1. How to Learn a Sound

Follow these two steps to learn each sound:

Listen to the sound.

Don't rush to say the sound aloud in this step. Just listen carefully and pay attention to how the sound actually sounds like.

Practice saying the sound aloud.

You will see pictures which show the tongue position and lip shape for the sound. Move your tongue and lips accordingly. Use a mirror to check your mouth shape if needed.

The final aa is formed by the vowel aa alone. Note that although the final aa is written down as two aʼs, it is one single sound.

Step 1  Listen to the final aa.

Step 2  Listen and repeat. Pay attention to your mouth shape. Use a mirror to check it if needed.

Tongue Position: Open your mouth widely by lowering your lower jaw. Lower the front of your tongue.
Lip Shape: Relax your lips. Avoid rounding or spreading them.

Cantonese has the following five initial pairs.

Each initial pair consists of two initials which are produced with exactly the same parts of our mouth. The two initials only differ in whether it is unaspirated or aspirated.

Unaspirated	Aspirated 💨
When we say an unaspirated initial, only a small amount of air is emitted from our mouth.	When we say an aspirated initial, a large amount of air is emitted from our mouth. The air creates a noticeable sound of breathing out.

Listen to the initial pairs. In each pair, the first initial is unaspirated, and the second initial is aspirated.

💡 Tips

You can check whether you say an unaspirated or aspirated initial correctly using the following trick. Place a small piece of paper closely in front of your mouth and then say the initial.

When an unaspirated initial is produced, the air emitted can barely move the paper.

When an aspirated initial is produced, the air emitted should be strong enough to move the paper.

Step 1  Listen to the initial b.

Step 2  Listen and repeat.

Step 1  Listen to the initial p.

Step 2  Listen and repeat.

Practice  Practice saying the initials b and p with the final aa. Listen and repeat.

Step 1  Listen to the initial d.

Step 2  Listen and repeat.

Step 1  Listen to the initial t.

Step 2  Listen and repeat.

Practice  Practice saying the initials d and t with the final aa. Listen and repeat.

Step 1  Listen to the initial g.

Step 2  Listen and repeat.

Step 1  Listen to the initial k.

Step 2  Listen and repeat.

Practice  Practice saying the initials g and k with the final aa. Listen and repeat.

Step 1  Listen to the initial f.

Step 2  Listen and repeat.

Practice  Practice saying the initial f with the final aa. Listen and repeat.

Step 1  Listen to the initial s.

Step 2  Listen and repeat.

Practice  Practice saying the initial s with the final aa. Listen and repeat.

The final e is formed by the vowel e alone.

Step 1  Listen to the final e.

Step 2  Listen and repeat. Pay attention to your mouth shape. Use a mirror to check it if needed.

Tongue Position: Open your mouth a little by lowering your lower jaw a little. Raise the front of your tongue toward your hard palate a little.
Lip Shape: Spread your lips a little.

Practice  Practice saying the syllables with the final e. Listen and repeat.

The final i is formed by the vowel i alone.

Step 1  Listen to the final i.

Step 2  Listen and repeat. Pay attention to your mouth shape. Use a mirror to check it if needed.

Tongue Position: Raise the front of your tongue toward your hard palate until they are almost in contact. You will feel the left and right sides of your tongue touch your upper teeth.
Lip Shape: Spread your lips.

Practice  Practice saying the syllables with the final i. Listen and repeat.

The final o is formed by the vowel o alone.

Step 1  Listen to the final o.

Step 2  Listen and repeat. Pay attention to your mouth shape. Use a mirror to check it if needed.

Tongue Position: Open your mouth a little by lowering your lower jaw a little. Raise the back of your tongue toward your soft palate a little. You will feel your whole tongue move backward a little.
Lip Shape: Round your lips a little. Your lips will move forward a little.

Practice  Practice saying the syllables with the final o. Listen and repeat.

The final u is formed by the vowel u alone.

Step 1  Listen to the final u.

Step 2  Listen and repeat. Pay attention to your mouth shape. Use a mirror to check it if needed.

Tongue Position: Lower the tip of your tongue and raise the back of your tongue toward your soft palate. You will feel your whole tongue move backward.
Lip Shape: Round your lips tightly. Your lips will move forward.

Practice  Practice saying the syllables with the final u. Listen and repeat.

Cantonese is a tone language. Tone here refers to the pitch applied to a syllable. Tone can change word meaning. That is, if we change the tone of a syllable, we change the word meaning of that syllable. For example, if we say the syllable si with a high tone, it means ‘poem’. If we say the same syllable si with a low tone instead, it means ‘matter’.

Listen to the example of the syllable si in high and low tones.

We can represent tones visually like the staff in music. The top, middle and bottom gray lines below represent the high, middle and low pitches respectively.

Cantonese has six tones. Each tone is represented visually below.

Listen to the tones applied to the syllable si as an example.

Tone Number	Tone 1	Tone 2	Tone 3	Tone 4	Tone 5	Tone 6
Tone Name	High level	Mid rising	Mid level	Low falling	Low rising	Low level
Diagram

Notice that each black line shows the pitch of a tone from the start to the end of a syllable. For example, Tone 2 goes up from the low pitch at the start of the syllable to the high pitch at the end of the syllable.

We can divide the tones into two categories: level tones and contour tones.

For level tones, the pitch remains steady throughout the whole syllable. It doesn’t rise or fall. Listen to the level tones applied to the syllable si.

Tone Number	Tone 1	Tone 3	Tone 6
Tone Name	High level	Mid level	Low level
Diagram

For contour tones, the pitch rises or falls in the syllable. Listen to the contour tones applied to the syllable si.

Tone Number	Tone 2	Tone 4	Tone 5
Tone Name	Mid rising	Low falling	Low rising
Diagram

Throughout this pronunciation guide, you will be trained to remember the tones using the set of syllables below. It consists of the syllable si in all the six tones, from Tone 1 to Tone 6. It will be a useful tool that you can use to recall different tones.

Tone 1 is the high level tone. The pitch remains at the high pitch throughout the whole syllable.

Tone Number	Tone 1
Tone Name	High level
Diagram

Step 1  Listen to the syllable si in Tone 1. Pay attention to the pitch.

Step 2  Practice saying Tone 1 with the syllable si. Listen and repeat.

Practice  Practice saying Tone 1 with other syllables. Listen and repeat.

Tone 2 is the mid rising tone. The pitch goes up from the low pitch to the high pitch in the syllable.

Tone Number	Tone 2
Tone Name	Mid rising
Diagram

Step 1  Listen to the syllable si in Tone 2. Pay attention to the pitch.

Step 2  Practice saying Tone 2 with the syllable si. Listen and repeat.

Practice  Practice saying Tone 2 with other syllables. Listen and repeat.

We have learned the first two tones. Let’s revise them together.

Tone Number	Tone 1	Tone 2
Tone Name	High level	Mid rising
Diagram

Step 1  Listen to the syllable si in Tone 1 and Tone 2 together. Pay attention to the pitch. The pitch of Tone 1 remains steady, whereas Tone 2 has a noticeable rise in the pitch.

Step 2  Practice saying the syllable si in Tone 1 and Tone 2. Listen and repeat.

Practice  Practice saying Tone 1 and Tone 2 with other syllables. Listen and repeat.

17. How to Complete the Revision Sections

1. Each pronunciation lesson ends with two revision sections. Complete each revision section at the suggested time below.

2. In some questions, you will be asked to recall something. Try to recall it yourself first. Don’t look for answers from the book right away.
   
   In some other questions, you will be asked to say some syllables or words aloud and then compare your pronunciation to the recording. Make sure that you recall and say the syllables or words yourself before listening to the recording. Pause the recording to get enough time to recall if needed.

3. The answers to some questions are shown in their subsequent questions. Cover the subsequent questions to avoid seeing the answers accidentally.

18. Revision Section A

Follow the steps below to complete each question.

Step 1: Say the syllable aloud yourself.
Step 2: Listen to the recording and compare your pronunciation to the recording.
Step 3: Follow the recording and say the syllable again.

Say the syllables below.

If you find this question challenging, practice with the additional recording below. In the additional recording, you will hear:

For "Syllable in Tones", we are trying to say the syllable from Tone 1 to Tone 6 until we arrive at the tone we need. It is a useful skill that you can use to find out how a syllable sounds like in a particular tone.