Wiktionary

Cantonese

See also: cantonese

English

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Wiktionary
Cantonese edition of Wiktionary

Etymology

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From Canton +‎ -ese.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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Cantonese (not comparable)

  1. Relating to the city of Guangzhou (Canton) or the province of Guangdong.
  2. Relating to Cantonese people.
  3. Relating to Cantonese language.
  4. Relating to Cantonese food/cuisine.

Translations

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Noun

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Cantonese (countable and uncountable, plural Cantonese)

  1. (uncountable) A Sinitic language mainly spoken in the south-eastern part of Mainland China, Guangdong (Canton), Hong Kong, Macau, by the Chinese minorities in Southeast Asia and by many overseas Chinese worldwide.
    • 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 10:
      As a mainland China national, the counter for our trial was fluent in English, Putonghua, and the Sichuan dialect, and was familiar with a number of other major Chinese languages such as Cantonese and Hakka.
  2. (uncountable) A dialect of the Cantonese language, spoken in Guangzhou (Canton), Hong Kong, Macau, and treated as the standard dialect of the Cantonese language.
  3. (countable, chiefly in the plural) An inhabitant of Canton; a person of Canton descent.
    • 2000, Stella Dong, Shanghai The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City‎[1], HarperCollins, page 85:
      The alliance was headed by a mustached Cantonese with a broad face, piercing eyes, and a great sympathy for the poor and downtrodden, a man who reveled in "action at all costs and whatever the risks." This was Sun Yat-sen, a visionary who lacked practical political skills but nonetheless became the hallowed "Father of the Republic" upon his death.

Usage notes

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  • As with other terms for people formed with -ese, the countable singular noun in reference to a person (as in "I am a Cantonese", "writing about Cantonese cuisine as a Cantonese") is uncommon and often taken as incorrect. In its place, the adjective is used, by itself (as in "I am Cantonese") or before a noun like person, man, or woman ("writing about Cantonese cuisine as a Cantonese person"). See also -ish, which is similarly only used primarily as an adjective or as a plural noun.

Synonyms

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  • (language): Yue Chinese, Yue, Cantonese language, Cantonese dialect
  • (dialect): Cantonese dialect, Cantonese language

Hyponyms

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(language):

  • Cantonese, Cantonese dialect (the dialect of Cantonese language treated as standard)
  • Hoisanese/Toisanese/Taishanese (the Cantonese subdialect spoken in the Greater Hoi San area, with subsubdialects)
  • Hong Kong Cantonese (the dialect spoken in Hong Kong and Macau)

Translations

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See also

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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