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| 10
Word Cantonese |
How You Can
be Understood in Cantonese |
| Introduction |
10 Word Cantonese
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• Pronunciation
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1: Your First 100 Words of Mainland Cantonese
Basic words, Counting & Numbers
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2: 100 More Essential Words
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3: You Hungry?
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4: Drinks, Sports and getting around
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9: Understanding and Being Understood
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10: Mixing it
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Introduction
This guide to making yourself understood in Cantonese
is written by a severely linguistically challenged Englishman
who has lived continually in Mainland China for 6-years.
The writer does not understand any of the various linguistic
tools often used for learning a language, and as used
in other phrasebooks. Neither does he understand very
much about Grammar! However, this is the actual Cantonese
language as spoken on my local streets in Foshan - Today!…
This is a guide to what the author considers the most
important words you need to know. It is written in a
very simple way and designed to take you through learning
your first words of Cantonese in an orderly progression.
If you wish to skip sections, please do so.
These 1,000 words will give you the confidence to face
any situation daily life throws at you.
The aim of this guide is to teach you the general and
basic form of Cantonese as spoken by ordinary people
in the Pearl River Delta region of Mainland China, and
specifically in Guangzhou and Foshan. There are seven
distinct Cantonese dialects, plus each City will doubtless
have it’s own local language. Of these seven dialects,
four can be considered to be major dialects. The most
southern is Toisanwah (Taishanese) , which is quite
different and spoken by many Chinese in California.
Two others are extremely similar; and I will call them
Guangzhou hua and North Guangdong Speaking for simple
reference.
The last one is spoken by only a few rich and influential
people from Hong Kong – and is the version all
Western Phrasebooks currently use. Best advice: Unless
you are fully proficient in this dialect – you
will never be understood by ordinary Cantonese speakers
on the Mainland!
This guide will teach you the sounds you need to
know, to be easily understood by virtually all Cantonese
people worldwide. It will teach you simple, yet important
words. It will not teach you complicated phrases with
little relevance to the basic language you need to
know for daily living
Format:
I am not a linguist, and neither am I inclined to apply
algebraic formulae to letters of the alphabet in order
to miraculously divine a given sound. Get real! Instead
we simply use upper and lower case letters which can
appear anywhere in the word. Therefore most letter sounds
will be phonetic, but where a capital letter appears,
the capital letter sound is to be used.
Cantonese has up to nine levels of intonation, is spoken
from the front of the mouth using tongue and teeth a
lot, but not exclusively, (Similar to English). Nasal
sounds (L, M, N and O) are also significantly important
– think seal sounds here, and also a humming intonation
Application:
When you listen to Cantonese, it is a very musical
and expressive language. If you are not linguistically
gifted, then you need to cheat a little to be understood:
1. Speak as quickly as possible = less identifiable
intonations
2. Listen to how locals say the words you are using,
and adapt your speaking. Repeat!
Characters:
I have made little attempt to include Chinese characters
in the first chapters, as each one has to be learned
separately. Characters are nearly always used in groups
of two (Occasionally singly, and rarely in threes),
each of only one syllable. If you plan an extended stay,
or wish to use public transport (Inter-city coaches
are best), then you will need to learn the two characters
that represent each city, especially your home city
Pronunciation Key:
Click
here to open our 'Pronunciation Guide'
Opens in a New Window
We acknowledge that this guide is for helping you be
readily understood by local Cantonese peoples, immediately!
I have used expressions that everybody ‘here’
(in Foshan) says in normal conversation - not the ones
from any official ‘language pack’.
For additional Cantonese support and character analysis,
please visit the totally free and excellent resources
provided by Adam Sheik at http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/
but remember this is Hong Kong Cantonese from the minor
dialect, and not as spoken on the Mainland
Your
First 100 Words of Real Cantonese
(Opens in New Window) |
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Copyright
This work is sole Copyright of Jonno Morris, and no
reproduction is permitted for commercial activity or
any financial gain. This is published for personal use,
and restricted to helping the reader personally speak
Cantonese for personal usage in daily life. All International
Property Rights of this Electronic Copy are owned by
Jonno Morris, as are all Physical Property Rights and
Intellectual Property Rights
If you would like to use this material for any other
reasons, please email me via our contact
page
Thank you
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