Cantonese Omniglot

7/28/2019 Cantonese Omniglot

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Cantonese

Cantonese is spoken by at least 70 million people mainly in the south east of China, particularly in Hong Kong, Macau,

Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan. It is also spoken in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines

and among Overseas Chinese communities in many other countries.

In many schools in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong, Cantonese is the medium of instruction, though the students

are taught to read and write standard Chinese, which they read with Cantonese pronunciation. Cantonese is also the

main language of business, the media and government in both Hong Kong and Macau.

Cantonese has appeared in writing since the 17th century. It is used mainly in personal correspondence, diaries,

comics, poetry, advertising, popular newspapers, magazines and to some extent in literature. There are two standard

ways of written Cantonese: a formal version and a colloquial version. The formal version is quite different from spoken

Cantonese but very similiar to Standard Chinese and can be understood by Mandarin speakers without too much

difficulty. The colloquial version is much closer to spoken Cantonese and largely unintelligible to Mandarin speakers.

In Hong Kong, colloquial Cantonese is written with a mixture of standard Chinese characters and over a thousand

extra characters invented specifically for Cantonese. The extra characters are included in the Hong Kong

Supplementary Characters Set (HKSCS).

Special Cantonese characters

A selection of characters and words used in colloquial written Cantonese, with Yale romanization, their equivalents in

Standard Written Chinese with Cantonese and Mandarin pronunciation, and English translations.
http://www.omniglot.com/chinese/cantonese.htmhttp://www.omniglot.com/chinese/cantonese.htmhttp://www.omniglot.com/chinese/cantonese.htm


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Note

(bihbji) is often written BB

Romanization systems for Cantonese

Many different systems for writing Cantonese with the Latin alphabet have been devised. These include:

Meyer-Wempe

The Meyer-Wempe romanisation system was developed by two Catholic missionaries in Hong Kong: Bernhard F.

Meyer and Theodore F. Wempe during the 1920s and 1930s.

Yale

The Yale romanisation system was developed at Yale University by Parker Huang and Gerald Kok. It is designed for

American students learning Cantonese so the pronunciation is based on American English.

Sidney Lau

The Sidney Lau romanisation system was developed by Sidney Lau, the principal of the Hong Kong Government

Language School, for the radio series, "Cantonese-by-Radio", which was broadcast during the 1960s. It is an

adaptation of the Meyer-Wempe system.

Jyutping ()

TheLinguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK)came up with a new scheme for Cantonese Romanisation known asJyutping, in 1993. Jyutpingcan be used to write all the sounds of modern Cantonese and uses numbers to mark

tones. It can also be used as a computer input method for Cantonese.

Guangdong Romanization ()

Guangdong Romanization for Cantonese was first published by the Guangdong Provincial Education Department in

1960. It is used mainly in publications in and about Cantonese published in the PRC. There are also simliar systems

for transliterating Teochew, Hakka, and Hainanese.

Pnkymp ()Penkyamp Romanization is a joint effort by enthusiasts in Guangzhou with a aim of coming up with an alternative

script to write Cantonese.

Further details:http://cantonese.wikia.com/wiki/Penkyamp

Ytyt ()

A romanisation system for Cantonese based on Vietnamese spelling conventions and developed by Sky Darmos.

Further details
http://www.lshk.org/http://www.lshk.org/http://www.lshk.org/http://cantonese.wikia.com/wiki/Penkyamphttp://cantonese.wikia.com/wiki/Penkyamphttp://cantonese.wikia.com/wiki/Penkyamphttp://www.omniglot.com/chinese/yutyu.htmhttp://www.omniglot.com/chinese/yutyu.htmhttp://www.omniglot.com/chinese/yutyu.htmhttp://cantonese.wikia.com/wiki/Penkyamphttp://www.lshk.org/


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Ytyt()Ytyt is a romanisation system for Cantonese developed by Sky Darmos and based on Vietnamese spelling

conventions. Its main features are:

1. It is the shortest possible romanisation

2. It allows the representation of -sounds (ch, sh, zh)

3. It does not need numbers to indicate the tones

It uses single letters for every sound (exept of ch, sh, zh, and ng which have single letters only in IPA):

A, , B, C, CH, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, NG, O, , P, S, SH, T, U, , W, Y, Z, ZH

( = short a, = , = )

Single tone marks for every tone, which are just the tone marks of the corresponding Vietnamese tones:

a = [a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 a6]

= [1 2 3 4 5 6]

e = [1 2 3 4 5 6]

i = [i1 i2 i3 i4 i5 i6]

o = [1 2 3 4 5 6]

u = [u1 u2 u3 u4 u5 u6]

= [1 2 3 4 5 6]

= [y1 y2 y3 y4 y5 y6]

ng g g m = [4 5 6 m4]

For those familiar with Jyutping, the following explaination could be useful:

1. a for jyutping aa

2. for jyutping a

3. () for jyutping oe/eo

4. () for jyutping yu

5. () for jyutping eoi

6. y for jyutping j

7. gu, ku for jyutping gw, kw

8. a, , , , , for jyutping aa1, aa2, aa3, aa4, aa5, aa6

You can find an IME to type Ytyt at:www.vps.org

Sample text in Ytyt

ynyn shangchtli zuhi zyu g, hi znym tng knli shng ytlt pngdng. Kdi gyu lisng tng

lngsm, yc yinggoi yng hingdigan g guanhi li wsng ddi.
http://www.omniglot.com/chinese/yutyu.htmhttp://www.omniglot.com/chinese/yutyu.htmhttp://www.vps.org/http://www.vps.org/http://www.vps.org/http://www.vps.org/http://www.omniglot.com/chinese/yutyu.htm


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This text in Cantonese characters

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and

should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Comparison of Cantonese romanization systems

Notes

Only Meyer-Wempe and Ytyt distinguish between the // and /s/ sounds as this distinction is not made by most

speakers of Guangzhou Cantonese, and most dictionaries stopped distinguishing them in the early 1950s. This

distinction can also be made in Jyutping, though only some people do so.

In Guangdong Romanization j, q, x are only used in front of i and u: u is pronounced like in these cases.


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Tone indication

The high level and high falling tones are not usually distinguished and have merged together in Hong Kong

Cantonese.

Sample text in Cantonese

Listen to a recording of this textbyCantophilia

Translation (Meyer-Wempe Romanization)

Ynyn saangcheutli chuhi chyu ke, hi chiunym tng kinli seng yatlut pngtng. Kehiti kehiyu

lising tng lehngsam, yche yingkoi yng hingtikaan ke kwaanhi li wsoehng tehiti.

Transliteration (Yale Romanization)

Yhnyhn sangchutlih jauhhaih jihyuh ge, hi jynyhm thng kyhnlih seuhng ytleuht phngdng. Kuihdeih

geuihyuh lihsing thng luhngsm, yhche ynggi yuhng hngdaihgan ge gwanhaih laih wuhsung deuidoih.

Transliteration (Sidney Lau Romanization)

Yanyan saangcheutlai jauhai jiyau ge, hai joonyim toong koonlei seuhng yatleuht pingdang.

Keuhidei geuhiyau leising toong leuhngsam, yiche yinggoi yoong hingdaigaan ge gwaanhai lai

wooseuhng deuhidoi.

Transliteration (Jyutping Romanization)

Janjan saangceotlai zauhai zijau ge, hai zyunjim tung kyunlei soeng jatleot pingdang. Keoidei

geoijau leising tung loengsam, jice jinggoi jung hingdaigaan ge gwaanhai lai wusoeng deoidoi.
http://www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/udhr/udhr_cantonese.mp3http://www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/udhr/udhr_cantonese.mp3http://www.cantophilia.com/http://www.cantophilia.com/http://www.cantophilia.com/http://www.cantophilia.com/http://www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/udhr/udhr_cantonese.mp3


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Transliteration (Guangdong Romanization)

yenyen sangcdlei zeohei jiyeo g, hei junyim tung kyunli sng yedld pingdeng. Kudi

guyeo lising tung lngsem, yic yinggoi yung hingdeigan ge guanhei lei wusng dudoi.

Transliteration (Pnkymp Romanization)

Yantyant sng ctlay jwhy jyaw g, hy jenyim tonk keunly seng ytlt penkdnk. kydy gyyw lysnk tonk

leongsmp, yic ynkgi ynk hnkdygn g gunhy lay wseng dydi.

Transliteration (Ytyt Romanization)

ynyn shangchtli zuhi zyu g, hi znym tng knli shng ytlt pngdng. Kdi gyu lisng tng

lngsm, yc yinggoi yng hingdigan g guanhi li wsng ddi.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and

should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Download a spreadsheet with the above charts and texts(Excel, 54K)

Braille for Cantonese

Source:

www.hadley-school.org/Web_Site/8_d_chinese_braille_alphabet.asp
http://www.omniglot.com/charts/cantonese.xlshttp://www.omniglot.com/charts/cantonese.xlshttp://www.omniglot.com/chinese/braille.htmhttp://www.omniglot.com/chinese/braille.htmhttp://www.hadley-school.org/Web_Site/8_d_chinese_braille_alphabet.asphttp://www.hadley-school.org/Web_Site/8_d_chinese_braille_alphabet.asphttp://www.hadley-school.org/Web_Site/8_d_chinese_braille_alphabet.asphttp://www.omniglot.com/chinese/braille.htmhttp://www.omniglot.com/charts/cantonese.xls

Documents

Cantonese Omniglot