Cantonese/Lesson 2/Conversation

Buildup

(At a party in Hong Kong)

先生 sīnsàang
先生	sīnsàang	man
貴姓	gwaising	your surname (polite)
呀	a	sentence suffix, to soften abruptness
小姐	síujé	woman
小姐貴姓呀？	Síujé gwaising a?	What is your surname, Miss?
小姐 síujé
我姓王。	Ngóh sing Wòhng.	My surname is Wong.
先生 sīnsàang
(Bowing slightly)
王小姐。	Wòhng Síujé.	Miss Wong.
小姐 síujé
呢？	nē?	sentence suffix for Wh-questions
先生呢？	Sīnsaàng nē?	And you? (polite)(lit. Mr.?
先生 sīnsàang
小姓	síusing	my name (humble)
小姓劉。	Síusing Làuh.	My name is Lau.
小姐 síujé
(Bowing slightly)
劉生。	Làuh sàang.	Mr Lau.
先生 sīnsàang
(Indicating a young lady standing beside Miss Wong)
乜嘢 / 咩嘢 / 咪嘢	mātyéh / mēyéh / mīyéh	what?
姓咩嘢呀	sing mēyéh a?	have what surname?
朋友	pàhngyáuh	friend
你	néih	your
你朋友	néih pàhngyáuh	your friend
你朋友姓咩嘢呀?	néih pàhngyáuh sing mē yéh a?	What is your friend's name?
小姐 síujé
姓馬	sing Máh	has the name Ma
嘅	ge	noun-forming boundword. ge suffixed to a verb phrase makes it a noun phrase
姓馬嘅	sing Máh ge	is one named Ma
佢	kéuih	he, she, it
佢姓馬嘅.	Kéuih sing Máh ge.	Her name is Ma.
先生 sīnsàang
廣東	Gwóngdùng	Guangdong province
人	yàhn	person
廣東人	Gwóngdùngyàhn	Cantonese person, a person from Guangdong province
係唔係呀	haihm̀hhaih a?	is or not is? (a question formula)
佢係唔係廣東人呀?	Kéuih haihm̀hhaih Gwóngdùngyàhn a?	Is she a Cantonese person?
小姐 síujé
上海	Seuhnghói	Shanghai
上海人	Seuhnghóiyàhn	Shanghai person
唔係呀.佢係上海人.	M̀hhaih a. Kéuih haih Seuhnghóiyàhn.	No, she's a Shanghainese person.
先生 sīnsàang
咁	gám	well then (sentence prefix, resuming the topic of discussion)
咁,你呢?	Gám, néih nē?	Well then, what about you?
小姐 síujé
都	dōu	also
都係上海人	dōu haih Seuhnghóiyàhn	also am a Shanghainese person
我都係上海人.	Ngóh dōu haih Seuhnghóiyàhn.	I am also a Shanghainese person.

Recapitulation

(At a party in Hong Kong)

先生 sīnsàang
小姐貴姓呀？	Síujé gwaising a?	What is your surname, Miss?
小姐 síujé
我姓王。	Ngóh sing Wòhng.	My name is Wong.
先生 sīnsàang
(Bowing slightly)
王小姐。	Wòhng Síujé.	Miss Wong.
小姐 síujé
先生呢？	Sīnsaàng nē?	And you? (polite)
先生 sīnsàang
小姓劉。	Síusing Làuh.	My name is Lau.
小姐 síujé
(Bowing slightly)
劉生。	Làuh sàang.	Mr. Lau.
先生 sīnsàang
(Indicating a young lady standing beside Miss Wong)
你朋友姓咩嘢呀?	néih pàhngyáuh sing mē yéh a?	What is your friend's name?
小姐 síujé
佢姓馬嘅.	Kéuih sing Máh ge.	Her name is Ma.
先生 sīnsàang
佢係唔係廣東人呀?	Kéuih haihm̀hhaih Gwóngdùngyàhn a?	Is she a Cantonese person?
小姐 síujé
唔係呀.佢係上海人.	M̀hhaih a. Kéuih haih Seuhnghóiyàhn.	No, she's a Shanghainese person.
先生 sīnsàang
咁,你呢?	Gám, néih nē?	Well then, what about you?
小姐 síujé
我都係上海人.	Ngóh dōu haih Seuhnghóiyàhn.	I am also a Shanghainese person.

Pronunciation

b, d, g, j

b, d, g, and j (IPA: [p],[t],[k], and [tɕ]), sounds in Cantonese are voicless, in contrast to the voiced English sounds spelled with the same letters. The tongue position for Cantonese b and g sounds is the same as for English. For the d sound the tongue tip is more forward in Cantonese than in English--against the base of the upper teeth for Cantonese, on the dental ridge for English. The tongue position for the j sound has been discussed in Lesson 1. All of the above sounds are unaspirated, as are the English counterparts. But the Cantonese and English sounds contrast with respect to tenseness--the Cantonese initial consonants are tense while the English lax in isolated words and in stressed positions of a sentence.

Listen and compare

Initial	English	Cantonese
b	bean	bīn go	邊個	who
	beau	bou	布	cloth
	buoy	būi	杯	cup
	bun	bān	賓	guest
	buy	baai	拜	worship
d	doe	dou	到	arrive
	die	daai	帶	bring
	ding	dīng	丁	surname Ting
	deem	dim	店	shop (noun)
g	gay	gei	記	record (verb)
	gum	gam	噤	so
	guy	gaai	界	border
	guava	Gwóngdùng	廣東	Guangdong
j	joy	joi	再	again
	gee	ji	至	until, to
	Jew	jiu	照	reflect
	Joe	jou	灶	stove

p, t, k, ch

Cantonese p, t, k, and ch sounds (IPA: [pʰ],[tʰ],[kʰ], and [tɕʰ]) are similar to English counterparts p, t, k, ch as they are both voiceless and aspirated. The tonguie position for p and k is the same as for English. For the t sound the tongue tip is more forward in Cantonese than in English--against the base of the upper teeth for Cantonese, on the dental ridge for English. The tongue position for ch has been discussed in Lesson 1. The Cantonese consonants are tenser than the English counterparts.

Listen and compare

Initial	English	Cantonese
p	pingpong	pàhngyáuh	朋友	friend
	pay	pèi	披	to throw over the shoulders
	pie	paai	派	send
	Poe	pou	鋪	shop (noun)
	putt	pāt	匹	measure word for horses
t	tie	tāai	呔	necktie
	team	tìm	添	additional
	top	taap	塔	pagoda
	tong	tong	燙	iron (verb)
k	cow	kaau	靠	lean on
	Kay	kei	冀	hope
	cut	kāt	咳	cough
	cup	kāp	級	step (noun)
ch	chuck	chāk	測	guess
	chew	chìu	超	exceed
	chow	chau	臭	bad smell
	chip	chip	妾	concubine

un

un as in Yahtbún and Yahtbúnyàhn is a two part final composed of a high back rounded vowel (IPA: [u]) by the alveolar nasal consonant (IPA: [n]). When the two are together there is a slight offglide to the high central position (IPA: [uːin]). The vowel is not nasalized before nasal final. The Cantonese 'un' is roughly comparable to the `oon` in English (e.g. `boon`).

Listen and compare

1. bún (本), boon
2. boon, bún (本)

eui

The lips should be rounded throughout the final. Remember that the i of eui represents the high front rounded vowel (IPA: [y]).

Listen and repeat

1. kéuih 佢
2. deuim̀hjyuh 對唔住
3. deui 對

iu

iu is a two-part final composed of the high front unrounded vowel (IPA: [i]) plus the high back rounded vowel (IPA: [u]). In this sequence the i is pronounced as an onglide, with the longest portion being the u.

Listen and repeat

1. síujé
2. síu

Tones

Listen and repeat

1. dōu dōu, sing sing, haih haih
2. dōu sing haih, haih sing dōu
3. dōu sing, sing haih, dōu haih, haih dōu
4. dōu dōu, Jèung Jèung
5. Jèung, dōu, dōu Jèung
6. síu síu, néih néih
7. síu néih, néih síu
8. haih yàhn, yàhn haih