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, [n, ŋ] .[1] [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