1. An A-B-C Guide For Complete
Beginners
Brief Sketch Of Cantonese
2. Introduction
•Cantonese is a language that has a
wide sphere of influence
•Places spoken include:
Canton(Guangdong)
Hong Kong & Macau
South East Asia
Chinatowns of many Western
countries like United States,
Canada,etc
5. •Cantonese is the most widely known and
influential variety of Chinese other than Mandarin
•Role of Cantonese is increasing due to the
economic development of Canton and Hong Kong
•A tonal language, with up of 6 tones (Yale)
•Grammatical structure is very similar to that of
Mandarin
•However, analysis from English's perspective
shows otherwise.
7. Phonology
• Various transcriptions out there
• Used Yale system developed by Parker
Huang & Gerald Kok
• Modified to make system easier to use
• Rising, falling accents on vowels
representing rising, falling tones
• Arbitrary ‘h’ representing low-register
tones
8. Modifications
1) Merger of non-distinctive high-level &
high-falling tones
2) Hyphens to show division of words
3) Classifiers & verbal particles written
separately
4) Apostrophes for reduced forms
9. Short Intro to Sound System
• Tone-contour language, 6 tones
(Yale)
• 16 initial consonants, 6 final
consonants, 8 vowels (Yale)
• Variation - individual, social or age
11. Initial Consonants
• gw & kw are coarticulated stops, i.e. the velar
sound g or k is articulated simultaneously with
the bilabial w
• However, a tendency to simplify gw to g & kw
to k
• “ng”
• j, ch, s may be palatalized or partially
palatalized by yu or eu
• 2 semivowels, y & w
12. Final consonants
• -p, -t, -k, -m, -n, -ng
• Unreleased (-p, -t, -k), Nasal (-m, n, -ng)
• Phenomenon of merger of –k to –t,
paralleling –ng to –n (velar to
alveolar)
14. Vowels
• Length contrast is present in long ‘aa’
or short ‘a’
• Depends on situation
• No distinctive contrast when appears at
end of syllable
• Diphthongs
– ai, aai, au, aau, ei, eui (euy), iu, ou, oi, ui
15. Syllable Structure
• (C)V(V)(C)
• only –m, -n, -ng, -p, -t, -k allowed at end
of syllable
• not all combinations exist, e.g. *-eup
• in onomatopoeic sounds, -em & -up can
occur, e.g. lém-lém-leih = lick-licktongue, bùhp-búp tiu = ‘bop-bop jump’
17. Tones
35
High Level 55
Ri
gh
–
–
–
–
–
–
Hi
4
si
n
g
5
3
2
Mid Level 33
3
g2
n
isi
R
ow
L
Low Level 22
Lo
1
Tone Level
wF
all
in
g2
1
high level:
high rising:
mid level:
low falling:
low rising:
low level:
yāu ‘worry’
yáu ‘paint’
yau ‘thin’
yàuh ‘oil’
yáuh ‘have’
yauh ‘again’
18. Tone Change
• Compounds, Reduplication
• jó yauh jó-yáu (‘approximately’)
• sòh sòh-só-déi (‘rather silly’)
19. Morphology
• 3 main ways by which words are
formed in Cantonese
• 1) Affixation (prefixes and suffixes)
• 2) Reduplication (doubling of words or
syllables)
• 3) Compounding (combination of
independent forms to form a complex
word)
20. 1) Affixation
Prefixes:
‘a’ is a prefix used with names and
kinship terms, showing familiarity
E.g: a-màh ‘grandmother’
a- gō ‘brother’
a- yī
‘aunt’
a- faat ‘Fatt’s name in Cantonese’
21. Suffixes
deih is the plural suffix forming pronoun, with the
exception of yàhn.
Ngóh –deih
I + deih = ‘we’
Léih – deih
You + deih = ‘you’ (plural)
kéuih - deih
he/she/it + deih = ‘they’
yàhn -----deih
person + deih = ‘people’
or person
yàhn deih can be singular
22. Fa – verbal suffix, forms verbs from
nouns and adjectives
Fa with nouns:
• Dihnlóuh- fa
Computer + fa (ize) = ‘computerize’
• Fa with adjectives
Yihndoih – fa
Modern + fa (ify) = ‘ modernize’
23. 2) Reduplication – the doubling of
a word or syllable, many word
classes can be reduplicated
sòh – silly (adj)
Sòh + só (reduplicate) + déi = ‘rather silly’
Yī- aunt (noun)
Yī + yī (reduplicate) = ‘auntie’
(usually in baby talk)
Sīk – know (verb)
Sīk + sīk (reduplicate) + déi = ‘to know a little
24. • Reduplication can occur in
onomatopoeic, often with tone change of
the second syllable expressions
• Gohk
Gohk + gók (reduplicated) + sēng
knock + knock
+ sound
‘knocking sound’
25. 3) Compounding
The combination of two or more
independent morphemes to form a
single new word, the meaning often
being not predictable.
26. Compound nouns:
• Jáu – dim
Wine-shop
‘hotel’
Compound Verbs:
jáu- tòhng
Leave- lesson
‘skip classes’
hōi - dōu
open - knife
‘carry out an operation’
28. Parts of speech
• The noun Phrase
• Consists of a noun and those items
which change or accompany it
• Order of the noun phrase:
demonstrative- numeral-classifieradjective-(ge) – noun
ge- linking particle
29. Definiteness and demonstratives
• Cantonese has no articles having the
equal meaning of ‘a’ or ‘the’
• ‘yāt’ is used as an indefinte article,
refers to an indefinte object or person
• E.g: yāt ga chē
one- CL- car (CL – classifer)
30. Demonstratives ‘nī’ and ‘gó’
• ‘nī’ – ‘this’ and ‘gó’- that
• E.gs: nī – go - leuhsī
this – Cl – lawyer
‘gó’ – deui – fūfúh
that – CL- couple
• Both can be used to refer to time
• Other examples of demonstratives eg:
dī (yàhn), tìuh (yú).
31. Classifers – measure words
‘jek’ and ‘ga’– follows a numeral or
quantifier
E.g : léuhng –jek- dáan
two - CL- eggs
nī - ga – chē
this – CL- car
32. More classifiers…
• Collective classifiers ( similar to English
collective nouns)
E.gs: bāan – group/bunch
nī bāan yàhn – this group of people
33. Container classifiers – denote
commodities and products eg: food and
drinks.
Būi – cup eg: bei ngóh būi
chàh
‘give me a cup of tea’
Generic classifiers- means ‘types’ and ‘kinds’
Júng – ‘kind’ eg: nī júhng
fā
this kind of
flower
35. Copula verb: haih – ‘be’
(am,are,were)
Main function is to join two noun phrases together
Eg: gó dī yàhn haih ngóh ge pàhngyáuh
that CL people are my
LP
friend.
In most cases, haih can be ommited.
Eg: Nī
bun syū (haih) ngóh ge.
This CL book (is)
my LP
36. Serial Verb construction in verb
phrases
A serial verb construction is one of
the most prominent feature in
Cantonese, it refers to a
concentration of verbs
This resembles constructions like
“come eat with me”, “go catch a
movie” in English.
37. Examples of serial verbs….
Ngóh heui tái
hei
I
go
watch show.
‘ I go and watch a show.’
Kéuideih yuhng dī chín
heui máih láu.
They
use
CL money go
buy
flat.
‘They are buying the flat with the money.”
Serial verb constructions express many relationships
which are expressed by prepositions in English.
38. Adjectives
Adjectives are usually preceded by hóu – ‘very’
Eg: hóu sau (thin), hóu gēng (afraid)
Adjectives may undergo reduplication, modifying their meaning
Eg: gōu-gōu-sau-sau (tall and thin)
Adjectives may take comparative constructions such as dī and
gwo
Eg: Nīdouh jihng dī
here quiet a-bit
39. Modification of adjectives
Géi – ‘quite’ eg: géi chūngmìhng ‘quite smart’
Fēisèuhng – ‘extremely’
Gam- ‘so’ eg: gam hou ‘so good’
Adjectives and reduplication: A-B-B
Egs: chī- lahp – lahp
glue-stick-stick
A-B-B form of reduplication typically produces
perceptual adjectives, describing how things
feel, look or smell.
40. Parts of Speech….
Cantonese Verbs and adjectives
• Hard to differentiate between them
in certain cases
• Verbs and adjectives can behave
alike
• They can take aspect markers
41. Example: Béi (v) & sau (adj)
béi (v) : give (v)
béj (v) + jó = Given
sau (adj) : thin (adj)
Sau (adj) + jó = have become thinner
Jó – Perfective marker (in English, only verbs take
aspect markers, not the case in Cantonese)
42. Cantonese prepositions and verbs
Unclear distinction between prepositions and
verbs in some cases
‘coverb’- a term for words that have both the
characteristics of prepositions and verb
E.g of a coverb: tùhng
43. ‘Tùhng’ in sentence construction
Ngóh tùhng ngóh pàhng yáu góng gán wá.
‘ I am talking to/with my friend’
góng gán- talking ‘gán’ – progressive marker
Tùhng corresponds to the preposition ‘to/with’
Ngóh tùhng gán ngóh pàhng yáu góng wá
‘ I am talking to/with my friend.’
‘gan’ – progressive marker in verbs
‘tùhng’ is acting like a verb here because it
takes on a progressive marker
45. Basic Concepts
• Heavy reliance on word order
• Basic word order (Subject-VerbObject)
• Can be said as a SVO language
46. Exceptions
• Deviation from the SVO order
•
•
•
•
A) Subject-Object-Verb order
B) Subject-Verb Inversion
C) Right Dislocation
D) Topicalization
47. S-0-V Word Order
• Ex: Ngóh Yīnggwok meih heui-gwo
I England havent go
S
O
V
P
-> I havent been to England
-> P: Perfective Aspect Marker
48. Subject-Verb Inversion
• Subject appears after the verb
• Happens to certain intransitive verbs
• Ex: Gāmyaht làih-jó yāt go yàhn
Today come P one C person
InV
S
->
->
A person came today
P : Perfective Aspect Marker
C: Noun Classifier
49. Right Dislocation
• Noun/Pronoun (subject of a clause)
• Appearing at the end of a sentence
(dislocated position)
• Ex: Hóu lēk wo, léih !
So smart P You
S
-> You are so smart !
-> P: Particle
50. Topicalization
• An important typological feature of
Cantonese
• Placement of a word or phrase at the
beginning of a sentence or clause
• Making it the sentence topic
• Topic and Comment
51. Topicalization (Cont’)
• Topic -> A word/phrase which the comment
says something about
-> A word/phrase that explains the
spatial and temporal context of
the sentence
-> Need not be the subject and need
not have any grammatical relation
to the comment
52. Topicalization (Cont’)
• Chao (1968)
• Chinese sentence structure consists
not of subject-predicate , but of topiccomment
• Topic-Comment : The approach to
study Cantonese syntax
53. Topicalization (Cont’)
•
•
•
•
Compared to English
English :Subject-Predicate
Subject- a grammatical requirement
“It” – dummy subject is used when the
notional subject is absent
• “It is forbidden to smoke”
54. Topicalization (Cont’)
• In Cantonese , many sentences lack an
overt subject and it is still grammatical
• No dummy subject is used when the
notional subject is absent
55. Topicalization (Cont’)
• Yìhgā ge tīnhei yùhngyih sēung-fūng
now P weather easy catch a cold
-> It’s easy to catch a cold in this weather
-> P: Particle
56. Topicalization (Cont’)
• Yìhgā ge tīnhei yùhngyih sēung-fūng
now P weather easy catch a cold
(It’s easy to catch a cold in this weather)
-> “Yìhgā ge tīnhei ” -> this weather
-> It is not the subject of any action
-> It is rather a topic that indicates the
circumstance (this weather) and sets a context
for the comment
-> There is no overt subject in the sentence
57. Conclusion
•Use by non-native speakers
Speculation: more interaction
between mandarin and Cantonese
Due to increasing popularity of films,
songs,etc produced in Hong Kong
58. • Presence of Mandarin and English
influence, eg, ‘fēi’(ticket) came
from ‘fare’ in English
Constantly evolving Cantonese to
accommodate global terms, so as
to become a ‘global’ language
English of Cantonese native
speakers following intonation and
stress of Cantonese
