1.6 Applying Rising Intonation to Questions

When asking a question, we can optionally apply rising intonation to the question. To apply rising intonation, we raise the pitch of the last syllable and say the syllable a bit longer.

   
你叫咩名?
nei5 giu3 me1 meng2?
What is your name?

   
佢係邊個?
keoi5 hai6 bin1 go3?
Who is he / she?

We can either add the sentence particle 呀 aa3 or apply rising intonation to a question, but we don’t do both at the same time.

    
你叫咩名呀?
nei5 giu3 me1 meng2 aa3?
What is your name?

   
你叫咩名?
nei5 giu3 me1 meng2?
What is your name?