5. Cantonese Pronunciation

Click the tones, initials and finals to hear the sounds. Click + to see mouth shapes and examples.

Tones

There are 6 tones in total. Listen and repeat.

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

Initials

There are 19 initials in total. Listen and repeat.

Unaspirated
Aspirated
b +
p +
m +
f +
d +
t +
n +
l +
g +
k +
ng +
h +
gw +
kw +
w +
z +
c +
s +
j +

Finals

There are 59 finals in total. Listen and repeat.

aa +
a +
e +
i +
o +
u +
eo +
oe +
yu +
-i
aai +
ai +
ei +
oi +
ui +
eoi +
-u
aau +
au +
eu +
iu +
ou +
-m
aam +
am +
em +
im +
m +
-n
aan +
an +
in +
on +
un +
eon +
yun +
-ng
aang +
ang +
eng +
ing +
ong +
ung +
oeng +
ng +
-p
aap +
ap +
ep +
ip +
-t
aat +
at +
et +
it +
ot +
ut +
eot +
oet +
yut +
-k
aak +
ak +
ek +
ik +
ok +
uk +
oek +

Note that eo doesn’t form a final on its own.

Pronunciation Variations

When you talk to Hong Kong Cantonese speakers, you will likely discover that their pronunciation varies from one person to another. Some of the pronunciation variations come from the sound changes taking place in Hong Kong Cantonese. Some sounds have been pronounced as another sound or dropped. Some Hong Kong Cantonese speakers consider these sound changes as 懶音 laan2 jam1 (‘lazy pronunciation’), which they think is incorrect and should be corrected.

There are several pronunciation variations you will often encounter:

Sound Change
Example
1.

The initial n is pronounced as the initial l.

Many Hong Kong Cantonese speakers no longer differentiate between the initials n and l. They often replace n with l when producing words which originally had n as the initial.

你 nei5 → lei5

2.

The initial gw is sometimes pronounced as the initial g.

法國 faat3 gwok3 → faat3 gok3

3.

The initial ng is sometimes dropped, or the initial ng is sometimes added.

我 ngo5 → o5
愛 oi3 → ngoi3

4.

The ending ng in some finals is sometimes pronounced as n.

銀行 ngan4 hong4 → ngan4 hon4

The ending n in some finals is sometimes pronounced as ng.

乾 gon1 → gong1

5.

The ending k in some finals is sometimes pronounced as t.

百 baak3 → baat3

6.

The final ng is sometimes pronounced as the final m.

五 ng5 → m5

In this book, the original pronunciations will be listed. The audio, however, will contain pronunciation variations because this can prepare you for communication in the real world.

Made with in Hong Kong.

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