# 敢

| 敢 | U+6562, &#25954; CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6562 |
| ← 敡 [U+6561] | CJK Unified Ideographs | 散 → [U+6563] |

## Translingual
### 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 1814$_0$ or 1844$_0$, composition ⿰⿱乛耳攵(G) or ⿰⿱丅耳攵(HTJKV))

#### Derived characters

* 㒈, 噉, 𡑒, 㜟, 𢕭, 㦑, 撖, 澉, 㺖, 䧩, 𣊟, 橄, 瞰, 𥕵, 𥼲, 𦗪, 𦪧, 𧗐, 譀, 豃, 𧸂, 𨅺, 𮡜, 𨬒(𰾳), 𩍉, 䭛, 䲎, 𪉿(𬸹), 𡪯, 𭗐, 䆻, 𥴊, 𫶔, 憨, 饏, 𠣽, 𭅞, 𠪚, 𤺍, 嚴/𫿞(厳/严), 闞(阚), 鬫

#### 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

## Chinese
### Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 敢 :
| Western Zhou | Warring States | Warring States | Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) |
| Bronze inscriptions | Bronze inscriptions | Chu slip and silk script | Small seal script |
| | Old Chinese |
| 撖 | *kʰɯːm, *kʰreːmʔ, *ɡraːmʔ |
| 澉 | *l̥ʰaːms, *klaːmʔ |
| 噉 | *l'aːmʔ |
| 敢 | *klaːmʔ |
| 橄 | *klaːmʔ |
| 瞰 | *kʰlaːms |
| 闞 | *kʰlaːms, *qʰreːmʔ, *hŋraːms |
| 憨 | *qʰaːm, *qʰlaːms |
| 譀 | *qʰlaːms, *qʰraːms, *qʰraːb |
| 巖 | *ŋraːm |
| 礹 | *ŋraːm, *ŋamʔ |
| 豃 | *qʰraːmʔ |
| 讝 | *kjam |
| 玁 | *hŋramʔ |
| 嚴 | *ŋam |
| 儼 | *ŋamʔ |
| 曮 | *ŋamʔ |
| 釅 | *ŋams |
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”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Standard)
       (Pinyin): gǎn (gan$^3$)
       (Zhuyin): ㄍㄢˇ
    (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): gan$^3$
* Cantonese
    (Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): gam$^2$
    (Taishan, Wiktionary): gam$^2$
* Gan (Wiktionary): gon$^3$
* Hakka
    (Sixian, PFS): kám / kam
    (Meixian, Guangdong): gam$^3$
* Jin (Wiktionary): gan$^2$
* Northern Min (KCR): gǒ̤ng
* Eastern Min (BUC): gāng
* Southern Min
    (Hokkien, POJ): káⁿ / kám / kiám / kán
    (Teochew, Peng'im): gan$^2$
* Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): $^5$koe
* Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): gan$^3$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: gǎn
*** Zhuyin: ㄍㄢˇ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: gǎn
*** Wade–Giles: kan$^3$
*** Yale: gǎn
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gaan
*** Palladius: гань (ganʹ)
*** Sinological IPA : /kän²¹⁴/
** (Chengdu)
*** Sichuanese Pinyin: gan$^3$
*** Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: gan
*** Sinological IPA : /kan⁵³/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: gam$^2$
*** Yale: gám
*** Cantonese Pinyin: gam$^2$
*** Guangdong Romanization: gem$^2$
*** Sinological IPA : /kɐm³⁵/
** (Taishanese, Taicheng)
*** Wiktionary: gam$^2$
*** Sinological IPA : /kam⁵⁵/
* Gan
** (Nanchang)
*** Wiktionary: gon$^3$
*** Sinological IPA : /kɵn²¹³/
* Hakka
** (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kám
*** Hakka Romanization System: gam$^ˋ$
*** Hagfa Pinyim: gam$^3$
*** Sinological IPA: /kam³¹/
** (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kám / kam
*** Hakka Romanization System: gam$^ˋ$ / gam
*** Hagfa Pinyim: gam$^3$ / gam$^4$
*** Sinological IPA: /kam³¹/, /kam⁵⁵/
** (Meixian)
*** Guangdong: gam$^3$
*** Sinological IPA: /kam³¹/
* Jin
** (Taiyuan)
*** Wiktionary: gan$^2$
*** Sinological IPA (old-style): /kæ̃⁵³/
* Northern Min
** (Jian'ou)
*** Kienning Colloquial Romanized: gǒ̤ng
*** Sinological IPA : /kɔŋ²¹/
* Eastern Min
** (Fuzhou)
*** Bàng-uâ-cê: gāng
*** Sinological IPA : /kaŋ³³/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese, Singapore)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: káⁿ
*** Tâi-lô: kánn
*** Phofsit Daibuun: kvar
*** IPA (Singapore): /kã⁴²/
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /kã⁵⁵⁴/
*** IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei): /kã⁵³/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /kã⁴¹/
** (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kám
*** Tâi-lô: kám
*** Phofsit Daibuun: karm
*** IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei): /kam⁵³/
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /kam⁵⁵⁴/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /kam⁴¹/
** (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/
* 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
| Variety | Location | edit敢 |
| Mandarin | Beijing | /kan²¹⁴/ |
| Mandarin | Harbin | /kan²¹³/ |
| Mandarin | Tianjin | /kan¹³/ |
| Mandarin | Jinan | /kã⁵⁵/ |
| Mandarin | Qingdao | /kã⁵⁵/ |
| Mandarin | Zhengzhou | /kan⁵³/ |
| Mandarin | Xi'an | /kã⁵³/ |
| Mandarin | Xining | /kã⁵³/ |
| Mandarin | Yinchuan | /kan⁵³/ |
| Mandarin | Lanzhou | /kɛ̃n⁴⁴²/ |
| Mandarin | Ürümqi | /kan⁵¹/ |
| Mandarin | Wuhan | /kan⁴²/ |
| Mandarin | Chengdu | /kan⁵³/ |
| Mandarin | Guiyang | /kan⁴²/ |
| Mandarin | Kunming | /kã̠⁵³/ |
| Mandarin | Nanjing | /kaŋ²¹²/ |
| Mandarin | Hefei | /kæ̃²⁴/ |
| Jin | Taiyuan | /kæ̃⁵³/ |
| Jin | Pingyao | /kɑŋ⁵³/ |
| Jin | Hohhot | /kæ̃⁵³/ |
| Wu | Shanghai | /kø³⁵/ |
| Wu | Suzhou | /kø⁵¹/ |
| Wu | Hangzhou | /kẽ̞⁵³/ |
| Wu | Wenzhou | /ky³⁵/ |
| Hui | Shexian | /kɛ³⁵/ |
| Hui | Tunxi | /kɛ³¹/ |
| Xiang | Changsha | /kan⁴¹/ |
| Xiang | Xiangtan | /kan⁴²/ |
| Gan | Nanchang | /kɵn²¹³/ |
| Hakka | Meixian | /kam³¹/ |
| Hakka | Taoyuan | /kɑm³¹/ |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | /kɐm³⁵/ |
| Cantonese | Nanning | /kam³⁵/ |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | /kɐm³⁵/ |
| Min | Xiamen (Hokkien) | /kam⁵³/ /kã⁵³/ |
| Min | Fuzhou (Eastern Min) | /kaŋ³²/ |
| Min | Jian'ou (Northern Min) | /kɔŋ²¹/ |
| Min | Shantou (Teochew) | /kã⁵³/ |
| Min | Haikou (Hainanese) | /ka²¹³/ |
* Middle Chinese: kamX
Rime :
| Character | 敢 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 見 (28) |
| Final (韻) | 談 (143) |
| Tone (調) | Rising (X) |
| Openness (開合) | Open |
| Division (等) | I |
| Fanqie | 古覽切 |
| Baxter | kamX |
| Reconstructions ||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /kɑm$^X$/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /kɑm$^X$/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /kɑm$^X$/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /kam$^X$/ |
| Li Rong | /kɑm$^X$/ |
| Wang Li | /kɑm$^X$/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /kɑm$^X$/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | gǎn |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | gam$^2$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*[k]ˤamʔ/
    (Zhengzhang): /*klaːmʔ/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 敢 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | gǎn |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ kam$^X$ › |
| Old Chinese | /*[k]ˁamʔ/ |
| English | dare |
| Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary. ||
Zhengzhang system (2003) :
| Character | 敢 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| No. | 3674 |
| Phonetic component | 敢 |
| Rime group | 談 |
| Rime subdivision | 1 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 敢 |
| Old Chinese | /*klaːmʔ/ |
| Notes | 說文從爪又，古聲，金文從爭甘聲， 此爲隸變 |

### Definitions

敢
* bold; brave; daring
* to dare (to); to venture (to)
       Wǒmen bìxū gǎn xiǎng, gǎn shuō, gǎn gàn. [Pinyin]
       We must dare to think, speak up and act.
       Tā bù gǎn zhèng yǎnkàn tā. [Pinyin]
       He didn't dare to look at her in the face.
       Zài nà ge fēngyǔ jiāojiā de yèwǎn, hěn shào yǒurén gǎn chūqù. [Pinyin]
       Very few people ventured to go out on that stormy night.
* to be sure; to be certain; to bet; to presume
    敢肯定 ― gǎn kěndìng ― to be sure, to be certain
    敢說／敢说 ― gǎn shuō ― to be sure, to be certain
       Wǒ gǎn shuō nǐ jiějuébuliǎo zhè ge nántí. [Pinyin]
       I bet you can't do this puzzle.
* (polite) may I venture
    敢問／敢问 ― gǎn wèn ― may I ask
    From: 1986, 閻肅 Yan Su (lyricist) & 許鏡清 Xu Jingqing (composer),《敢問路在何方》"Dare I ask where the road is?"
    Gǎn wèn lù zài héfāng? Lù zài jiǎoxià. [Pinyin]
    Dare I ask where the road is? The road is beneath our feet.
* (literary or Hokkien, Teochew, Taiwanese Hakka, rhetorical question) can it be possible that; how
    Alternative form: 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
* (Taiwanese 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):
| Variety | Location | Words |
| Classical Chinese | Classical Chinese | 莫非, 豈, 莫不是 |
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 莫非, 豈, 難道, 莫不是 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Beijing | 難道, 難不成, 甭 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Taiwan | 難道, 難不成 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Xuzhou | 難說 |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | 唔通 |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | 唔通 |
| Cantonese | Taishan | 唔成, 敢係, 唔得旨, 毋旨, 毋旨估 |
| Hakka | Miaoli (N. Sixian) | 無成, 敢講, 敢係 |
| Hakka | Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) | 無成, 敢講, 敢係 |
| Hakka | Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) | 無成, 敢講, 敢係 |
| Hakka | Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) | 無成, 敢講, 敢會, 敢係 |
| Hakka | Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) | 無成, 毋成, 敢講, 敢係 |
| Hakka | Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) | 無敢, 敢講, 敢會, 敢係 |
| Southern Min | Xiamen | 敢, 總無 |
| Southern Min | Quanzhou | 敢, 總無, 攏無 |
| Southern Min | Zhangzhou | 敢, 總無 |
| Southern Min | Tainan | 敢 |
| Southern Min | Manila (Hokkien) | 敢 |
| Southern Min | Shantou | 未是 |
| Southern Min | Jieyang | 未是, 敢, 敢是 |
| Wu | Shanghai | 只勿 |
| Wu | Shanghai (Chongming) | 難算得 |
| Xiang | Changsha | 冇過 |

#### 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

* “Entry #8439”, 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.

## Japanese
### Kanji

(Jōyō kanji)
* daring, brave, bold
* sad, tragic, pitiful

#### Readings

* Go-on: かん (kan, Jōyō)
* Kan-on: かん (kan, Jōyō)
* Kun: あえて (aete, 敢えて)、あえない (aenai, 敢えない)、あえず (aezu, 敢えず)

### Etymology

* Kanji in this term
* 敢
* かん Grade: S
* on'yomi
From Middle Chinese 敢 (MC kamX).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [kã̠ɴ]

### Affix

敢(かん) • (kan)
* daring; brave; bold

#### Derived terms

* 敢行(かんこう) (kankō)
* 敢然(かんぜん) (kanzen)
* 敢闘(かんとう) (kantō)

## Korean
### Hanja

敢 (eumhun 감히 감 (gamhi gam))
* hanja form of 감 (“dare”)

## 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 {{rfdef}}.