On this site, we use a straightforward and consistent system to write Cantonese in the Latin alphabet. Each sound of the Cantonese language is always written with the same distinct letter. All you have to do is remember which sound each letter represents. This Romanization was developed by Sonja Elen Kisa.
We have also included IPA transcriptions for those of you who are familiar with the symbols of the International Phonetic Association.
Cantonese also has 6 tones. See Tones for more information.
Click on any Chinese word with a beige background to hear it pronounced.
Cantonese has 20 consonant sounds: p, b, t, d, ts, dz, k, g, kw, gw, f, h, l, m, n, ng, s, y and w.
The first 10 come in pairs.
| Aspirated | Unaspirated | ||||
| p | as in pill, IPA [ph] | b | as in bill, IPA [p] [hear it] bui  cup |
||
| t | as in tick, IPA [th] [hear it] teng y t
tomorrow |
d | as in dick, IPA [t] [hear it] dou road |
||
| ts | as in tsetse fly or
lots, IPA [tsh] [hear it] tseng  please |
dz | as in Godzilla or red zit
IPA [ts] [hear it] dzou to do |
(Unlike English, ts and dz occur at the beginning of words in Cantonese.) | |
| k | as in con, IPA [kh] | g | as in gone, IPA [k] [hear it] ga
add |
||
| kw | as in quack, IPA [kwh] | gw | as in Spanish agua, IPA [kw] [hear it] gw i expensive
|
||
The consonants in the first column (p, t, ts, k and kw) are pronounced with a heavy puff of air, called aspiration. This is what distinguishes them from their unaspirated counterparts in the second column (b, d, dz, g, gw). Younger Cantonese-speakers use k and g instead of kw and gw for many words.
The remaining 10 consonants are pronounced more or less the same as in English.
| f | as in fall, IPA [f] [hear it] fai
fast |
|
| h | as in hit, IPA [h] [hear it] h i
to be
| |
| l | as in lick, IPA [l] [hear it] lœng 
two |
|
| m | as in mom, IPA [m] [hear it] mai
to buy[hear it] y m
to drink |
|
| n | as in noon, IPA [n] [hear it] na 
here you are[hear it] dan
hi
but |
(For younger speakers, the n sound hardly exists in the beginning of a syllable. They use l instead.) |
| ng | as in long, IPA [ ] [hear it] ngo
I[hear it] tseng
please |
(Unlike English, this sound can appear in the beginning of a syllable. Younger speakers of Cantonese, however, tend to drop the ng in this position.) |
| s | as in sissy, IPA [s] [hear it] söü
water |
|
| y | as in yet, IPA [j] [hear it] y t
one |
|
| w | as in wet, IPA [w] [hear it] wong
yellow |
Syllables ending in p, t and k are pronounced faster, with a much shorter vowel. The consonant is "clipped", almost as if you were cutting your breath suddenly in the
middle of the consonant at the end of the word, with no audible release (IPA [p
] [t] [k]).
| p | [hear it] | sp |
ten |
| t | [hear it] | yt |
one |
| k | [hear it] | dk |
adverb particle |
In Cantonese, the sounds m and ng can form a syllable of their own. For example, the word for no,
唔 m, sounds just like like mmh.
| a | a long, open ah as in father or as
the a used in French, German or Spanish, IPA [a ][hear it] sam three |
| e | as in English fed or French è,
IPA [ ][hear it] tse car |
| i | as the ee sound in machine, IPA [i] [hear it] yi ga now |
| o | similar to the English vowel in paw, but a bit more closed,
IPA [ ][hear it] ngo I |
| œ | similar to British English murder, French neuf
or German öffnen, IPA [œ] [hear it] sœng to want to |
| u | an oo sound like in cool, IPA [u] |
| ü | a rounded ee sound as in French tu or German
über, IPA [y] (Here's the trick: Carefully place your lips as if to say "oo" but then say "ee", keeping your lips in this puckered position.) [hear it] dzü to live
|
 |
a short, near-open uh, as in English what or
come, IPA [] [hear it] y m to drink |
| I | as in lick, IPA [ ][hear it] sIk to eat |
| ö | as in Swedish full, somewhat like British English
hurt or French le, IPA [ ]
|
| U | as in book, IPA [ ][hear it] lUk six |
The short vowels I and U (written with a small capital letter) are variants of i and u that occur before k, g and ng.
A diphthong is when you glide from one vowel to another within the same syllable.
In the following diphthongs, the first vowel is long and the second is short.
| ai | as in wide, IPA [ai] [hear it] fai fast |
| au | as in loud, IPA [au] |
| eu | as in Portuguese céu or Esperanto eŭ, IPA
[u]
|
| iu | as in Portuguese ouviu, IPA [iu] [hear it] yiu to want |
| oi | IPA [i] |
| ui | like the word gooey or the French word nouille, IPA [ui] [hear it] bui cup |
In the following diphthongs, both vowels are short.
| i |
a short, near-open uh, as in English what, followed
by a short y sound, IPA [i] (as in Canadian English white) [hear it] h i to be |
| u |
a short, near-open uh, as in English what, followed
by a short w sound, IPA [u] (as in Canadian English about) [hear it] y u to have |
| ei | as in day, IPA [ei] [hear it] nei you |
| ou | as in American English low, IPA [ou] [hear it] hou good |
| öü | somewhat like the diphthong in French œil or Dutch ui,
IPA [y] [hear it] söü water |
The pronunciation on this site is based on the modern colloquial dialect. Older speakers may still retain initial ng- in words like ngo (I), where most youth nowadays would simply say
o. Initial n has also disappeared, merging with l. A few speakers may still distinguish between löü (travel) and nöü (female), but young people generally
pronounce both as löü. A final feature of "proper", older Cantonese is keeping gw and kw
in words like gwok (country), whereas today gok is
more commonly heard.
On this website, we always show the "younger" pronunciation first. We then show the "older" pronunciation using a book symbol ![[standard]](book.gif){kind=small}
.