廣東話

Cantonese

Sinitic (Yue)

FamilySinitic (Yue) Speakers~85M ScriptTraditional Chinese CountriesChina, Hong Kong, Macau Official inHong Kong, Macau (co-official) Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3yue Glottocodeyuec1235

Also known as: Cantonese, Yue

Cantonese (廣東話 gwóngdūng wá / 粵語 yuhtyúh) is a Sinitic Yue language with ~85M speakers across Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong, and the global diaspora (Vancouver, San Francisco, Sydney, London Chinatown). It is a de facto official language of Hong Kong (alongside English and written Chinese) and Macau (with Portuguese), and has retained prestige in cinema, Cantopop, and TV through Hong Kong's 20th-century cultural exports. Phonologically conservative, Cantonese preserves Middle Chinese final stop consonants -p/-t/-k that Mandarin has lost, and uses a 6-tone system (or 9 when checked tones with -p/-t/-k codas are counted separately). Written with Traditional Han characters plus a set of Cantonese-specific characters not used in Standard Written Chinese (㗎 gaa3, 嘅 ge3, 㩒 gam6, 冇 móuh, 唔 m4); colloquial written Cantonese is widely used in HK newspapers, comics, and online media. Analytic morphology with SVO order, sentence-final particles, and rich classifier system.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Cantonese

Water

/sɵy˧˥/

Fire

/fɔː˧˥/

Sun

日頭

/jɐt˨ tʰɐu˨˩/

Moon

月光

/jyːt˨ kʷɔːŋ˥/

Mother

媽媽

/maː˥maː˥/

Father

爸爸

/paː˨˩paː˥/

Eat

/sɪk˨/

Drink

/jɐm˧˥/

Love

/ɔːi˧/

Heart

/sɐm˥/

Tree

/syː˨/

House

/ʊk˥/

Dog

/kɐu˧˥/

Cat

/maːu˥/

Hand

/sɐu˧˥/

Eye

/ŋaːn˩˧/

Hello

你好

/neːi˩˧hou˧˥/

Thank you

多謝

/tɔː˥t͡sɛː˨/

One

/jɐt˥/

Good

/hou˧˥/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Yue) languages

Meaning CantoneseDongguan YueZhongshan YueGaozhou YueNanning YueClassical Chinese (Cantonese pedagogical)Pinghua
Water /sɵy˧˥/ /sui˧˥/ /sɵy˧˥/ /sɵi˧˥/ /ɬɵy˧˥/ /sɵy˧˥/ /ɬui˦˨/
Fire /fɔː˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fu˦˨/
Sun 日頭 /jɐt˨ tʰɐu˨˩/ 日头 /jɐt˨˨tʰɐu˨˩/ 日頭 /jɐt˨ tʰɐu˨˩/ 日头 /jɐt˨tʰɐu˧˧/ 日头 /jɐt˨tʰɐu˨˩/ /jɐt˨/ 日头 /ŋit˨tʰɐu˦˦/
Moon 月光 /jyːt˨ kʷɔːŋ˥/ 月光 /jyt˨kʷɔŋ˥˥/ 月光 /jyt˨ kwɔŋ˥˧/ 月光 /jyt˨kwɔŋ˥˥/ 月光 /ŋyt˨kʷɔŋ˥˥/ /jyt˨/ 月光 /ŋyt˨kwɔŋ˦˦/
Mother 媽媽 /maː˥maː˥/ 阿妈 /a˧˧ma˥˥/ 老母 /lou˩˧ mou˩˧/ 妈妈 /maː˥˥maː˥˥/ 老妈 /lau˧˩ma˥˥/ /mou˩˧/ 阿妈 /a˦˦ma˦˦/
Father 爸爸 /paː˨˩paː˥/ 阿爸 /a˧˧pa˥˥/ 老豆 /lou˩˧ tɐu˨/ 爸爸 /paː˨˩paː˨˩/ 老窦 /lau˧˩tɐu˨˨/ /fu˨/ 阿爸 /a˦˦pa˦˦/
Eat /sɪk˨/ /sɪk˨/ /sɪk˨/ /sɪk˨˨/ /ɬɪk˨/ /sɪk˨/ /sɐk˨/
Drink /jɐm˧˥/ /jɐm˧˥/ /jɐm˧˥/ /jɐm˧˥/ /jɐm˧˥/ /jɐm˧˥/ /ʔɐm˦˨/
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Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

Cantonese
試穿 酒店 對面 間鋪 入面 見到嘅 套西裝
试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 看到的 那套西装
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with closely-related languages

Cantonese
試穿 酒店 對面 間鋪 入面 見到嘅 套西裝
試穿 客棧 對面 店鋪 看著其 套西裝
客舍 對面 所見之
试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 看到的 那套西装
逆旅 對面 邸店 所見之

Han readings compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Yue) languages

Character CantoneseHong Kong CantoneseMacau CantoneseGaozhou YueDongguan YueZhongshan YueNanning Yue
jat1 /jɐt̚˥/ jat1 /jɐt̚˥/ jat1 /jɐt̚˥/ jat1 /jɐt̚˥/ jat1 /jɐt̚˥/ jat1 /jɐt̚˥˥/ jat1 /jɐt̚˥˥/
ji6 /jiː˨/ ji6 /jiː˨/ ji6 /jiː˨/ ji6 /jiː˨˨/ ji6 /jiː˨˨/ ji6 /ji˨˨/ ji6 /ji˨˨/
saam1 /saːm˥/ saam1 /saːm˥/ saam1 /saːm˥/ saam1 /saːm˥˥/ saam1 /saːm˥˥/ saam1 /saːm˥˥/ thaam1 /θaːm˥˥/
sei3 /sei˧/ sei3 /sei˧/ sei3 /sei˧/ sei3 /sei˧˧/ sei3 /sei˧˧/ sei3 /sei˧˧/ thei3 /θei˧˧/
ng5 /ŋ̍˩˧/ ng5 /ŋ̍˩˧/ ng5 /ŋ̍˩˧/ ng5 /ŋ̍˩˧/ ng5 /ŋ̍˩˧/ ng5 /ŋ˩˧/ ng5 /ŋ˩˧/
luk6 /lʊk̚˨/ luk6 /lʊk̚˨/ luk6 /lʊk̚˨/ luk6 /lʊk̚˨/ luk6 /lʊk̚˨/ luk6 /lʊk̚˨˨/ luk6 /lʊk̚˨˨/
cat1 /t͡sʰɐt̚˥/ cat1 /tsʰɐt̚˥/ cat1 /tsʰɐt̚˥/ cat1 /tsʰɐt̚˥/ cat1 /tsʰɐt̚˥/ cat1 /tsʰɐt̚˥/ cat1 /tsʰɐt̚˥/
baat3 /paːt̚˧/ baat3 /paːt̚˧/ baat3 /paːt̚˧/ baat3 /paːt̚˧/ baat3 /paːt̚˧/ baat3 /paːt̚˧/ baat3 /paːt̚˧/
gau2 /kɐu˧˥/ gau2 /kɐu˧˥/ gau2 /kɐu˧˥/ gau2 /kɐu˧˥/ gau2 /kɐu˧˥/ gau2 /kɐu˧˥/ gau2 /kɐu˧˥/
sap6 /sɐp̚˨/ sap6 /sɐp̚˨/ sap6 /sɐp̚˨/ sap6 /sɐp̚˨/ sap6 /sɐp̚˨/ sap6 /sɐp̚˨/ slap6 /ɬɐp̚˨/
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