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Alphabet Cantonese
Chinese Characters (Cantonese)
Cantonese uses traditional Chinese characters with Cantonese-specific characters not used in Mandarin. Romanization uses Jyutping. Cantonese has 9 tones (6 level + 3 entering tones) and is spoken mainly in Hong Kong and Guangdong.
Jyutping Initials
| Caractère | Nom | Romanisation | Prononciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| b | B | b | unaspirated 'p' sound |
| p | P | p | aspirated 'p' sound |
| m | M | m | like 'm' in 'moon' |
| f | F | f | like 'f' in 'fun' |
| d | D | d | unaspirated 'd' sound |
| t | T | t | aspirated 't' sound |
| n | N | n | like 'n' in 'no' |
| l | L | l | like 'l' in 'love' |
| g | G | g | unaspirated 'g' sound |
| k | K | k | aspirated 'k' sound |
| ng | NG | ng | like 'ng' in 'sing' |
| h | H | h | like 'h' in 'hat' |
| gw | GW | gw | like 'gw' in 'Guam' |
| kw | KW | kw | like 'qu' in 'queen' |
| w | W | w | like 'w' in 'wet' |
| z | Z | z | like 'ts' in 'bits' |
| c | C | c | aspirated 'ts' sound |
| s | S | s | like 's' in 'sun' |
| j | J | j | like 'y' in 'yes' |
Jyutping Finals (Vowels)
| Caractère | Nom | Romanisation | Prononciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| aa | AA | aa | long 'a' like in 'father' |
| a | A | a | short 'a' like in 'cup' |
| e | E | e | like 'e' in 'bed' |
| i | I | i | like 'ee' in 'see' |
| o | O | o | like 'o' in 'go' |
| u | U | u | like 'oo' in 'moon' |
| oe | OE | oe | like German 'ö' |
| eo | EO | eo | like 'ur' in 'fur' |
| yu | YU | yu | like German 'ü' |
Tone Markers
| Caractère | Nom | Romanisation | Prononciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tone 1 (High level) | 55 | high flat pitch: 詩 si1 |
| 2 | Tone 2 (High rising) | 35 | rising pitch: 史 si2 |
| 3 | Tone 3 (Mid level) | 33 | mid flat pitch: 試 si3 |
| 4 | Tone 4 (Low falling) | 21 | low falling: 時 si4 |
| 5 | Tone 5 (Low rising) | 23 | low rising: 市 si5 |
| 6 | Tone 6 (Low level) | 22 | low flat: 事 si6 |