Home Gudgeon and gist Language Log A comprehensive overview of 漢 in East Asian languages

A comprehensive overview of 漢 in East Asian languages

Language Log 2026-01-11

Since it indicates the official language and main ethnicity of China, this character is of utmost linguistic and political importance for readers of Language Log.

Prompted by Philip Taylor (commenting on this post [first item in the list of "Selected readings" below]), this ample response from ChatGPT would seem to cover all the bases for what 漢 means.

One important meaning of 漢 omitted in the above generous overview is pejorative, "a bad guy", as shown by this entry in Wiktionary.  Although, in this term, èhàn 惡漢 ("villain; scoundrel; bad guy"), 漢 is explicitly modified by the negative adjective 惡, 漢 by itself can have derogatory implications, somewhat like "hombre" ("man") in "mock Spanish" when used disrespectfully. 

Such derisive connotations of 漢 have been explored and documented by the early medieval historian Sanping Chen in his studies on Chinese onomastics.

Sanping Chen, an academic and author, has written extensively about Chinese history and ethnolinguistics. He has noted the historical, derogatory usage of the term Hàn during the Northern Dynasties and discussed the complex, shifting meanings of ethnonyms in Chinese history. His work highlights that cultural terms are not static and can change meaning dramatically over time and depending on who is using them. 

The character 漢 (Hàn) does not inherently mean "bad guy". Its primary meanings are related to the Han Dynasty, the Han ethnic group, or a river. 
 
 
The potential association with a negative term comes from complex historical usage and specific compound words, often discussed by scholar Sanping Chen: 
 
    • Hàn'er (漢兒) / Hànzi (漢子): During China's Northern Dynasties (386-577 AD), non-Sinitic ruling peoples sometimes used these terms as derogatory references for their Han Chinese subjects, meaning something like "Han boy/fellow/guy".
    • Hànjiān (漢奸): This is a specific, modern pejorative term meaning "Han traitor" or "collaborator," used for those seen as betraying the Chinese state or Han ethnicity.
    • Hǎohàn (好漢): Conversely, a positive term, "good Han," means a "brave man" or "hero".
    • Chīhàn (痴漢): In Japanese, this word (written with the character for Hàn) means "molester" or "pervert". 

(AIO)

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It should be pointed out that the designation "Hàn 漢" for the main ethnicity and language of the PRC / ROC is not uncontested.  Ditto for their ventured translations ("Chinese; Sinitic").

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For those who would like to know how to write this 14-stroke sinograph, click on the arrowhead next to its calligraphed form at the top left of this zdic page.

Etymology of "hombre"

Borrowed from Spanish hombre (“man; human being”), from Old Spanish omne, from Latin hominem, accusative of homō (“a human being, a person”), from Old Latin hemō, from Proto-Italic *hemō (“man”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰmṓ (“earthling”), from *dʰéǵʰōm (“earth”). Doublet of gome, homo, ombre and omi.

(Wiktionary)

 

Etymology of "homme"

Inherited from Middle French homme, from Old French home, hom, hume, homme, etc, from Latin hominem (with the loss of the -in- syllable, via syncope and then assimilation of -mn- to -mm-), from Old Latin hemō, from Proto-Italic *hemō, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰmṓ (“earthling”). Compare Catalan home, Italian uomo, Portuguese homem, Romanian om, Sardinian òmine, Neapolitan ommo, Spanish hombre. Also doublet of on, derived from the nominative of Latin homō.

Further cognates in regional languages in France: Norman houme, Gallo honme, Picard onme, Bourguignon oume, Franco-Provençal homo, Occitan òme, Corsican omu.

(Wiktionary)

 

Comment by mcur

Words ending in 漢 in Japanese are generally negative. Some examples are 悪漢 (akkan, a villain), 怪漢 (kaikan, a suspicious-looking fellow), 凶漢 or 暴漢 (kyoukan or boukan, a thug), 無頼漢 (buraikan, a libertine)… Note however that many of the usages recorded in the dictionary are so obsolete that my IME cannot recognize them, like 破廉恥漢 (harenchikan, a knave).

Some terms are more neutral, such as 巨漢 (kyokan, a giant) or 大食漢 (taishokukan, a great eater), although these are hardly nice things to be called either. The only definitely positive examples I can find are 好漢 (koukan, a good guy) and 硬骨漢 (koukotsukan, a stalwart). 正義漢 (seigikan, a crusader for justice) seems like it could go either way, but I suspect the sense is unflattering.

Other than 痴漢 and perhaps 巨漢, these are all thoroughly obsolete. My impression is that it must have been a productive suffix around the 19th century that has fallen out of use, and has been replaced with 家 or 人. Perhaps this is because 漢 is explicitly male gendered? Its parallel in English might be "fellow," which was similarly ubiquitous around that time and is now unheard of.

 

Selected readings