果敢

Chinese

		fruit; result	dare
trad. (果敢)		果	敢
simp. ^#(果敢)		果	敢

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): guǒgǎn

(Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄛˇ ㄍㄢˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): gwo² gam²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: guǒgǎn [Phonetic: guógǎn]
  - Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄛˇ ㄍㄢˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: guǒgǎn
  - Wade–Giles: kuo³-kan³
  - Yale: gwǒ-gǎn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guoogaan
  - Palladius: гогань (goganʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ kän²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)⁺
  - Jyutping: gwo² gam²
  - Yale: gwó gám
  - Cantonese Pinyin: gwo² gam²
  - Guangdong Romanization: guo² gem²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʷɔː³⁵ kɐm³⁵/

Middle Chinese: kwaX kamX

Rime
Character	果	敢
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	戈 (95)	談 (143)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	古火切	古覽切
Baxter	kwaX	kamX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kuɑ^X/	/kɑm^X/
Pan Wuyun	/kuɑ^X/	/kɑm^X/
Shao Rongfen	/kuɑ^X/	/kɑm^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kwa^X/	/kam^X/
Li Rong	/kuɑ^X/	/kɑm^X/
Wang Li	/kuɑ^X/	/kɑm^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/kuɑ^X/	/kɑm^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	guǒ	gǎn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gwo²	gam²

Etymology 1

Adjective

果敢

courageous and resolute; resolute and daring
- 争貨財，無辭讓，果敢而振，猛貪而戾，恈恈然唯利之見，是賈盜之勇也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  争货财，无辞让，果敢而振，猛贪而戾，恈恈然唯利之见，是贾盗之勇也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: Xunzi, c. 3^rd century BCE
  Zhēng huòcái, wú círàng, guǒgǎn ér zhèn, měngtān ér lì, móumóu-rán wéi lì zhī jiàn, shì gǔdào zhī yǒng yě. [Pinyin]
  Dealing in transactions of profit, quarrelling over goods and valuables, having no concern for polite refusals or for yielding precedence, being audacious and daring, given to temerity and effrontery, greedily aware only of profit—such is the bravery of peddlers and robbers.
- 孔子曰：“丘聞之，凡天下有三德：生而長大，美好無雙，少長貴賤見而皆說之，此上德也；知維天地，能辯諸物，此中德也；勇悍果敢，聚眾率兵，此下德也。” [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  孔子曰：“丘闻之，凡天下有三德：生而长大，美好无双，少长贵贱见而皆说之，此上德也；知维天地，能辩诸物，此中德也；勇悍果敢，聚众率兵，此下德也。” [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
  Kǒngzǐ yuē: “Qiū wén zhī, fán tiānxià yǒu sān dé: shēng ér chángdà, měihǎo wúshuāng, shàozhǎng guìjiàn jiàn ér jiē yuè zhī, cǐ shàng dé yě; zhì wéi tiāndì, néng biàn zhū wù, cǐ zhōng dé yě; yǒnghàn guǒgǎn, jùzhòng lǜbīng, cǐ xià dé yě.” [Pinyin]
  Confucius replied, ‘I have heard that everywhere under the sky there are three qualities. To be naturally tall and large, to be elegant and handsome without a peer, so that young and old, noble and mean, are pleased to look upon him—this is the highest of those qualities. To comprehend both heaven and earth in his wisdom, and to be able to speak eloquently on all subjects—this is the middle one of them. To be brave and courageous, resolute and daring, gathering the multitudes round him, and leading on his troops—this is the lowest.’

Synonyms

edit

勇敢 (yǒnggǎn)
勇猛 (yǒngměng)
大無畏 / 大无畏 (dàwúwèi) (utterly fearless)
無畏 / 无畏 (wúwèi)
神勇 (shényǒng) (extraordinarily brave)
英勇 (yīngyǒng)

Antonyms

懦弱 (nuòruò)
喪膽／丧胆 (sàngdǎn)

Derived terms

勇猛果敢

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (果敢):

→ Japanese: 果(か)敢(かん) (kakan)
→ Korean: 과감(果敢) (gwagam)
→ Vietnamese: quả cảm (果敢)

Etymology 2

Phono-semantic matching of Burmese ကိုးကန့် (kui:kan.).

Proper noun

果敢

(～自治區) Kokang (a self-administered zone of Shan, Myanmar; capital: Laukkai)
(～人, ～族) Kokang people

Derived terms

果敢族 (guǒgǎnzú)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
果	敢
か Grade: 4	かん Grade: S
on'yomi

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) かかん [kàkáń] (Heiban – [0])^[1]^[2]^[3]
IPA^(key): [ka̠kã̠ɴ]

Adjective

果(か)敢(かん) • (kakan) ^{←くわかん (kwakan)^?}-na (adnominal 果(か)敢(かん)な (kakan na), adverbial 果(か)敢(かん)に (kakan ni))

resolute, daring, bold

Inflection

Inflection of 果敢

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	果敢だろ	かかんだろ	kakan daro
Continuative (連用形)	果敢で	かかんで	kakan de
Terminal (終止形)	果敢だ	かかんだ	kakan da
Attributive (連体形)	果敢な	かかんな	kakan na
Hypothetical (仮定形)	果敢なら	かかんなら	kakan nara
Imperative (命令形)	果敢であれ	かかんであれ	kakan de are
Key constructions
Informal negative	果敢ではない果敢じゃない	かかんではないかかんじゃない	kakan de wa nai kakan ja nai
Informal past	果敢だった	かかんだった	kakan datta
Informal negative past	果敢ではなかった果敢じゃなかった	かかんではなかったかかんじゃなかった	kakan de wa nakatta kakan ja nakatta
Formal	果敢です	かかんです	kakan desu
Formal negative	果敢ではありません果敢じゃありません	かかんではありませんかかんじゃありません	kakan de wa arimasen kakan ja arimasen
Formal past	果敢でした	かかんでした	kakan deshita
Formal negative past	果敢ではありませんでした果敢じゃありませんでした	かかんではありませんでしたかかんじゃありませんでした	kakan de wa arimasen deshita kakan ja arimasen deshita
Conjunctive	果敢で	かかんで	kakan de
Conditional	果敢なら（ば）	かかんなら（ば）	kakan nara (ba)
Provisional	果敢だったら	かかんだったら	kakan dattara
Volitional	果敢だろう	かかんだろう	kakan darō
Adverbial	果敢に	かかんに	kakan ni
Degree	果敢さ	かかんさ	kakansa

Noun

果(か)敢(かん) • (kakan)

boldness, tenacity

References

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

“果敢”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
果	敢

Adjective

果敢

chữ Hán form of quả cảm (“heroically brave or courageous”)

[DJR-1] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-2] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[SMK5-3] Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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