī] ― How could it be like this?
- (archaic or Xiamen, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou Hokkien) perhaps
- (Hokkien, Taiwanese Hakka) Interrogative adverb, placed before the verb to create a yes-no question.
- Alternative forms: 咁, 甘, 干
- 你敢有閒?/你敢有闲? [Taiwanese Hokkien] ― Lí kám ū-êng? [Pe̍h-ōe-jī] ― Are you free?
Synonyms
- (can it be possible that):
See also
- 肯 (kěn)
Compounds
- 不敢 (bùgǎn)
- 不敢出氣 / 不敢出气
- 不敢則聲 / 不敢则声
- 不敢告勞 / 不敢告劳
- 不敢吭聲 / 不敢吭声
- 不敢妄言
- 不敢後人 / 不敢后人
- 不敢從命 / 不敢从命
- 不敢欺
- 不敢當 / 不敢当 (bùgǎndāng)
- 何敢 (hégǎn)
- 到敢
- 勇敢 (yǒnggǎn)
- 勇猛果敢
- 怕敢
- 愧不敢當 / 愧不敢当
- 敢且
- 敢作敢為 / 敢作敢为 (gǎnzuògǎnwéi)
- 敢作敢當 / 敢作敢当
- 敢保
- 敢做敢當 / 敢做敢当 (gǎnzuògǎndāng)
- 敢則 / 敢则
- 敢則是 / 敢则是
- 敢勇當先 / 敢勇当先
- 敢只是
- 敢問 / 敢问 (gǎnwèn)
- 敢待
- 敢怕
- 敢怒而不敢言
- 敢情
- 敢攀玉趾
- 敢於 / 敢于 (gǎnyú)
- 敢是
- 敢死 (gǎnsǐ)
- 敢死士
- 敢死軍 / 敢死军 (gǎnsǐjūn)
- 敢死隊 / 敢死队 (gǎnsǐduì)
- 敢當 / 敢当 (gǎndāng)
- 敢緊 / 敢紧
- 敢自 (gǎnzì)
- 敢若 (káⁿ-ná) (Min Nan)
- 敢莫是
- 敢言
- 敢請 / 敢请
- 未敢 (wèigǎn)
- 果敢 (guǒgǎn)
- 正色敢言
- 石敢當 / 石敢当 (shígǎndāng)
- 膽敢 / 胆敢 (dǎngǎn)
- 莫敢是
- 莫敢誰何 / 莫敢谁何 (mògǎn-shuíhé)
- 豈敢 / 岂敢 (qǐgǎn)
- 竟敢 (jìnggǎn)
- 鬼子敢爾 / 鬼子敢尔
Descendants
- → Zhuang: gamj
Further reading
- “敢”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.
- “敢”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.
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Japanese
Kanji
敢
- daring, brave, bold
- sad, tragic, pitiful
Readings
Etymology
From Middle Chinese 敢 (MC kamX).
Pronunciation
Affix
Derived terms
Korean
Hanja
Vietnamese
Han character
敢: Hán Nôm readings: cám, cảm, dám
- This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text
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