Key to Cantonese romanisation in 𝙅𝙮𝙪𝙩𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 (jyut6 ping3) 粵拼凡例

Map of languages spoken in China
https://twitter.com/nick_kapur/status/741048329845542912

✲ For beginners of 𝘑𝘺𝘶𝘵𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨, READ EVERY SINGLE LETTER METICULOUSLY, REGARD THEM AS INDIVIDUALS AT ANY TIME, AND ERASE YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF ENGLISH WORDS AND ROMANISED CANTONESE PROPER NAMES UNLESS ILLUSTRATED AS FOLLOWS.

✲ To monoliterates and monoglots: LETTERS ARE READ DIFFERENTLY ACROSS SCRIPTS, AND SCRIPTS DO HAVE LETTERS ALIKE; A LETTER HAS ITS CONTEXT UPON HUMANS’ DISCERNMENT, A LETTER HAS NO CONTEXT UPON HUMANS’ DISCERNMENT; TRANSIENCE COMPLICATES, COMPLICATION TRANSITS: 𝓮𝓰 НК СОР — COP.

￭￭󠁈󠁯󠁮󠁧󠁫󠁯󠁮󠁧󠁥󠁲￭￭󠁊󠁯󠁮󠁡󠁴󠁨󠁡󠁮￭￭󠁌󠁡󠁭￭￭󠁬󠁡󠁭󠀴￭￭󠁭󠁩󠁮󠁧󠀴￭￭󠁨󠁯󠁮󠀶￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

in 𝘑𝘺𝘶𝘵𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 [⎽ɥyˑt̚ ‒pheŋ] /⎽jyːt ‒pheŋ/ jyut6 ping3

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭

✱ ⟨j⟩: ALWAYS as in 𝙮𝘦𝘴, precisely as German 𝙟𝘢 and IPA [j].

✱ ⟨yu⟩: like 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝘧𝙚𝙬, as in French 𝘵𝙪, or IPA [y]. ⟨y⟩ shall NEVER be regarded as a separate letter as it appears exclusively in polygraphs as a modifier.

✲ ⟨oe, eo⟩: like 𝘧𝙪𝙧, 𝘱𝘩𝙤𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴, French 𝘧𝘭𝙚𝙪𝘳, 𝘧𝙚𝙪, or IPA [ɞː, ɵ].

✲ ⟨i, u⟩: as in 𝘴𝙚𝙚, 𝘴𝙪𝙚, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 in ⟨-ik, -ing; -uk, -ung⟩ they are like 𝘴𝙖𝘬𝘦, 𝘴𝙖𝙞𝘯𝘵; 𝘴𝙤𝙖𝘬, 𝘴𝙚𝙬𝘯; 𝓬𝓯 負皮 fu6 pei4 — 𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑛 (𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘, originally ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑠) (malapropistic portmanteau from 負評 with, and homophone of, 腐皮 𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑛 dried tofu skin) a negative comment/review — being from 負評 fu6 ping4 𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑛 a negative comment/review; 𝓬𝓯 仲乜 zung6 mat1 𝑎𝑑𝑣 (𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘) (lead assimilation of 做乜 zou6 mat1) how come.

✲ ⟨aa, a, e, o⟩: like 𝘴𝘱𝙖, 𝘣𝙪𝘴, 𝘺𝙚𝘴, 𝘭𝙖𝙬.

✲ Expect the nuclei ⟨aa, a, e, eo, o, i, u⟩ to be followed by ⟨i, u⟩, with ⟨-eoi⟩ being lip-rounded throughout, as [ɞʏ], somewhat like German 𝘋𝙚𝙪𝘵𝘴𝘤𝘩 (2ⁿᵈ half).

✲ ⟨m, ng⟩ alone are intense (‘syllabic’): 𝘳𝘩𝘺𝘵𝘩𝙢, German 𝘞𝘢𝘨𝙚𝙣; ⟨hm, hng⟩ are voiceless-pre-nasalised intense nasals: [m̥m̩, ŋ̊ŋ̍]. They may rhyme with ⟨-u⟩, diachronically and synchronically.

✲ ⟨ng-⟩ is tendentially ⟨ -⟩ [∅, ʔ] in casual speech (𝓪𝓵𝓼𝓸 rap), whereas it remains ⟨ng-⟩ [ŋ] in careful speech (𝓪𝓵𝓼𝓸 non-vernacular verse & chorus) and where, even in ​​casual speech, preferred are a liaison smoother than [ʔ] and a syllable divider clearer than [∅] especially following an open syllable, somewhat comparable to the English -r-, the Korean -n-, and the French -t-; ⟨ -⟩ is hypercorrected as [ŋ] by some.

✲ ⟨n-⟩ is tendentially ⟨l-⟩ [l] in casual speech (𝓪𝓵𝓼𝓸 rap), whereas it remains ⟨n-⟩ [n] in careful speech (𝓪𝓵𝓼𝓸 non-vernacular verse & chorus); ⟨l-⟩ is hypercorrected as [n] by some.

✲ ⟨z, c⟩: like 𝘤𝘢𝙩𝙨 (or German 𝘚𝙯𝘦𝘯𝘦), 𝘤𝘢𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 (or Czech 𝙘𝘦𝘯𝘢), or IPA [ʦ, ʦh].

✲ ⟨b, p⟩, ⟨d, t⟩, ⟨z, c⟩, ⟨g, k⟩, ⟨gw, kw⟩: as in 𝘴𝙥𝘢, 𝙥𝘢𝘳, 𝘴𝙩𝘢𝘳, 𝙩𝘢𝘳 … 𝘴𝙘𝘢𝘳, 𝙘𝘢𝘳, 𝘴𝙦𝙪𝘦𝘢𝘬, 𝙦𝙪𝘪𝘤𝘬.

✲ ⟨-p, -t, -k⟩, as in 𝘢𝙥𝘵, 𝘈𝙩𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝙘𝘵.

✲ ⟨gui, kui⟩ are simplified spellings of ⟨gwui, kwui⟩ as they are predominantly pronounced with a salient approximant [w], while ⟨gun⟩ is itself: 𝓮𝓰 攰 gui6 [⎽kwʊˑi, ⎽kwʊˑy], 賄 kui2 [/khwʊˑi, /khwʊˑy], 官 gun1 [‾kuːn].

✱ Tone numbers ⟨1 2 3, 4 5 6⟩ = pitch numbers ⁵⁵ ²⁵ ³³, ¹¹ ²³ ²² (or {‾ / ‒, _ ⸝ ⎽} visually), where the pitch levels ¹ ² ³ ⁴ ⁵ are canonically G₂ A₂ B₂ C₃ D₃, sol la ti do re. 𝓲𝓮 1ʳᵉ 2ˡᵃ⁻ʳᵉ 3ᵗⁱ, 4ˢᵒˡ 5ˡᵃ⁻ᵗⁱ 6ˡᵃ, perhaps mnemonically rei1 lei2 ti3, sou4 laai5 laa6 (or, in Movable Do, 1ˢᵒˡ 2ʳᵉ⁻ˢᵒˡ 3ᵐⁱ, 4ᵈᵒ 5ʳᵉ⁻ᵐⁱ 6ʳᵉ), or, in an utterance, 超緊要人有事 ciu1 gan2 jiu3 jan4 jau5 si6 ❛[It is] exceedingly/super･{tensely･needed}=important･[that the bad] person･{have･matter/incident}=be not fine.❜

✲ Pitch range is not absolute but relative; individual and registerial variations are also possible.

✲ There are four 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 tones ⟨1 3 4 6⟩ and two 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 tones ⟨2 5⟩. The gliding element of low-falling ²¹ [˨˩] as a possible realisation of tone ⟨4⟩ by some is 𝘯𝘰𝘵 tonemic. ⟨2 5⟩ can be ³⁵ ¹³ without hampering intelligibility and acceptability.

✲ ⟨‒⟩: tone modified to (𝓲𝓮 realised tone); ⟨+⟩: additional tone or intonational/melodic tone (𝓲𝓮 tune).

✲ Diachronically, zero initial ⟨ -⟩ [∅, ʔ] goes with ⟨1 2 3⟩, and ⟨ng-⟩ [ŋ] with ⟨4 5 6⟩; ⟨ng⟩-initial syllables toned ⟨1 2 3⟩ are from ⟨g-⟩.

✲ ⟨2⟩ is tendentially realised as ⟨5⟩ in Macau Cantonese.

✲ Each number-ending unspaced sequence canonically makes one syllable thus one Han character thus one Cantonese word that may rhyme with another.

✲ All the Unicode characters used are producible simply using the US keyboard layout (𝓲𝓮 ASCII characters; American Standard Code for Information Interchange).

✱ Bracketing or formatting (𝓮𝓰 italic, superscript, capital) is 𝘯𝘰𝘵 necessary.

✲ Highly internalised xenophones ⟨r, zh, ch, sh⟩ [ɻᴮʳᴱ, ɹᴬᵐᴱ; ʧ; ʧh; ʃ], 𝓮𝓰 𝙍𝘢𝘺 rei1; 𝙅 zhei1; 𝙘𝙝𝘦𝘤𝘬 chek1; 𝙨𝙝𝘢𝘳𝘦 she1 aa4; they might be further naturalised into ⟨w, ↓l; z; c; s⟩. Both [ɻ, ɹ] are 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 and 𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑.

✲ As such, ⟨z, c, s⟩ [ʦ, ʦh, s] (‘ʦ̪, ʦ̪ʰ, s̪’) being 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 (and with a 𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑝) is becoming bookish, unnatural and exaggerated compared with [tꞩ, tꞩh, ꞩ] (‘ʦ̪̱, ʦ̪̱ʰ, s̪̠’) 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖-𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 (and with a 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑝), 𝓮𝓰 宗數 zung1 sou3 [‾tꞩoŋ –ꞩσʊ, ↕︎‾ʦoŋ –sσʊ], 措施 cou3 si1 [–tꞩhσʊ ‾ꞩiː, ↕︎–ʦhσʊ ‾siː], 收拾 sau1 sap6 [‾ꞩɐʊ ⎽ꞩɐp̚, ↕︎‾sɐʊ ⎽sɐp̚], although the difference can be subtle to some ears. These three can be [tʆ, tʆh, ʆ] (‘t̻͡ʃʲ, t̻͡ʃʲʰ, ʃ̻ʲ’) (𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑜-)𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑜-𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑙 before non-back rounded vowels ⟨yu, oe, eo⟩, where ⟨j⟩ is [ɥ] as well.

✲ In contrast, the English ⟨d, t⟩ [〾d̩, 〾t̩h] (‘d̺, t̺ʰ’), being 𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟, sound salient as an affected realisation, 𝓮𝓰 of a mixed Hongkonger (half American, half Thai, &𝓬), a second-generation overseas Hongkonger, a homecoming Hongkonger, or one adopting a foreign accent, compared with the native ⟨d, t⟩ [t, th] (‘t̪, t̪ʰ’) being 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙.

✲ Loanwords having extended rhymes, 𝓮𝓰 𝘞𝙞𝙣𝘬𝘢 wijng1 kaa4 – wing1 kaa4; 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 bu6 tijk1, bou6 tijk1, 𝘚𝙞𝘤𝘢 sijk1 kaa4; 𝘨𝙞𝙧𝙡 goe1 lou4, goeu1; 𝘸𝙤𝙧𝙡𝘥 woeu1; 𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙢 foem1; 𝘩𝙚𝙧𝙗 hoep1; 𝘵𝙪𝙧𝙣 toen1; 𝘧𝙤𝙧𝙢 fom1; 𝘤𝙤𝙥y cop1; 𝘧𝙤𝙖𝙢 foum1, feom1 – fung1; 𝘩𝙤𝙥𝙚 houp1, heop1; 𝘻𝙤𝙤𝙢 ↑zsum1, sum1; 𝘭𝙤𝙤𝙥 lup1; 𝘓𝙪𝙠𝙚 luwk1 – luk1. (Also extended herein with ⟨zs⟩ for [z], ⟨ij⟩ for a definite ⟨i⟩, and ⟨uw⟩ for a definite ⟨u⟩.)

✲ Extensions herein may further include ⟨` (backtick), hv, ls; ej, eq; 9⟩ for [ʔ, ʋ, ɬ; e, ə; ˦˨ (⁴²)], and ⟨-j-, -w-⟩ as medials as well, as in 釣 `jeu3, 多 `wo3, 話 hvaa9(+1), 三 lsaam3, 冧 lejm3, 屋 `eqk1 in the Hoisanese dialect, Yue language (sub-branch; often also ‘Cantonese’), Chinese languages (sub-branch group), Sinitic languages (branch), Sino-Tibetan languages (family); there may also be ⟨mb, nd, mg⟩ for the potential pre-nasalised voiced stops [~b, ~d, ~ɡ]. (A vowel modified by ⟨-q⟩ is 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒𝑑 towards mid-central.)

✲ Latin letter names: 𝗔 𝗮 ei1; 𝗕 𝗯 ↑bbi1, bi1, 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 boi1 (from 𝘣𝘰𝘺); 𝗖 𝗰 si1; 𝗗 𝗱 ↑ddi1, di1, 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 dok1 (from 𝘥𝘰𝘨); 𝗘 𝗲 i1, ↓ji1; 𝗙 𝗳 ef1 fu4, ef1; 𝗚 𝗴 ↑zzhi1, zhi1, ↓zhyu1, ↓zyu1, ↓↓zi1, 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 goe1 lou4 (from 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭); 𝗛 𝗵 ↑eich1, ik1 chyu4, ik1 cyu4, ik1-ch; 𝗜 𝗶 aai1; 𝗝 𝗷 ↑zzhei1, zhei1; 𝗞 𝗸 kei1; 𝗟 𝗹 ↑el1 (better spelt elq1, see below), e1 lou4, eu1; 𝗠 𝗺 em1, 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 daai6 em1 (from 大𝘔, two apexes wide); 𝗡 𝗻 en1, 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 sai3 en1 (from 細𝘕, one apex wide); 𝗢 𝗼 ou1; 𝗣 𝗽 pi1, 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 pit1 taa4 (from 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳); 𝗤 𝗾 ↑kju1, kiu1; 𝗥 𝗿 ↑aa1, aar1, aa1 lou4, aau1; 𝗦 𝘀 es1 si4, es1; 𝗧 𝘁 ti1, 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 tom1 mi4 (from 𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘺); 𝗨 𝘂 ju1; 𝗩 𝘃 ↑vi1, bvi1, wi1; 𝗪 𝘄 dap1 bi4 ju4, dap1 bou4 ju4, dap1; 𝗫 𝘅 ik1 si4, ik1-s, 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 gaau1 caa1 (from 交叉), ￫ 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 kaau1 caa1; 𝗬 𝘆 waai1; 𝗭 𝘇 ↑zsedd1, ji6 set1, set1, ↑zsi1.

✲ Further extended with ⟨bb, dd, gg, zzh, v, bv⟩ for [b, d, ɡ, ʤ, v, pf], where [pf] is ‘unaspirated’ 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒.

✲ Greek letter names: 𝝖 𝝰 ↑aal1 faa4, ↑ael1 faa4, aau1 faa4, eu1 faa4; 𝝗 𝝱 bei1 taa4; 𝝘 𝝲 gaa1 maa4; 𝝙 𝝳 ↑ddel1 taa4, deu1 taa4; 𝝚 𝝴 ep1 si4 lon4; 𝝛 𝝵 ↑zsi1 taa4, si1 taa4; 𝝜 𝝶 i1 taa4; 𝝝 𝝷 ↑thi1 taa4, fi1 taa4; 𝝞 𝝸 jo1 taa4, aai6 ou1 taa4; 𝝟 𝝹 gaap1 paa4, kaap1 paa4; 𝝠 𝝺 laam1 daa4; 𝝡 𝝻 miu1, mu1; 𝝢 𝝼 niu1, nu1; 𝝣 𝝽 ka6 si1, ka6 saai1, ↑zsaai1 – saai1; 𝝤 𝝾 o1 mi4 kron4, ou1 mi4 kron4; 𝝥 𝝿 paai1; 𝝦 𝞀 rou1, ro1, ↓lou1, ↓lo1; 𝝨 𝞂 𝞁 sik1 maa4; 𝝩 𝞃 taau1; 𝝪 𝞄 up1 si4 lon4, ap1 si4 lon4, jup1 si4 lon4; 𝝫 𝞅 faai1; 𝝬 𝞆 kaai1; 𝝭 𝞇 pa6 si1, pa6 saai1, saai1; 𝝮 𝞈 ou6 mei1 gaa4, ou6 mi1 gaa4.

✲ Further extended with ⟨ae⟩ for [æ], and ⟨th⟩ for [θ].

✲ Cyrillic letter names (Russian): А а aa1; Б б ↑bbe1, be1; В в ↑ve1, bve1, we1; Г г ↑gge1, ge1; Д д ↑dde1, de1; Е е je1; Ё ё jo1; Ж ж ↑zshqe1, zshe1; З з ↑zse1, se1; И и i1; Й й i6 graat1 gai4, i6 kraat1 kai4; К к gaa1, kaa1; Л л ↑ely1, ↑elq1, eu1; М м em1; Н н en1; О о o1; П п be1, pe1; Р р er1; С с es1; Т т de1, te1; У у u1; Ф ф ef1; Х х ↑khaa1, haa1; Ц ц ze1, ce1; Ч ч cye1; Ш ш ↑shqaa1, shaa1; Щ щ sysyaa1; Ъ ъ ↑tvyor1 ddiyi4 zsnaakk4, ti6 fi6 jo(r)1 di4 snaak4; Ы ы iy1; Ь ь ↑myaehy1 ggyi4 zsnaakk4, mi6 je(h)1 gi4 snaak4; Э э e1; Ю ю ju1; Я я jaa1.

✲ Further extended with ①❱ ⟨zshq, zsh, lq, kh, shq⟩ for [ʒ̴ (‘ʒˠ’), ʒ, ɫ, x, ʃ̴ (‘ʃˠ’)], ②❱ ⟨ly, cy, sysy, vy, my, hy, ggy⟩ for [l͏̧ (‘l̻ʲ’), tʆh (‘t̻͡ʃʲʰ’), ʆʆ (‘ʃ̻ʲʃ̻ʲ’), v̧ (‘vʲ’), m̧ (‘mʲ’), ḩ, ɟ], and thus ⟨zy⟩ for [tʆ], ③❱ ⟨iy⟩ here for [ɨ, ᵻ], with ⟨i~iy⟩ and ⟨yu~u⟩ being 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡~𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 and analogous spelling-wise, ④❱ ⟨-kk⟩ for a final ⟨k⟩ that is 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 exploded and ‘aspirated’ as [kh] (‘kʰ’) — 𝓲𝓮 followed by the corresponding (voiceless) 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑡 [h, ɦ] — instead of ⟨-k⟩ [k͏̚], and by analogy there are ⟨-pp, -tt⟩ as well, and ⑤❱ ⟨r⟩ here also for [ɾ].

✲ Mandarin Chinese Bopomofo letters: ㄅ ↑bwo1, bo1; ㄆ ↑pwo1, po1; ㄇ ↑mwo1, mo1; ㄈ ↑fwo1, fo1; ㄉ ↑doj1, da1; ㄊ ↑toj1, ta1; ㄋ ↑noj1, na1; ㄌ ↑loj1, la1; ㄍ ↑goj1, ga1; ㄎ ↑koj1, ka1; ㄏ ↑khoj1, ha1; ㄐ zyi1; ㄑ cyi1; ㄒ syi1; ㄓ ↑zxiy1, zciy1; ㄔ ↑cxiy1, cciy1; ㄕ ↑sxiy1, sciy1; ㄖ ↑rxiy1, hziy1; ㄗ ziy1; ㄘ ciy1; ㄙ siy1; ㄧ ji1, -j-; ㄨ wu1, -w-; ㄩ jyu1, -jv-; ㄚ aa1; ㄛ o1; ㄜ ↑oj1, a1; ㄝ e1; ㄞ aai1; ㄟ ei1; ㄠ aau1; ㄡ ou1; ㄢ aan1 (but ㄧㄢ jen1, -jen; ㄩㄢ jven1, -jven); ㄣ ↑ojn1, an1 (but ㄧㄣ jin1, -in; ㄩㄣ jyun1, -yun); ㄤ aang1; ㄥ ↑ojng1, ang1 (but ㄧㄥ jijng1, -ijng; ㄨㄥ ↑wojng1, wang1, -ung; ㄩㄥ jung1, -jung); ㄦ ojr1, ar1 (precisely oj-jl1, ajl1); ㄭ iy1; and tone marks: 𝓮𝓰 ㄇㄚ(ˉ) maa1; ㄇㄚˊ maa2; ㄇㄚˇ maa40, maa4, maa5; ㄇㄚˋ maa9; ˙ㄇㄚ maa0 (ma3, ma4, ma1).

✲ Further extended with ①❱ ⟨oj⟩ [〾ɤ] as the 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 counterpart of ⟨ej⟩ [e] which is ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑟-𝑚𝑖𝑑 — distinct from ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑟-𝑙𝑜𝑤 ⟨ey, e⟩ [ʌ, ɛ] which are spelling-wise analogous to ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ ⟨iy, i⟩ [ɯ, ɨ; i] — both 𝑢𝑛𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑, as hinted by the post-modifier ⟨-j⟩, in contrast with ⟨-w⟩, 𝓲𝓮 ⟨ow, ew⟩ [o, ø], distinct from ⟨o, oe⟩ [ɔ, œ]; ②❱ ⟨jv⟩ for the 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 counterpart of ⟨j⟩ (think of it as ‘jw’ but simpler, also as the approximant version of ⟨yu⟩, like ⟨j⟩ of ⟨i⟩); ③❱ ⟨zx, cx, sx; rx⟩ for the ‘retroflex’-like 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 [tʂ, tʂh, ʂ; 〾ﺡ (‘ɻ’)], all 𝑢𝑛𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝘯𝘰𝘳 lateralised (∴ rx ≠ r), plus ⟨zc, cc, sc; hz⟩ their ‘less rolled’ 𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 counterparts [〾ts̩, 〾ts̩h, 〾s̩; ꞇ] especially in Taiwanese Mandarin (and thus ⟨ddc, tc⟩ precisely for English ⟨d, t⟩, ⟨rc⟩ precisely for 𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑝 like in Greek and Russian, and ⟨hz⟩ occurs in Thai, too), whereas ④❱ ⟨-r⟩ here as a coda ⓐ› is equivalent to a 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝑠𝑒𝑚𝑖-𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑡 [〾ɰ̡] (where ‘[〾 ̡ ]’ is graphically analogous to ‘[ɹ]’) and ⓑ› is correspondingly realised as a 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘-𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 (𝓲𝓮 provelar) vocoid that 𝘪𝘴 thusly lateralised, 𝓮𝓰 [〾ɤ̡] (∴ jl ≈ r), and ⓒ› does, if the original diphthong has a 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 second element, lose its unroundedness and become assimilated, 𝓮𝓰 into [〾ෆ͏‌̡], and ⓓ› does, iff the original coda is ‘ng’, become 𝑛𝑎𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 (same to the preceding vocoid; and ‘ng’ is assimilated intervocalically), 𝓲𝓮 ⟨-nnr⟩ from ‘-ngr’ (particularly ⟨-jojnnr⟩ from ‘-ijngr’: segmented -j·oj·nn·r ￩ -∅·ij·ng·r), 𝘣𝘶𝘵 ⟨-ar⟩ from ‘-aar, -aair, -aanr’, ⟨-jar⟩ from ‘-jaar, -jenr’, ⟨-jvar⟩ from ‘-jvenr’, ⟨-war⟩ from ‘-waar, -waair, -waanr’, ⟨-ojr⟩ from ‘-ojr, -eir, -ojnr, -iyr’, ⟨-jojr⟩ from ‘ir, inr’, ⟨-jvojr⟩ from ‘-yur, -yunr’ (segmented -jv·oj·∅·r ￩ -∅·yu₍·n₎·r), ⟨-wojr⟩ from ‘-ur, -weir, -wojnr’, and the rest of ⟨-r⟩ simply from ‘-r’, and therefore ⑤❱ ⟨-nn⟩ for nasalisation; ⑥❱ ⟨9⟩ for ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 as well; ⑦❱ ⟨0⟩ for the 𝑚𝑖𝑑 level of pitch when paired with level tone numbers, alone it’s 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒𝑑 stress and may assimilate.

✲ The apicality (dentality) and ‘retroflexity’ (postalveolarity) of the tonosyllables (小韻) ⟨(z-c-s)iy⟩ and ⟨(zx-cx-sx-rx)iy⟩ exceed the phonetic space of vocoids — (𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑙,) middorsum: 𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑙, 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑙, postdorsum: 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑟, 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑟, 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑟 (and 𝑢𝑣𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑟) — so much so that they are incompetent as parameters to define vocoids. While in the former syllable it is simply [ɯ] /ɯ/ by considering only the body of the tongue (dorsum), in the latter it is [〾ɯ̡] /ɯ/ having the aforementioned coarticulation, which is 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 as such (𝓲𝓮 according to 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 approximant: 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 as well, and [ɯ] being 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘-𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 per se, which is provelar), instead of resorting to the 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 (𝓲𝓮 ‘syllabic’) approximants [ẟ̩, 〾ﺡٰ] where the former is non-dorsal (dental) and the latter non-lateralised (as stated), or ‘[ɹ̩, ɻ̩]’ which are non-provelar (prevelar and postalveolar respectively), let alone the superficially unrigorous ‘[ɿ, ʅ]’.

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭

𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻

本篇所用其他符號

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭

𝓬𝓯 (𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛) cōnfer 比照 (= compare)

𝓮𝓰 (𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛) exemplī grātiā 舉隅 (= for example)

&𝓬 (𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛) et cetera 等等 (= and so on)

𝓲𝓮 (𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛) id est 卽 (= that is)

$ syllable 音節

𝙏𝙮𝙥𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 記法類型

⟨ ⟩ graphemic indication 字位標示

/ / phonᴇᴍic transcription 音位標音

[ ] phonᴇᴛic transcription 音素標音

↑ more refined realisation 較琢磨的口音

↓ less refined realisation 少琢磨的口音

↕︎ intentional realisation, often exaggerated 刻意的口音, 聽來難免誇張

– further naturalised pronunciation 更歸化讀音

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭

𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀

of English in Hongkongese accent

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙪𝙣

The North Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger, when a traveller came along wrapped in a warm cloak.

They agreed that the one who first succeeded in making the traveller take his cloak off should be considered stronger than the other.

Then the North Wind blew as hard as he could, but the more he blew the more closely did the traveller fold his cloak around him;

and at last the North Wind gave up the attempt. Then the Sun shone out warmly, and immediately the traveller took off his cloak.

And so the North Wind was obliged to confess that the Sun was the stronger of the two.

doe6 nof1 win1 en6 doe6 san1 woe6 aa6 dis6 biu1 ting1 wich1 wos6 doe6 szhrong1 gaa4, wen6 aa6 chraa1 fou1 laa1 ↑keim1/kem1 aa6 long1 rep1 dat1 in6 aa6 wom1 ↑kloukk1/kluk1.

dei6 aa6 gri1 dat1 det1 doe6 wan1 hu6 foes1-c sak6 si1 dat1 in6 ↑meik1/mik1 king1 doe6 chraa1 fou1 laa1 ↑teikk1/tik1 his6 ↑kloukk1/kluk1 of1 shut6 bi6 ↑kan6/kon6 si1 daad1 (or daa1 dat1) szhrong1 gaa1 den6 di6 aa1 daa4.

den2 doe6 nof1 win1 blu1 es6 haat1 as6 hi6 kut1, bat6 doe6 mo1 aa1 hi6 blu1 doe6 mo1 aa1 klous1 li1 dit6 doe6 chraa1 fou1 laa1 foud1 his6 ↑kloukk1/kluk1 aa6 ↑raaun1/raang1 him4;

en6 et6 laas1-c doe6 nof1 win1 geif1 ap1 di6 et6 tem1-c. den2 doe6 san1 ↑shoun1/shung1 au1 wom1 li4, en6 im6 mi1 di1 at1-c li1 doe6 chraa1 fou1 laa1 tuk1 of1 his6 ↑kloukk1/kluk1.

en6 sou1 doe6 nof1 win1 wos6 ↑a6/op6 blaaizh1 dat1 cu6 ↑kan6/kon6 fes1 det1 doe6 san1 wos6 doe6 szhrong1 gaa1 of6 doe6 cu1. (The final ⟨-d⟩ is an exploded final [t] instead of [t̚] but still not voiced [d].)

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝘽𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday, dear/to [NAME]

/ Happy birthday, happy birthday

Happy birthday to you

hep4 pi4 boef6 dei4 cu3 ju6

hep4 pi4 boef6 dei4 cu1 ju3

hep4 pi4 boef1 dei1 di3 aa3 $6 $4

/ hep4 pi4 boef1 dei1 cu3 $6 $4

/ hep4 pi4 boef1 dei1 hep3 pi3 boef6 dei4

hep1 pi1 boef1 dei3 cu1 ju3

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙣 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙄𝙨 𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘿𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨

London Bridge is falling down

Falling down, falling down

London Bridge is falling down

My fair lady

lan3 dan1 (or leon3 deon1) brizh1 is3 fo6 ling3 daang1

fo4 ling6 daang3

fo6 ling3 daang1

lan3 dan1 (or leon3 deon1) brizh1 is3 fo6 ling3 daang1

maai6 fe1 aa1 lei1 di3

𝙏𝙝𝙚 ❛有隻雀仔跌落水❜ 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨

有隻雀仔跌落水

跌落水．跌落水

有隻雀仔跌落水

被水沖去

jau3 zek1 zoek1 zai3 dit6 lok3 seoi1

dit4 lok6 seoi3

dit6 lok3 seoi1

jau3 zek1 zoek1 zai3 dit6 lok3 seoi1

bei6 seoi1 cung1 heoi3

⸎