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vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Notes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>Notes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Notes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" 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class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Phonology of the Cantonese language</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable plainlinks selfreference noprint">For assistance with IPA transcriptions of Cantonese for Wikipedia articles, see <a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Cantonese" title="Help:IPA/Cantonese">Help:IPA/Cantonese</a>.</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid 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nowraplinks" style="width:auto"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-pretitle">This article is part of <a href="/wiki/Category:Cantonese_language" title="Category:Cantonese language">the series</a> on the</td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-title-with-pretitle"><a href="/wiki/Cantonese_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Cantonese language">Cantonese language</a></th></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="border-top: 1px solid #aaa;"> <a href="/wiki/Yue_Chinese" title="Yue Chinese">Yue Chinese</a></th></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="border-top: 1px solid #aaa;"> <a href="/wiki/Cantonese_grammar" title="Cantonese grammar">Grammar</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content plainlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_classifier" title="Chinese classifier">Measure words</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cantonese_pronouns" title="Cantonese pronouns">Pronouns</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="border-top: 1px solid #aaa;"> <div class="hlist"><ul><li><a href="/wiki/Written_Cantonese" title="Written Cantonese">Orthography</a></li><li>Transcription</li></ul></div></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content plainlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fanqie" title="Fanqie">Fanchit</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cantonese_Braille" title="Cantonese Braille">Braille</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cantonese_Bopomofo" class="mw-redirect" title="Cantonese Bopomofo">Bopomofo</a></li> <li><div class="hlist"><ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cantonese_pinyin" class="mw-redirect" title="Cantonese pinyin">Pinyin</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Yale_romanization_of_Cantonese" title="Yale romanization of Cantonese">Yale</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Jyutping" title="Jyutping">Jyutping</a></li></ul></div></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="border-top: 1px solid #aaa;"> <a class="mw-selflink selflink">Phonology</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content plainlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cantonese_nasal-stop_alternation" title="Cantonese nasal-stop alternation">Nasal-stop alternation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Changed_tone" title="Changed tone">Changed tone</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Proper_Cantonese_pronunciation" title="Proper Cantonese pronunciation">Proper Cantonese pronunciation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Cantonese" class="mw-redirect" title="Help:IPA for Cantonese">IPA</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar 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.side-box-right{clear:right;float:right;margin-left:1em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-left{margin-right:1em}}</style><div class="side-box metadata side-box-right noprint selfref"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"> <div class="side-box-flex"> <div class="side-box-text plainlist">This article contains <b><a href="/wiki/Phonetic_transcription" title="Phonetic transcription">phonetic transcriptions</a> in the <a href="/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet" title="International Phonetic Alphabet">International Phonetic Alphabet</a> (IPA)</b>. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see <a href="/wiki/Help:IPA" title="Help:IPA">Help:IPA</a>. For the distinction between <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ ]</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ /</span> and ⟨<span title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)" class="IPA" lang="und-Latn-fonipa"> </span>⟩, see <a href="/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet#Brackets_and_transcription_delimiters" title="International Phonetic Alphabet">IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters</a>.</div></div> </div> <p>Standard <a href="/wiki/Cantonese" title="Cantonese">Cantonese</a> pronunciation originates from <a href="/wiki/Guangzhou" title="Guangzhou">Guangzhou</a>, also known as Canton, the capital of <a href="/wiki/Guangdong" title="Guangdong">Guangdong</a> Province. <a href="/wiki/Hong_Kong_Cantonese" title="Hong Kong Cantonese">Hong Kong Cantonese</a> is closely related to the <a href="/wiki/Guangzhou_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Guangzhou dialect">Guangzhou dialect</a>, with only minor differences. <a href="/wiki/Yue_dialects" class="mw-redirect" title="Yue dialects">Yue dialects</a> spoken in other parts of Guangdong and <a href="/wiki/Guangxi" title="Guangxi">Guangxi</a> provinces, such as <a href="/wiki/Taishanese" title="Taishanese">Taishanese</a>, exhibit more significant divergences. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Syllables">Syllables</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cantonese_phonology&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Syllables"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Cantonese uses about 1,760 syllables to cover pronunciations of more than 10,000 Chinese characters. Most syllables are represented by standard Chinese characters, however a few are written with colloquial Cantonese characters. Cantonese has relatively simple syllable structure when compared to other languages. A Cantonese syllable contains one tone-carrying <a href="/wiki/Vowel" title="Vowel">vowel</a> with up to one <a href="/wiki/Consonant" title="Consonant">consonant</a> on either side.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability"><span title="The material near this tag failed verification of its source citation(s). (October 2024)">failed verification</span></a></i>]</sup> The average Cantonese syllable represents 6 unique Chinese characters. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Sounds">Sounds</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cantonese_phonology&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Sounds"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>A Cantonese syllable usually includes an initial (<a href="/wiki/Syllable#Onset" title="Syllable">onset</a>) and a final (<a href="/wiki/Syllable#Rime" title="Syllable">rime/rhyme</a>). The Cantonese syllabary has about 630 syllables. </p><p>Some like <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kʷeŋ˥/</span> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">扃</span></span>), <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɛː˨/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ei˨/</span> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">欸</span></span>) are no longer common; some like <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kʷek˥/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kʷʰek˥/</span> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">隙</span></span>), or <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kʷaːŋ˧˥/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kɐŋ˧˥/</span> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">梗</span></span>), have traditionally had two equally correct pronunciations but its speakers are starting to pronounce them in only one particular way (and this usually happens because the <i>unused</i> pronunciation is almost unique to that word alone), making the <i>unused</i> sounds effectively disappear from the language; some like <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kʷʰɔːk˧/</span> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">擴</span></span>), <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/pʰuːi˥/</span> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">胚</span></span>), <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/tsɵi˥/</span> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">錐</span></span>), <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kaː˥/</span> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">痂</span></span>), have alternative nonstandard pronunciations which have become mainstream (as <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kʷʰɔːŋ˧/</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/puːi˥/</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/jɵi˥/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kʰɛː˥/</span> respectively), again making some of the sounds disappear from the everyday use of the language; and yet others like <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/faːk˧/</span> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">謋</span></span>), <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/fɐŋ˩/</span> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">揈</span></span>), <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/tɐp˥/</span> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">耷</span></span>) have become popularly (but erroneously) believed to be made-up/borrowed words to represent sounds in modern vernacular Cantonese when they have in fact been retaining those sounds before these vernacular usages became popular. </p><p>On the other hand, <a href="/wiki/Neologism" title="Neologism">new words</a> circulate in Hong Kong which use combinations of sounds unseen in Cantonese prior to their introduction, like <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kɛt˥/</span>, a syllable which was borrowed from the English word <i>get</i>, in the meaning "to understand". This <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɛt/</span> final does not fit into general Cantonese phonology, though the final with the longer vowel <i>-et</i> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɛːt/</span> has appeared in vernacular Cantonese before this, e.g. <i>pet6</i> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/pʰɛːt˨/</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh"><span lang="zh"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%9D%BA#Chinese" class="extiw" title="wikt:坺">坺</a></span></span></span>, the <a href="/wiki/Measure_word" title="Measure word">measure word</a> for gooey or sticky substances like mud, poop, glue, chewing gum. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Initial_consonants">Initial consonants</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cantonese_phonology&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Initial consonants"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Initials (or <a href="/wiki/Syllable#Onset" title="Syllable">onsets</a>) refer to the 19 initial <a href="/wiki/Consonant" title="Consonant">consonants</a> which may occur at the beginning of a <a href="/wiki/Syllable" title="Syllable">syllable</a>. Some syllables have no initials and are said to have <a href="/wiki/Null_initial" class="mw-redirect" title="Null initial">null initial</a>. The following is the inventory for Cantonese as represented in <a href="/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet" title="International Phonetic Alphabet">IPA</a>: </p> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"> <tbody><tr> <th rowspan="2" colspan="2"> </th> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Labial_consonant" title="Labial consonant">Labial</a> </th> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Dental_consonant" title="Dental consonant">Dental</a>/<br /><a href="/wiki/Alveolar_consonant" title="Alveolar consonant">Alveolar</a> </th> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Palatal_consonant" title="Palatal consonant">Palatal</a> </th> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Velar_consonant" title="Velar consonant">Velar</a> </th> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Glottal_consonant" title="Glottal consonant">Glottal</a> </th></tr> <tr style="font-size: x-small;"> <th><span style="font-size:85%;">plain</span> </th> <th><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="/wiki/Labialization" title="Labialization">labialized</a></span> </th></tr> <tr> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Nasal_consonant" title="Nasal consonant">Nasal</a> </th> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_bilabial_nasal" title="Voiced bilabial nasal">m</a></span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">明</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_alveolar_nasal" class="mw-redirect" title="Voiced alveolar nasal">n</a></span><sup id="cite_ref-initialA_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-initialA-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>A<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">泥</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_velar_nasal" title="Voiced velar nasal">ŋ</a></span><sup id="cite_ref-initialA_3-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-initialA-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>A<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">我</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Stop_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Stop consonant">Stop</a> </th> <th><span style="font-size:85%;">plain</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiceless_bilabial_plosive" title="Voiceless bilabial plosive">p</a></span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">幫</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiceless_alveolar_plosive" class="mw-redirect" title="Voiceless alveolar plosive">t</a></span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">端</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiceless_velar_plosive" title="Voiceless velar plosive">k</a></span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">見</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Labialization" title="Labialization">kʷ</a></span><sup id="cite_ref-initialB_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-initialB-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>B<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">古</span></span> </td> <td>(<span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Glottal_stop" title="Glottal stop">ʔ</a></span>)<sup id="cite_ref-initialC_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-initialC-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>C<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">亞</span></span> </td></tr> <tr> <th><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="/wiki/Aspiration_(phonetics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Aspiration (phonetics)">aspirated</a></span> </th> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Aspirated_consonant" title="Aspirated consonant">pʰ</a></span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">滂</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Aspirated_consonant" title="Aspirated consonant">tʰ</a></span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">透</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Aspirated_consonant" title="Aspirated consonant">kʰ</a></span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">溪</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Aspirated_consonant" title="Aspirated consonant">kʰʷ</a></span><sup id="cite_ref-initialB_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-initialB-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>B<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">困</span></span> </td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Affricate_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Affricate consonant">Affricate</a> </th> <th><span style="font-size:85%;">plain</span> </th> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiceless_alveolar_affricate" title="Voiceless alveolar affricate">t͡s</a></span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">精</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="/wiki/Aspiration_(phonetics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Aspiration (phonetics)">aspirated</a></span> </th> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Aspirated_consonant" title="Aspirated consonant">t͡sʰ</a></span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">清</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Fricative_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Fricative consonant">Fricative</a> </th> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiceless_labiodental_fricative" title="Voiceless labiodental fricative">f</a></span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">非</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiceless_alveolar_fricative" title="Voiceless alveolar fricative">s</a></span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">心</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiceless_glottal_fricative" title="Voiceless glottal fricative">h</a></span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">曉</span></span> </td></tr> <tr> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Approximant_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Approximant consonant">Approximant</a> </th> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_alveolar_lateral_approximant" class="mw-redirect" title="Voiced alveolar lateral approximant">l</a></span><sup id="cite_ref-initialA_3-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-initialA-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>A<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">來</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_palatal_approximant" title="Voiced palatal approximant">j</a></span><sup id="cite_ref-initialB_4-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-initialB-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>B<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">以</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_labial%E2%80%93velar_approximant" title="Voiced labial–velar approximant">w</a></span><sup id="cite_ref-initialB_4-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-initialB-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>B<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">云</span></span> </td> <td> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Note the <a href="/wiki/Aspiration_(phonetics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Aspiration (phonetics)">aspiration</a> contrast and the lack of <a href="/wiki/Voice_(phonetics)" title="Voice (phonetics)">voicing</a> contrast in <a href="/wiki/Stop_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Stop consonant">stops</a>. </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-upper-alpha"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-initialA-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-initialA_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-initialA_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-initialA_3-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">In casual speech, many native speakers do not distinguish between <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/n/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/l/</span>, nor between <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ŋ/</span> and the null initial.<sup id="cite_ref-distinguish_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-distinguish-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Usually they pronounce only <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/l/</span> and the null initial. See the discussion on <a class="mw-selflink-fragment" href="#Historical_change">phonological shift</a> below.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-initialB-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-initialB_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-initialB_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-initialB_4-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-initialB_4-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Some linguists prefer to analyze <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/j/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/w/</span> as part of <a href="/wiki/Final_(linguistics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Final (linguistics)">finals</a> to make them analogous to the <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/i/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/u/</span> <a href="/wiki/Syllable_medial" class="mw-redirect" title="Syllable medial">medials</a> in <a href="/wiki/Standard_Chinese" title="Standard Chinese">Mandarin</a>, especially in comparative phonological studies. However, since final-heads only appear with <a href="/wiki/Initial_(linguistics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Initial (linguistics)">null initial</a>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/k/</span> or <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kʰ/</span>, analyzing them as part of the initials greatly reduces the count of finals at the cost of adding only four initials.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-initialC-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-initialC_5-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Some linguists analyze a <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ʔ/</span> (<a href="/wiki/Glottal_stop" title="Glottal stop">glottal stop</a>) in place of the null initial when a <a href="/wiki/Vowel" title="Vowel">vowel</a> begins a sound.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <p><a href="/wiki/Coronal_consonant" title="Coronal consonant">Coronals</a>' position varies from <a href="/wiki/Dental_consonant" title="Dental consonant">dental</a> to <a href="/wiki/Alveolar_consonant" title="Alveolar consonant">alveolar</a>, with <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/t/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/tʰ/</span> more likely to be dental. Coronal <a href="/wiki/Affricate_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Affricate consonant">affricates</a> and <a href="/wiki/Sibilant_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Sibilant consonant">sibilants</a> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/t͡s/</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/t͡sʰ/</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/s/</span>'s position is alveolar and articulatory findings indicate they are palatalized before close front vowels <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/iː/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/yː/</span>.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Affricates <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/t͡s/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/t͡sʰ/</span> also have a tendency to palatalize before central round vowels <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/œː/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɵ/</span>.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Historically, another alveolo-palatal sibilant series existed as discussed <a class="mw-selflink-fragment" href="#Historical_change">below</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Vowels_and_finals">Vowels and finals</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cantonese_phonology&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Vowels and finals"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1237032888/mw-parser-output/.tmulti">.mw-parser-output .tmulti .multiimageinner{display:flex;flex-direction:column}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow{display:flex;flex-direction:row;clear:left;flex-wrap:wrap;width:100%;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle{margin:1px;float:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .theader{clear:both;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;align-self:center;background-color:transparent;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbcaption{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-left{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-right{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-center{text-align:center}@media all and (max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbinner{width:100%!important;box-sizing:border-box;max-width:none!important;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow{justify-content:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle{float:none!important;max-width:100%!important;box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle .thumbcaption{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow>.thumbcaption{text-align:center}}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .tmulti .multiimageinner img{background-color:white}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .tmulti .multiimageinner img{background-color:white}}</style><div class="thumb tmulti tright"><div class="thumbinner multiimageinner" style="width:254px;max-width:254px"><div class="trow"><div class="tsingle" style="width:252px;max-width:252px"><div class="thumbimage"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Cantonese_vowel_chart.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Cantonese_vowel_chart.svg/250px-Cantonese_vowel_chart.svg.png" decoding="async" width="250" height="184" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Cantonese_vowel_chart.svg/375px-Cantonese_vowel_chart.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Cantonese_vowel_chart.svg/500px-Cantonese_vowel_chart.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="980" data-file-height="720" /></a></span></div><div class="thumbcaption">Chart of monophthongs used in Cantonese, from <a href="#CITEREFZee1999">Zee (1999</a>:59)</div></div></div><div class="trow"><div class="tsingle" style="width:252px;max-width:252px"><div class="thumbimage"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Cantonese_diphthong_chart.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Cantonese_diphthong_chart.svg/250px-Cantonese_diphthong_chart.svg.png" decoding="async" width="250" height="207" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Cantonese_diphthong_chart.svg/375px-Cantonese_diphthong_chart.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Cantonese_diphthong_chart.svg/500px-Cantonese_diphthong_chart.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="890" data-file-height="737" /></a></span></div><div class="thumbcaption">Chart of diphthongs used in Cantonese, from <a href="#CITEREFZee1999">Zee (1999</a>:59)</div></div></div></div></div> <p>Finals (or <a href="/wiki/Syllable#Rime" title="Syllable">rimes/rhymes</a>) are the part of the sound after the initial. A final is typically composed of a main vowel (<a href="/wiki/Syllable#Nucleus" title="Syllable">nucleus</a>) and a terminal (<a href="/wiki/Syllable#Coda" title="Syllable">coda</a>). </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Eleven_vowel_analysis">Eleven vowel analysis</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cantonese_phonology&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Eleven vowel analysis"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>As the traditionally transcribed near-close finals (<span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ɪŋ],<span class="wrap"> </span>[ɪk],<span class="wrap"> </span>[ʊŋ],<span class="wrap"> </span>[ʊk]</span>) have been found to be pronounced in the mid region on acoustic findings,<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> sources like <a href="#CITEREFBauerBenedict1997">Bauer & Benedict (1997</a>:46–47) prefer to analyze them as close-mid (<span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[eŋ],<span class="wrap"> </span>[ek],<span class="wrap"> </span>[oŋ],<span class="wrap"> </span>[ok]</span>) which results in eleven vowel phonemes. In this analysis, vowel length is a key contrastive feature of the vowels. </p> <table class="wikitable" border="1" style="text-align:center"> <tbody><tr> <th rowspan="3"> </th> <th colspan="4"><a href="/wiki/Front_vowel" title="Front vowel">Front</a> </th> <th rowspan="2" colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Central_vowel" title="Central vowel">Central</a> </th> <th rowspan="2" colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Back_vowel" title="Back vowel">Back</a> </th></tr> <tr> <th colspan="2"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="/wiki/Roundedness" title="Roundedness">unrounded</a></span> </th> <th colspan="2"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="/wiki/Roundedness" title="Roundedness">rounded</a></span> </th></tr> <tr> <th><span style="font-size:85%;">short</span></th> <th><span style="font-size:85%;">long</span> </th> <th><span style="font-size:85%;">short</span></th> <th><span style="font-size:85%;">long</span> </th> <th><span style="font-size:85%;">short</span></th> <th><span style="font-size:85%;">long</span> </th> <th><span style="font-size:85%;">short</span></th> <th><span style="font-size:85%;">long</span> </th></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Close_vowel" title="Close vowel">Close</a> </th> <td></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_front_unrounded_vowel" title="Close front unrounded vowel">iː</a>/</span> </td> <td></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_front_rounded_vowel" title="Close front rounded vowel">yː</a>/</span> </td> <td colspan="2"> </td> <td></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_back_rounded_vowel" title="Close back rounded vowel">uː</a>/</span> </td></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Mid_vowel" title="Mid vowel">Mid</a> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close-mid_front_unrounded_vowel" title="Close-mid front unrounded vowel">e</a>/</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Open-mid_front_unrounded_vowel" title="Open-mid front unrounded vowel">ɛː</a>/</span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close-mid_central_rounded_vowel" title="Close-mid central rounded vowel">ɵ</a>/</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Open-mid_front_rounded_vowel" title="Open-mid front rounded vowel">œː</a>/</span> </td> <td colspan="2"> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close-mid_back_rounded_vowel" title="Close-mid back rounded vowel">o</a>/</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Open-mid_back_rounded_vowel" title="Open-mid back rounded vowel">ɔː</a>/</span> </td></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Open_vowel" title="Open vowel">Open</a> </th> <td colspan="2"> </td> <td colspan="2"> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Near-open_central_vowel" title="Near-open central vowel">ɐ</a>/</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Open_front_unrounded_vowel" title="Open front unrounded vowel">aː</a>/</span> </td> <td colspan="2"> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The following chart lists all the finals in Cantonese as represented in <a href="/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet" title="International Phonetic Alphabet">IPA</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="2" rowspan="2"> </th> <th colspan="11"><a href="/wiki/Syllable#Nucleus" title="Syllable">Main Vowel</a> </th> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Syllabic_consonant" title="Syllabic consonant">Syllabic<br />Consonant</a> </th></tr> <tr> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Open_central_unrounded_vowel" title="Open central unrounded vowel">aː</a>/</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Near-open_central_vowel" title="Near-open central vowel">ɐ</a>/</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Open-mid_front_unrounded_vowel" title="Open-mid front unrounded vowel">ɛː</a>/</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close-mid_front_unrounded_vowel" title="Close-mid front unrounded vowel">e</a>/</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Open-mid_front_rounded_vowel" title="Open-mid front rounded vowel">œː</a>/</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close-mid_central_rounded_vowel" title="Close-mid central rounded vowel">ɵ</a>/</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Open-mid_back_rounded_vowel" title="Open-mid back rounded vowel">ɔː</a>/</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close-mid_back_rounded_vowel" title="Close-mid back rounded vowel">o</a>/</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_front_unrounded_vowel" title="Close front unrounded vowel">iː</a>/</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_front_rounded_vowel" title="Close front rounded vowel">yː</a>/</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_back_rounded_vowel" title="Close back rounded vowel">uː</a>/</span> </th></tr> <tr> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Monophthong" title="Monophthong">Monophthong</a> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aː</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">沙</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛː</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">些</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">œː</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">鋸</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɔː</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">疏</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">iː</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">詩</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">yː</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">書</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">uː</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">夫</span></span> </td> <td rowspan="3" style="background: #aaa;"> </td></tr> <tr> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Diphthong" title="Diphthong">Diphthong</a> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_front_unrounded_vowel" title="Close front unrounded vowel">i</a>/</span><br /><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[i,<span class="wrap"> </span>y]</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːi</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">街</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐi</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">雞</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ei</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">你</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɵy</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">水</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɔːi</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">愛</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">uːi</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">會</span></span> </td></tr> <tr> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_back_rounded_vowel" title="Close back rounded vowel">u</a>/</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːu</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">教</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐu</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">夠</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛːu</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">掉</span></span><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1041539562">.mw-parser-output .citation{word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}</style><sup class="citation nobold" id="ref_finala"><a href="#endnote_finala">[note]</a></sup> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ou</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">好</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">iːu</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">了</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th rowspan="3"><a href="/wiki/Nasal_consonant" title="Nasal consonant">Nasal</a> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Voiced_bilabial_nasal" title="Voiced bilabial nasal">m</a>/</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːm</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">衫</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐm</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">深</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛːm</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">舐</span></span><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1041539562"><sup class="citation nobold" id="ref_finalb"><a href="#endnote_finalb">[note]</a></sup> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">iːm</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">點</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">m̩</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">唔</span></span> </td></tr> <tr> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Voiced_alveolar_nasal" class="mw-redirect" title="Voiced alveolar nasal">n</a>/</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːn</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">山</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐn</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">新</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛːn</span><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1041539562"><sup class="citation nobold" id="ref_finalc"><a href="#endnote_finalc">[note]</a></sup> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɵn</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">準</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɔːn</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">看</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">iːn</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">見</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">yːn</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">遠</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">uːn</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">歡</span></span> </td> <td style="background: #aaa;"> </td></tr> <tr> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Voiced_velar_nasal" title="Voiced velar nasal">ŋ</a>/</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːŋ</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">橫</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐŋ</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">宏</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛːŋ</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">鏡</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">eŋ</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">敬</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">œːŋ</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">傷</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɔːŋ</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">方</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">oŋ</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">風</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ŋ̩</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">五</span></span> </td></tr> <tr> <th rowspan="3"><a href="/wiki/Checked_tone" title="Checked tone">Checked</a> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Voiceless_bilabial_plosive" title="Voiceless bilabial plosive">p</a>/</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːp</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">插</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐp</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">輯</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛːp</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">夾</span></span><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1041539562"><sup class="citation nobold" id="ref_finald"><a href="#endnote_finald">[note]</a></sup> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">iːp</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">接</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td rowspan="3" style="background: #aaa;"> </td></tr> <tr> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Voiceless_alveolar_plosive" class="mw-redirect" title="Voiceless alveolar plosive">t</a>/</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːt</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">達</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐt</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">突</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛːt</span><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1041539562"><sup class="citation nobold" id="ref_finale"><a href="#endnote_finale">[note]</a></sup> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɵt</span> 出 </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɔːt</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">渴</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">iːt</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">結</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">yːt</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">血</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">uːt</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">沒</span></span> </td></tr> <tr> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Voiceless_velar_plosive" title="Voiceless velar plosive">k</a>/</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːk</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">百</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐk</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">北</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛːk</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">錫</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ek</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">亦</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">œːk</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">著</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɔːk</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">國</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ok</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">六</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Eight_vowel_analysis">Eight vowel analysis</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cantonese_phonology&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Eight vowel analysis"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Some sources prefer to keep the near-close finals (<span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ɪŋ],<span class="wrap"> </span>[ɪk],<span class="wrap"> </span>[ʊŋ],<span class="wrap"> </span>[ʊk]</span>) as traditionally transcribed and analyze the long-short pairs <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ɛː,<span class="wrap"> </span>e]</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ɔː,<span class="wrap"> </span>o]</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[œː,<span class="wrap"> </span>ɵ]</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[iː,<span class="wrap"> </span>ɪ]</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[uː,<span class="wrap"> </span>ʊ]</span> as allophones of the same phonemes, resulting in an eight vowel system instead.<sup id="cite_ref-cuhk_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cuhk-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In this analysis, vowel length is mainly allophonic and is contrastive only in the open vowels. </p> <table class="wikitable" border="1" style="text-align:center"> <tbody><tr> <th rowspan="2"> </th> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Front_vowel" title="Front vowel">Front</a> </th> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Central_vowel" title="Central vowel">Central</a> </th> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Back_vowel" title="Back vowel">Back</a> </th></tr> <tr> <th><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="/wiki/Roundedness" title="Roundedness">Unrounded</a></span> </th> <th><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="/wiki/Roundedness" title="Roundedness">Rounded</a></span> </th> <th><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="/wiki/Vowel_length" title="Vowel length">Short</a></span></th> <th><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="/wiki/Vowel_length" title="Vowel length">Long</a></span> </th></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Close_vowel" title="Close vowel">Close</a> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_front_unrounded_vowel" title="Close front unrounded vowel">i</a>/</span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[iː,<span class="wrap"> </span>ɪ]</span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_front_rounded_vowel" title="Close front rounded vowel">y</a>/</span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[yː]</span> </td> <td colspan="2"> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_back_rounded_vowel" title="Close back rounded vowel">u</a>/</span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[uː,<span class="wrap"> </span>ʊ]</span> </td></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Mid_vowel" title="Mid vowel">Mid</a> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Mid_front_unrounded_vowel" title="Mid front unrounded vowel">e</a>/</span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ɛː,<span class="wrap"> </span>e]</span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Mid_front_rounded_vowel" title="Mid front rounded vowel">ø</a>/</span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[œː,<span class="wrap"> </span>ɵ]</span> </td> <td colspan="2"> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Mid_back_rounded_vowel" title="Mid back rounded vowel">o</a>/</span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ɔː,<span class="wrap"> </span>o</span>] </td></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Open_vowel" title="Open vowel">Open</a> </th> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Near-open_central_vowel" title="Near-open central vowel">ɐ</a>/</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Open_central_unrounded_vowel" title="Open central unrounded vowel">aː</a>/</span> </td> <td> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The following chart lists all the finals in Cantonese as represented in <a href="/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet" title="International Phonetic Alphabet">IPA</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-cuhk_10-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cuhk-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="2" rowspan="2"> </th> <th colspan="8"><a href="/wiki/Syllable#Nucleus" title="Syllable">Main Vowel</a> </th> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Syllabic_consonant" title="Syllabic consonant">Syllabic<br />Consonant</a> </th></tr> <tr> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Open_central_unrounded_vowel" title="Open central unrounded vowel">aː</a>/</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Near-open_central_vowel" title="Near-open central vowel">ɐ</a>/</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Mid_front_unrounded_vowel" title="Mid front unrounded vowel">e</a>/</span><br /><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ɛː,<span class="wrap"> </span>e]</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Mid_front_rounded_vowel" title="Mid front rounded vowel">ø</a>/</span><br /><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[œː,<span class="wrap"> </span>ɵ]</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Mid_back_rounded_vowel" title="Mid back rounded vowel">o</a>/</span><br /><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ɔː,<span class="wrap"> </span>o</span>] </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_front_unrounded_vowel" title="Close front unrounded vowel">i</a>/</span><br /><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[iː,<span class="wrap"> </span>ɪ]</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_front_rounded_vowel" title="Close front rounded vowel">y</a>/</span><br /><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[yː]</span> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_back_rounded_vowel" title="Close back rounded vowel">u</a>/</span><br /><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[uː,<span class="wrap"> </span>ʊ]</span> </th></tr> <tr> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Monophthong" title="Monophthong">Monophthong</a> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aː</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">沙</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛː</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">些</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">œː</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">鋸</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɔː</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">疏</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">iː</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">詩</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">yː</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">書</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">uː</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">夫</span></span> </td> <td rowspan="3" style="background: #aaa;"> </td></tr> <tr> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Diphthong" title="Diphthong">Diphthong</a> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_front_unrounded_vowel" title="Close front unrounded vowel">i</a>/</span><br /><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[i,<span class="wrap"> </span>y]</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːi</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">街</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐi</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">雞</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ei</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">你</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɵy</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">水</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɔːi</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">愛</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">uːi</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">會</span></span> </td></tr> <tr> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Close_back_rounded_vowel" title="Close back rounded vowel">u</a>/</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːu</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">敎</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐu</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">夠</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛːu</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">掉</span></span><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1041539562"><sup class="citation nobold" id="ref_finala"><a href="#endnote_finala">[note]</a></sup> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ou</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">好</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">iːu</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">了</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th rowspan="3"><a href="/wiki/Nasal_consonant" title="Nasal consonant">Nasal</a> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Voiced_bilabial_nasal" title="Voiced bilabial nasal">m</a>/</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːm</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">衫</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐm</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">深</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛːm</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">舐</span></span><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1041539562"><sup class="citation nobold" id="ref_finalb"><a href="#endnote_finalb">[note]</a></sup> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">iːm</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">點</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">m̩</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">唔</span></span> </td></tr> <tr> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Voiced_alveolar_nasal" class="mw-redirect" title="Voiced alveolar nasal">n</a>/</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːn</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">山</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐn</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">新</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛːn</span><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1041539562"><sup class="citation nobold" id="ref_finalc"><a href="#endnote_finalc">[note]</a></sup> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɵn</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">準</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɔːn</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">看</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">iːn</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">見</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">yːn</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">遠</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">uːn</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">歡</span></span> </td> <td style="background: #aaa;"> </td></tr> <tr> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Voiced_velar_nasal" title="Voiced velar nasal">ŋ</a>/</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːŋ</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">橫</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐŋ</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">宏</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛːŋ</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">鏡</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">œːŋ</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">傷</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɔːŋ</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">方</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɪŋ</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">敬</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ʊŋ</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">風</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ŋ̩</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">五</span></span> </td></tr> <tr> <th rowspan="3"><a href="/wiki/Checked_tone" title="Checked tone">Checked</a> </th> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Voiceless_bilabial_plosive" title="Voiceless bilabial plosive">p</a>/</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːp</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">插</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐp</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">輯</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛːp</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">夾</span></span><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1041539562"><sup class="citation nobold" id="ref_finald"><a href="#endnote_finald">[note]</a></sup> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">iːp</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">接</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td rowspan="3" style="background: #aaa;"> </td></tr> <tr> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Voiceless_alveolar_plosive" class="mw-redirect" title="Voiceless alveolar plosive">t</a>/</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːt</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">達</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐt</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">突</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛːt</span><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1041539562"><sup class="citation nobold" id="ref_finale"><a href="#endnote_finale">[note]</a></sup> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɵt</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">出</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɔːt</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">渴</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">iːt</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">結</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">yːt</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">血</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">uːt</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">沒</span></span> </td></tr> <tr> <th><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/<a href="/wiki/Voiceless_velar_plosive" title="Voiceless velar plosive">k</a>/</span> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">aːk</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">百</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɐk</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">北</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɛːk</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">錫</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">œːk</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">著</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɔːk</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">國</span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ɪk</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">亦</span></span> </td> <td> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ʊk</span> <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">六</span></span> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Other_notes">Other notes</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cantonese_phonology&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Other notes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><b>Note:</b> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1041539562"><span class="citation wikicite" id="endnote_finala"><a href="#ref_finala"><b><sup>a</sup></b></a></span> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1041539562"><span class="citation wikicite" id="endnote_finalb"><a href="#ref_finalb"><b><sup>b</sup></b></a></span> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1041539562"><span class="citation wikicite" id="endnote_finalc"><a href="#ref_finalc"><b><sup>c</sup></b></a></span> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1041539562"><span class="citation wikicite" id="endnote_finald"><a href="#ref_finald"><b><sup>d</sup></b></a></span> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1041539562"><span class="citation wikicite" id="endnote_finale"><a href="#ref_finale"><b><sup>e</sup></b></a></span> Finals <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɛːu/</span>,<sup id="cite_ref-Diphthong_11-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Diphthong-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɛːm/</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɛːn/</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɛːp/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɛːt/</span> only appear in colloquial pronunciations of characters.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> They are absent from some analyses and romanization systems. </p><p>Diphthongal ending <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/i/</span> is rounded after rounded vowels.<sup id="cite_ref-Diphthong_11-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Diphthong-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Nasal consonants can occur as base syllables in their own right and are known as syllabic nasals. The stop consonants (<span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/p,<span class="wrap"> </span>t,<span class="wrap"> </span>k/</span>) are <a href="/wiki/No_audible_release" title="No audible release">unreleased</a> (<span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[p̚,<span class="wrap"> </span>t̚,<span class="wrap"> </span>k̚]</span>). </p><p>When the three <a href="/wiki/Checked_tone" title="Checked tone">checked tones</a> are separated, the stop codas <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/p,<span class="wrap"> </span>t,<span class="wrap"> </span>k/</span> are in <a href="/wiki/Complementary_distribution" title="Complementary distribution">complementary distribution</a> with the nasal codas <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/m,<span class="wrap"> </span>n,<span class="wrap"> </span>ŋ/</span>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Tones">Tones</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cantonese_phonology&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Tones"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Cantonese_tones.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Cantonese_tones.svg/220px-Cantonese_tones.svg.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="220" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Cantonese_tones.svg/330px-Cantonese_tones.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Cantonese_tones.svg/440px-Cantonese_tones.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="400" data-file-height="400" /></a><figcaption>Relative fundamental-frequency contours for six Cantonese tones with examples and Jyutping/Yale tone numbers (modified from <a href="#CITEREFFrancis2008">Francis (2008)</a>)</figcaption></figure> <p>Cantonese uses <a href="/wiki/Tone_contour" title="Tone contour">tone contours</a> to distinguish words, with the number of possible tones depending on the type of final. While Guangzhou Cantonese generally distinguishes between high-falling and high level tones, the two have merged in Hong Kong Cantonese and Macau Cantonese, yielding a system of six different tones in syllables ending in a semi-vowel or <a href="/wiki/Nasal_stop" class="mw-redirect" title="Nasal stop">nasal consonant</a>. (Some of these have more than one realization, but such differences are not used to distinguish words.) In finals that end in a <a href="/wiki/Stop_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Stop consonant">stop consonant</a>, the number of tones is reduced to three; in Chinese descriptions, these "<a href="/wiki/Checked_tone" title="Checked tone">checked tones</a>" are treated separately by <a href="/wiki/Historical_linguistics" title="Historical linguistics">diachronic</a> convention, so that Cantonese is traditionally said to have nine tones. However, phonetically these are a conflation of tone and final consonant; the number of phonemic tones is six in Hong Kong and seven in Guangzhou.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"> <tbody><tr> <th>Coda type</th> <th colspan="6">Non-stop coda</th> <th colspan="3">Stop coda </th></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Tone_name" title="Tone name">Tone name</a> </th> <td>dark flat<br />(<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">陰平</span></span>)</td> <td>dark rising<br />(<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">陰上</span></span>)</td> <td>dark departing<br />(<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">陰去</span></span>) </td> <td>light flat<br />(<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">陽平</span></span>)</td> <td>light rising<br />(<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">陽上</span></span>)</td> <td>light departing<br />(<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">陽去</span></span>) </td> <td>upper dark entering<br />(<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">上陰入</span></span>)</td> <td>lower dark entering<br />(<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">下陰入</span></span>)</td> <td>light entering<br />(<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">陽入</span></span>) </td></tr> <tr> <th>Description </th> <td>high level,<br />high falling</td> <td>medium rising</td> <td>medium level </td> <td>low falling,<br />very low level</td> <td>low rising</td> <td>low level </td> <td>high level</td> <td>medium level</td> <td>low level </td></tr> <tr> <th>Example </th> <td><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">詩, 思</span></span></td> <td><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">史</span></span></td> <td><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">試</span></span> </td> <td><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">時</span></span></td> <td><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">市</span></span></td> <td><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">是</span></span> </td> <td><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">識</span></span></td> <td><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">錫</span></span></td> <td><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">食</span></span> </td></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Tone_letter" title="Tone letter">Tone letter</a> </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">siː˥</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">siː˥˧</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">siː˧˥</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">siː˧</span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">siː˨˩</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">siː˩</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">siː˩˧</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">siː˨</span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">sɪk̚˥</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">sɛːk̚˧</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">sɪk̚˨</span> </td></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet" title="International Phonetic Alphabet">IPA</a> diacritic </th> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">síː</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">sîː</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">sǐː</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">sīː</span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">si̖ː</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">sı̏ː</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">si̗ː</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">sìː</span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">sɪ́k̚</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">sɛ̄ːk̚</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">sɪ̀k̚</span> </td></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Yale_romanization_of_Cantonese" title="Yale romanization of Cantonese">Yale</a> or <a href="/wiki/Jyutping" title="Jyutping">Jyutping</a><br /><a href="/wiki/Tone_number" title="Tone number">tone number</a> </th> <td>1</td> <td>2</td> <td>3 </td> <td>4</td> <td>5</td> <td>6 </td> <td>7 (or 1)</td> <td>8 (or 3)</td> <td>9 (or 6) </td></tr> <tr> <th>Yale diacritic </th> <td><i>sī</i>, <i>sì</i></td> <td><i>sí</i></td> <td><i>si</i> </td> <td><i>sìh</i></td> <td><i>síh</i></td> <td><i>sih</i> </td> <td><i>sīk</i></td> <td><i>sek</i></td> <td><i>sihk</i> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>For purposes of <a href="/wiki/Tone_pattern" title="Tone pattern">meters</a> in <a href="/wiki/Chinese_poetry" title="Chinese poetry">Chinese poetry</a>, the first and fourth tones are "flat/level tones" (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">平聲</span></span>), while the rest are "oblique tones" (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">仄聲</span></span>). This follows their regular evolution from the <a href="/wiki/Four_tones_(Middle_Chinese)" title="Four tones (Middle Chinese)">four tones of Middle Chinese</a>. </p><p>The first tone can be either high level or high falling usually without affecting the meaning of the words being spoken. Most speakers are in general not consciously aware of when they use and when to use high level and high falling. Most Hong Kong speakers have merged the high level and high falling tones. In Guangzhou, the high falling tone is disappearing as well, but is still prevalent among certain words, e.g. in <a href="/wiki/Yale_romanization_of_Cantonese#Tones" title="Yale romanization of Cantonese">traditional Yale Romanization with diacritics</a>, <i>sàam</i> (high falling) means the number three <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">三</span></span>, whereas <i>sāam</i> (high level) means shirt <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">衫</span></span>.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The relative pitch of the tones varies with the speaker; consequently, descriptions vary from one source to another. The difference between high and mid level tone (1 and 3) is about twice that between mid and low level (3 and 6): 60 Hz to 30 Hz. Low falling (4) starts at the same pitch as low level (6), but then drops; as is common with falling tones, it is shorter than the three level tones. The two rising tones, (2) and (5), both start at the level of (6), but rise to the level of (1) and (3), respectively.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The tone 3, 4, 5 and 6 are dipping in the last syllable when in an interrogative sentence or an exclamatory sentence. <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">眞係?</span></span> "really?" is pronounced <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[tsɐn˥<span class="wrap"> </span>hɐi˨˥]</span>. </p><p>The numbers "394052786" when pronounced in Cantonese, will give the nine tones in order (Romanization (<a href="/wiki/Yale_romanization_of_Cantonese" title="Yale romanization of Cantonese">Yale</a>) saam1, gau2, sei3, ling4, ng5, yi6, chat7, baat8, luk9), thus giving a <a href="/wiki/Mnemonic" title="Mnemonic">mnemonic</a> for remembering the nine tones. </p><p>Like other Yue dialects, Cantonese preserves an analog to the <a href="/wiki/Voice_(phonetics)" title="Voice (phonetics)">voicing</a> distinction of <a href="/wiki/Middle_Chinese" title="Middle Chinese">Middle Chinese</a> in the manner shown in the chart below. </p> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="3"><b>Middle Chinese</b> </th> <th colspan="3"><b>Cantonese</b> </th></tr> <tr> <th><b>Tone</b></th> <th><b>Initial</b> </th> <th><b>Nucleus</b></th> <th><b>Tone Name</b></th> <th><b>Tone Contour</b></th> <th><b>Tone Number</b> </th></tr> <tr> <td rowspan="2">Level</td> <td>voiceless </td> <td rowspan="6"></td> <td>dark level</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">˥,<span class="wrap"> </span>˥˧</span></td> <td>1 </td></tr> <tr> <td>voiced </td> <td>light level</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">˨˩,<span class="wrap"> </span>˩</span></td> <td>4 </td></tr> <tr> <td rowspan="2">Rising</td> <td>voiceless </td> <td>dark rising</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">˧˥</span></td> <td>2 </td></tr> <tr> <td>voiced </td> <td>light rising</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">˩˧</span></td> <td>5 </td></tr> <tr> <td rowspan="2">Departing</td> <td>voiceless </td> <td>dark departing</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">˧</span></td> <td>3 </td></tr> <tr> <td>voiced </td> <td>light departing</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">˨</span></td> <td>6 </td></tr> <tr> <td rowspan="3">Entering</td> <td rowspan="2">voiceless </td> <td>Short</td> <td>upper dark entering</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">˥</span></td> <td>7 (1) </td></tr> <tr> <td>Long</td> <td>lower dark entering</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">˧</span></td> <td>8 (3) </td></tr> <tr> <td>voiced </td> <td></td> <td>light entering</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">˨</span></td> <td>9 (6) </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The distinction of voiced and voiceless consonants found in Middle Chinese was preserved by the <a href="/wiki/Tone_(linguistics)#Register_tones_and_contour_tones" title="Tone (linguistics)">distinction of tones</a> in Cantonese. The difference in vowel length further caused the splitting of the dark entering tone, making Cantonese (as well as other <a href="/wiki/Yue_Chinese" title="Yue Chinese">Yue Chinese</a> branches) one of the few <a href="/wiki/Varieties_of_Chinese" title="Varieties of Chinese">Chinese varieties</a> to have further split a tone after the voicing-related splitting of the four tones of Middle Chinese.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Cantonese is special in the way that the vowel length can affect both the rime and the tone. Some linguists<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch#Unsupported_attributions" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch"><span title="The material near this tag possibly uses too-vague attribution or weasel words. (May 2010)">who?</span></a></i>]</sup> believe that the vowel length feature may have roots in the <a href="/wiki/Old_Chinese" title="Old Chinese">Old Chinese</a> language. </p><p>It also has two <a href="/wiki/Changed_tone" title="Changed tone">changed tones</a>, which add the <a href="/wiki/Diminutive" title="Diminutive">diminutive</a>-like meaning "that familiar example" to a standard word. For example, word for "silver" (<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%8A%80" class="extiw" title="wikt:銀">銀</a>, <i>/ŋɐn˩/</i>) in a modified tone (<i>/ŋɐn˩꜔꜒/</i>, riɡht-facinɡ tone bars denote chanɡed tones) means "coin". They are comparable to the diminutive suffixes <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">兒</span></span> and <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">子</span></span> of Mandarin. In addition, modified tones are used in compounds, reduplications (<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%93%92%E6%93%92%E9%9D%92" class="extiw" title="wikt:擒擒青">擒擒青</a> <i>/kɐm˩ kɐm˩ tʃʰɛːŋ˥/</i>→<i>/kɐm˩ kɐm˩꜔꜒ tʃʰɛːŋ˥/ "in a hurry"</i>) and direct address to family members (<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%A6%B9%E5%A6%B9" class="extiw" title="wikt:妹妹">妹妹</a> <i>/muːy˨ muːy˨/</i>→<i>/muːy˨꜖ muːy˨꜔꜒/</i> "sister").<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The two modified tones are high level, like tone 1, and mid rising, like tone 2, though for some people not as high as tone 2. The high level changed tone is more common for speakers with a high falling tone; for others, mid rising (or its variant realization) is the main changed tone, in which case it only operates on those syllables with a non-high level and non-mid rising tone (i.e. only tones 3, 4, 5 and 6 in Yale and Jyutping romanizations may have changed tones).<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, in certain specific <a href="/wiki/Vocatives" class="mw-redirect" title="Vocatives">vocatives</a>, the changed tone does indeed result in a high level tone (tone 1), including speakers without a phonemically distinct high falling tone.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Historical_change">Historical change</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cantonese_phonology&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Historical change"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Like other languages, Cantonese sounds are constantly <a href="/wiki/Sound_change" title="Sound change">changing</a>, processes where more and more native speakers of a language change the pronunciations of certain sounds. </p><p>One shift that affected Cantonese in the past was the lost distinction between alveolar and alveolo-palatal (sometimes termed as postalveolar) sibilants which occurred during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many Cantonese dictionaries and pronunciation guides published prior to the 1950s documented this distinction but it is no longer distinguished in any modern Cantonese dictionary. </p><p>Publications that documented this distinction include: </p> <ul><li>Williams, S., <i>A Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in the Canton Dialect</i>, 1856.</li> <li>Cowles, R., <i>A Pocket Dictionary of Cantonese</i>, 1914.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Meyer%E2%80%93Wempe" title="Meyer–Wempe">Meyer, B. and Wempe, T.</a>, <i>The Student's Cantonese-English Dictionary</i>, 3rd edition, 1947.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chao_Yuen_Ren" class="mw-redirect" title="Chao Yuen Ren">Chao, Y.</a> <i>Cantonese Primer</i>, 1947.</li></ul> <p>The sibilants depalatalized, causing many words that were once distinct to sound the same. For comparison, modern Standard Mandarin still has this distinction, with most Cantonese alveolo-palatal sibilants corresponding to Mandarin <a href="/wiki/Retroflex_consonant" title="Retroflex consonant">retroflex</a> sibilants. For instance: </p> <table class="wikitable"> <tbody><tr> <th>Sibilant Category </th> <th>Character </th> <th>Modern Cantonese </th> <th>Pre-1950s Cantonese </th> <th>Standard Mandarin </th></tr> <tr> <td rowspan="2">Unaspirated affricate </td> <td align="center"><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%B0%87" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:將">將</a></span></span> </td> <td rowspan="2"><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/tsœːŋ/</span> (alveolar) </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/tsœːŋ/</span> (alveolar) </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/tɕiɑŋ/</span> (alveolo-palatal) </td></tr> <tr> <td align="center"><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%BC%B5" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:張">張</a></span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/tɕœːŋ/</span> (alveolo-palatal) </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/tʂɑŋ/</span> (retroflex) </td></tr> <tr> <td rowspan="2">Aspirated affricate </td> <td align="center"><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%A7%8D" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:槍">槍</a></span></span> </td> <td rowspan="2"><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/tsʰœːŋ/</span> (alveolar) </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/tsʰœːŋ/</span> (alveolar) </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/tɕʰiɑŋ/</span> (alveolo-palatal) </td></tr> <tr> <td align="center"><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%98%8C" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:昌">昌</a></span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/tɕʰœːŋ/</span> (alveolo-palatal) </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/tʂʰɑŋ/</span> (retroflex) </td></tr> <tr> <td rowspan="2">Fricative </td> <td align="center"><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%9B%B8" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:相">相</a></span></span> </td> <td rowspan="2"><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/sœːŋ/</span> (alveolar) </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/sœːŋ/</span> (alveolar) </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɕiɑŋ/</span> (alveolo-palatal) </td></tr> <tr> <td align="center"><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%82%B7" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:傷">傷</a></span></span> </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɕœːŋ/</span> (alveolo-palatal) </td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ʂɑŋ/</span> (retroflex) </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Even though the aforementioned references observed the distinction, most of them also noted that the depalatalization phenomenon was already occurring at the time. Williams (1856) writes: </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1244412712">.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px}.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;margin-top:0}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{padding-left:1.6em}}</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>The initials <i>ch</i> and <i>ts</i> are constantly confounded, and some persons are absolutely unable to detect the difference, more frequently identifying the words under <i>ts</i> as <i>ch</i>, than contrariwise.</p></blockquote> <p>Cowles (1914) adds: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>"s" initial may be heard for "sh" initial and vice versa.</p></blockquote> <p>A vestige of this palatalization difference is sometimes reflected in the <a href="/wiki/Hong_Kong_Government_Cantonese_Romanisation" title="Hong Kong Government Cantonese Romanisation">romanization scheme used to romanize Cantonese names in Hong Kong</a>. For instance, many names are spelled with <i>sh</i> even though the "<i>sh</i> sound" (<span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɕ/</span>) is no longer used to pronounce the word. Examples include the surname <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%9F%B3" class="extiw" title="wikt:石">石</a> (<span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/sɛːk˨/</span>), which is often romanized as <i>Shek</i>, and the names of places like <a href="/wiki/Sha_Tin" title="Sha Tin">Sha Tin</a> (<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%B2%99%E7%94%B0" class="extiw" title="wikt:沙田">沙田</a>; <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/saː˥<span class="wrap"> </span>tʰiːn˩/</span>). </p><p>The alveolo-palatal sibilants occur in complementary distribution with the retroflex sibilants in Mandarin, with the alveolo-palatal sibilants only occurring before <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/i/</span> or <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/y/</span>. However, Mandarin also retains the medials, where <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/i/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/y/</span> can occur, as can be seen in the examples above. Cantonese had lost its medials sometime ago in its history, reducing the ability for speakers to distinguish its sibilant initials. </p><p>Many modern-day younger Hong Kong speakers do not distinguish between phoneme pairs like <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/n/</span> vs. <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/l/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ŋ/</span> vs. null initial<sup id="cite_ref-distinguish_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-distinguish-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and merge one sound into another. Examples for this include <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">你</span></span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/nei˨˧/</span> being pronounced as <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/lei˨˧/</span>, <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">我</span></span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ŋɔː˨˧/</span> being pronounced as <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɔː˨˧/</span>. Another incipient sound change is the lost distinctions <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kʷ/</span> vs. <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/k/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kʷʰ/</span> vs. <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kʰ/</span>, for example <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">國</span></span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kʷɔːk˧/</span> being pronounced as <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[kɔːk̚˧]</span>.<sup id="cite_ref-distinguish-examples_21-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-distinguish-examples-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Although that is often considered substandard and denounced as "lazy sounds/pronunciation" (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">懶音</span></span>), it is becoming more common and is influencing other Cantonese-speaking regions (see <a href="/wiki/Hong_Kong_Cantonese" title="Hong Kong Cantonese">Hong Kong Cantonese</a>).<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (October 2014)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p><a href="/wiki/Assimilation_(phonology)" title="Assimilation (phonology)">Assimilation</a> also occurs in certain contexts: 肚餓 is sometimes read as <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[tʰoŋ˩˧<span class="wrap"> </span>ŋɔː˨]</span> not <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[tʰou̯˩˧<span class="wrap"> </span>ŋɔː˨]</span>, <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant">雪櫃</span></span> is sometimes read as <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[sɛːk˧<span class="wrap"> </span>kʷɐi̯˨]</span> not <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[syːt˧<span class="wrap"> </span>kʷɐi̯˨]</span>, but sound change of these morphemes are limited to that word.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (July 2022)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cantonese_phonology&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Proper_Cantonese_pronunciation" title="Proper Cantonese pronunciation">Proper Cantonese pronunciation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cantonese_nasal-stop_alternation" title="Cantonese nasal-stop alternation">Cantonese nasal-stop alternation</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cantonese_phonology&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Notes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239543626"><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width" style="column-width: 30em;"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://wals.info/chapter/12">"WALS Online - Chapter Syllable Structure"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=WALS+Online+-+Chapter+Syllable+Structure&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwals.info%2Fchapter%2F12&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-distinguish-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-distinguish_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-distinguish_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFYipMatthews2001">Yip & Matthews (2001</a>:3–4)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFLeeZee2010" class="citation journal cs1">Lee, W.-S.; Zee, E. (2010). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/journal/jcl/jcl/chin_lin/38/38_2_6.html">"Articulatory characteristics of the coronal stop, affricate, and fricative in Cantonese"</a>. <i>Journal of Chinese Linguistics</i>. <b>38</b> (2): 336–372. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23754137">23754137</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Journal+of+Chinese+Linguistics&rft.atitle=Articulatory+characteristics+of+the+coronal+stop%2C+affricate%2C+and+fricative+in+Cantonese&rft.volume=38&rft.issue=2&rft.pages=336-372&rft.date=2010&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F23754137%23id-name%3DJSTOR&rft.aulast=Lee&rft.aufirst=W.-S.&rft.au=Zee%2C+E.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cuhk.edu.hk%2Fjournal%2Fjcl%2Fjcl%2Fchin_lin%2F38%2F38_2_6.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFBauerBenedict1997">Bauer & Benedict (1997</a>:28–29)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFZee2003" class="citation cs2">Zee, Eric (2003), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/icphs-proceedings/ICPhS2003/papers/p15_1117.pdf">"Frequency Analysis of the Vowels in Cantonese from 50 Male and 50 Female Speakers"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>, <i>Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences</i>: 1117–1120</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Proceedings+of+the+15th+International+Congress+of+Phonetic+Sciences&rft.atitle=Frequency+Analysis+of+the+Vowels+in+Cantonese+from+50+Male+and+50+Female+Speakers&rft.pages=1117-1120&rft.date=2003&rft.aulast=Zee&rft.aufirst=Eric&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.internationalphoneticassociation.org%2Ficphs-proceedings%2FICPhS2003%2Fpapers%2Fp15_1117.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFBauerBenedict1997">Bauer & Benedict (1997</a>:49)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-cuhk-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-cuhk_10-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-cuhk_10-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/finals.php">"Cantonese Transcription Schemes Conversion Tables - Finals"</a>. Research Centre for Humanities Computing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 5,</span> 2019</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Cantonese+Transcription+Schemes+Conversion+Tables+-+Finals&rft.pub=Research+Centre+for+Humanities+Computing%2C+The+Chinese+University+of+Hong+Kong&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fhumanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk%2FLexis%2Flexi-mf%2Ffinals.php&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Diphthong-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Diphthong_11-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Diphthong_11-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFZee,_Eric1999" class="citation cs2">Zee, Eric (1999), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/icphs-proceedings/ICPhS1999/papers/p14_1101.pdf">"An acoustical analysis of the diphthongs in Cantonese"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>, <i>Proceedings of the 14th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences</i>: 1101–1105</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Proceedings+of+the+14th+International+Congress+of+Phonetic+Sciences&rft.atitle=An+acoustical+analysis+of+the+diphthongs+in+Cantonese&rft.pages=1101-1105&rft.date=1999&rft.au=Zee%2C+Eric&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.internationalphoneticassociation.org%2Ficphs-proceedings%2FICPhS1999%2Fpapers%2Fp14_1101.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFBauerBenedict1997">Bauer & Benedict (1997</a>:60)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFBauerBenedict1997">Bauer & Benedict (1997</a>:119–120)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFGuan2000">Guan (2000</a>:474 and 530)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jennie Lam Suk Yin, 2003, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://hub.hku.hk/bitstream/10722/40646/1/FullText.pdf">Confusion of tones in visually-impaired children using Cantonese braille</a>(Archived by WebCite® at</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFNorman1988">Norman (1988</a>:216)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFTing1996">Ting (1996</a>:150)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFMatthewsYip2013">Matthews & Yip (2013</a>, section 1.4.2)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFYu2007">Yu (2007</a>:191)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFAlan_C.L._Yu" class="citation web cs1">Alan C.L. Yu. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://home.uchicago.edu/~aclyu/papers/BLS35.pdf">"Tonal Mapping in Cantonese Vocative Reduplication"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">27 September</span> 2014</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Tonal+Mapping+in+Cantonese+Vocative+Reduplication&rft.au=Alan+C.L.+Yu&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.uchicago.edu%2F~aclyu%2Fpapers%2FBLS35.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-distinguish-examples-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-distinguish-examples_21-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFBakerHo2006">Baker & Ho (2006</a>:xvii)</span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cantonese_phonology&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239549316">.mw-parser-output .refbegin{margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul{margin-left:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{margin-left:0;padding-left:3.2em;text-indent:-3.2em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul,.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul li{list-style:none}@media(max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{padding-left:1.6em;text-indent:-1.6em}}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .refbegin{font-size:90%}}</style><div class="refbegin refbegin-columns references-column-width" style="column-width: 30em"> <ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBakerHo2006" class="citation cs2">Baker, Hugh; Ho, Pui-Kei (2006), <i>Teach Yourself: Cantonese</i>, McGraw-Hill, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-07-142020-7" title="Special:BookSources/0-07-142020-7"><bdi>0-07-142020-7</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Teach+Yourself%3A+Cantonese&rft.pub=McGraw-Hill&rft.date=2006&rft.isbn=0-07-142020-7&rft.aulast=Baker&rft.aufirst=Hugh&rft.au=Ho%2C+Pui-Kei&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBauerBenedict1997" class="citation cs2">Bauer, Robert S.; <a href="/wiki/Paul_K._Benedict" title="Paul K. Benedict">Benedict, Paul K.</a> (1997), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=FIlkAAAAMAAJ"><i>Modern Cantonese Phonology</i></a>, Walter de Gruyter, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-11-014893-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-3-11-014893-0"><bdi>978-3-11-014893-0</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Modern+Cantonese+Phonology&rft.pub=Walter+de+Gruyter&rft.date=1997&rft.isbn=978-3-11-014893-0&rft.aulast=Bauer&rft.aufirst=Robert+S.&rft.au=Benedict%2C+Paul+K.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DFIlkAAAAMAAJ&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFFrancis2008" class="citation cs2">Francis, Alexander L. (2008), "Perceptual learning of Cantonese lexical tones by tone and non-tone language speakers", <i>Journal of Phonetics</i>, <b>36</b> (2), Elsevier: 268–294, <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.wocn.2007.06.005">10.1016/j.wocn.2007.06.005</a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Journal+of+Phonetics&rft.atitle=Perceptual+learning+of+Cantonese+lexical+tones+by+tone+and+non-tone+language+speakers&rft.volume=36&rft.issue=2&rft.pages=268-294&rft.date=2008&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1016%2Fj.wocn.2007.06.005&rft.aulast=Francis&rft.aufirst=Alexander+L.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFGuan2000" class="citation cs2">Guan, Caihua (2000), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=0T5IxdlJu44C"><i>English-Cantonese Dictionary: Cantonese in Yale Romanization</i></a>, New-Asia – Yale-in-China Language Center, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-962-201-970-6" title="Special:BookSources/978-962-201-970-6"><bdi>978-962-201-970-6</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=English-Cantonese+Dictionary%3A+Cantonese+in+Yale+Romanization&rft.pub=New-Asia+%E2%80%93+Yale-in-China+Language+Center&rft.date=2000&rft.isbn=978-962-201-970-6&rft.aulast=Guan&rft.aufirst=Caihua&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3D0T5IxdlJu44C&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMatthewsYip2013" class="citation cs2">Matthews, Stephen; Yip, Virginia (2013), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=bRCsAgAAQBAJ"><i>Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar</i></a>, London: Routledge, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781136853500" title="Special:BookSources/9781136853500"><bdi>9781136853500</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Cantonese%3A+A+Comprehensive+Grammar&rft.place=London&rft.pub=Routledge&rft.date=2013&rft.isbn=9781136853500&rft.aulast=Matthews&rft.aufirst=Stephen&rft.au=Yip%2C+Virginia&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DbRCsAgAAQBAJ&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFNorman1988" class="citation cs2"><a href="/wiki/Jerry_Norman_(sinologist)" title="Jerry Norman (sinologist)">Norman, Jerry</a> (1988), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=wOPArZVCk-wC"><i>Chinese</i></a>, Cambridge Language Surveys, Cambridge University Press, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-22809-1" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-521-22809-1"><bdi>978-0-521-22809-1</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Chinese&rft.series=Cambridge+Language+Surveys&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.date=1988&rft.isbn=978-0-521-22809-1&rft.aulast=Norman&rft.aufirst=Jerry&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DwOPArZVCk-wC&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFTing1996" class="citation cs2">Ting, Pan-Hsing (1996), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=pDSkChLWbnsC">"Tonal Evolution and Tonal Reconstruction in Chinese"</a>, in Huang, Cheng-teh James; Li, Yen-hui Audrey (eds.), <i>New horizons in Chinese linguistics</i>, Springer Science & Business Media, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7923-3867-3" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-7923-3867-3"><bdi>978-0-7923-3867-3</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Tonal+Evolution+and+Tonal+Reconstruction+in+Chinese&rft.btitle=New+horizons+in+Chinese+linguistics&rft.pub=Springer+Science+%26+Business+Media&rft.date=1996&rft.isbn=978-0-7923-3867-3&rft.aulast=Ting&rft.aufirst=Pan-Hsing&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DpDSkChLWbnsC&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFYipMatthews2001" class="citation cs2">Yip, Virginia; Matthews, Stephen (2001), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LaGJiZnsV-8C&pg=PA3"><i>Basic Cantonese: A Grammar and Workbook</i></a>, Routledge, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0415193849" title="Special:BookSources/978-0415193849"><bdi>978-0415193849</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Basic+Cantonese%3A+A+Grammar+and+Workbook&rft.pub=Routledge&rft.date=2001&rft.isbn=978-0415193849&rft.aulast=Yip&rft.aufirst=Virginia&rft.au=Matthews%2C+Stephen&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DLaGJiZnsV-8C%26pg%3DPA3&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFYu2007" class="citation cs2">Yu, Alan C. L. (2007), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://home.uchicago.edu/~aclyu/papers/Phonology24.pdf">"Understanding near mergers: the case of morphological tone change in Cantonese"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>, <i>Phonology</i>, <b>24</b>, Cambridge University Press: 187–214, <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0952675707001157">10.1017/S0952675707001157</a>, <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:18090490">18090490</a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Phonology&rft.atitle=Understanding+near+mergers%3A+the+case+of+morphological+tone+change+in+Cantonese&rft.volume=24&rft.pages=187-214&rft.date=2007&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1017%2FS0952675707001157&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A18090490%23id-name%3DS2CID&rft.aulast=Yu&rft.aufirst=Alan+C.+L.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.uchicago.edu%2F~aclyu%2Fpapers%2FPhonology24.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFZee1999" class="citation cs2">Zee, Eric (1999), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://sail.usc.edu/~lgoldste/General_Phonetics/Final_Project/Chinese.pdf">"Chinese (Hong Kong Cantonese)"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>, <i>Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet</i>, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-65236-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-521-65236-0"><bdi>978-0-521-65236-0</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Chinese+%28Hong+Kong+Cantonese%29&rft.btitle=Handbook+of+the+International+Phonetic+Association%3A+A+guide+to+the+use+of+the+International+Phonetic+Alphabet&rft.place=Cambridge&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.date=1999&rft.isbn=978-0-521-65236-0&rft.aulast=Zee&rft.aufirst=Eric&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fsail.usc.edu%2F~lgoldste%2FGeneral_Phonetics%2FFinal_Project%2FChinese.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACantonese+phonology" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> </div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 1em;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group{white-space:nowrap;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{background-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list{line-height:1.5em;border-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list-with-group{text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid}.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-group,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-image,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-list{border-top:2px solid #fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title{background-color:#ccf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title 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talk:Language phonologies"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Language_phonologies" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Language phonologies"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Phonologies_of_the_world&#039;s_languages" class="wraplinks" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Phonology" title="Phonology">Phonologies</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Lists_of_languages" title="Lists of languages">world's languages</a></div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><b>Phonologies</b></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_orthographies" title="Template:Language orthographies">Orthographies</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_grammars" title="Template:Language grammars">Grammars</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_adjectives" title="Template:Language adjectives">Adjectives</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_determiners" title="Template:Language determiners">Determiners</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_nouns" title="Template:Language nouns">Nouns</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_prepositions" class="mw-redirect" title="Template:Language prepositions">Prepositions</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_pronouns" title="Template:Language pronouns">Pronouns</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_verbs" title="Template:Language verbs">Verbs</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">A–E</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Abkhaz_phonology" title="Abkhaz phonology">Abkhaz</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Acehnese_phonology" title="Acehnese phonology">Acehnese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Adyghe_phonology" title="Adyghe phonology">Adyghe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Afrikaans_phonology" title="Afrikaans phonology">Afrikaans</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_Sign_Language_phonology" title="American Sign Language phonology">American Sign Language</a></li> <li>Arabic <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Arabic_phonology" title="Arabic phonology">Modern Standard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Egyptian_Arabic_phonology" title="Egyptian Arabic phonology">Egyptian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hejazi_Arabic_phonology" title="Hejazi Arabic phonology">Hejazi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Levantine_Arabic_phonology" title="Levantine Arabic phonology">Levantine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moroccan_Arabic#Phonology" title="Moroccan Arabic">Moroccan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tunisian_Arabic_phonology" title="Tunisian Arabic phonology">Tunisian</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Avestan_phonology" title="Avestan phonology">Avestan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Belarusian_phonology" title="Belarusian phonology">Belarusian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bengali_phonology" title="Bengali phonology">Bengali</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bulgarian_phonology" title="Bulgarian phonology">Bulgarian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Burmese_phonology" title="Burmese phonology">Burmese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Catalan_phonology" title="Catalan phonology">Catalan</a></li> <li>Chinese <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Standard_Chinese_phonology" title="Standard Chinese phonology">Mandarin</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Cantonese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hokkien_phonology" title="Hokkien phonology">Hokkien</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Northern_Wu_phonology" title="Northern Wu phonology">Northern Wu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Old_Chinese_phonology" title="Old Chinese phonology">Old</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Historical_Chinese_phonology" title="Historical Chinese phonology">Historical</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chukchi_phonology" title="Chukchi phonology">Chukchi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cornish_phonology" title="Cornish phonology">Cornish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Czech_phonology" title="Czech phonology">Czech</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Danish_phonology" title="Danish phonology">Danish</a></li> <li>Dutch <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dutch_phonology" title="Dutch phonology">Standard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Orsmaal-Gussenhoven_dialect_phonology" title="Orsmaal-Gussenhoven dialect phonology">Orsmaal-Gussenhoven dialect</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_phonology" title="English phonology">English</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Australian_English_phonology" title="Australian English phonology">Australian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/General_American_English" title="General American English">General American</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/New_Zealand_English_phonology" title="New Zealand English phonology">New Zealand</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Received_Pronunciation" title="Received Pronunciation">Received Pronunciation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/North_American_English_regional_phonology" title="North American English regional phonology">Regional North American</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/White_South_African_English_phonology" title="White South African English phonology">White South African</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Standard_Canadian_English" title="Standard Canadian English">Standard Canadian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Old_English_phonology" title="Old English phonology">Old</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Middle_English_phonology" title="Middle English phonology">Middle</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Esperanto_phonology" title="Esperanto phonology">Esperanto</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Estonian_phonology" title="Estonian phonology">Estonian</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">F–L</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Faroese_phonology" title="Faroese phonology">Faroese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Finnish_phonology" title="Finnish phonology">Finnish</a></li> <li>French <ul><li><a href="/wiki/French_phonology" title="French phonology">Parisian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quebec_French_phonology" title="Quebec French phonology">Quebec</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Galician_phonology" title="Galician phonology">Galician</a></li> <li>German <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Standard_German_phonology" title="Standard German phonology">Standard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bernese_German_phonology" title="Bernese German phonology">Bernese</a></li></ul></li> <li>Greek <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Modern_Greek_phonology" title="Modern Greek phonology">Standard Modern</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ancient_Greek_phonology" title="Ancient Greek phonology">Ancient</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Koine_Greek_phonology" title="Koine Greek phonology">Koine</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Greenlandic_phonology" title="Greenlandic phonology">Greenlandic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gujarati_phonology" title="Gujarati phonology">Gujarati</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hawaiian_phonology" title="Hawaiian phonology">Hawaiian</a></li> <li>Hebrew <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Modern_Hebrew_phonology" title="Modern Hebrew phonology">Modern</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Biblical_Hebrew#Phonology" title="Biblical Hebrew">Biblical</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tiberian_Hebrew#Phonology" title="Tiberian Hebrew">Tiberian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Samaritan_Hebrew#Phonology" title="Samaritan Hebrew">Samaritan</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hindustani_phonology" title="Hindustani phonology">Hindustani</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hungarian_phonology" title="Hungarian phonology">Hungarian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Icelandic_phonology" title="Icelandic phonology">Icelandic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ingrian_phonology" title="Ingrian phonology">Ingrian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inuit_phonology" title="Inuit phonology">Inuit</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Irish_phonology" title="Irish phonology">Irish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Italian_phonology" title="Italian phonology">Italian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Japanese_phonology" title="Japanese phonology">Japanese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kiowa_phonology" title="Kiowa phonology">Kiowa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Konkani_phonology" title="Konkani phonology">Konkani</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Korean_phonology" title="Korean phonology">Korean</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kurdish_phonology" title="Kurdish phonology">Kurdish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kyrgyz_phonology" title="Kyrgyz phonology">Kyrgyz</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Latgalian_phonology" title="Latgalian phonology">Latgalian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Latin_phonology_and_orthography" title="Latin phonology and orthography">Latin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Latvian_phonology" title="Latvian phonology">Latvian</a></li> <li>Limburgish <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Maastrichtian_dialect_phonology" title="Maastrichtian dialect phonology">Maastrichtian</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lithuanian_phonology" title="Lithuanian phonology">Lithuanian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Luxembourgish_phonology" title="Luxembourgish phonology">Luxembourgish</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">M–S</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Macedonian_phonology" title="Macedonian phonology">Macedonian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Malay_phonology" title="Malay phonology">Malay</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maldivian_phonology" title="Maldivian phonology">Maldivian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/M%C4%81ori_phonology" title="Māori phonology">Māori</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Marathi_phonology" title="Marathi phonology">Marathi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Massachusett_phonology" title="Massachusett phonology">Massachusett</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Medumba_phonology" title="Medumba phonology">Medumba</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Navajo_phonology" title="Navajo phonology">Navajo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nepali_phonology" title="Nepali phonology">Nepali</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Norwegian_phonology" title="Norwegian phonology">Norwegian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Occitan_phonology" title="Occitan phonology">Occitan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ojibwe_phonology" title="Ojibwe phonology">Ojibwe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Old_Saxon_phonology" title="Old Saxon phonology">Old Saxon</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Oromo_phonology" title="Oromo phonology">Oromo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ottawa_phonology" title="Ottawa phonology">Ottawa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pashto_phonology" title="Pashto phonology">Pashto</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Persian_phonology" title="Persian phonology">Persian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Polish_phonology" title="Polish phonology">Polish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Portuguese_phonology" title="Portuguese phonology">Portuguese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_phonology" title="Proto-Indo-European phonology">Proto-Indo-European</a></li> <li>Ripuarian <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Colognian_phonology" title="Colognian phonology">Colognian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kerkrade_dialect_phonology" title="Kerkrade dialect phonology">Kerkrade dialect</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Romanian_phonology" title="Romanian phonology">Romanian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Russian_phonology" title="Russian phonology">Russian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sardinian_phonology" title="Sardinian phonology">Sardinian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phonological_history_of_Scots" title="Phonological history of Scots">Scots</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scottish_Gaelic_phonology_and_orthography" title="Scottish Gaelic phonology and orthography">Scottish Gaelic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Serbo-Croatian_phonology" title="Serbo-Croatian phonology">Serbo-Croatian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Slovak_phonology" title="Slovak phonology">Slovak</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Slovene_phonology" title="Slovene phonology">Slovene</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Somali_phonology" title="Somali phonology">Somali</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sotho_phonology" title="Sotho phonology">Sotho</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spanish_phonology" title="Spanish phonology">Spanish</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Spanish_dialects_and_varieties" title="Spanish dialects and varieties">Dialects and varieties</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Swedish_phonology" title="Swedish phonology">Swedish</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">T–Z</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tagalog_phonology" title="Tagalog phonology">Tagalog</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_phonology" title="Tamil phonology">Tamil</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taos_phonology" title="Taos phonology">Taos</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Turkish_phonology" title="Turkish phonology">Turkish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ubykh_phonology" title="Ubykh phonology">Ubykh</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ukrainian_phonology" title="Ukrainian phonology">Ukrainian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Uyghur_phonology" title="Uyghur phonology">Uyghur</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vietnamese_phonology" title="Vietnamese phonology">Vietnamese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Welsh_phonology" title="Welsh phonology">Welsh</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/West_Frisian_phonology" title="West Frisian phonology">West Frisian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yiddish_phonology" title="Yiddish phonology">Yiddish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zuni_phonology" title="Zuni phonology">Zuni</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Chinese_language" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="3" style="background: #e0e0b0;"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Chinese_language" title="Template:Chinese language"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Chinese_language" title="Template talk:Chinese language"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Chinese_language" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Chinese language"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Chinese_language" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Chinese_language" title="Chinese language">Chinese language</a></div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="3" style="background: #e0e0b0;"><div><b><a href="/wiki/Sinitic_languages" title="Sinitic languages">Sinitic languages</a></b></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background: #e0e0b0;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Varieties_of_Chinese" title="Varieties of Chinese">Major groups</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese" title="Mandarin Chinese">Mandarin</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Northeastern_Mandarin" title="Northeastern Mandarin">Northeastern</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Changchun_dialect" title="Changchun dialect">Changchun</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Harbin_dialect" title="Harbin dialect">Harbin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shenyang_Mandarin" title="Shenyang Mandarin">Shenyang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taz_dialect" title="Taz dialect">Taz</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Beijing_Mandarin_(division_of_Mandarin)" title="Beijing Mandarin (division of Mandarin)">Beijing</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Beijing_dialect" title="Beijing dialect">Beijing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taiwanese_Mandarin" title="Taiwanese Mandarin">Taiwan</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Jilu_Mandarin" title="Jilu Mandarin">Jilu</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tianjin_dialect" title="Tianjin dialect">Tianjin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jinan_dialect" title="Jinan dialect">Jinan</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Jiaoliao_Mandarin" title="Jiaoliao Mandarin">Jiaoliao</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dalian_dialect" title="Dalian dialect">Dalian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qingdao_dialect" title="Qingdao dialect">Qingdao</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Weihai_dialect" title="Weihai dialect">Weihai</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Central_Plains_Mandarin" title="Central Plains Mandarin">Central Plains</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dongping_dialect" title="Dongping dialect">Dongping</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gangou_language" title="Gangou language">Gangou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Guanzhong_dialect" title="Guanzhong dialect">Guanzhong</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Xi%27an_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Xi'an dialect">Xi'an</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Luoyang_dialect" title="Luoyang dialect">Luoyang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xuzhou_dialect" title="Xuzhou dialect">Xuzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dungan_language" title="Dungan language">Dungan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xinjiang_Mandarin" title="Xinjiang Mandarin">Xinjiang</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Southwestern_Mandarin" title="Southwestern Mandarin">Southwestern</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sichuanese_dialects" title="Sichuanese dialects">Sichuanese</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chengdu-Chongqing_dialect" title="Chengdu-Chongqing dialect">Chengdu–Chongqing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Minjiang_dialect" title="Minjiang dialect">Minjiang</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Leshan_dialect" title="Leshan dialect">Leshan</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Renshou%E2%80%93Fushun_Mandarin&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Renshou–Fushun Mandarin (page does not exist)">Renshou–Fushun</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Zigong_dialect" title="Zigong dialect">Zigong</a></li></ul></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kunming_dialect" title="Kunming dialect">Kunming</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nanping_dialect" title="Nanping dialect">Nanping</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wuhan_dialect" title="Wuhan dialect">Wuhan</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Gui%E2%80%93Liu_Mandarin&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Gui–Liu Mandarin (page does not exist)">Gui–Liu</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wuming_Mandarin" title="Wuming Mandarin">Wuming</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Lower_Yangtze_Mandarin" title="Lower Yangtze Mandarin">Jianghuai</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Nanjing_dialect" title="Nanjing dialect">Nanjing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nantong_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Nantong dialect">Nantong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nanping_dialect" title="Nanping dialect">Nanping</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Lanyin_Mandarin" title="Lanyin Mandarin">Lanyin</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Lanzhou_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Lanzhou dialect (page does not exist)">Lanzhou dialect</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%B0%E5%B7%9E%E8%AF%9D" class="extiw" title="zh:兰州话">zh</a>]</span></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Urumqi_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Urumqi dialect (page does not exist)">Urumqi dialect</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%8C%E9%B2%81%E6%9C%A8%E9%BD%90%E8%AF%9D" class="extiw" title="zh:乌鲁木齐话">zh</a>]</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xinjiang_Mandarin" title="Xinjiang Mandarin">Xinjiang</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Junjiahua" title="Junjiahua">Junjiahua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qinjiang_Mandarin" title="Qinjiang Mandarin">Qinjiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gyami_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Gyami language">Gyami</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Jin_Chinese" title="Jin Chinese">Jin</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Zhangjiakou%E2%80%93Hohhot_dialect" title="Zhangjiakou–Hohhot dialect">Zhangjiakou–Hohhot</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhi-Yan_dialect" title="Zhi-Yan dialect">Zhi–Yan</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Wu_Chinese" title="Wu Chinese">Wu</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Taihu_Wu" title="Taihu Wu">Taihu</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Shanghainese" title="Shanghainese">Shanghai</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Suzhou_dialect" title="Suzhou dialect">Suzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wuxi_dialect" title="Wuxi dialect">Wuxi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Changzhou_dialect" title="Changzhou dialect">Changzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hangzhou_dialect" title="Hangzhou dialect">Hangzhou</a> (?)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shaoxing_dialect" title="Shaoxing dialect">Shaoxing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ningbo_dialect" title="Ningbo dialect">Ningbo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jinxiang_dialect" title="Jinxiang dialect">Jinxiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jiangyin_dialect" title="Jiangyin dialect">Jiangyin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shadi_dialect" title="Shadi dialect">Shadi</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Taizhou_Wu" title="Taizhou Wu">Taizhou Wu</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Taizhou_dialect" title="Taizhou dialect">Taizhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tiantai_dialect" title="Tiantai dialect">Tiantai</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Oujiang</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wenzhounese" title="Wenzhounese">Wenzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rui%27an_dialect" title="Rui'an dialect">Rui'an</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wencheng_dialect" title="Wencheng dialect">Wencheng</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Wuzhou_Wu" title="Wuzhou Wu">Wuzhou</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Jinhua_dialect" title="Jinhua dialect">Jinhua</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Chu%E2%80%93Qu_Wu" title="Chu–Qu Wu">Chu–Qu</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Quzhou_dialect" title="Quzhou dialect">Quzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jiangshan_dialect" title="Jiangshan dialect">Jiangshan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qingtian_dialect" title="Qingtian dialect">Qingtian</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Xuanzhou_Wu_dialects" class="mw-redirect" title="Xuanzhou Wu dialects">Xuanzhou</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Xuancheng_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Xuancheng dialect">Xuancheng</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Huizhou_Chinese" title="Huizhou Chinese">Hui</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ji-She&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ji-She (page does not exist)">Ji-She</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%BB%A9%E6%AD%99%E7%89%87" class="extiw" title="zh:绩歙片">zh</a>]</span></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Xiu-Yi&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Xiu-Yi (page does not exist)">Xiu-Yi</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%91%E9%BB%9F%E7%89%87" class="extiw" title="zh:休黟片">zh</a>]</span></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Qi-De&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Qi-De (page does not exist)">Qi-De</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A5%81%E5%A9%BA%E7%89%87" class="extiw" title="zh:祁婺片">zh</a>]</span></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Yanzhou_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Yanzhou dialect (page does not exist)">Yanzhou</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%8C%E5%8D%A0%E7%89%87" class="extiw" title="zh:旌占片">zh</a>]</span></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Jing-Zhan&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jing-Zhan (page does not exist)">Jing-Zhan</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%A5%E5%B7%9E%E7%89%87" class="extiw" title="zh:严州片">zh</a>]</span></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Gan_Chinese" title="Gan Chinese">Gan</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chang%E2%80%93Du_Gan" title="Chang–Du Gan">Chang–Du</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Nanchang_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Nanchang dialect">Nanchang</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yi%E2%80%93Liu_Gan" title="Yi–Liu Gan">Yi–Liu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ying%E2%80%93Yi_Gan" title="Ying–Yi Gan">Ying–Yi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Da%E2%80%93Tong_Gan" title="Da–Tong Gan">Da–Tong</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Xiang_Chinese" title="Xiang Chinese">Xiang</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/New_Xiang" title="New Xiang">Changyi</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Changsha_dialect" title="Changsha dialect">Changsha</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Old_Xiang" title="Old Xiang">Loushao</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Shuangfeng_dialect" title="Shuangfeng dialect">Shuangfeng</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xiangxiang_dialect" title="Xiangxiang dialect">Xiangxiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wugang_dialect" title="Wugang dialect">Wugang</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ji%E2%80%93Xu_Xiang" title="Ji–Xu Xiang">Ji–Xu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yong%E2%80%93Quan_Xiang" title="Yong–Quan Xiang">Yong–Quan</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Qiyang_dialect" title="Qiyang dialect">Qiyang</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Min_Chinese" title="Min Chinese">Min</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Eastern_Min" title="Eastern Min">Eastern</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Houguan_language_group&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Houguan language group (page does not exist)">Houguan</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fuzhou_dialect" title="Fuzhou dialect">Fuzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fuqing_dialect" title="Fuqing dialect">Fuqing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Changle_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Changle dialect">Changle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gutian_dialect" title="Gutian dialect">Gutian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Matsu_dialect" title="Matsu dialect">Matsu</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Fu%E2%80%93Ning_language_group&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Fu–Ning language group (page does not exist)">Fu–Ning</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ningde_dialect" title="Ningde dialect">Ningde</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fu%27an_dialect" title="Fu'an dialect">Fu'an</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Manjiang_dialect" title="Manjiang dialect">Manjiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhongshan_Min" title="Zhongshan Min">Zhongshan</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Longdu_dialect" title="Longdu dialect">Longdu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nanlang_dialect" title="Nanlang dialect">Nanlang</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Southern_Min" title="Southern Min">Southern</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Hokkien" title="Hokkien">Hokkien</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Quanzhou_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Quanzhou dialect">Quanzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhangzhou_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Zhangzhou dialect">Zhangzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Amoy_dialect" title="Amoy dialect">Amoy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chawan_dialect" title="Chawan dialect">Chawan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taiwanese_Hokkien" title="Taiwanese Hokkien">Taiwan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philippine_Hokkien" title="Philippine Hokkien">Philippine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Medan_Hokkien" title="Medan Hokkien">Pedan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Penang_Hokkien" title="Penang Hokkien">Penang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Singaporean_Hokkien" title="Singaporean Hokkien">Singapore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Southern_Peninsular_Malaysian_Hokkien" title="Southern Peninsular Malaysian Hokkien">Malaysian</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Teochew_Min" title="Teochew Min">Teochew</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Swatow_dialect" title="Swatow dialect">Swatow</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Haklau_Min" title="Haklau Min">Haklau</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Zhongshan_Min" title="Zhongshan Min">Zhongshan</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sanxiang_dialect" title="Sanxiang dialect">Sanxiang</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Zhenan_Min" title="Zhenan Min">Zhenan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Longyan_Min" class="mw-redirect" title="Longyan Min">Longyan</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Northern_Min" title="Northern Min">Northern</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Jian%27ou_dialect" title="Jian'ou dialect">Jian'ou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jianyang_dialect" title="Jianyang dialect">Jianyang</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Central_Min" title="Central Min">Central</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pu%E2%80%93Xian_Min" title="Pu–Xian Min">Pu–Xian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shao%E2%80%93Jiang_Min" title="Shao–Jiang Min">Shao–Jiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Leizhou_Min" title="Leizhou Min">Leizhou</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Zhanjiang_dialect" title="Zhanjiang dialect">Zhanjiang</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hainanese" title="Hainanese">Hainan</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wenchang_dialect" title="Wenchang dialect">Wenchang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Haikou_dialect" title="Haikou dialect">Haikou</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Banqiao_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Banqiao dialect (page does not exist)">Banqiao</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Hakka_Chinese" title="Hakka Chinese">Hakka</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Meixian_dialect" title="Meixian dialect">Meixian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wuhua_dialect" title="Wuhua dialect">Wuhua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Huizhou_dialect" title="Huizhou dialect">Huizhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tingzhou_dialect" title="Tingzhou dialect">Tingzhou</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Changting_dialect" title="Changting dialect">Changting</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taiwanese_Hakka" title="Taiwanese Hakka">Taiwanese</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sixian_dialect" title="Sixian dialect">Sixian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hailu_dialect" title="Hailu dialect">Hailu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Raoping_Hakka" title="Raoping Hakka">Raoping</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Yue_Chinese" title="Yue Chinese">Yue</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Yuehai_dialects" class="mw-redirect" title="Yuehai dialects">Yuehai</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cantonese" title="Cantonese">Guangzhou</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Hong_Kong_Cantonese" title="Hong Kong Cantonese">Hong Kong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Malaysian_Cantonese" title="Malaysian Cantonese">Malaysia</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xiguan_dialect" title="Xiguan dialect">Xiguan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jiujiang_dialect" title="Jiujiang dialect">Jiujiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shiqi_dialect" title="Shiqi dialect">Shiqi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Weitou_dialect" title="Weitou dialect">Weitou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dapeng_dialect" title="Dapeng dialect">Dapeng</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Siyi_Yue" title="Siyi Yue">Siyi</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Taishanese" title="Taishanese">Taishan</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Xinhui_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Xinhui dialect (page does not exist)">Xinhui</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Gao%E2%80%93Yang_Yue" title="Gao–Yang Yue">Gao–Yang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Goulou_Yue" title="Goulou Yue">Goulou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wu%E2%80%93Hua_Yue" title="Wu–Hua Yue">Wu–Hua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yong%E2%80%93Xun_Yue" title="Yong–Xun Yue">Yong–Xun</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Luo%E2%80%93Guang_Yue" title="Luo–Guang Yue">Luo–Guang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qin%E2%80%93Lian_Yue" title="Qin–Lian Yue">Qin–Lian</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Pinghua" title="Pinghua">Pinghua</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Pinghua#Dialects" title="Pinghua">Northern</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tongdao_Pinghua" title="Tongdao Pinghua">Tongdao</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Younian_dialect" title="Younian dialect">Younian</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pinghua#Dialects" title="Pinghua">Southern</a> <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Yongjiang_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Yongjiang dialect (page does not exist)">Yongjiang</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Guandao_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Guandao dialect (page does not exist)">Guandao</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Rongjiang_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Rongjiang dialect (page does not exist)">Rongjiang</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%">Unclassified</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Shaozhou_Tuhua" title="Shaozhou Tuhua">Shaozhou Tuhua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xiangnan_Tuhua" title="Xiangnan Tuhua">Xiangnan Tuhua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Badong_Yao_language" title="Badong Yao language">Badong Yao</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Danzhou_dialect" title="Danzhou dialect">Danzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mai_Chinese" title="Mai Chinese">Mai</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/She_Chinese" title="She Chinese">Shehua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Waxiang_Chinese" title="Waxiang Chinese">Waxiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yeheni_language" title="Yeheni language">Yeheni</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Huizhou_dialect" title="Huizhou dialect">Huizhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bai_language" title="Bai language">Bai</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cai%E2%80%93Long_languages" title="Cai–Long languages">Cai-Long</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Caijia_language" title="Caijia language">Caijia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Longjia_language" title="Longjia language">Longjia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Luren_language" title="Luren language">Luren</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chuanqing_people#Language" title="Chuanqing people">Laobeizi</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td><td class="noviewer navbox-image" rowspan="9" style="width:1px;padding:0 0 0 2px"><div><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Map_of_sinitic_languages-en.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Map_of_sinitic_languages-en.svg/350px-Map_of_sinitic_languages-en.svg.png" decoding="async" width="350" height="785" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Map_of_sinitic_languages-en.svg/525px-Map_of_sinitic_languages-en.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Map_of_sinitic_languages-en.svg/700px-Map_of_sinitic_languages-en.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="410" data-file-height="920" /></a></span></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background: #e0e0b0;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Comparison_of_national_standards_of_Chinese" title="Comparison of national standards of Chinese">Standard<br />forms</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Standard_Chinese" title="Standard Chinese">Standard Chinese</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sichuanese_Standard_Chinese" title="Sichuanese Standard Chinese">Sichuanese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taiwanese_Mandarin" title="Taiwanese Mandarin">Taiwanese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philippine_Mandarin" class="mw-redirect" title="Philippine Mandarin">Philippine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Malaysian_Mandarin" title="Malaysian Mandarin">Malaysian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Singaporean_Mandarin" title="Singaporean Mandarin">Singaporean</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Standard_Singaporean_Mandarin" title="Standard Singaporean Mandarin">Standard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Singdarin" title="Singdarin">Singdarin</a></li></ul></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cantonese" title="Cantonese">Cantonese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hokkien" title="Hokkien">Hokkien</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hakka" class="mw-redirect" title="Hakka">Hakka</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background: #e0e0b0;;width:1%">Phonology</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Historical_Chinese_phonology" title="Historical Chinese phonology">Historical</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Old_Chinese_phonology" title="Old Chinese phonology">Old</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Old_National_Pronunciation" title="Old National Pronunciation">Old National</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Cantonese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hokkien_phonology" title="Hokkien phonology">Hokkien</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Northern_Wu_phonology" title="Northern Wu phonology">Northern Wu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Standard_Chinese_phonology" title="Standard Chinese phonology">Mandarin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Literary_and_colloquial_readings_of_Chinese_characters" class="mw-redirect" title="Literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters">Literary and colloquial readings</a></li></ul> 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