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Cantonese 1

Cantonese is typically spoken differently than how it is written, with different pronunciations used for formal words, unlike Mandarin Chinese which is spoken and written the same way. When texting, Hong Kongers may use either the spoken or written form of Cantonese words. There is no standardized system of romanization for Cantonese, and scholars use different romanization methods or spell words based on their own interpretations.

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Vihaan Yau
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386 views4 pages

Cantonese 1

Cantonese is typically spoken differently than how it is written, with different pronunciations used for formal words, unlike Mandarin Chinese which is spoken and written the same way. When texting, Hong Kongers may use either the spoken or written form of Cantonese words. There is no standardized system of romanization for Cantonese, and scholars use different romanization methods or spell words based on their own interpretations.

Uploaded by

Vihaan Yau
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Facts:

1.Cantonese is a spoken language. We write differently from what we


say. The pronunciation of formal words are different too.

Mandarin Chinese however are both written and spoken and they are
the same.

We write the same with Mandarin Chinese, though with different


pronunciations.

For example,
Little brother in Cantonese is, sai lou 細佬, but we write “弟弟 dai dai” in
the Bible, textbooks, newspaper or any formal writings.
Little brother in Mandarin is, “di di 弟弟”, for both speaking and writing.

When texting, people type either / both spoken / written forms


E.g. the written form of the word, “hai 喺 is/am/are”, is “si 是”
Spoken form: 我喺美國人 ngo hai mei gwok jan.
Written form: 我是美國人 ngo si mei gwok jan.

2. Not every Hong Konger knows romanizations because we never learn


this so don’t ask them how to “spell” like spelling English. You can use
your own way of “spelling” that helps you to remember the pronunciation.

3. There is no standardized romanization among scholars who study


Cantonese.
Some use Cantonese romanization, some use Yale romanization of
Cantonese and some like me, spell on my own ways (lol)

4. I personally type/spell whatever I think it should be which might cause


confusion in the future because it might have inconsistency. Therefore, I
just picked the one that is used by CUHK (The Chinese University of
Hong Kong) for consistency.
https://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-can/
A.
I ngo 我
You nei 你
he/she/it keoi 佢
My name is ngo giu 我叫
What is your name? Nei giu me meng? 你叫咩名？

Practise:
My name is …. Your name is…

B.
I am ngo hai 我喺
Is/am/are hai 喺
America Mei gwok 美國
American Mei gwok jan 美國人
Hong Kong Hoeng gong 香港
Hong Konger Hoeng gong jan 香港人
What about you? Nei ne 你呢
How are you nei gei hou maa 你幾好嗎？
Very good hou hou 好好
Pretty good / not bad gei hou 幾好
Not good m hou 唔好
Thank you - for gift, do ze 多謝
praise, great help
Thank you - for help, m goi 唔該
service, excuse me
Sorry (serious) Deoi m zyu 對唔住
When wrong sb.
Sorry m hou ji si 唔好意思
Like zung ji 中意
I like ngo zung ji 我中意
I don’t like ngo m zung ji 我唔中意

Nouns

America Mei gwok 美國


American Mei gwok jan 美國人
Hong Kong Hoeng gong 香港
Hong Konger Hoeng gong jan 香港人
China Zung gwok 中國
Chinese Zung gwok jan 中國人
Coffee (OF Gaa fe 咖啡
COURSE!)
Tea Caa 茶
Water Seoi 水

Verbs

Go heoi 去
Eat sik 食
Drink jam 飲
Like zung ji 中意

1. Any questions?
2. Think about 3 words/phrases/sentences that you want to learn the
most

How much is this?


Where’s the bathroom?
Do you play basketball?
Do you go to church?
Do you speak English?
What time?
How old are you?

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