How to learn Cantonese

Listen to and watch a lot of Cantonese radio, TV and movies, talk to Cantonese speakers and pay attention to their pronunciation.

The official academic name is Cantonese, but in Guangdong/Guangxi it is called "Baihua", while in Hong Kong it is called "Cantonese". Since the Guangzhou accent is the standard for Cantonese, the official term for Cantonese is Guangzhou dialect. Whether it's "Cantonese" or "vernacular" or ""Cantonese"", it's all the same thing.

"Cantonese" was originally coined by the people of Hong Kong. Because everyone in Guangdong knows that not everyone in Guangdong speaks Cantonese (only half of the people in Guangdong speak Cantonese), and not all Cantonese speakers are Cantonese (half of the Han Chinese in Guangxi also speak Cantonese/vernacular), no one used to call Cantonese "Cantonese". The Hong Kong people, however, felt that they should be culturally equal to Guangzhou and did not want to call the language they spoke "Guangzhou dialect", so they invented the inexplicable term "Cantonese" and introduced it to the mainland.

Before the British came to Hong Kong, the local indigenous people spoke the native Cantonese language "Wai Tau" and Hakka, but after the opening of the port, a large number of immigrants from the Pearl River Delta and other parts of Guangdong and even from other provinces (especially Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang) entered, and the demographic structure of Hong Kong changed, and in today's Hong Kong, about 90% of the people are foreign immigrants or the descendants of foreign immigrants, and among them, the most people who speak Cantonese are the immigrants of the Mainland. As Guangzhou is the seat of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou dialect has gradually become the mainstream language in Hong Kong. It can be said that Hong Kong's Cantonese accent is an extension and development of Guangzhou dialect, but after 1949, due to the interruption of the traditional ties between Guangzhou and Hong Kong, Hong Kong's Cantonese accent and Guangzhou dialect developed independently of each other, resulting in some minor differences in vocabulary and accent. On the whole, there are some differences between the two accents, but they are so slight that those who are not very familiar with Cantonese cannot distinguish between Cantonese and Hong Kong Cantonese.

1) In more than 90% of the cases, ao is converted to ou, zh ch sh r is converted to iu, and "bao" and its related morphemes remain unchanged)

e.g. "to" (dou3), "no." (hou6), "gou1" (gou1), "jiu1" (jiu1), "xiu6" (shao6), "yiu5" (bao1)

There is a difference between Cantonese and Hong Kong Cantonese, but the difference is very small. (bao1)

2) In more than 90% of the cases, the iu /ou rhyme is converted into eo (note: the pronunciation of e here is different from that of Putonghua, it is a smaller, shorter a sound similar to au)

e.g.: enough (geo3), again (yeo6), after (heo6), nine (geo2), Liu (leo4)

3) More than 90% of the cases, the ang rhyme is converted into eo (note: here the pronunciation of e differs from that of Putonghua, it is an a sound with small opening and short sound similar to au)

3) In more than 90% of the cases, the ang rhyme is converted to ong (except for zh, ch, sh, r consonants, which are converted to êng)

e.g.: gong1, fong4, dong1, zêng, sêng6

4) In more than 90% of the cases, the ong and iong rhymes are converted to ung

e.g. dung1, hung4, lung4, hung4, kung4

5) In more than 90% of the cases, i is transformed into ei

e.g., lei6, mei5, zei3, sei3, gei1, gei3

6) In more than 90% of the cases, in is transformed into ung

6) In more than 90% of the cases, in is transformed into ung. In more than 90% of the cases, the in rhyme is converted to en/em

e.g.: bin (ben1) ping (ben2) lin (lem4) yen (yen1) 斤(gen1) 心(sem1)

7）More than 90% of the cases, the ing rhyme is still ing (ing is pronounced like ieng in Mandarin, and also in Cantonese, but with a small mouth a, i.e. a small mouth a). In Cantonese, ing is pronounced like ieng, but e is the Cantonese pronunciation of a small mouth a)

e.g. Ying1 Xing1 Jing1 Cheng4 Jing1 Xing1 8) In more than 90% of the cases, eng is converted into ang (except for zh, ch, sh, r consonants, which are pronounced as ing)

e.g. Mang2 Meng6 Leng2 ) Meng (mang6) Leng (lang5) Peng (pang4) Still (ying4) Zhen (jing3)

9) In more than 90% of the cases, ei (except for non- and Lei, which are pronounced as fei4 and lêu4, respectively)

e.g.: 陪（pui4）） 背（bui3） 雷（lêu4）

10) In more than 90% of the cases, ün is transformed into ang (except for zh, ch, sh, r, which are pronounced as ing)

E.g. In more than 90% of the cases, ün is transformed into en/em

e.g.: jun (guen1) 尋 (cem4) qun (kuen4) 輪 (lên4)

11) In more than 90% of the cases, the an rhyme is transformed into an/am, and pronounced on if it has a g, k, h, or a zero vowel

e.g.: tam (dam1) 男 (nam4) 藍 (lam4) 干 (lêu4) ) blue (lam4) dry (gon1) see (kon3) Han (hon4) Ran (yim5)

12) more than 90% of the cases, ai into oi, some of the consonants for the b, p, m, d, t remain unchanged

such as: love (oi6) on behalf of the (doi6) that the (goi1) dishes (coi3) Taiwan (toi4) pat (pai1) 买（mai5）百（bag3）

13）超过90%的情况，ü 韵仍为 ü；如果声母为j、q、x、l、n，转化为 êu（绿除外，pronounced lug6）

如：遇（yu6） 距（kêu5） 取（cêu2） 徐（cêu4）） 许（hêu2） 呂（lêu4） 女（nêu2）

一一一语语一文

There is no need to change the rhyme scheme. p>

I. Grammatical Analysis

The grammatical differences between Cantonese and Mandarin are not very great, but there are some grammatical structures in Cantonese which are obviously different from those in Mandarin, and the following is a brief explanation of some of the more distinctive ones in Cantonese.

1. Adverb: first

1) Cantonese puts the word first after the word first, such as:

You go first You go first

I read the newspaper after I finish my meal I read the newspaper after I finish my meal

2) Cantonese uses the word first in some cases, but not necessarily in Mandarin, such as:

Waiting for Lao Dou Fan to come to eat first Waiting for my father to come back to eat

3) Cantonese uses the word first in some cases, but not necessarily in Mandarin, such as:

Waiting for Lao Dou Fan to come to eat first Waiting for my dad to come back to eat

3) The word 'first' in Cantonese also means 'only', e.g.

I'll come back at ten o'clock tonight I'll come back at ten o'clock tonight.

2. The verbs 'to come' and 'to go':

Cantonese puts come and go before the noun, e.g.

Wah Chai hears day to go to Shanghai Wah Chai goes to Shanghai tomorrow.

When will you come to Hong Kong to visit me? When will you come to Hong Kong to visit me?

3. Comparison of word order:

Cantonese Mandarin

A + adjective + over + B

e.g. Demin is taller than Shan

Jia Min's house is bigger than Yong Cong's house

e.g. Demin is taller than Shan

Jia Min's house is bigger than Yong Cong's

Verbs + adverbs

You are bigger than the others.

e.g. You get more candies than others

Eat more chicken wings

Watch less TV

There's not enough time, we need to walk faster

Speak slower, I can't hear you well

Note: The above kind of adverbs are usually put after the verb in Cantonese, but they can be put before the verb in daily conversations, e.g.

Walk faster, slow down, be careful.

Speed up, slow down, go fast, eat, drink less

E.g.: take more candies than the others

eat one more chicken wing

watch less TV

Time is running out, we have to go fast

Speak slowly, I can't hear you clearly

A + Predicate + Adverb + B

E.g.: Mabel ate a bowl of rice more than I did

This month, compared with last month, used 50 kilowatts less electricity. A + than + adverb + predicate

such as; Mabel eats a bowl of rice more than I do

This month used 50 kilowatts less electricity than last month

main + verb + direct object + indirect object

e.g. I bought a comic book for my brother, and it's better than the one I bought for my brother

You should have phoned me, but I didn't call you, so I called you. A book of comic strips

You give Please Ting a call

(唔該)俾 + quantity + object + me

如：唔該,俾樽汽水我

唔該,俾四张飞我 (劳驾)＋给＋我 + quantity + object

Laohai, give me a bottle of soda

Laohai, give me four tickets

II. Verbs Tense

Cantonese verbs have a category of tense. To indicate the completion of an action, add "咗" after the verb; to indicate the experience of an action, add "过" after the verb; to indicate the continuation of an action, add "住" or "自" after the verb. It is as follows:

1. "tight": add "tight" after the verb to indicate that the action is being carried out; add "open" after the action to indicate that the action is being carried out, but also to indicate that the action has been carried out before. The word "tight" is also used to indicate that the action has been carried out before and will be carried out in the future. For example:

We are discussing this matter. (Everyone is discussing this matter.)

He was looking at a newspaper. (He was reading a newspaper.)

This stool is mine. (I am sitting on this stool.)

I am reading a novel. (I am reading a novel.)

2. "咗" : It is added to the verb to indicate the completion of the action. For example:

I completed the task. (I completed the task.)

Have you eaten? (Have you eaten?)

Where did he go? (Where did he go?)

3. "过": The verb is followed by "过" to indicate the experience of an action, which is the same as in Mandarin, but after synthesizing a verb of tendency, Cantonese inserts "过" between the two words of the verb of tendency. between the two words of the verb. For example:

Did anyone come in yesterday? (Did anyone come in yesterday?)

Today I went out. (I went out today.)

4. "住" and "自": the verb is followed by "住" to indicate the continuity of the action, which is generally used in affirmative or ordinary statements, equivalent to the Mandarin word "着"; in Mandarin, "住" is used to indicate the continuity of the action. "着"；for example:

He looked at me. (He looked at me.)

What are you doing with a knife? (What are you doing with a knife?)

Third, the verb mood

Cantonese often uses some words attached to the statement before or after the statement to state that the action behavior occurs in a variety of situations and states. Some of these words are equivalent to adverbs, while others are suffixes (some call them endings). These adverbs are often placed at the end of the statement, which is different from the Mandarin adverbs used as gerunds before the statement.

1. "Over the top", "to get stagnant": indicates that the situation is too much, beyond the normal range, for example:

You're too stupid. (You are too stupid.)

This kind of tangerine is too sour, not good to eat. (This kind of orange is too sour to eat.)

He is too smart. (He is too smart.)

This cup of tea is too strong. (This cup of tea is too strong.)

They are in a hurry, so they don't remember to bring their fly. (I was in such a hurry that I forgot to bring my ticket.)

2. "晒"：It means that something is finished, something is finished, and the scope of what is said is included. For example:

The books on the table are gone. (All the books on the table are gone.)

The money my father gave me has not been used. (The money given to me by my father has not been used up.)

Have you read this book yet? (Have you finished reading this book?)

Note: "晒" can also be placed at the end of a mannerism or idiom to emphasize the solemnity of the word. For example:

Thanks for the sun. (Thank you so much!)

Thanks to you. (It's really thanks to you.)

Well, thank you. (I'm so sorry to bother you.)

3. "埋"：Cantonese uses "埋" to indicate the expansion of scope, indicating that the scope extends to the other, which is equivalent to the Mandarin saying, "even ...... also "For example:

Eat this apple. （

Eat this apple too.)

You do my share. （

Do my share too.)

Call him. (Call him too.)

4, "add": "add" is often placed at the end of the sentence, indicating an increase in the number and scope of expansion, equivalent to the meaning of "again". For example:

Drink more tea. (Drink another cup of tea.)

I'll wait for him for a while. (I'll wait for him for a while.)

Writing more than one sheet will be enough. (Write one more and it will be enough.)

5. "翻": added to the verb to indicate a return to the original state, Mandarin has no word that translates to it. For example:

Move over the stool to turn over the house. (Move the stool back into the house.) (The stool was originally in the house.))

He found German so difficult to learn that he learned to turn over English lah. (He found German hard to learn and resumed learning English.)

Quickly look at your book. (Look at your book quickly. (I was reading a book, but I was interrupted for a while.)