Hong Kong Cantonese

Hong Kong Cantonese
香港粵語; 港式廣東話
Native to	Hong Kong and some Overseas Communities
Region	Pearl River Delta
Ethnicity	Hongkongers
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Yue Yuehai Cantonese Hong Kong Cantonese
Writing system	Traditional Chinese
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
ISO 639-6	xgng
Linguist List	yue-yue
	yue-can
Glottolog	xian1255
Linguasphere	79-AAA-mac
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	香港粵語
Simplified Chinese	香港粤语
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiānggǎng yuèyǔ Bopomofo ㄒㄧㄤ ㄍㄤˇ ㄩㄝˋ ㄩˇ Wade–Giles Hsiang1-kang3 Yüeh4-yü3 Tongyong Pinyin Sianggǎng yuè-yǔ IPA [ɕjáŋ.kàŋ ɥê ỳ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Hēung góng yuht yúh Jyutping hoeng1 gong2 jyut6 jyu5 IPA [hœŋ˥ kɔŋ˧˥ jyt̚˨ jy˩˧]
Hong Kong-style Cantonese
Traditional Chinese	港式粵語
Transcriptions Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Góng sīk yuht yúh Jyutping gong2 sik1 jyut6 jyu5 IPA [kɔŋ˧˥ sɪk̚˥ jyt̚˨ jy˩˧]
Hong Kong-Guangdong dialect
Traditional Chinese	香港廣東話
Transcriptions Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Hēung góng gwóng dūng wá Jyutping hoeng1 gong2 gwong2 dung1 waa2 IPA [hœŋ˥ kɔŋ˧˥ kʷɔŋ˧˥ tʊŋ˥ wa˧˥]
Hong Kong-Guangzhou dialect
Traditional Chinese	香港廣州話
Transcriptions Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Hēung góng gwóng jāu wá Jyutping hoeng1 gong2 gwong2 zau1 waa2 IPA [hœŋ˥ kɔŋ˧˥ kʷɔŋ˧˥ tsɐw˥ wa˧˥]

Hong Kong Cantonese is a dialect of the Cantonese language of the Sino-Tibetan family.

Although Hongkongers refer to the language as "Cantonese" (廣東話), publications in mainland China describe the variant as Hong Kong dialect (香港廣東話), due to the differences between the pronunciation used in Hong Kong Cantonese and that of the Cantonese spoken in neighbouring Guangdong Province where Cantonese (based on the Guangzhou dialect) is a lingua franca.

Over the years, Hong Kong Cantonese has also absorbed foreign terminology and developed a large set of Hong Kong-specific terms. Code-switching with English is also common. These are the result of British rule between 1841 and 1997, as well as the closure of the Hong Kong–mainland China border immediately after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

History

Before the arrival of British settlers in 1842, the inhabitants of Hong Kong mainly spoke the Dongguan-Bao'an (Tungkun–Po'on) and Tanka dialects of Yue, as well as Hakka and Teochew. These languages and dialects are all remarkably different from Guangzhou Cantonese, and not mutually intelligible.

After the British acquired Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories from the Qing in 1841 (officially 1842) and 1898, large numbers of merchants and workers came to Hong Kong from the city of Canton, the main centre of Cantonese. Cantonese became the dominant spoken language in Hong Kong. The extensive migration from mainland Cantonese-speaking areas to Hong Kong continued up until 1949, when the Communists took over mainland China.

In 1949, the year that the People's Republic of China was established, Hong Kong saw a large influx of refugees from mainland China, prompting the Hong Kong Government to close its border. Illegal immigration from mainland China into Hong Kong nevertheless continued. During the 1950s, the Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong remained very similar to that in Canton, but the proportion of Cantonese speakers did not surpass 50% of the population in Hong Kong.

Movement, communication and relations between Hong Kong and mainland China became very limited, and consequently the evolution of Cantonese in Hong Kong diverged from that of Guangzhou. In mainland China, the use of Mandarin as the official language and in education was enforced. In Hong Kong, Cantonese is the medium of instruction in schools, along with written English and written Chinese. As such, since the 1970s the percentage of Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong has risen to about 90%.

Because of the long exposure to English during the colonial period, a large number of English words were loaned into Hong Kong Cantonese, e.g. "巴士" (IPA: /páːsǐː/, Cantonese Jyutping: baa¹ si²), from the English "bus"; compare this with the equivalent from Standard Mandarin, 公共汽車 (Jyutping: gung1 gung6 hei3 ce1; pinyin: gōnggòng qìchē). Consequently, the vocabularies of Cantonese in mainland China and Hong Kong substantially differ. Moreover, the pronunciation of Cantonese changed while the change either did not occur in mainland China or took place much more slowly. For example, merging of initial /n/ into /l/ and the deletion of /ŋ/ were observed.

Phonology

In modern-day Hong Kong, many native speakers no longer distinguish between certain phoneme pairs, leading to instances of sound change through mergers. Although considered non-standard and denounced as "lazy sound" (懶音) by purists, the phenomena are widespread and not restricted to Hong Kong. Contrary to impressions, some of these changes are not recent. The loss of the velar nasal (/ŋ/) was documented by Williams (1856), and the substitution of the liquid nasal (/l/) for the nasal initial (/n/) was documented by Cowles (1914).

List of observed shifts:

• Merging of /n/ initial into /l/ initial.
• Merging of /ŋ/ initial into null initial.
• Merging of /kʷ/ and /kʷʰ/ initials into /k/ and /kʰ/ when followed by /ɔː/. Note that /ʷ/ is the only glide (介音) in Cantonese.
• Merging of /ŋ/ and /k/ codas into /n/ and /t/ codas respectively, eliminating contrast between these pairs of finals (except after /e/ and /o/): /aːn/-/aːŋ/, /aːt/-/aːk/, /ɐn/-/ɐŋ/, /ɐt/-/ɐk/, /ɔːn/-/ɔːŋ/ and /ɔːt/-/ɔːk/.
• Merging of the two syllabic nasals, /ŋ̩/ into /m̩/, eliminating the contrast of sounds between 吳 (surname Ng) and 唔 (not).
• Merging of the rising tones (陰上 2nd and 陽上 5th).

In educated Hong Kong Cantonese speech, these sound mergers are avoided, and many older speakers still distinguish between those phoneme categories. With the sound changes, the name of Hong Kong's Hang Seng Bank (香港恆生銀行), Jyutping: Hoeng¹ gong² hang⁴ sang¹ ngan⁴ hong⁴, /hœ́ːŋ kɔ̌ːŋ hɐ̏ŋ sɐ́ŋ ŋɐ̏n hɔ̏ːŋ/, literally Hong Kong Constant Growth Bank, becomes /hœ́ːn kɔ̌ːn hɐ̏n sɐ́n ɐ̏n hɔ̏ːn/, sounding like Hon' Kon' itchy body 'un cold ('香港'痕身un寒). The name of Cantonese itself (廣東話, "Guangdong speech") would be Jyutping: Gwong² dung¹ waa², IPA: /kʷɔ̌ːŋ tʊ́ŋ wǎː/ without the merger, whereas /kɔ̌ːŋ tʊ́ŋ wǎː/ (sounding like "講東話": "say eastern speech") and /kɔ̌ːn tʊ́ŋ wǎː/ (sounding like "趕東話" : "chase away eastern speech") are overwhelmingly common in Hong Kong.

The shift affects the way some Hong Kong people speak other languages as well. This is especially evident in the pronunciation of certain English names: "Nicole" pronounce [lekˈkou̯], "Nancy" pronounce [ˈlɛnsi] etc. A very common example of the mixing of /n/ and /l/ is that of the word 你, meaning "you". Even though the standard pronunciation should be /nei/, the word is often pronounced /lei/, which is the surname 李, or the word 理, meaning theory. The merger of /n/ and /l/ also affects the choice of characters when the Cantonese media transliterates foreign names.

Prescriptivists who try to correct these "lazy sounds" often end up introducing hypercorrections. For instance, while attempting to ensure that people pronounce the initial /ŋ/, they may introduce it into words which have historically had a null-initial. One common example is that of the word 愛, meaning "love", where even though the standard pronunciation is Jyutping: oi³, IPA: /ɔ̄ːi/, the word is often pronounced Jyutping: ngoi³, /ŋɔ̄ːi/. A similar phenomenon occurs in various Mandarin dialects (e.g. Southwestern Mandarin).

Unique phrases and expressions

Hong Kong Cantonese has developed a number of phrases and expressions that are unique to the context of Hong Kong. Examples are:

Table of Colloquial Cantonese Expressions

Colloquial Cantonese Expressions(pronunciation)	Literally	Colloquially	Explanation
離譜 (lei4 pou2) Example: 佢遲咗成粒鐘，真係離譜! English: He's an hour late. So outrageous!	depart from the score	absurd/outrageous/ridiculous/illogical	music score
撞板 (zong6 baan2) Example: 成日都咁衝動，抵佢今次撞板。 English: He is always so impulsive, no wonder he's got into trouble this time.	conflicting beat	make mistakes/get into trouble	beat in Cantonese Opera
串 (cyun3) Example: 你洗唔洗咁串呀! English: Do you have to be so harsh?	skewer/to string/vulgar	harsh/extreme bluntness, lack of tact	colloquial usage for police handcuffing, broadened to incorporate harsh expression generally; alternatively, by modification of the tone value for "vulgar"
是但 (si6 daan6) Example: A: 你想去邊度食飯？ B: 是但啦! English: A: Where do you want to go to eat? B: Anything will do!	is/yes but	whatever/anything will do/I'm easy	derived from 肆無忌憚 (si3 mo4 gei6 daan6, disregard of constraints)
冬瓜豆腐 (dung1 gwaa1 dau6 fu6) Example: 你有乜冬瓜豆腐，我會好傷心㗎! English: I would be miserable if you died.	winter melon tofu	to die	votive food offerings at funerals

Loanwords

Life in Hong Kong is characterised by the blending of southern Chinese with other Asian and Western cultures, as well as the city's position as a major international business centre. In turn, Hong Kong influences have spread widely into other cultures. As a result, a large number of loanwords are created in Hong Kong and then exported to mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan. Some of the loanwords have become even more popular than their Chinese counterparts, in Hong Kong as well as in their destination cultures. Note that some of the loanwords are being used much more frequently in Cantonese-speaking areas in mainland China (e.g. Guangzhou), than in areas speaking other Chinese varieties.

Imported loanwords

Selected loanwords are shown below.

From English

Chinese Characters	Jyutping	English & Other Definitions	Mainland Chinese Mandarin	Taiwanese Mandarin
戶口	wu6 hau2	account	户口	戶口
拗撬	aau3 giu6	argue arguments (fights)	吵架	吵架
百家樂	baak3 gaa1 lok6	Baccarat (card game)	百家乐	百家樂
波	bo1	ball	球	球
(跳)芭蕾(舞)	baa1 leoi4	ballet	(跳)芭蕾(舞)	(跳)芭蕾(舞)
繃帶	bang1 daai2	bandage	绷带	繃帶
(酒)吧	baa1	bar barrister	(酒)吧 大律师	(酒)吧 大律師
啤酒	be1 zau2	beer	啤酒	啤酒
比堅尼	bei2 gin1 nei4	bikini	比基尼	比基尼
煲呔	bou1 taai1	bow tie	领结	領結
保齡球	bou2 ling4	bowling	保龄球	保齡球
杯葛	bui1 got3	boycott	抵制	抵制
百家利	baak3 gaa1 lei6	broccoli	西兰花	花椰菜
巴打	baa1 daa2	brother	兄弟	兄弟
蒲飛	pou6 fei1	buffet	自助餐	自助餐
笨豬跳	ban6 zyu1 tiu3	bungee jumping	蹦极	高空彈跳
巴士	baa1 si2	bus	公交/公交车/公共汽车	公車/公共汽車
拜拜	baai1 baai3	bye	再见	再見
卡路里	kaa1 lou6 lei5	calorie	卡路里	卡路里
咖啡因	gaa3 fe1 jan1	caffeine	咖啡因	咖啡因
咭	kaat1	card	卡	卡
卡通	kaa1 tung1	cartoon	卡通	卡通
哥士的(梳打)	go1 si2 dik1	caustic soda	氢氧化钠	氫氧化鈉/小蘇打
芝士	zi1 si2	cheese	奶酪	起司
車厘子	ce1 lei4 zi2	cherry	樱桃	櫻桃
朱古力	zyu1 gu1 lik1	chocolate	巧克力	巧克力
西打酒	sai1 daa2	cider	果酒	(蘋)果酒
雪茄	syut3 gaa1	cigar	雪茄	雪茄
打咭	daa2 kat1	clock in literally: (to) punch card	打卡	打卡
俱樂部	keoi1 lok6 bou6	club	俱乐部	俱樂部
甘屎(架)/屎皮/論盡	gam1 si4	clumsy	笨拙/笨手笨脚	笨拙/笨手笨腳
可可	ho2 ho2	cocoa	可可	可可
可卡	ho2 kaa1	coca	古柯	古柯
可卡因	ho2 kaa1 jan1	cocaine	可卡因/古柯碱	古柯鹼
咖啡	gaa3 fe1	coffee	咖啡	咖啡
曲奇	kuk1 kei4	cookie	曲奇	餅乾
咕喱	gu1 lei1	coolie	苦力	苦力
酷哥	huk6 go1	cougar	美洲狮	美洲獅
忌廉	gei6 lim4	cream	奶油	鮮奶油
曲(既)	kuk1	crooked (bent) bend your knees winding road ahead zig-zag	弯曲	彎曲
咖喱	gaa3 lei1	curry	咖喱	咖喱
山埃	saan1 aai1	cyanide	氰化物	氰化物
打令	daa1 ling2	darling	亲爱的	親愛的
(一)碟(餸)	dip6	dish	一道菜	一道菜
都甩/冬甩	dou1 lat1/dung1 lat1	doughnut	甜甜圈	甜甜圈
(揼垃圾)	dam2	dump (garbage) (In the dump/dumpster) database dump pile dump dumped by boy-/girl-friend	倒掉(垃圾)	倒掉(垃圾)
肥佬	fei4 lou2	fail (failure)	失败	失敗
菲林	fei1 lam2	film	㬵卷	膠卷
揮/爭取	fai1	fight fight for	打架/争取	打架/爭取
Fan士	fen1 si2	fan (fanatic) fan (machine)	粉丝	粉絲
爹地/花打	de1 di4	daddy (father)	爸爸	爸爸
發騰	faat3 tang4	frightened	(被)吓到	(被)嚇到
高爾夫球	gou1 ji5 fu1 kau4	golf	高尔夫球	高爾夫球
結他	git3 taa1	guitar	吉他	吉他
吉士	gat1 si2	guts (courage) encourage felt like someone just punched you in the gut	胆子/勇气 鼓励	膽子/勇氣 鼓勵
哈佬/哈囉	haa1 lou3	Hello Halloween	哈喽	哈囉
漢堡包	hon3 bou2 baau1	hamburger	汉堡（包）	漢堡
阿頭 [calque]	aa3 tau2	the head of	领导	領導
亨里	hang1 lei5	honey	甜心	甜心
熱狗 [calque]	jit6 gau2	hotdog	热狗	熱狗
呼啦圈	fu1 laa1 hyun1	hula hoop	呼啦圈	呼啦圈
雪糕	syut3 gou1	ice-cream	冰淇淋/雪糕	冰淇淋
燕梳	jin1 so1	insure (insurance)	保险	保險
奇異果	kei4 ji6 gwo2	kiwifruit	奇异果/猕猴桃	奇異果
𨋢	lip1	lift (elevator)	电梯	電梯
檸檬	ning4 mung1	lemon	柠檬	檸檬
芒果	mong1 gwo2	mango	芒果	芒果
咪	mai1	microphone	麦克风/麦/话筒	麥克風
模特兒	mou4 dak6 ji4	model	模特	模特/模特兒
摩登	mo1 dang1	modern	摩登/现代	摩登/現代
摩打	mo1 daa2	motor	马达/电（动）机	馬達
慕絲	mou1 si2	mousse	慕丝	慕絲
媽咪/媽打	maa1 mi4	mummy (mother)	妈妈	媽媽
尼龍	nei4 lung4	nylon	尼龙	尼龍
鴉片	aa1 pin3	opium	鸦片	鴉片
班戟	baan1 gik1	pancake	薄煎饼	（美式）鬆餅
泊車	paak3 ce1	parking a vehicle	停车	停車
啤梨	be1 lei2	pear	梨子	梨子
批	pai1	pie	馅饼/派	餡餅/派
乒乓波	bing1 bam1 bo1	ping-pong	乒乓球	乒乓球/桌球
布冧	bou3 lam1	plum	李子	李子
爆谷	baau3 guk1	popcorn	爆米花	爆米花
布甸	bou3 din1	pudding	布丁	布丁
泵	bam1	pump	泵	泵/幫浦
沙律	saa1 leot2	salad	沙拉	沙拉
三文魚	saam1 man4 jyu2	salmon	鲑鱼/三文鱼	鮭魚
沙林	saa3 lam1	salute	敬礼	敬禮
三文治	saam1 man4 zi6	sandwich	三明治	三明治
沙甸魚	saa1 din1 jyu2	sardine	沙丁鱼	沙丁魚
沙士	saa1 si2	Sarsaparilla (soft drink) SARS	root beer: 根啤酒 SARS: 萨斯/非典	root beer: 沙士 SARS: (非典型肺炎)沙士
桑拿	song1 naa4	sauna	桑拿	桑拿/三溫暖
私家褲	si6 gaa1 fu4	scarf	围巾	圍巾
薯乜	syu4 mat1	schmuck	笨蛋	笨蛋
雪利酒	syut3 lei6 zau2	sherry	雪利酒	雪利酒
(表演)騷	sou1	show (performance)	(表演)秀	(表演)秀
絲打	si1 daa2	sister	姐妹	姐妹
梳打水	so1 daa2 seoi2	soda	苏打水	蘇打水
梳化	so1 faa2	sofa	沙发	沙發
(幾)梳乎	so1 fu4	relaxing (chilling) ("soft", antonym of "firm")	舒适/舒服	舒適/舒服
士巴拿	si6 baa1 naa4	spanner (wrench)	扳手	扳手
士啤	si6 be1	spare	备用	備用
士的	si6 dik1	stick	拐杖	拐杖
士多(店鋪)	si6 do1	store	店铺	店鋪
士多啤梨	si6 do1 be1 lei2	strawberry	草莓	草莓
新地	san1 dei2	sundae	圣代	聖代
十卜	sap6 buk1	support	支持	支持
T-恤	ti1 seot1	T-shirt	T-恤	T-恤
塔羅牌	taap3 lo4 paai2	tarot	塔罗牌	塔羅牌
的士	dik1 si2	taxi	出租车 ("租车" = rental car)	計程車
呔	taai1	tie	领带	領帶
(車)軚	taai1	tire (tyre)	轮胎	輪胎
多士	do1 si2	toast	吐司	吐司
拖肥糖	to1 fei2 tong2	toffee	太妃糖	太妃糖
吞拿魚	tan1 naa4 jyu2	tuna	金枪鱼	鮪魚
維他命	wai4 taa1 ming6	vitamin	维生素	維他命
威化(餅)	wai1 faa3 (beng2)	wafer biscuit wafer (electronics)	wafer biscuit: 威化饼 wafer (electronics): 晶圆	wafer biscuit: 餅乾 wafer (electronics): 晶圓
威士忌	wai1 si6 gei2	whisky	威士忌	威士忌
遊艇	jau4 teng5	yachting (yacht)	游艇	遊艇
瑜伽	jyu4 gaa1	yoga	瑜伽	瑜迦
乳酪	jyu5 lok6	yogurt	酸奶 ("乳酪" = cheese)	優格

From French

Chinese Characters	Jyutping	French	English	Mainland Chinese Mandarin	Taiwanese Mandarin
梳乎厘	so1 fu4 lei2	soufflé	soufflé	梳芙厘	舒芙蕾
古龍水	gu2 lung4 (seoi2)	cologne	perfume	香水	香水
冷(衫)	laang1 (saam1)	laine	yarn	纱线	紗線

From Japanese

Chinese Characters	Jyutping	Japanese	Japanese Rōmaji	English	Mainland Chinese Mandarin	Taiwanese Mandarin
卡拉OK	kaa1 laa1 ou1 kei1	カラオケ	karaoke	karaoke	卡拉OK	卡拉OK
老世	lou5 sai3	世帯主	setainushi	chief (CEO) the Head (of a company) boss	老板	老闆
奸爸爹	gaan1 baa1 de1	頑張って/がんばって	ganbatte	Keep up! (studying) Come on! (cheering)	加油	加油
放題	fong3 tai4	食べ放題	tabe hōdai	buffet	布斐	自助餐
浪漫	long6 maan6	浪漫/ロマンチック	rōman	romantic	浪漫	浪漫

Exported loanwords

Into English

English	Chinese Characters	Jyutping
add oil	加油	gaa1 jau2
chop chop (hurry up)	速速	cuk1 cuk1
kowtow	叩頭	kau3 tau4
typhoon	颱風	toi4 fung1
ketchup	茄汁	ke2 zap1

Into Mainland Chinese Mandarin

Mandarin	Cantonese	Jyutping	English	Mandarin synonyms
买单	埋單	maai4 daan1	(Can we please have the) bill?	结账
搭档	拍檔	paak3 dong3	partner	伙伴 (in ownership and business) 舞伴 (in dancing)
打的	搭的士	daap3 dik1 si2	to ride a taxi	乘出租车
无厘头	無釐頭, corruption of 無來頭	mou4 lei4 tau4	nonsensical humour (see mo lei tau) newbie who knows nothing	莫名其妙
亮仔/靓仔	靚仔	leng3 zai2	handsome boy	帅哥儿 俊男 哥们 (in China only)
拍拖	拍拖	paak3 to1	dating	追求 求爱
很正	好正	hou2 zeng3	(colloquial) awesome; perfect; just right	很棒
搞掂/搞定	搞掂	gaau2 dim6	Is it done yet? (It's) Done! It has been taken care of!	办妥 做完 做好 弄完

Into Taiwanese Mandarin

Taiwanese Mandarin	Hanyu Pinyin	Cantonese	Jyutping	English
(猴)塞雷	(hóu) sāiléi	(好)犀利	hou2 sai1 lei6	(very) impressive
Hold住	hòu zhù	Hold住	hou1 zyu6	hold on hang tight (hang in there)

Into Japanese

Japanese Kana (Kanji)	Japanese Rōmaji	Chinese Characters	Jyutping	English
ヤムチャ (飲茶)	yamucha	飲茶	jam2 caa4	yum cha
チャーシュー (叉焼)	chāshū	叉燒	caa1 siu1	char siu
チャーハン (炒飯)	chāhan	炒飯	caau2 faan6	fried rice

Code-switching and loanword adaptation

Main article: Code-switching in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Cantonese has a high number of foreign loanwords. Sometimes, the parts of speech of the incorporated words are changed. In some examples, some new meanings of English words are even created. For example, "至yeah", literally "the most yeah", means "the trendiest". Originally, "yeah" means "yes/okay" in English, but it means "trendy" when being incorporated into Hong Kong Cantonese (Cf. "yeah baby" and French "yé-yé").

Semantic change is common in loanwords; when foreign words are borrowed into Cantonese, polysyllabic words and monosyllabic words tend to become disyllabic, and the second syllable is in the Upper Rising tone (the second tone). For example, "kon₁ si₂" (coins), "sek⁶ kiu¹" (security) and "ka¹ si²" (cast). A few polysyllabic words become monosyllabic though, like "mon¹" (monitor), literally means computer monitor. And some new Cantonese lexical items are created according to the morphology of Cantonese. For example, "laai¹ 記" from the word "library". Most of the disyllabic words and some of the monosyllabic words are incorporated as their original pronunciation, with some minor changes according to the Cantonese phonotactics.

Incorporating words from foreign languages into Cantonese is acceptable to most Cantonese speakers. Hong Kong Cantonese speakers frequently code-mix although they can distinguish foreign words from Cantonese ones. For instance, "噉都唔 make sense", literally means "that doesn't make sense". After a Cantonese speaker decides to code-mix a foreign word in a Cantonese sentence, syntactical rules of Cantonese will be followed. For instance, "sure" (肯定) can be used like "你 su¹ 唔 su¹ aa³?" (are you sure?) as if it were its Cantonese counterpart "你肯唔肯定?", using the A-not-A question construction.

In some circumstances, code-mixing is preferable because it can simplify sentences. An excellent example (though dated) of the convenience and efficiency of such mixing is "打 collect call" replacing "打一個由對方付款嘅長途電話", i.e. 13 syllables reduced to four.

Short-text adaptations

Abbreviation

Abbreviations are commonly used in Hong Kong and have flourished with the use of short messaging over the Internet. Some examples:

Table of Abbreviation

Original term	Abbreviated term	Explanation
Cantonese: 唔知(m4 zi1) English: do not know	5G (ng5 G) Example: 甲: 你知唔知邊個係比德? 乙: 我5G English: A: Do you know who is Peter? B: I don't know (5G).	The "5" here is not pronounced as "five" but in Cantonese "ng5", which corresponds to the Chinese word "五" (ng5). Since "五"(ng5) and "唔" (m4), "知" (zi1) and "G" have similar pronunciations, "5G" is used to replace the Cantonese term 唔知, which carries the meaning of "don't know".
Cantonese:鍾意(zung1 ji3) English: Like	中2 (zung3 ji6) Example: 我好中2佢呀! English: I like (中2 zung3 ji6) him so much!	Due to similar pronunciation, the "2" here is pronounced as the Chinese "二" (ji6) rather than "two". Combining this number with the Chinese character "中" (zung3), it carries similar pronunciation as "鍾意"(zung1 ji3) but the structure is much simpler.
Cantonese:師奶 (si1 naai1) English: Housewife	C9 Example: 你著到成個C9咁 English: You dress like a housewife(C9).	The word C9 should be pronounced in English "C nine", which is very similar to Cantonese si1 naai1. It is an easier form of typing the word "師奶" without changing the meaning in Cantonese. The two characters are already on the keyboard so it is much simpler to type.
7-Eleven (7-11)	Se-fun(音:些粉)/ Chat1 Jai2(七仔） Example: 去些粉/七仔買野飲先 English : Let's go 7-Eleven (Se-fun 些粉) to buy some drinks.	"Chat1" is the Chinese word of seven and "Jai2" is son or boy
Take Away(外賣)	Haang4 Gai1(行街) (literal: walk on the street) Example: 魚蛋粉行街! English: Fish Ball Noodles for take-away! (Haang4 Gai1 行街)	This abbreviation is often used in Hong Kong-style cafés for take-away.
Uh-huh	55 Example: 甲: 你今日要番學? 乙:55 English: A: Do you need to attend school today? B:Yea.(55)	Homophonic for "ng ng" (嗯嗯) which indicates agreement or understanding.
Post (發表／張貼)	po Example: 我po咗相 English: I posted (po) a photo.	example of common omission of final consonant (not naturally occurring in Cantonese)

See also

• Bilingualism in Hong Kong
• Cantonese profanity
• Code-switching in Hong Kong
• Proper Cantonese pronunciation
• Comparison of national standards of Chinese
• Hong Kong English
• The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong, whose Cantonese Romanization Scheme is known as Jyutping
• Varieties of Chinese

Further reading

• Zee, Eric (1991). "Chinese (Hong Kong Cantonese)". Illustrations of the IPA. Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 21 (1): 46–48. doi:10.1017/S0025100300006058.

External links

• Learn Cantonese (with Cantonese-English / English-Cantonese Dictionary)
• Learn Chinese with Chinese Lyrics Now with Pinyin and sound files
• Jyutping romanisation of Cantonese reading of Chinese characters using in Hong Kong