The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Cantonese pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.
See Cantonese phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Cantonese. Please note that English equivalents given in this page may only represent very approximate sounds to the original pronunciations.
IPA
Yale
Jyutping
Chinese
English approximation
Consonants
f
f
風
f an
h
h
客
h ouse
j
y
j
月
y ou
k
g-, -k
角
sc an
kʰ
k
卡
c an
kʷ
gw
郭
squ eak
kʷʰ
kw
規
qu ick
l
l
落
l eaf
m
m
莫
m oon
m̩
m
唔
mm
n
n
男
n oon
ŋ
ng
疼
song
ŋ̍
ng
我
(syllabic ng )
p
b-, -p
班
sp an
pʰ
p
拍
p an
s
s
水
s aw
ɕ
先
sh e (before i, yu )
t
d-, -t
達
st and
tʰ
t
拖
t an
ts
j
z
雀
cats
tɕ
之
beach (before i, yu )
tsʰ
ch
c
桌
ts unami
tɕʰ
淺
ch eap (before i, yu )
w
w
活
w ater
ʔ
(before a, e, o )
oh-oh!
All of these consonants may begin a syllable, though some speakers do not have [n, ŋ] .[1] In addition, [p t k m n (ŋ)] may end one.[2]
IPA
Yale
Jyutping
Chinese
English approximation
Vowels
aː
aa, -a
aa
牙
fa ther
aːi
aai
界
ti me
aːu
aau
交
how
ɐ
a
甩
cu t
ɐi
ai
梯
ki te
ɐu
au
勾
hou se (Canadian)
ei
ei
悲
hey
ɛː
e
些
ye s
ɛːu
—
eu
Spanish eu
ɪ
i
色
si ng, si ck
iː
思
see
iːu
iu
橋
eww !
ou
ou
好
hoe
ɔː
o
婆
wa r
ɔːi
oi
海
bo y
œː
eu
oe
靴
German öh , French eu
ɵ
eo
German ö , French eu
ɵy
eui
eoi
去
F. euille , ≈ G. eu
ʊ
u
福
loo k
uː
烏
foo d
uːi
ui
雷
phooey
yː
yu
於
German ü, French u
IPA
Yale
Jyutping
Chinese
Description
Tones
sí
sī
1[3]
思
high level: si˥
sî
sì
high falling: si˥˧
sǐ
sí
2
史
mid rising: si˨˥
sī
si
3
試
mid level: si˧
si̭
sìh
4
時
low falling: si˨˩ or very low: si˩
si̬
síh
5
市
low rising: si˨˧
sì
sih
6
是
low level: si˨
sík
sīk
1
色
high checked: sik˥
sīk
sik
3
舌
mid checked: sik˧
sìk
sihk
6
食
low checked: sik˨
↑ Initial [ŋ] is not pronounced by younger speakers, leaving a glottal stop [ʔ] before a, e, o , and initial [n] may be pronounced [l] .
↑ Final [ŋ] may be merged into [n] . [i u] in diphthongs are equivalent to a final [j w] . After [ɵ] , a i becomes [y] .
↑ The high level and high falling tones have merged to high level in Hong Kong for most words