Help:IPA/Cantonese

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Cantonese pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA}}, {{IPAc-yue}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Cantonese phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Cantonese.

IPA Yale Jyutping Character English approximation Nonsyllabic consonants p syllable-initial b 幫 span pʰ syllable-initial p 滂 pan m m 明 moon f f 非 fan t syllable-initial d 端 stand tʰ syllable-initial t 透 tan n n 泥 noon l l 來 leaf ts j z 精 cats tsʰ ch c 清 cats hissing s s 心 saw k syllable-initial g 見 scan kʰ syllable-initial k 溪 can kʷ gw 古 squeak kʷʰ kw 困 quick ŋ ng 我 singing h h 曉 house j y j 以 you w w 云 water p̚ syllable-final p 濕 apt t̚ syllable-final t 失 Atkins k̚ syllable-final k 識 doctor Syllabic consonants m̩ m 唔 rhythm ŋ̩ ŋ̍ ng 五 (syllabic ng) All non-syllabic consonants except [p̚, t̚, k̚] may begin a syllable, but some speakers don't have initial [n, ŋ]. The six non-syllabic consonants [p̚, t̚, k̚, m, n, ŋ] may end a syllable.

IPA Yale Jyutping Character English approximation Vowels aː aa, syllable-final a aa 亞 father (Australian English) aːi aai 界 time aːu aau 交 how ɐ non-syllable-final a a 甩 cut ɐi ai 矮 Canadian price (see Canadian Raising) ɐu au 歐 Canadian clout (see Canadian Raising) ɛː e 些 yes ei ei 悲 hey ɛːu — eu 掉 roughly like yeah well e/ɪ i before k or ng 色 sick œː eu before k or ng or syllable-finally oe 靴 roughly like fur in British English; fleuve in French ɵy eui eoi 去 No English equivalent; like Japanese koi but rounded even at the end ɵ eu before n or t eo 出 roughly like again but rounded ɔː o 我 law ɔːi oi 哀 roughly like boy ou ou 奧 hoe (American English) o/ʊ u before k or ng 福 look iː i 意 see iːu iu 橋 roughly like few yː non-syllable-initial yu yu 於 No English equivalent; menu in French uː u 烏 food uːi ui 回 roughly like phooey IPA Yale Jyutping Tone number Character Description Tones siː˥ 55 síː sī si1 1 詩 high level siː˥˧ 53 sîː sì 1b (7) 絲 high falling siː˧˥ 35 sǐː sí si2 2 史 mid rising siː˧ 33 sīː si si3 3 試 mid level siː˨˩ siː˩ 21 11 si̭ː sȉː sìh si4 4 時 low falling or very low siː˨˧ siː˩˧ 23 13 si̬ː síh si5 5 市 low rising or very low risinɡ siː˨ 22 sìː sih si6 6 是 low level piːt̚˥ 5 píːt̚ bīt bit1 7 (1) 必 high checked siːt̚˧ 3 sīːt̚ sit sit3 8 (3) 薛 mid checked siːt̚˨ 2 sìːt̚ siht sit6 9 (6) 蝕 low checked

Bibliography

• Zee, Eric (1999), "Chinese (Hong Kong Cantonese)" (PDF), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-65236-7

See also

• Category:Pages with Cantonese IPA