gàn
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 abbreviation for Jiangxi Province
  2. 2 the Gan River

Examples

Tā de chē guà zhe Gàn pái, shì lǎoxiāng.
His car has a Jiangxi license plate, so he's a fellow provincial.
赣江贯穿全省注入鄱阳湖
Gànjiāng guànchuān quánshěng, zhùrù Póyánghú.
The Gan River runs through the whole province and empties into Poyang Lake.

Tips

culture
is the one-character abbreviation for Jiangxi Province, taken from 赣江 (the Gan River), the province's main waterway. It appears on Jiangxi license plates and in news shorthand.

Components

radical
gòng
tribute; to offer
Bottom-right contains the shell radical (wealth/tribute), the indexing radical, tying the early meaning to gifts and offerings.
phonetic
zhāng
chapter; seal (here phonetic)
The tall left portion serves as the phonetic element; the sound has drifted far from zhāng to gàn, so treat it as a historical sound hint only.
semantic
zhǐ
to go; walk slowly
The small top-right (a foot/going element) sits above , contributing to the historical sense of bringing tribute along.

Stroke Order

gàn