敢

• 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.

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))

• 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

• 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

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.

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).

敢

1. bold; brave; daring
2. to dare (to); to venture (to)

   我們必須敢想，敢說，敢幹。 [MSC, trad.]
   我们必须敢想，敢说，敢干。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒmen bìxū gǎn xiǎng, gǎn shuō, gǎn gàn. [Pinyin]

   We must dare to think, speak up and act.

   他不敢正眼看她。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Tā bù gǎn zhèng yǎnkàn tā. [Pinyin]

   He didn't dare to look at her in the face.

   在那個風雨交加的夜晚，很少有人敢出去。 [MSC, trad.]
   在那个风雨交加的夜晚，很少有人敢出去。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zài nà ge fēngyǔ jiāojiā de yèwǎn, hěn shào yǒurén gǎn chūqù. [Pinyin]

   Very few people ventured to go out on that stormy night.

3. 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

   我敢說你解決不了這個難題。 [MSC, trad.]
   我敢说你解决不了这个难题。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ gǎn shuō nǐ jiějuébuliǎo zhè ge nántí. [Pinyin]

   I bet you can't do this puzzle.

4. (polite) may I venture

   敢問／敢问  ―  gǎn wèn  ―  may I ask

   • 1986, “敢問路在何方 [Dare I ask where the road is?]”, 閻肅 [Yan Su] (lyrics), 許鏡清 [Xu Jingqing] (music):

     敢問路在何方？路在腳下。 [MSC, trad.]
     敢问路在何方？路在脚下。 [MSC, simp.]

     Gǎn wèn lù zài héfāng? Lù zài jiǎoxià. [Pinyin]

     Dare I ask where the road is? The road is beneath our feet.

5. (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?

6. (archaic or Xiamen, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou Hokkien) perhaps
7. (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?

• (can it be possible that):

• 肯 (kěn)

• → Zhuang: gamj

• “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.

(Jōyō kanji)

1. daring, brave, bold
2. sad, tragic, pitiful

• Go-on: かん (kan, Jōyō)^{←かむ (kamu, historical)}
• Kan-on: かん (kan, Jōyō)^{←かむ (kamu, historical)}
• Kun: あえて (aete, 敢えて)、あえない (aenai, 敢えない)、あえず (aezu, 敢えず)

From Middle Chinese 敢 (MC kamX).

• IPA^(key): [kã̠ɴ]

敢(かん) • (kan) 

1. daring; brave; bold

敢 (eumhun 감히 감 (gamhi gam))

1. hanja form^? of 감 (“dare”)

敢: Hán Nôm readings: cám, cảm, dám

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.