2. Syllable Components
When we use a Romanization system to write down Cantonese speech, there are three components we need to write down for each syllable. They are the initial, final and tone. Each of them refers to a specific part of a syllable.
Look at the word for phone again. Each of its syllables is labeled with the initial, final and tone below. Which part(s) of the syllable do the initial and the final refer to respectively?
The initial refers to ________.
The final refers to ________.
💡 Tips: Click the blanks to see the answers.
The initial refers to the beginning consonant (d in din6 and w in waa2).
The final refers to the vowel (i in din6 and aa in waa2) and the ending consonant (n in din6 and not any in waa2). Note that some finals have an ending consonant, but some don’t.
The tone refers to the pitch of the syllable. It is represented by the number after the final (6 in din6 and 2 in waa2). You will learn more about tones later in this pronunciation guide.
Here is the word phone labeled the initials, finals and tones together.
Listen to the initial and final of each syllable in the word phone.
In the syllable 電 din6, the initial is d and the final in.
In the syllable 話 waa2, the initial is w and the final aa.
Cantonese has 19 initials, 59 finals and 6 tones. You will learn all these sounds in this pronunciation guide.