View source for Cantonese

{{Short description|Variety of Yue Chinese}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Cantonese
| nativename       =
| image            = 
| imagescale       = 0.7
| imagecaption     = {{lang|yue-Latn|Gwóngdūng wá}} written in [[Traditional Chinese characters|traditional Chinese]] (left) and [[Simplified Chinese characters|simplified Chinese]] (right) characters
| states           = [[Mainland China]], [[Hong Kong]], [[Macau]],  and [[Overseas Chinese|overseas communities]] 
| region           = [[Guangdong]], eastern [[Guangxi]]
| ethnicity        =
| familycolor      = Sino-Tibetan
| fam2             = [[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]]
| fam3             = [[Varieties of Chinese|Chinese]]
| fam4             = [[Yue Chinese|Yue]]
| fam5             = [[Yuehai Yue|Yuehai]]
| ancestor         = [[Proto-Sino-Tibetan]]
| ancestor2        = [[Old Chinese]]
| ancestor3        = [[Eastern Han Chinese]]
| ancestor4        = [[Middle Chinese]]
| dia1             = [[Hong Kong Cantonese|Hong Kong]]
| dia2             = [[Malaysian Cantonese|Malaysian]]
| dia3             = [[Tanka people#Dialect|Tanka]]
| dia4             = [[Wuzhou]]
| dia5             = [[Xiguan dialect|Xiguan]]
| script           = {{ubl|[[Written Cantonese]]|[[Cantonese Braille]]|[[Written Chinese]]}}
| nation           = {{Indented plainlist|* [[Hong Kong]]{{efn|De facto spoken language—while no specific variety of Chinese is official in Hong Kong, Cantonese is the predominant spoken form and the de facto regional spoken standard. The Hong Kong government promotes trilingualism between Cantonese, Mandarin, and English, especially in public education.}}
* [[Macau]]{{efn|De facto spoken language—while no specific variety of Chinese is official in Macau, Cantonese is the predominant spoken form and the de facto regional spoken standard. The Macau government promotes each of Cantonese, Mandarin, Portuguese, and English, especially in public education.}}}}
| minority         = 
| agency           = {{ubl|{{Indented plainlist|
*'''[[Hong Kong]]''':<br>[[Education Bureau]]
*'''[[Macau]]''':<br>[[Education and Youth Development Bureau]]}}
}}
| iso3             = yue
| iso3comment      = (superset for all Yue dialects)<!-- 'zh-hk' sees informal use. -->
| isoexception     = dialect
| glotto           = cant1236
| glottorefname    = Cantonese
| lingua           = 79-AAA-ma
| notice           = 
}}
{{Cantonese language}}
'''Cantonese'''<!-- No single predominant endonym exists. Please refer to the #Names section --> is the traditional [[prestige variety]] of [[Yue Chinese]], a [[Sinitic languages|Sinitic language]] belonging to the [[Sino-Tibetan language family]]. It originated in the city of [[Guangzhou]] (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding [[Pearl River Delta]].<ref name="Snow">{{Cite book |last=Snow |first=Donald B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pFnP_FXf-lAC&pg=RA1-PA48 |title=Cantonese as Written Language: The Growth of a Written Chinese Vernacular |date=2004 |publisher=Hong Kong University Press |isbn=9789622097094 |pages=48 |access-date=2015-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424221454/https://books.google.com/books?id=pFnP_FXf-lAC&pg=RA1-PA48 |archive-date=2016-04-24 |url-status=live}}</ref> Although ''Cantonese'' specifically refers to the prestige variety, in [[linguistics]] it has often been used to refer to the entire Yue subgroup of Chinese, including related but partially [[mutually intelligible]] varieties like [[Taishanese]].

Cantonese is viewed as a vital and inseparable part of the cultural identity for its [[Cantonese people|native speakers]] across large swaths of [[South China|southeastern China]], [[Hong Kong]], and [[Macau]], as well as in [[Overseas Chinese|overseas communities]]. In [[mainland China]], it is the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of the province of [[Guangdong]] (being the majority language of the Pearl River Delta) and neighbouring areas such as [[Guangxi]]. It is also the dominant and co-official language of Hong Kong and Macau. Further, Cantonese is widely spoken among [[overseas Chinese]] in [[Southeast Asia]] (most notably in [[Vietnam]] and [[Malaysia]], as well as in [[Singapore]] and [[Cambodia]] to a lesser extent) and the Western world.<ref name="Snow" /><ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Kwai |last2=Leung |first2=Wai |year=2012 |title=The status of Cantonese in the education policy of Hong Kong |url=https://multilingual-education.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/10.1186/2191-5059-2-2 |journal=Multilingual Education |volume=2 |page=2 |doi=10.1186/2191-5059-2-2 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=10397/98877}}</ref> With about 80 million total speakers as of 2023, standard Cantonese is by far the most spoken variant of Yue Chinese and non-Mandarin Chinese language.<ref>Meng, Helen Mei-Ling and Patrick Chun Man Wong, [https://cuhkintouch.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk/2023/09/speech-and-language-processing-finding-their-voice-again/ Speech and language processing: Finding their voice again], [[Chinese University of Hong Kong]], 29 Sep 2023.</ref>

Although Cantonese shares much vocabulary with [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] and other [[varieties of Chinese]], these [[Sinitic languages]] are not [[mutually intelligible]], largely because of phonological differences, but also differences in grammar and vocabulary. Sentence structure, in particular the verb placement, sometimes differs between the two varieties. A notable difference between Cantonese and Mandarin is how the spoken word is written; both can be recorded verbatim, but very few Cantonese speakers are knowledgeable in the full Cantonese written vocabulary, so a non-verbatim formalized written form is adopted, which is more akin to the written [[Standard Chinese|Standard Mandarin]].{{sfnp|Matthews|Yip|1994|p=5}}<ref name="Snow" /> However, it is only non-verbatim with respect to vernacular Cantonese as it is possible to read Standard Chinese text verbatim in formal Cantonese, often with only slight changes in lexicon that are optional depending on the reader's choice of register.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://multilingual-education.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/10.1186/2191-5059-2-2 | doi=10.1186/2191-5059-2-2 | title=The status of Cantonese in the education policy of Hong Kong | year=2012 | last1=Lee | first1=Kwai | last2=Leung | first2=Wai | journal=Multilingual Education | volume=2 | page=2 | doi-access=free | hdl=10397/98877 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> This results in a situation in which a Cantonese and a Mandarin text may look similar but are pronounced differently. Conversely, written (vernacular) Cantonese is mostly used in informal settings like social media and comic books.{{sfnp|Matthews|Yip|1994|p=5}}<ref name="Snow" />

{{TOC limit|limit=3}}

==Names of Cantonese==
{{Infobox Chinese
| order = 
| title = Cantonese
| s = 广东话
| t = 廣東話
| j = Gwong2 dung1 waa2
| y = Gwóngdūng wá
| p = Guǎngdōnghuà
| t2 = 廣州話
| altname = 'Canton speech' or 'Guangzhou speech'
| j2 = Gwong2 zau1 waa2
| y2 = Gwóngjāu wá
| p2 = Guǎngzhōuhuà
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|g|uang|3|.|d|ong|1|.|h|ua|4}}
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|gw|ong|2|-|d|ung|1|-|w|aa|2}}
| mi2 = {{IPAc-cmn|g|uang|3|.|zh|ou|1|.|h|ua|4}}
| ci2 = {{IPAc-yue|gw|ong|2|.|z|au|1|-|w|aa|2}}
| tp = Guǎngdong-huà
| w = {{tone superscript|Kuang3-tung1-hua4}}
| bpmf = ㄍㄨㄤˇ ㄉㄨㄥ ㄏㄨㄚˋ
| tp2 = Guǎngjhou-huà
| w2 = {{tone superscript|Kuang3-chou1-hua4}}
| bpmf2 = ㄍㄨㄤˇ ㄓㄡ ㄏㄨㄚˋ
}}

In English, the term "Cantonese" can be ambiguous. "Cantonese" as used to refer to the language native to the city of Canton, which is the traditional English name of [[Guangzhou]], was popularized by ''An English and Cantonese Pocket Dictionary'' (1859), a bestseller by the missionary [[John Chalmers (missionary)|John Chalmers]].<ref name="kataoka">{{cite book|title=晚清民初歐美傳教士書寫的廣東話文獻精選|trans-title=Selected Cantonese Publications by Western Missionaries in China (1828–1927)|date=2022|first1=Shin|last1= Kataoka |first2=Yin-Ping Cream|last2=Lee|page=25|url=https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/ics/clrc/kataoka/full%20text.pdf|publisher=Chinese University of Hong Kong}}</ref> Before 1859, this variant was often referred to in English as "the Canton dialect".<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Han-fung's Record|translator-last=Milne|translator-first=William|translator-link=William Milne (missionary)|title=The Sacred Edict: Containing Sixteen Maxims of the Emperor Kang-Hi|date=1817|pages=xxvii–xxviii|quote=bought with him the ''Paraphrase on the Sacred Edict'' [廣訓衍], which the minister Wang-yew-poh [王又樸], formerly over the salt revenue in Shen-See, had printed. This interpretation was written in the northern dialect, [...] on the first and fifteenth of the each moon, they might proclaim the original text in the Canton dialect.|url=http://archive.org/details/sacrededictconta00kangrich/|archiveurl=https://archive.org/details/sacrededictconta00kangrich/|archivedate=2007-04-30}}</ref><ref name="kataoka"/>

However, "Cantonese" may also refer to the primary branch of Chinese that contains Cantonese proper as well as [[Taishanese]] and [[Gao-Yang Yue|Gaoyang]]; this broader usage may be specified as "[[Yue Chinese|Yue speech]]" ({{lang-zh|s=粤语|t=粵語|cy=Yuhtyúh|j=Jyut6 jyu5|first=t|labels=no}}). In this article, "Cantonese" is used for Cantonese proper.

Historically, speakers called this variety "Canton speech" ({{lang-zh|s=广州话|t=廣州話|cy=Gwóngjāu wá|j=Gwong2 zau1 waa2|first=t|labels=no}}), although this term is now seldom used outside mainland China. In Guangdong and Guangxi, people also call it "provincial capital speech" ({{lang-zh|s=省城话|t=省城話|cy=Sáangsèhng wá|j=Saang2 seng4 waa2|first=t|labels=no}}) or "plain speech" ({{lang-zh|s=白话|t=白話|cy=Baahkwá|j=Baak6 waa2|first=t|labels=no}}). In academic linguistic circles, it is also referred to as "Canton prefecture speech" ({{lang-zh|s=广府话|t=廣府話|cy=Gwóngfú wá|j=Gwong2 fu2 waa2|first=t|labels=no}}).<ref name="Booney 1854">{{cite book|title=A Vocabulary with Colloquial Phrases of the Canton Dialect|first=Samuel William|last=Bonney|date=1854|pages=20, 47|ol=OL18035405W|ol-access=free}}</ref>

In Hong Kong and Macau, as well as among overseas Chinese communities, the language is referred to as "Guangdong speech" or "Canton Province Speech" ({{lang-zh|s=广东话|t=廣東話|cy=Gwóngdūng wá|j=Gwong2 dung1 waa2|first=t|labels=no}}) or simply as "Chinese" ({{lang-zh|c=中文|cy=Jūngmán|j=Zung1 man2|labels=no}}).<ref>The Hong Kong Observatory is one of the examples of the Hong Kong Government officially adopting the name "廣東話", see {{Cite web|title=Audio Web Page|website=Hong Kong Observatory |url=http://www.hko.gov.hk/audio/index.shtml|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101115203/http://www.hko.gov.hk/audio/index.shtml|archive-date=2018-01-01|access-date=2021-05-08}}</ref><ref>Cantonese program at Chinese University of Hong Kong, designating standard Cantonese as 廣東話, see {{Citation|title=Chinese as a FSL (Cantonese) Curriculum |url=http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clc/curriculum_can.pdf|publisher=Yale-China Chinese Language Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong|access-date=29 January 2018}}</ref>

==History==
{{See also|Yue Chinese}}
[[File:Tangyun - Chinese Dictionary Museum.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Chinese dictionary from the [[Tang dynasty]]. Modern Cantonese pronunciation preserves almost all terminal consonants (-m, -n, -ng, -p, -t, -k) from Middle Chinese.]]

During the [[Song Dynasty#Southern Song, 1127–1279|Southern Song]] period, Guangzhou became the cultural center of the region.{{sfnp|Yue-Hashimoto|1972|p=4}} Cantonese emerged as the [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige variety]] of [[Yue Chinese]] when the port city of [[Guangzhou]] on the [[Pearl River Delta]] became the largest port in China, with a trade network stretching as far as Arabia.{{sfnp|Li|2006|p=126}} Specifically, the mutually intelligible speech of the ''Sam Yap'' ({{lang-zh|t=三邑 |y=Sāam Yāp|labels=no}}), the Three Counties of Guangzhou, namely the historical counties of Panyu ({{lang-zh|番禺|labels=no}}), [[Nanhai, Foshan|Nanhai]] ({{lang-zh|南海|labels=no}}), and [[Shunde]] ({{lang-zh|s=顺德|labels=no}}), came to be heralded as the standard.<ref name="Sousa2022"/> Cantonese was also used in the popular ''Yuè'ōu'', ''Mùyú'' and ''Nányīn'' folksong genres, as well as [[Cantonese opera]].{{sfnp|Yue-Hashimoto|1972|pp=5–6}}{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|p=99}} Additionally, a distinct classical literature was developed in Cantonese, with [[Middle Chinese]] texts sounding more similar to modern Cantonese than other present-day Chinese varieties, including Mandarin.{{sfnp|Yue-Hashimoto|1972|p=5}}

As Guangzhou became China's key commercial center for foreign trade and exchange in the 1700s, Cantonese became the variety of Chinese interacting most with the Western world.{{sfnp|Li|2006|p=126}} Much of the sources for this period of early Cantonese, such as the 18th century [[rime dictionary]] ''Fenyun Cuoyao'' ({{lang-zh|t=分韻撮要|p=Fēnyùn Cuòyào|cy=Fān Wáhn Chyutyiu|labels=yes}}) and the 1828 ''Vocabulary of the Canton Dialect'' by the missionary [[Robert Morrison (missionary)|Robert Morrison]], were written in Guangzhou during this period.<ref name="Sham2020">{{cite book |last1=Sham |first1=Ricky Y. H. |chapter=Cantonese Cameo: Pre-war Hong Kong Films and /ɿ/ Of Early Cantonese |title=Chinese Culture in the 21st Century and its Global Dimensions |date=2020 |volume=2 |pages=123–139 |doi=10.1007/978-981-15-2743-2_8 |isbn=978-981-15-2742-5 |s2cid=219427314 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-2743-2_8 |access-date=25 January 2024}}</ref> 

After the [[First Opium War]], centuries of maritime prohibitions ended. Large numbers of Cantonese people from the Pearl River Delta, especially merchants, subsequently migrated by boat to other parts of Guangdong and Guangxi. These migrants established enclaves of Cantonese in areas that primarily spoke other forms of Yue or even non-Sinitic languages such as [[Zhuang language|Zhuang]], as with the case of the [[Yong–Xun Yue]] dialect of [[Nanning]].<ref name="Sousa2022"/> Many Cantonese migrants sailed also overseas, bringing the Cantonese language with them to Southeast Asia, North and South America, and Western Europe. Such enclaves of Cantonese are still found in [[Chinatowns]] across many of these major cities outside China.<ref name="Sousa2022"/> During the late 19th century, the pedagogical work ''Cantonese made easy'', written by [[James Dyer Ball]] in 1883, articulated the provenance of the prestige accent of Cantonese: that of the district of [[Xiguan]] ({{lang-zh|t=西關|s=西关||j=Sai1 Gwaan1|cy=Sāigwāan|labels=yes}}) in the west of Guangzhou.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chan |first1=Marjorie K.M. |editor1-last=Lin |editor1-first=Chien-Jer Charles |editor2-last=Cherici |editor2-first=Alex |editor3-last=Chen |editor3-first=Bihua |title=Challenges in D2 and D3 Acquisition: Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's 1924 Cantonese and Mandarin Audiorecordings |journal=Proceedings of the 34th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics |date=2023 |url=https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/u.osu.edu/dist/7/1615/files/2023/12/Chan-M_2023_NACCL-34_D2-D3.pdf |access-date=25 January 2024}}</ref> It is known for its distinctive use of an [[apical vowel]] ({{IPA|/ɿ/}}, or in more conventional [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]: {{IPA|/ź̩~ɯ~ɨ/}}) in some cases where modern Cantonese would use a {{IPA|/i/}} final.<ref name="Sham2020"/>

Throughout the 19th century and continuing into the 20th century, the ancestors of most of the population of [[Hong Kong]] and [[Macau]] arrived from Guangzhou and surrounding areas after they were ceded to [[British Empire|Britain]] and [[Portuguese Empire|Portugal]], respectively.{{sfnp|Yue-Hashimoto|1972|p=70}} The influx of such migrants into Hong Kong established Cantonese as the main language of the colony, supplanting local Yue Chinese varieties, which were closer to the dialects of neighboring [[Shenzhen]] and [[Dongguan]], as well as the [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]] and [[Southern Min]] varieties of the region.<ref name="Sousa2022">{{cite book |last1=de Sousa |first1=Hilário |title=The Palgrave Handbook of Chinese Language Studies |chapter=The Expansion of Cantonese over the Last Two Centuries |date=2022 |page=487 |doi=10.1007/978-981-13-6844-8_35-2 |isbn=978-981-13-6844-8 |s2cid=244518738 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dIN-EAAAQBAJ |access-date=25 January 2024}}</ref> With subsequent waves of migration into Hong Kong, even as late as the 1950s, the proportion of native Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong had not yet surpassed 50%; nonetheless, this figure has risen to above 90% since the 1970s.<ref name="Sousa2022"/> On the other hand, the indigenous variety of Yue Chinese in Macau had been close to that of [[Zhongshan]], and this has had an effect on the tonal phonology of the Cantonese spoken in Macau.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Jingwei |title=Tone mergers in Cantonese: Evidence from Hong Kong, Macao, and Zhuhai |journal=Asia-Pacific Language Variation |date=13 June 2019 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=28–49 |doi=10.1075/aplv.18007.zha|s2cid=197998897 }}</ref><ref name="Sousa2022"/>

As a significant proportion of the entertainment industry in China migrated to Hong Kong in the early decades of the 20th century, the Hong Kong-based entertainment industry underwent a transformation to suit overseas as well as domestic audiences.<ref name="Bordwell2000">{{cite book |last1=Bordwell |first1=David |title=Planet Hong Kong: popular cinema and the art of entertainment |date=2000 |publisher=Harvard university press |location=Cambridge (Mass.) London |isbn=0-674-00214-8}}</ref> With the bifurcation of [[cinema of Hong Kong|the film industry]] into Cantonese and Mandarin,<ref name="Bordwell2000"/> the use of the Xiguan accent of Guangzhou as a conservative prestige accent of standard Cantonese was maintained in mass media, with films from the 1930s making prominent use of it. However, during this time many phonological changes can be detected, indicating the change from Early Cantonese to Modern Cantonese.<ref name="Sham2020"/>

In mainland China, [[Standard Chinese|Standard Mandarin]] has been heavily promoted as the medium of instruction in schools and as the official language, especially after the communist takeover in 1949. Meanwhile, Cantonese has remained the official variety of Chinese in Hong Kong and Macau, both during and after the colonial period, under the policy of '[[Culture of Hong Kong#Government linguistic policy|biliteracy and trilingualism]]' ({{lang-zh|t=兩文三語 |p=liǎngwén sānyǔ |j=loeng3 man4 saam1 jyu5}}).{{sfnp|Zhang|Yang|2004|p=154}} Government and law still function predominantly in Cantonese in these jurisdictions, and officials speak Cantonese even at the most formal occasions.<ref name="Sousa2022"/>

==Geographic distribution==
===Hong Kong and Macau===
{{See also|Hong Kong Cantonese}}
The [[official language]]s of [[Hong Kong]] are Chinese and English, as defined in the [[Hong Kong Basic Law]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Basic Law, Chapter I : General Principles |url=http://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/basiclawtext/chapter_1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129202058/http://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/basiclawtext/chapter_1.html |access-date=29 January 2018 |archive-date=29 January 2018 |via=basiclaw.gov.hk |url-status=live}}</ref> The Chinese language has [[Varieties of Chinese|many different varieties]], of which Cantonese is one. Given the traditional predominance of Cantonese within Hong Kong, it is the ''de facto'' official spoken form of the Chinese language used in the [[Government of Hong Kong|Hong Kong Government]] and all courts and tribunals. It is also used as the [[medium of instruction]] in schools, alongside English.

A similar situation also exists in neighboring [[Macau]], where Chinese is an official language alongside [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]. As in Hong Kong, Cantonese is the predominant spoken [[Varieties of Chinese|variety of Chinese]] used in everyday life and is thus the official form of Chinese used in the government. The Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong and Macau is [[mutually intelligible]] with the Cantonese spoken in the mainland city of [[Guangzhou]], although there exist some minor differences in accent, pronunciation, and vocabulary.

===China===
[[File:Ping and Yue dialect map.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|Distribution of Yue Chinese languages in southeastern China. Standard Cantonese and closely related dialects are highlighted in pink.]]
Cantonese first developed around the port city of [[Guangzhou]] in the [[Pearl River Delta]] region of southeastern China. Due to the city's long standing role as an important cultural center, Cantonese emerged as the prestige dialect of the [[Yue Chinese|Yue varieties of Chinese]] in the [[Southern Song]] dynasty and its usage spread around most of what is now the provinces of [[Guangdong]] and [[Guangxi]].{{sfnp|Yue-Hashimoto|1972|p=4}}

Despite the cession of Macau to Portugal in 1557 and [[Treaty of Nanking|Hong Kong to Britain]] in 1842, the ethnic Chinese population of the two territories largely originated from the 19th and 20th century immigration from Guangzhou and surrounding areas, making Cantonese the predominant Chinese language in the territories. On the mainland, Cantonese continued to serve as the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of [[Guangdong]] and [[Guangxi]] even after Mandarin was made the official language of the government by the [[Qing dynasty]] in the early 1900s.{{sfnp|Coblin|2000|pp=549–550}} Cantonese remained a dominant and influential language in southeastern China until the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and its promotion of [[Standard Chinese|Standard Mandarin Chinese]] as the sole official language of the nation throughout the last half of the 20th century, although its influence still remains strong within the region.{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|pp=3–15}}

While the Chinese government encourages the use of Standard Mandarin rather than local varieties of Chinese in broadcasts,<ref name="sarft-1">{{Cite web |date=2005-02-07 |title=Zhōngguó guǎngbò diànshì bòyīn yuán zhǔchí rén zhíyè dàodé zhǔnzé |script-title=zh:中国广播电视播音员主持人职业道德准则 |trans-title=Code of Professional Ethics of Radio and Television Hosts of China |url=http://www.chinasarft.gov.cn/articles/2005/02/07/20070920151122290946.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718220252/http://www.chinasarft.gov.cn/articles/2005/02/07/20070920151122290946.html |archive-date=2011-07-18 |access-date=2010-07-26 |publisher=[[State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television|Guojia guangbo dianying dianshì zongju]] |language=zh}}</ref> Cantonese enjoys a relatively higher standing than other Chinese languages, with its own media and usage in public transportation in Guangdong province. Furthermore, it is also a medium of instruction in select academic curricula, including some university elective courses and [[Chinese as a foreign language]] programs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chinese Language Programes |website=South China University of Technology |url=http://www2.scut.edu.cn/s/49/t/486/p/11/c/852/d/866/list.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229070713/http://www2.scut.edu.cn/s/49/t/486/p/11/c/852/d/866/list.htm |archive-date=2016-02-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chinese Language |website=South China Normal University |url=http://www.sicas.cn/school/158/Course_6362.shtml |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030717/http://www.sicas.cn/school/158/Course_6362.shtml}}</ref> The permitted usage of Cantonese in mainland China is largely a countermeasure against Hong Kong's influence, as its Cantonese-language media has a substantial exposure and following in Guangdong.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ji|first=Rona|date=2016|title=Preserving Cantonese Television & Film in Guangdong: Language as Cultural Heritage in South China's Bidialectal Landscape|url=http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1506/preserving-cantonese-television-and-film-in-guangdong-language-as-cultural-heritage-in-south-chinas-bidialectal-landscape| journal=Inquiries Journal|volume=8|issue=12|pages=1–3}}</ref>{{sfnp|Zhang|Yang|2004|p=154}}

Nevertheless, the place of local Cantonese language and [[Cantonese culture|culture]] remains contentious, as with other non-Mandarin Chinese languages.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Slow Death of China's Dialects |url=https://www.mironline.ca/the-slow-death-of-chinas-dialects/|access-date=2021-09-11 |website=The McGill International Review|date=21 February 2019 }}</ref> A 2010 [[Guangzhou Television Cantonese controversy|proposal to switch some programming on Guangzhou television]] from Cantonese to Mandarin was abandoned following massive public protests, the largest since the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]]. As a major economic center of China, there have been concerns that the use of Cantonese in Guangzhou is diminishing in favour of Mandarin, both through the continual influx of Mandarin-speaking migrants from impoverished areas and strict government policies.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2136237/why-has-cantonese-fallen-out-favour-guangzhou-youngsters|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921220340/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2136237/why-has-cantonese-fallen-out-favour-guangzhou-youngsters|archive-date=21 September 2018|author-last1=He|author-first1=Huifeng|title=Why has Cantonese fallen out of favour with Guangzhou youngsters?|website=South China Morning Post|orig-date=12 March 2018|date=25 June 2018|access-date=20 May 2025}}</ref> As a result, Cantonese is being given a more important status by the natives than ever before as a common identity of the local people.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wong |first=Edward |date=2010-07-26 |title=Move to Limit Cantonese on Chinese TV Is Assailed |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/world/asia/27cantonese.html |access-date=2018-09-24 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180924073706/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/world/asia/27cantonese.html |archive-date=2018-09-24 |url-status=live}}</ref> This has led to initiatives to revive the language such as its introduction into school curricula and locally produced programs on broadcast media.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1008922/cantons-unease-as-mandarin-spreads%2C-locals-face-identity-crisis | title=Canton's Unease: As Mandarin Spreads, Locals Face Identity Crisis | date=10 November 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=http://yyzlyj.cp.com.cn/CN/abstract/abstract180.shtml | doi=10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20180304 | title=广州人语言态度与粤语认同传承 | journal=语言战略研究 | year=2018 | volume=3 | issue=3 | pages=34–41 | last1=侍 | first1=建国 }}</ref>

===Southeast Asia===
Cantonese has historically served as a ''lingua franca'' among overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, who speak a variety of other forms of Chinese including [[Hokkien]], [[Teochew dialect|Teochew]], and [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Barbara A. |last=West |title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania |publisher=Facts on File |year=2009 |isbn=978-0816071098 |pages=289–290}} eBook: {{ISBN|978-1438119137}}.<!--Use WorldCat info--></ref> Additionally, Cantonese media and popular culture such as [[cinema of Hong Kong|Hong Kong cinema]] is popular throughout the region.

====Vietnam====
{{see also|Hoa people}}
In [[Vietnam]], Cantonese is the dominant language of the main ethnic Chinese community, usually referred to as ''[[Hoa people|Hoa]]'', which numbers about one million people and constitutes one of the largest minority groups in the country.<ref name="GSO2019">{{cite web|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YK6iY-j0AfZTuip28Py2Gmz5P8zw04Rn/view?usp=sharing|title=Report on Results of the 2019 Census |publisher=General Statistics Office of Vietnam |access-date=1 May 2020}}</ref> Over half of the ethnic Chinese population in Vietnam speaks Cantonese as a native language and the variety also serves as a lingua franca between the different Chinese dialect groups.{{sfnp|Khanh|1993|p=31}} Many speakers reflect their exposure to [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] with a Vietnamese accent or a tendency to [[code-switching|code-switch]] between Cantonese and Vietnamese.

====Malaysia====
{{main|Malaysian Cantonese}}
{{see also|Malaysian Chinese#Cantonese}}

In [[Malaysia]], Cantonese is widely spoken among the [[Malaysian Chinese]] community in the capital city of [[Kuala Lumpur]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sin |first=Ka Lin |date=2009 |title="Mǎláixīyà de sān gè hànyǔ fāngyán" zhōng zhī jílóngpō Guǎngdōnghuà yuè tán |script-title=zh:《马来西亚的三个汉语方言》中之 吉隆坡广东话阅谭 |trans-title=A Review on Kuala Lumpur's Cantonese in Part of "The Three Chinese Dialects in Malaysia" |url=http://www.newera.edu.my/files/mces/xuebao2009/Xuebao09_83-131.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Xīnjìyuán xuéyuàn xuébào / New Era College Academic Journal |language=zh-hans |volume=6 |pages=83–131 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511223113/http://www.newera.edu.my/files/mces/xuebao2009/Xuebao09_83-131.pdf |archive-date=2013-05-11 |access-date=29 January 2018}}</ref> and the surrounding areas in the [[Klang Valley]] ([[Petaling Jaya]], [[Ampang, Selangor|Ampang]], [[Putrajaya]], [[Cheras, Selangor|Cheras]], [[Selayang]], [[Sungai Buloh]], [[Puchong]], [[Shah Alam]], [[Kajang]], [[Bangi, Malaysia|Bangi]], and [[Subang Jaya]]). The language is also widely spoken as well in the town of [[Sekinchan]] in the district of
[[Sabak Bernam]] located in the northern part of [[Selangor]] state; the state of [[Perak]], especially in the state capital city of [[Ipoh]] and its surrounding towns of [[Gopeng]], [[Batu Gajah]], and [[Kampar, Perak|Kampar]] of the [[Kinta Valley]] region plus the towns of [[Tapah]] and [[Bidor]] in the southern part of the [[Perak]] state; and most of the state of [[Negeri Sembilan]], especially in the state capital city of [[Seremban]], as well as the towns of [[Port Dickson]], [[Kuala Pilah]], [[Bahau]], [[Tampin]], [[Rembau (town)|Rembau]] and [[Gemas]], with the exception of [[Jelebu]], [[Mantin]], [[Nilai]] and [[Kuala Klawang]], where [[Southern Malaysian Hokkien|Hokkien]] and [[Hakka language|Hakka]] predominate, respectively. Cantonese is also widely spoken in the eastern [[Sabah]]an town of [[Sandakan]] as well as the towns of [[Kuantan]], [[Raub, Pahang|Raub]], [[Bentong]], [[Temerloh]], [[Pekan, Pahang|Pekan]], [[Jerantut]] as well as [[Cameron Highlands]] in Pahang state, and they are also found in other areas like [[Sarikei]], Sarawak, and [[Mersing]], Johor.

Although [[Hokkien]] is the most natively spoken variety of Chinese and Mandarin is the medium of education at [[Chinese-language schools]], Cantonese is largely influential in the local Chinese media and is used in commerce by Chinese Malaysians.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sim |first=Tze Wei |date=2012 |title=Why are the Native Languages of the Chinese Malaysians in Decline |journal=Journal of Taiwanese Vernacular |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=75}}</ref>

Due to the popularity of [[Hong Kong popular culture]], especially through drama series and popular music, Cantonese is widely understood by the Chinese in all parts of Malaysia, even though a large proportion of the Chinese Malaysian population is non-Cantonese. Television networks in Malaysia regularly broadcast Hong Kong television programmes in their original Cantonese audio and soundtrack. Cantonese radio is also available in the nation and Cantonese is prevalent in locally produced Chinese television.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-05-27 |title=Malaysian Cantonese |url=http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/topic/9443-malaysian-cantonese/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140527184424/http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/topic/9443-malaysian-cantonese/|archive-date=2014-05-27|url-status=dead|access-date=2019-08-01|website=IPS Community}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sim |first=Tze Wei |date=2012 |title=Why are the Native Languages of the Chinese Malaysians in Decline |journal=Journal of Taiwanese Vernacular |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=74}}</ref>

Cantonese spoken in Malaysia and Singapore often exhibits influences from [[Malay language|Malay]] and other Chinese varieties spoken in the country, like Hokkien and Teochew.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wee |first=Kek Koon |date=2018-11-01 |title=Why Cantonese Spoken in Malaysia Sounds Different to Hong Kong Cantonese, and No it's Not 'Wrong' |work=[[South China Morning Post]] |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2171053/why-cantonese-spoken-malaysia-sounds-different |url-status=live |access-date=2018-11-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115112810/https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2171053/why-cantonese-spoken-malaysia-sounds-different |archive-date=2018-11-15}}</ref>

====Singapore====
{{see also|Chinese Singaporeans|Languages of Singapore}}
The Singapore government uses Mandarin as the official Chinese variety and has a [[Speak Mandarin Campaign]] (SMC) seeking to actively promote using Mandarin at the expense of other Chinese varieties. A little over 15% of Chinese households in Singapore speak Cantonese. Despite the government actively promoting SMC, the Cantonese-speaking Chinese community has been relatively successful in preserving its language from Mandarin compared with other dialect groups.<ref>{{Citation |last=Lee |first=Edmond Eu Fah |title=Profile of the Singapore Chinese Dialect Groups |url= http://www.howardscott.net/4/Swatow_A_Colonial_Heritage/Files/Documentation/Lee%20Eu%20Fah.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205010508/http://www.howardscott.net/4/Swatow_A_Colonial_Heritage/Files/Documentation/Lee%20Eu%20Fah.pdf |archive-date=2011-02-05 |work=Statistics Singapore Newsletter}}</ref>

Notably, all nationally produced non-Mandarin Chinese TV and radio programs were stopped after 1979.<ref name="cna">{{Cite web |date=2009-03-06 |title=Use of Dialects Interfere with Learning of Mandarin & English |url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/413581/1/.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307112543/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/413581/1/.html |archive-date=2009-03-07 |access-date=2012-01-20 |website=channelnewsasia.com}}</ref> The prime minister, [[Lee Kuan Yew]], then, also stopped giving speeches in [[Hokkien]] to prevent giving conflicting signals to the people.<ref name="cna"/> Hong Kong (Cantonese) and [[Taiwanese Hokkien|Taiwanese]] dramas are unavailable in their untranslated form on free-to-air television, though drama series in non-Chinese languages are available in their original languages. Cantonese drama series on terrestrial TV channels are instead dubbed in Mandarin and broadcast without the original Cantonese audio and soundtrack. However, originals may be available through other sources like cable television and online videos.

Furthermore, an offshoot of SMC is the translation to [[Hanyu Pinyin]] of certain terms which originated from southern Chinese varieties. For instance, [[dim sum]] is often known as ''diǎn xīn'' in Singapore's English-language media, though this is largely a matter of style, and most Singaporeans will still refer to it as ''dim sum'' when speaking English.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Speak Mandarin Campaign |url=http://www.mandarin.org.sg |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403155652/http://www.mandarin.org.sg/ |archive-date=2012-04-03 |access-date=2010-10-07 |publisher=Singapore Promote Mandarin Council}}</ref>

Nevertheless, since the government restriction on media in non-Mandarin varieties was relaxed in the mid-1990s and 2000s, presence of Cantonese in Singapore has grown substantially. Forms of popular culture from Hong Kong, like [[Hong Kong television drama|television series]], [[Hong Kong cinema|cinema]] and [[Cantopop|pop music]] have become popular in Singaporean society, and non-dubbed original versions of the media became widely available. Consequently, the number of non-Cantonese Chinese Singaporeans being able to understand or speak Cantonese to some varying extent is growing, with a number of educational institutes offering Cantonese as an elective language course.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chua |first=Beng Huat |title=Life is Not Complete Without Shopping: Consumption Culture in Singapore |publisher=Singapore University Press |date=2003 |location=Singapore |pages=89–90}}</ref>

====Cambodia====
Cantonese is widely used as the inter-communal language among [[Chinese Cambodian]]s, especially in [[Phnom Penh]] and other urban areas. While Teochew speakers form the majority of the Chinese population in [[Cambodia]], Cantonese is often used as a vernacular in commerce and with other Chinese variant groups in the nation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cambodia – The Chinese |publisher=Countrystudies.us |url=http://countrystudies.us/cambodia/45.htm |access-date=2016-04-22 |url-status=live |archive-date=2011-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629081859/http://countrystudies.us/cambodia/45.htm}}</ref> Chinese-language schools in Cambodia are conducted in both Cantonese and Mandarin, but schools may be conducted exclusively in one Chinese variant or the other.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Chan |first=Sambath |title=The Chinese Minority in Cambodia: Identity Construction and Contestation |date=2005 |degree=Master's |publisher=Concordia University |page=34 |access-date=29 January 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011122417/https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/8439/1/MR04330.pdf |archive-date=11 October 2017 |url=http://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/8439/1/MR04330.pdf}}</ref>

====Thailand====
While [[Thailand]] is home to the [[Thai Chinese|largest overseas Chinese community]] in the world, the vast majority of ethnic Chinese in the country speak Thai exclusively.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Luangthongkum |first=Theraphan |title=Language, Nation and Development in Southeast Asia |date=2007 |publisher=ISEAS Publishing |isbn=9789812304827 |editor-last=Guan |editor-first=Lee Hock |page=191 |chapter=The Position of Non-Thai Languages in Thailand |author-link=Theraphan Luangthongkum |editor-last2=Suryadinata |editor-first2=Leo Suryadinata |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ImjVqAVxO74C&pg=PA191 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Among Chinese-speaking Thai households, Cantonese is the fourth most-spoken Chinese variety after [[Teochew language|Teochew]], [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]] and [[Hainanese]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Knodel |first1=John |title=The Well-Being of the Elderly in Asia: A Four-Country Comparative Study |last2=Ofstedal |first2=Mary Beth |last3=Hermalin |first3=Albert I |date=2002 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=0-472-11280-5 |location=Ann Arbor |pages=38–39 |chapter=The Demographic, Socioeconomic, and Cultural Context of the Four Study Countries |hdl=2027/mdp.39015060636282 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> Nevertheless, within the Thai Chinese commercial sector, it serves as a common language alongside Teochew or Thai. Chinese-language schools in Thailand have also traditionally been conducted in Cantonese. Furthermore, Cantonese serves as the lingua franca with other Chinese communities in the region.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/alternateidentit00chee |title=Alternate Identities: The Chinese of Contemporary Thailand |date=2001 |publisher=Brill |editor-last=Tong |editor-first=Chee Kiong |pages=[https://archive.org/details/alternateidentit00chee/page/21 21]–25 |isbn=9789812101426 |editor-last2=Chan |editor-first2=Kwok B. |url-access=registration}}</ref>

====Indonesia====
In [[Indonesia]], Cantonese is locally known as ''Konghu'' and is one of the variants spoken by the [[Chinese Indonesian]] community, with speakers largely concentrated in certain major cities like [[Jakarta]], [[Medan]], [[Surabaya]], [[Makassar]], [[Semarang]], [[Manado]] and [[Batam]]. However, it has a relatively minor presence compared to other Southeast Asian nations, being the fourth most spoken Chinese variety after Hokkien, Hakka and Teochew.{{sfnp|Lewis|2005|p=391}}

===North America===
====United States====
{{main|Chinese language in the United States}}
[[File:San Francisco China Town MC.jpg|thumb|right|Street in [[Chinatown, San Francisco]]. Cantonese has traditionally been the dominant Chinese variant among Chinese populations in the Western world.]]

Over a period of 150 years (from 1850 to the 2000s), Guangdong has been the place-of-origin for most Chinese emigrants to Western nations; one coastal county, [[Taishan, Guangdong|Taishan]] (or Tóisàn, where the Sìyì or ''sei yap'' variety of Yue is spoken), alone may be the origin of the vast majority of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. before 1965.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bryson |first=Bill |title=Made in America |title-link=Made in America (book) |author-link=Bill Bryson}}{{page needed|date=September 2021}}</ref> As a result, Yue languages such as Cantonese and the closely related variety of [[Taishanese]] have been the major Chinese varieties traditionally spoken in the United States. In 2009, 458,840 Americans spoke Cantonese at home according to an American Community Survey.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How Many People Speak "What Languages" in America |url=http://names.mongabay.com/languages/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429061742/http://names.mongabay.com/languages/ |archive-date=April 29, 2017 |access-date=4 October 2017 |website=Mongabay.com |language=en}}</ref>

The Zhongshan variant of Cantonese, which originated from the western Pearl River Delta, is spoken by many Chinese immigrants in Hawaii, and some in San Francisco and the [[Sacramento River]] Delta (see [[Locke, California]]). It is a Yuehai variety much like Guangzhou Cantonese but has "flatter" tones. Chinese is the second most widely spoken non-English language in the United States when both Cantonese and Mandarin are combined, behind Spanish.<ref>{{Cite web |agency=US Census |website=United States Census Bureau |title= Top Languages Other than English Spoken in 1980 and Changes in Relative Rank, 1990–2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/dataviz/visualizations/045/}}</ref> Many institutes of higher education have traditionally had Chinese programs based on Cantonese, with some continuing to offer these programs despite the rise of Mandarin. The most popular romanization for learning Cantonese in the United States is [[Yale romanization of Cantonese|Yale romanization]].

The majority of Chinese emigrants have traditionally originated from Guangdong and Guangxi, as well as Hong Kong and Macau (beginning in the latter half of the 20th century and before the [[Handover of Hong Kong|handover]]) and Southeast Asia, with Cantonese as their native language. However, more recent immigrants are arriving from the rest of mainland China and Taiwan and most often speak [[Standard Chinese|Standard Mandarin]] (Putonghua) as their native language,<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 29, 2003 |title=Mandarin Use Up in Chinese American Communities |website=HSK Tests Online |agency=Associated Press |url=http://hsktests.com/mandarin-use-chinese-american-communities/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316061825/http://hsktests.com/mandarin-use-chinese-american-communities/ |archive-date=16 March 2018 |access-date=29 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=As Mandarin Language Becomes Standard, Chinatown Explores New Identity |website=Medill Reports – Chicago |url=http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=115613 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120194030/http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=115613 |archive-date=2012-01-20 |access-date=2012-01-20}}</ref> although some may also speak their native local variety, such as [[Shanghainese]], [[Hokkien]], [[Fuzhounese]], [[Hakka language|Hakka]], etc. As a result, Mandarin is becoming more common among the Chinese American community.

The increase of Mandarin-speaking communities has resulted in the rise of separate neighborhoods or enclaves segregated by the primary Chinese variety spoken. Socioeconomic statuses are also a factor.<ref name="Chee Beng Tan 2007 115">{{Cite book |title=Chinese Transnational Networks |publisher=Taylor & Francis |date=2007 |editor-last=Tan |editor-first=Chee-Beng |page=115}}</ref> For example, in New York City, Cantonese still predominates in the city's [[Mott Street|older, traditional western portion]] of [[Chinatown, Manhattan|Chinatown]] in [[Manhattan]] and in Brooklyn's small new Chinatowns in [[Bensonhurst, Brooklyn|Bensonhurst]] and [[Homecrest, Brooklyn|Homecrest]]. The newly emerged [[Little Fuzhou]] eastern portion of Manhattan's Chinatown and [[Chinatown, Brooklyn|Brooklyn's main large Chinatown]] in and around [[Sunset Park, Brooklyn|Sunset Park]] are mostly populated by [[Fuzhounese|Fuzhounese speakers]], who often speak Mandarin as well. The Cantonese and Fuzhounese enclaves in New York City are more working class. However, due to the rapid gentrification of Manhattan's Chinatown and with NYC's Cantonese and Fuzhou populations now increasingly shifting to other Chinese enclaves in the [[Boroughs of New York City|Outer Boroughs of NYC]], such as [[Brooklyn]] and [[Queens]], but mainly in Brooklyn's newer Chinatowns, the Cantonese speaking population in NYC is now increasingly concentrated in [[Bensonhurst, Brooklyn|Bensonhurst's Little Hong Kong/Guangdong]] and [[Homecrest, Brooklyn|Homecrest's Little Hong Kong/Guangdong]]. The Fuzhou population of NYC is becoming increasingly concentrated in Brooklyn's Sunset Park, also known as [[Chinatowns in Brooklyn|Little Fuzhou]], which is causing the city's growing Cantonese and Fuzhou enclaves to become increasingly distanced and isolated from both each other and other Chinese enclaves in Queens. [[Chinatown, Flushing|Flushing's Chinatown]], which is now the largest Chinatown in the city, and [[Elmhurst, Queens|Elmhurst's smaller Chinatown]] in Queens are very diverse, with large numbers of Mandarin speakers from different regions of China and Taiwan. The Chinatowns of Queens comprise the primary cultural center for New York City's Chinese population and are more middle class.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Semple |first=Kirk |date=October 21, 2009 |title=In Chinatown, Sound of the Future Is Mandarin |page=[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/nyregion/22chinese.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0 2] |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/nyregion/22chinese.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0 |access-date=March 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019104552/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/nyregion/22chinese.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0 |archive-date=2017-10-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nelson |first=Katie |date=September 15, 2011 |title=Asian Boom in Brooklyn Along N-Lline Neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Census Data Shows |website=New York Daily News |url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-09-15/local/30177742_1_bensonhurst-census-data-census-numbers-show |access-date=2021-05-08 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731001951/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-09-15/local/30177742_1_bensonhurst-census-data-census-numbers-show}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Robbins |first=Liz |date=April 15, 2015 |title=With an Influx of Newcomers, Little Chinatowns Dot a Changing Brooklyn |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/nyregion/influx-of-chinese-immigrants-is-reshaping-large-parts-of-brooklyn.html}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Chinese Population by Census Tract – New York City, 2010 |publisher=New York City Department of City Planning |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/planning-level/nyc-population/census2010/m_asnsubnum_ct.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-12-13 |title=Mapping America: Every City, Every Block |url=http://www.nytimes.com/projects/census/2010/map.html |access-date=2020-05-14 |website=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite report |title=The Newest New Yorkers: Characteristics of the City's Foreign-Born Population |last=New York City Department of City Planning |date=2013 |edition=2013 |pages=23–94 |chapter-url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/nny2013/chapter3.pdf |chapter=Immigrant Settlement Patterns in New York City}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Beekman |first=Daniel |date=August 5, 2011 |title=The Changing Chinatowns: Move Over Manhattan, Sunset Park Now Home to Most Chinese in NYC |work=New York Daily News |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/changing-chinatowns-move-manhattan-sunset-park-home-chinese-nyc-article-1.948028}}</ref>

In [[Northern California]], especially the [[San Francisco Bay Area]], Cantonese has historically dominated in the Chinatowns of [[Chinatown, San Francisco|San Francisco]] and [[Chinatown, Oakland|Oakland]], as well as the surrounding suburbs and metropolitan area, although since the late 2000s a concentration of Mandarin speakers has formed in [[Silicon Valley]]. In contrast, [[Southern California]] hosts a much larger Mandarin-speaking population, with Cantonese found in more historical Chinese communities such as that of [[Chinatown, Los Angeles]], and older Chinese ethnoburbs such as [[San Gabriel, California|San Gabriel]], [[Rosemead, California|Rosemead]], and [[Temple City, California|Temple City]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pierson |first=David |date=2006-03-31 |title=Dragon Roars in San Gabriel |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-mar-31-me-sangabriel31-story.html |access-date=2014-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503094406/http://articles.latimes.com/2006/mar/31/local/me-sangabriel31 |archive-date=2012-05-03|url-status=live}}</ref> Mandarin predominates in much of the [[Chinese enclaves in the San Gabriel Valley|emergent Chinese American enclave]]s in eastern Los Angeles County and other areas of the metropolitan region.

While a number of more-established Taiwanese immigrants have learned Cantonese to foster relations with the traditional Cantonese-speaking Chinese American population, more recent arrivals and the larger number of mainland Chinese immigrants have largely continued to use Mandarin as the exclusive variety of Chinese. This has led to a [[linguistic discrimination]] that has also contributed to social conflicts between the two sides, with a growing number of Chinese Americans (including [[American-born Chinese]]) of Cantonese background defending the historic Chinese-American culture against the impacts of increasing Mandarin-speaking new arrivals.<ref name="Chee Beng Tan 2007 115"/><ref name="HML">{{Cite book|title=Chinese American Transnational Politics|author=Him Mark Lai|author-link=Him Mark Lai |author2=Madeline Y. Hsu|author2-link=Madeline Y. Hsu|publisher=University of Illinois Press|date=2010|pages=49–51}}</ref>

====Canada====
Cantonese is the most common Chinese variety spoken among [[Chinese Canadians]]. According to the [[Canada 2016 census]], there were 565,275 Canadian residents who reported Cantonese as their native language. Among the self-reported Cantonese speakers, 44% were born in Hong Kong, 27% were born in Guangdong Province in China, and 18% were Canadian-born. Cantonese-speakers can be found in every city with a Chinese community. The majority of Cantonese-speakers in Canada live in the [[Greater Toronto Area]] and [[Metro Vancouver]]. There are sufficient Cantonese-speakers in Canada that there exist locally produced Cantonese TV and radio programming, such as [[Fairchild TV]].

As in the United States, the Chinese Canadian community traces its roots to early immigrants from Guangdong during the latter half of the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Berton |first=Pierre |title=The Last Spike |publisher=Penguin |date=1989 |isbn=0-14-011763-6 |pages=249–250}}</ref> Later Chinese immigrants came from Hong Kong in two waves, first in the late 1960s to mid 1970s, and again in the 1980s to late 1990s on fears arising from the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests]] and impending handover to the People's Republic of China. Chinese-speaking immigrants from conflict zones in Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam, arrived as well, beginning in the mid-1970s and were also largely Cantonese-speaking.

===Western Europe===
====United Kingdom====
The overwhelming majority of Chinese speakers in the United Kingdom use Cantonese, with about 300,000 British people claiming it as their first language.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cantonese Speakers in the UK |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=GB |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119193311/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=GB |archive-date=2012-01-19 |access-date=2012-01-20 |website=Ethnologue.com}}</ref> This is largely due to the presence of [[Hong Kong people in the United Kingdom|British Hong Kongers]] and the fact that many [[British Chinese]] also have origins in the former British colonies in Southeast Asia of Singapore and Malaysia.

====France====
Among the [[Chinese community in France]], Cantonese is spoken by immigrants who fled the former [[French Indochina]] (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) following the conflicts and communist takeovers in the region during the 1970s. While a slight majority of ethnic Chinese from Indochina speak Teochew at home, knowledge of Cantonese is prevalent due to its historic prestige status in the region and is used for commercial and community purposes between the different Chinese variety groups. As in the United States, there is a divide between Cantonese-speakers and those speaking other mainland Chinese varieties.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Laurent |first=Annabelle |date=28 June 2010 |title="Chinois de France" ne veut rien dire |trans-title="Chinese from France" means nothing |url=http://www.slate.fr/story/23827/chinois-de-france-ne-veut-rien-dire |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215231703/https://www.slate.fr/story/23827/chinois-de-france-ne-veut-rien-dire |archive-date=15 February 2018 |access-date=29 January 2018 |website=Slate.fr |language=fr}}</ref>

====Portugal====
Cantonese is spoken by ethnic [[Chinese people in Portugal|Chinese in Portugal]] who [[Macanese people|originate from Macau]], the most established Chinese community in the nation with a presence dating back to the 16th century and [[Portuguese Macau|Portuguese colonialism]]. Since the late-20th century, however, Mandarin- and Wu-speaking migrants from mainland China have outnumbered those from Macau, although Cantonese is still retained among mainstream Chinese community associations.<ref>{{Citation |last=de Oliveira |first=Catarina Reis |title=Immigrant's Entrepreneurial Opportunities: The Case of the Chinese in Portugal |date=July 2003 |work=FEEM Working Papers |issue=75 |doi=10.2139/ssrn.464682 |ssrn=464682 |url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/de39/3dfdfb9a1c77a19a0f249e1965573c763a16.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220074841/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/de39/3dfdfb9a1c77a19a0f249e1965573c763a16.pdf |archive-date=2019-12-20 |s2cid=152878194 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Australia===
Cantonese was the dominant Chinese language of the [[Chinese Australian]] community from the time the first ethnic Chinese settlers arrived in the 1850s until the mid-2000s, when a heavy increase in immigration from Mandarin-speakers largely from mainland China led to Mandarin surpassing Cantonese as the dominant Chinese dialect spoken. Cantonese is the third most-spoken language in Australia. In the 2011 census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics listed 336,410 and 263,673 speakers of Mandarin and Cantonese, respectively. By 2016, those numbers became 596,711 and 280,943.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://langpro.com.au/knowledge-base/what-are-the-most-common-languages-spoken-in-australia/|title=What are the most common languages spoken in Australia?|website=Language Professionals Australia Translation and Interpreting|date=26 November 2018 }}</ref>

==Cultural role==
{{See also|Cantonese culture|Culture of Hong Kong}}
[[File:字言字語_手遊"課金"_曾鈺成_am730.webm|thumb|start=49|end=155|thumbtime=94|''Letter to [[Emperor Renzong of Song|the Emperor]]'' by [[Su Xun]], [[1058]], recited and explained in Cantonese by [[Jasper Tsang]].]]
[[Spoken Chinese]] exhibits a multitude of regional and local varieties, many of which are [[Mutual intelligibility|mutually unintelligible]]. The majority of these varieties are not widely spoken outside of their native regions, although they may be encountered in other parts of the world. Additionally, numerous varieties possess both literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters for newer standard reading sounds. Since a 1909 decree of the [[Qing dynasty]], the government of China has promoted [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] for use in education, the media, and official communications.<ref name=":1" /> However, the proclamation of [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] as the official national language was not fully accepted by the Cantonese authorities in the early 20th century. Proponents of the regional uniqueness of their local language and the commercial importance of the region argued that Cantonese should be preserved. In contrast to other non-Mandarin Chinese varieties, Cantonese persists in a few state [[television]] and [[radio broadcasts]] today.

Nevertheless, there have been recent efforts to reduce the use of Cantonese in [[China]]. The most notable of these has been the 2010 proposal put forth by [[Guangzhou Television]], which called for an increase in Mandarin broadcasts at the expense of Cantonese programmes. This, however, resulted in protests in Guangzhou, which ultimately dissuaded the authorities from pursuing the proposal. Furthermore, there are reports of students being punished for speaking other [[Chinese languages]] at school, which has led to a reluctance among younger children to communicate in their native languages, including Cantonese.<ref name=":1" /> Such actions have further provoked Cantonese speakers to cherish their linguistic identity in contrast to migrants who have generally arrived from poorer areas of China and largely speak Mandarin or other Chinese languages.<ref name=":2" />

Due to the linguistic history of [[Hong Kong]] and [[Macau]], and the use of Cantonese in many established [[overseas Chinese]] communities, the use of Cantonese is quite widespread compared to the presence of its speakers residing in China. Cantonese is the predominant Chinese variety spoken in Hong Kong and Macau. In these areas, public discourse takes place almost exclusively in Cantonese, making it the only variety of Chinese other than Mandarin to be used as an official language in the world. Because of their dominance in Chinese diaspora overseas, standard Cantonese and its dialect [[Taishanese]] are among the most common Chinese languages that one may encounter in the West.

Increasingly since the [[Handover of Hong Kong|1997 handover]], Cantonese has been used as a symbol of local identity in Hong Kong, largely through the [[Democratic development in Hong Kong|development of democracy in the territory]] and [[Desinicization#Hong Kong|desinicization]] practices to emphasise a separate Hong Kong identity.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=McLean-Dreyfus |first=Marie-Alice |date=2014-11-06 |title=Say It Loud: Language and Identity in Taiwan and Hong Kong |url=http://thinking-taiwan.com/say-it-loud-language-ident-hktw/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180924111305/http://thinking-taiwan.com/say-it-loud-language-ident-hktw/ |archive-date=2018-09-24 |access-date=2018-09-24 |website=Thinking Taiwan}}</ref>

A similar identity issue exists in the United States, where conflicts have arisen among Chinese-speakers due to a large recent influx of Mandarin-speakers. While older Taiwanese immigrants have learned Cantonese to foster integration within the traditional Chinese American populations, more recent arrivals from the mainland continue to use Mandarin exclusively. This has contributed to a segregation of communities based on linguistic cleavage. In particular, some Chinese Americans (including [[American-born Chinese]]) of Cantonese background emphasise their non-mainland origins (e.g. Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, etc.) to assert their identity in the face of new waves of immigration.<ref name="Chee Beng Tan 2007 115"/><ref name="HML"/>

Along with Mandarin and [[Hokkien]], Cantonese has its own popular music, [[Cantopop]], which is the predominant genre in Hong Kong. Many artists from the mainland and Taiwan have learned Cantonese to break into the market.<ref name="Donald">{{Cite book |last1=Donald |first1=Stephanie |title=Media in China: Consumption, Content and Crisis |last2=Keane |first2=Michael |last3=Hong |first3=Yin |publisher=[[RoutledgeCurzon]] |date=2002 |isbn=978-0-7007-1614-2 |page=113}}</ref> Popular native Mandarin-speaking singers, including [[Faye Wong]], [[Eric Moo]], and singers from Taiwan, have been trained in Cantonese to add "Hong Kong-ness" to their performances.<ref name="Donald" />

Cantonese films date to the early days of Chinese cinema, and the first Cantonese talkie, ''{{ill|White Gold Dragon|zh|白金龙 (电影)|vertical-align=sup}}'', was made in 1932 by the [[Tianyi Film Company]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DdrHAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA193 |title=Hong Kong Connections: Transnational Imagination in Action Cinema |publisher=Duke University Press Books |date=2006 |isbn=978-1932643015 |editor-last=Morris |editor-first=Meaghan |page=193 |editor-last2=Li |editor-first2=Siu Leung |editor-last3=Chan |editor-first3=Stephen Ching-kiu}}</ref> Despite a ban on Cantonese films by the [[Nanjing decade|Nanjing authority]] in the 1930s, Cantonese film production continued in Hong Kong which was then under British colonial rule.<ref name="Cantonese film">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vD6I4hP4CDMC&pg=PA184 |title=Cinema and Urban Culture in Shanghai, 1922–1943 |date=1999 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0804735728 |editor=Yingjin Zhang |page=184 |access-date=2015-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510125954/https://books.google.com/books?id=vD6I4hP4CDMC&pg=PA184#v=onepage&q&f=false |archive-date=2016-05-10 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Odham Stokes |first=Lisa |date=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eUlAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA427 |title=Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0810855205 |page=427}}</ref> From the mid-1970s to the 1990s, [[Cinema of Hong Kong|Cantonese films]] made in Hong Kong were very popular in the Chinese speaking world.

==Phonology==
{{Main|Cantonese phonology}}
{{See also|Hong Kong Cantonese}}

===Initials and finals===
The de facto standard for Cantonese pronunciation is that of [[Cantonese|Canton]] ([[Guangzhou]]). While there are some minor phonological variations between [[Hong Kong Cantonese]] and standard Guangzhou Cantonese, the two forms are almost identical.

The phonemic systems of [[Hong Kong]] and Macau exhibit a tendency to merge certain phoneme pairs. Despite the fact that this phenomenon has been described as a lazy sound/pronunciation ({{lang|zh-hk|懶音}}) furthermore, this pronunciation is regarded as inferior to that of Guangzhou, and has been prevalent in the territories since the early 20th century. The most notable difference between Hong Kong and Guangzhou pronunciation is substituting liquid nasal {{IPA|/l/}} for nasal initial {{IPA|/n/}} in many words.{{sfnp|Matthews|Yip|2011|p=4}} An example is manifested in the word for you ({{linktext|lang=zh|你}}), pronounced as [nei˩˧] in Guangzhou and as [lei˩˧] in Hong Kong.

Another key feature of Hong Kong Cantonese is the two syllabic nasals {{IPA|/ŋ̩˨˩/}} and {{IPA|/m̩˨˩/}} merging. This can be exemplified in the elimination of the contrast of sounds between 吳 ([[Ng (surname)|Ng]], a surname) ([ŋ̩˨˩] in Guangzhou pronunciation) and {{linktext|lang=zh|唔}} (not) ([m̩˨˩] in Guangzhou pronunciation). Hong Kong Cantonese pronounce both words as the latter.{{sfnp|Matthews|Yip|2011|p=37}}

Lastly, the initials {{IPA|/kʷ/}} and {{IPA|/kʷʰ/}} are merging into {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/kʰ/}} when followed by {{IPA|/ɔː/}}. An example is in the word for country (國), pronounced in standard Guangzhou as ''[kʷɔk]'' but as ''[kɔk]'' with the merge. Unlike the above two differences, this merge is alongside the standard pronunciation in Hong Kong rather than being replaced. Educated speakers often stick to the standard pronunciation but can exemplify the merged pronunciation in casual speech. In contrast, less educated speakers pronounce the merge more frequently.{{sfnp|Matthews|Yip|2011|p=37}}

Less prevalent, but still notable differences found among a number of Hong Kong speakers include:
*Merging {{IPA|/ŋ/}} initial into null initial
*Merging {{IPA|/ŋ/}} and {{IPA|/k/}} codas into {{IPA|/n/}} and {{IPA|/t/}} codas respectively, eliminating contrast between these pairs of finals (except after {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/o/}}{{clarify|date=August 2020}}<!-- this seems to be based on an analysis different from the one used currently in the article, these apparently should be "i/ɪ" and "u/ʊ"-->): {{IPA|/aːn/}}-{{IPA|/aːŋ/}}, {{IPA|/aːt/}}-{{IPA|/aːk/}}, {{IPA|/ɐn/}}-{{IPA|/ɐŋ/}}, {{IPA|/ɐt/}}-{{IPA|/ɐk/}}, {{IPA|/ɔːn/}}-{{IPA|/ɔːŋ/}} and {{IPA|/ɔːt/}}-{{IPA|/ɔːk/}}.
*Merging the rising tones ({{lang|zh-Hant|陰上}} 2nd and {{lang|zh-Hant|陽上}} 5th).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bauer |first1=Robert S. |last2=Cheung |first2=Kwan-hin |last3=Cheung |first3=Pak-man |date=2003 |title=Variation and Merger of the Rising Tones in Hong Kong Cantonese |journal=Language Variation and Change |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=211–225 |doi=10.1017/S0954394503152039 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10397/7632 |s2cid=145563867 |url=http://ira.lib.polyu.edu.hk/bitstream/10397/7632/1/Bauer_Variation_Merger_Tones.pdf}}</ref>

Cantonese vowels tend to be traced further back to [[Middle Chinese]] than their Mandarin analogues, such as M. /aɪ/ vs. C. /ɔːi/; M. /i/ vs. C. /ɐi/; M. /ɤ/ vs. C. /ɔː/; M. /ɑʊ/ vs. C. /ou/ etc.{{clarify|date=October 2024|reason=What does this mean? Both varieties originate from Middle Chinese, both of their vowel systems consist of reflexes of the same Middle Chinese vowels, which means that their vowels can both be traced to the exact same period, namely Middle Chinese, so one is not 'traced further back' than the other. Is the idea that the pronunciations of the Cantonese reflexes are phonetically closer to the Middle Chinese pronunciations? Or that the Cantonese vowel system preserves more of the phonemic distinctions that Middle Chinese had? In either case, a comparison with Middle Chinese pronunciations should be added here in order to both prove the point being made and just make it clearer what is being claimed.}} For consonants, some differences include M. /ɕ, tɕ, tɕʰ/ vs. C. /h, k, kʰ/; M. /ʐ/ vs. C. /j/; and a greater syllable coda diversity in Cantonese (like syllables ending in ''-p'', ''-t'' or ''-k'').

===Tones===
Generally speaking, Cantonese is a [[tonal language]] with six phonetic tones, two more than the four in Standard Chinese Mandarin. This makes Cantonese in general harder to master due to required ability of users to readily be able to process two additional phonetic tones. People who grew up using Cantonese tones can usually hear the tonal differences with no problem, but adults who were brought up speaking non-tonal languages like English and most Western European languages may not be able to distinguish the tonal differences quick enough to optimally use the language. This difficulty also applies to tonal language speakers with fewer tones attempting to master languages with more tones such as Mandarin natives trying to learn spoken Cantonese as adults. 

Historically, finals that end in a [[stop consonant]] were considered as "[[checked tone]]s" and treated separately by [[Historical linguistics|diachronic]] convention, identifying Cantonese with nine tones ({{lang|zh|九声六调}}). However, these are seldom counted as [[phonemic]] tones in modern linguistics, which prefer to analyse them as [[allophone|conditioned]] by the following consonant.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Bauer|Benedict|1997|pp=119–120}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!Syllable type!!colspan=6|
|-
![[Tone name]]
|dark flat<br />({{lang|zh-Hant|陰平}})||dark rising<br />({{lang|zh-Hant|陰上}})||dark departing<br />({{lang|zh-Hant|陰去}})
|light flat<br />({{lang|zh-Hant|陽平}})||light rising<br />({{lang|zh-Hant|陽上}})||light departing<br />({{lang|zh-Hant|陽去}})
|-
! Description
|high falling,<br />high level||medium rising||medium level
|low falling,<br />very low level||low rising||low level
|-
! [[Yale romanization of Cantonese|Yale]] or [[Jyutping]]<br />[[tone number]]
|1||2||3
|4||5||6
|-
! Example
|詩||{{linktext|lang=zh|史}}||試
|時||{{linktext|lang=zh|市}}||{{linktext|lang=zh|是}}
|-
! [[Tone letter]]
| {{IPA|siː˥˧}}, {{IPA|siː˥}} || {{IPA|siː˧˥}} || {{IPA|siː˧}}
| {{IPA|siː˨˩}}, {{IPA|siː˩}} || {{IPA|siː˩˧}} || {{IPA|siː˨}}
|-
! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] diacritic
| {{IPA|sîː}}, {{IPA|síː}} || {{IPA|sǐː}} || {{IPA|sīː}}
| {{IPA|si̖ː}}, {{IPA|sı̏ː}} || {{IPA|si̗ː}} || {{IPA|sìː}}
|-
! Yale diacritic<ref name=dictionary>{{cite book|last=Kwaan|first=Choi Wah|display-authors=et al.|title=English-Cantonese Dictionary 英粵字典: Cantonese in Yale Romanization|date=2004|publisher=New Asia-Yale-in-China Chinese Language Center; The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991; "first copublished edition", The Chinese University Press, The Chinese University of Hong; New Asia-Yale-in-China Language Center, 2000; second printing. Note that, in Yale-Romanization, tone 1 is marked by the (down-sloping =) grave accent even in the situation that it gets realised as its high flat variant, which occurs (automatically) in Canton-standard pronunciation wherever the tone 1 immediately precedes any syllable whose tone is or begins high, as within for example the 應當 that occurs in the sample text near the end of this article|place=Sha Tin}}</ref>
|sì||sí||si
|sìh||síh||sih
|}

==Written Cantonese==
{{Main|Written Cantonese|Cantonese Braille}}
As Cantonese is predominantly utilised in Hong Kong, Macau, and other overseas Chinese communities, it is typically inscribed with traditional Chinese characters. Nevertheless, it incorporates supplementary characters and characters with disparate meanings from written vernacular Chinese, due to the presence of lexical items that are either absent from standard Chinese or correspond with spoken Cantonese. This written Cantonese system frequently manifests in colloquial contexts, such as entertainment magazines, social media, and advertisements.

In contrast, formal literature, professional and government documents, television and movie subtitles, and news media continue to use standard written Chinese. Nevertheless, colloquial characters may be present in formal written communications such as legal testimonies and newspapers when an individual is being quoted, rather than paraphrasing spoken Cantonese into standard written Chinese.

==Romanization==
{{Commons category|Romanization of Cantonese}}
<noinclude>{{more citations needed|section|date=May 2021}}
</noinclude>
Systems of Cantonese romanization are based on the accents of Canton and Hong Kong and have helped define the concept of Standard Cantonese. The major systems are (in order of their invention from newest to oldest): [[Jyutping]], the Chinese government's [[Guangdong Romanization]], [[Yale Romanization of Cantonese|Yale]], [[Meyer–Wempe]], and [[Standard Romanization (Cantonese)|Standard Romanization]]. Jyutping and Yale are the two most used and taught systems today in the West,<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Kataoka |first1=Shin |last2=Lee |first2=Cream |date=2008 |title=A System without a System: Cantonese Romanization Used in Hong Kong Place and Personal Names |journal=Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics |volume=11 |pages=83–84}}</ref> and they do not differ greatly from one another except in how they mark tones. Additionally, Hong Kong linguist [[Sidney Lau]] [[Sidney Lau romanisation|modified the Yale system]] for his popular Cantonese-as-a-second-language course, and his variant is another system in use today.

[[Hong Kong Government Cantonese Romanisation|Hong Kong]]'s and [[Macau Government Cantonese Romanization|Macau]]'s governments use systems of romanization for proper names and geographic locations, but they transcribe some sounds inconsistently.  These systems are not taught in schools. Macau's system differs slightly from Hong Kong's in that the spellings are influenced by [[Portuguese language]] due to colonial history. For example, while many words in Macau's system are the same as Hong Kong's (e.g. surnames ''Lam'' 林, ''Chan'' 陳), instances of the letter {{angbr|u}} under Hong Kong's system are often replaced by {{angbr|o}} in Macau's (e.g. ''Chau'' vs. ''Chao'' 周, ''Leung'' vs ''Leong'' 梁). Neither the spellings of Hong Kong's system nor of Macau's look very similar to mainland China's system called [[pinyin]], chiefly because it distinguishes between Mandarin's two series of stops while they, although the pronunciation of Standard Cantonese's two series is similar to the Mandarin, do not generally distinguish them, they thus rendering not only /pʰ/, /tʰ/, and so forth, but also /p/, /t/, and the remaining non-aspirates, by the simple spellings {{angbr|p}}, {{angbr|t}}, etc. vs. it rendering the latter series by {{angbr|b}}, {{angbr|d}}, and the like.

===Early Western efforts===
Systematic efforts to develop an alphabetic representation of Cantonese began with Protestant missionaries arriving in China early in the nineteenth century. Romanization was considered both a tool to help new missionaries learn the variety more easily and a quick route for the unlettered to achieve gospel-literacy. Earlier Catholic missionaries, mostly Portuguese, had developed romanization-schemes for the pronunciation current in the court and capital city of China but made few efforts to romanize other varieties.

[[Robert Morrison (missionary)|Robert Morrison]], the first [[Protestant]] missionary in China, published a ''Vocabulary of the Canton Dialect'' (1828) with a rather unsystematic romanized pronunciation. [[Elijah Coleman Bridgman]] and [[Samuel Wells Williams]] in their ''Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect'' (1841) were the progenitors of a long-lived lineage of related romanizations that with minor variations are embodied in the works of [[James Dyer Ball]], [[Ernst Johann Eitel]], and [[Immanuel Gottlieb Genähr]] (1910). Bridgman and Williams based their system on the phonetic alphabet and diacritics proposed by [[William Jones (philologist)|Sir William Jones]] for South Asian languages.

Their system of romanization embodied the phonological system of a local-dialect rhyme-dictionary, the ''Fenyun cuoyao'', which was widely used and easily obtainable at the time and is still available today. Samuel Wells Willams' ''Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in the Canton Dialect'' (''Yinghua fenyun cuoyao'', 1856) is an alphabetic rearrangement, translation, and annotation of this ''Fenyun''. To adapt the system to the needs of users in an era when there was no standard, but rather only a range of local variants—although the speech of the western suburbs (Xiguan 西關) of Guangzhou was the prestige variety—Williams suggested that users learn and follow their teacher's pronunciation of his chart of Cantonese syllables. It was apparently Bridgman's innovation to mark the tones with (for the upper-register ones) open circles vs. (for the lower-register tones) underlined open circles, in either case at the four corners of the romanized word in analogy with the traditional Chinese system of marking the tone of a character with a circle (lower left for "even", upper left for "rising", upper right for "going", and lower right for "entering" tones).

[[John Chalmers (missionary)|John Chalmers]] in his ''English and Cantonese Pocket-Dictionary'' (1859) simplified the tone-markings by using: a syllable-final acute accent to mark "rising" tones, a syllable-final grave one to mark the "going" tones, no diacritic for the "even" tones, and italics (or in hand-written work underlining) to mark tones as belonging to the upper register. "Entering" tones could be distinguished by the consonants with which they end (p/t/k). [[Nicholas Belfeld Dennys]] used Chalmers' romanization in his primer. This method of marking tones was in most of its details used later also by the [[Cantonese Yale|Yale romanization]], where however, importantly, instead of the upper-register tones being marked by italics, the lower-register ones are marked by an 'h' (which comes after whatever letter spells the last vocalic element in the syllable). Another innovation of Chalmers in this dictionary was to eliminate acute/grave accents on top of vowels by adding more distinctions of vowel-spelling (e.g. a/aa, o/oh), so that the presence vs. absence of an accent over the vowel was no longer needed to distinguish different pronunciations of it.

This new style of romanization still embodied the phonology of the ''Fenyun'', and the name of [[Ernest Tipson|Tipson]] is associated with its particular variety that then was fixed upon by his  missionary peers to become [[Standard Romanization (Cantonese)|Standard Romanization]]. This was the system used importantly: (with virtually no deviation) by [[Meyer-Wempe]]'s dictionary, (even more faithfully) by Cowles' dictionaries (of 1917 & 1965), by O'Melia's textbook, and by many other works in the first two thirds of the twentieth century. It reigned without serious challenge as the standard spelling until Yale's system was devised and became an important rival to it.

The major linguist [[Yuen Ren Chao|Y. R. Chao]] developed a Cantonese adaptation of his [[Gwoyeu Romatzyh]] system. It was first used in Chao's ''Cantonese Primer'', published in 1947 by Harvard University Press (which then in 1948, changed by him very little beyond swapping in of Pekingese for the Cantonese, became his ''Mandarin Primer'', published by the same Press). The system was then modified by K. M. A. Barnett in 1950 into the [[Barnett-Chao]] romanization system.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/608474 | jstor=608474 | title=A Transcription for Cantonese: Notes on Mr. Yuen Ren Chao's "Cantonese Primer" | last1=Barnett | first1=K. M. A. | journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London | date=1950 | volume=13 | issue=3 | pages=725–745 | doi=10.1017/S0041977X00140108 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> The B–C system was used in a handful of texts, including textbooks published by the Hong Kong government, such as ''Cantonese Conversation Grammar'', published in 1963.

===Cantonese romanization in Hong Kong===
{{See also|Hong Kong Government Cantonese Romanisation}}

An influential work on Cantonese, ''[[A Chinese Syllabary Pronounced According to the Dialect of Canton]],'' written by [[Wong Shik Ling]], was published in 1941. He devised an [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]-based system of transcription, the [[S. L. Wong (phonetic symbols)|S. L. Wong system]], used by many Chinese dictionaries later published in Hong Kong. Although Wong also devised a romanization-scheme, likewise known as the [[S. L. Wong (romanisation)|S. L. Wong system]], the latter is not as widely used as his transcription. This system succeeded the [[Barnett–Chao]] system as being the one used by the Hong Kong Government Language School.

The [[Linguistic Society of Hong Kong]] (LSHK) has advocated the romanization it devised (and named [[Jyutping]]). An arguable advantage of it is that its particular use of J for instance (as at the beginning of its name) matches IPA in contrast to most other systems' using Y, resembling English. Some effort has been made to promote Jyutping, but it has yet to be examined how successfully this has caused use of it to proliferate in the region.

Another popular scheme is [[ILE romanization of Cantonese|ILE romanisation]], the only system of romanization accepted by the [[Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau]] and [[Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority]]. Books and studies for teachers and students in primary and secondary schools usually use this scheme, but some teachers and students use S.L. Wong's system of transcription.

Those learning Cantonese may feel frustrated that, despite efforts to standardize Cantonese romanizations, most native Cantonese speakers, regardless of their level of education, are unfamiliar with any romanization beyond the conventional, Latin-letter spellings of Cantonese names. Because Cantonese is primarily a spoken language, meaning that its speakers do not in most genres of writing use its own writing-system (instead, in most of their writing, despite having some Chinese characters unique to Cantonese, primarily following modern standard Chinese, which is closely tied to Mandarin), therefore, it is not taught in schools.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} As a result, locals do not learn any of these systems. In contrast to the general use of romanization in Mandarin-speaking areas of China, systems of romanization for Cantonese are excluded from the educational systems of both Hong Kong and the province of Guangdong. In practice, Hong Kong follows a loose, unnamed romanization-scheme used by the [[Government of Hong Kong]].

Google's Cantonese input uses Yale, Jyutping, or Cantonese Pinyin (ILE romanisation), the Yale being the first standard.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 August 2017 |title=Google Cantonese Input |url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.inputmethod.cantonese&hl=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316062002/https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.inputmethod.cantonese&hl=en |archive-date=16 March 2018 |access-date=29 January 2018 |url-status=live |via=Google Play}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Guǎngdōnghuà pīnyīn – Google sōuxún jiànyì |script-title=zh:廣東話拼音 – Google 搜尋建議 |website=[[Google Hong Kong]] |url=https://www.google.com.hk/intl/zh-TW/landing/suggest/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118174217/http://www.google.com.hk/intl/zh-TW/landing/suggest/ |archive-date=18 January 2018 |access-date=29 January 2018 |language=zh}}</ref>

===Comparison===
Differences between the three main standards are {{font color|bg=LightYellow|text='''highlighted in bold'''}}. Jyutping and ILE recognize certain sounds used in a few colloquial words (like {{IPA|/tɛːu˨/}} 掉, {{IPA|/lɛːm˧˥/}} 舔, and {{IPA|/kɛːp˨/}} 夾) but have not been officially recognized in other systems like Yale. Letters ''Q'', ''R'', ''V'' and ''X'' are not used in any of the systems.<ref name="lshkjyutping">{{cite web |title=Jyutping 粵拼 |url=https://www.lshk.org/jyutping |access-date=2020-10-07 |author=Linguistic Society of Hong Kong |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106201226/https://www.lshk.org/jyutping |archive-date=2021-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=粵音節表 (Table of Cantonese Syllables) |url=http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/Canton2/syllabary/ |access-date=2021-07-20}}</ref>

====Initials====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!rowspan=2|Romanization system
! colspan="19" |Initial consonant
|-
!colspan=4|[[Labial consonant|Labial]]
!colspan=4|[[Dental consonant|Dental]]/[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
!colspan=3|[[Sibilant]]
| colspan="3" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! colspan="2" |[[Labial–velar consonant|Labial–velar]]
|[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]]
|-
!IPA
|幫 {{IPA|p}}
|滂 {{IPA|pʰ}}
|明 {{IPA|m}}
|非 {{IPA|f}}
|端 {{IPA|t}}
|透 {{IPA|tʰ}}
|泥 {{IPA|n}}
|來 {{IPA|l}}
| style="background:LightYellow" |精 '''{{IPA|ts}}'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |清 '''{{IPA|tsʰ}}'''
|心 {{IPA|s}}
|見 {{IPA|k}}
|溪{{IPA|kʰ}}
|我 {{IPA|ŋ}}
|古 {{IPA|kʷ}}
|困 {{IPA|kʷʰ}}
|曉 {{IPA|h}}
| style="background:LightYellow" |以 '''{{IPA|j}}'''
|云 {{IPA|w}}
|-
!Yale
|b
|p
|m
|f
|d
|t
|n
|l
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''j'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''ch'''
|s
|g
|k
|ng
|gw
|kw
|h
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''y'''
|w
|-
!ILE
|b
|p
|m
|f
|d
|t
|n
|l
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''dz'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''ts'''
|s
|g
|k
|ng
|gw
|kw
|h
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''j'''
|w
|-
!Jyutping
|b
|p
|m
|f
|d
|t
|n
|l
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''z'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''c'''
|s
|g
|k
|ng
|gw
|kw
|h
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''j'''
|w
|}

==== Finals ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!rowspan=2|Romanization system
!colspan=33|Main vowel
|-
!colspan=9|{{IPAslink|aː}}
!colspan=9|{{IPAslink|ɐ}}
!colspan=7|{{IPAslink|ɛː}}, {{IPAslink|e}}
!colspan=8|{{IPAslink|iː}}, {{IPAslink|ɪ}}
|-
!'''IPA'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|aː}}'''
|{{IPA|aːi}}
|{{IPA|aːu}}
|{{IPA|aːm}}
|{{IPA|aːn}}
|{{IPA|aːŋ}}
|{{IPA|aːp}}
|{{IPA|aːt}}
|{{IPA|aːk}}
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|ɐ}}'''{{NoteTag|name=short-a|group=finals|Jyutping recognizes the distinction between final "short a" {{IPA|/ɐ/}} and "long a" {{IPA|/aː/}}. The "short a" can occur in elided syllables such as the 十 in 四十四 (sei3-a6-sei3), which the other systems would transcribe with same spelling as the "long a".<ref name="lshkjyutping"/>}}
|{{IPA|ɐi}}
|{{IPA|ɐu}}
|{{IPA|ɐm}}
|{{IPA|ɐn}}
|{{IPA|ɐŋ}}
|{{IPA|ɐp}}
|{{IPA|ɐt}}
|{{IPA|ɐk}}
|{{IPA|ɛː}}
|{{IPA|ei}}
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|ɛːu}}'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|ɛːm}}'''
|{{IPA|ɛːŋ}}
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|ɛːp}}'''
|{{IPA|ɛːk}}
|{{IPA|iː}}
|{{IPA|iːu}}
|{{IPA|iːm}}
|{{IPA|iːn}}
|{{IPA|ɪŋ}}
|{{IPA|iːp}}
|{{IPA|iːt}}
|{{IPA|ɪk}}
|-
!'''Yale'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''a'''
|aai
|aau
|aam
|aan
|aang
|aap
|aat
|aak
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''a'''{{NoteTag|name=short-a|group=finals}}
|ai
|au
|am
|an
|ang
|ap
|at
|ak
|e
|ei
|style="background:LightYellow"|
|style="background:LightYellow"|
|eng
|style="background:LightYellow"|
|ek
|i
|iu
|im
|in
|ing
|ip
|it
|ik
|-
!'''ILE'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''aa'''
|aai
|aau
|aam
|aan
|aang
|aap
|aat
|aak
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''aa'''{{NoteTag|name=short-a|group=finals}}
|ai
|au
|am
|an
|ang
|ap
|at
|ak
|e
|ei
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''eu'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''em'''
|eng
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''ep'''
|ek
|i
|iu
|im
|in
|ing
|ip
|it
|ik
|-
!'''Jyutping'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''aa'''
|aai
|aau
|aam
|aan
|aang
|aap
|aat
|aak
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''a'''{{NoteTag|name=short-a|group=finals}}
|ai
|au
|am
|an
|ang
|ap
|at
|ak
|e
|ei
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''eu'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''em'''
|eng
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''ep'''
|ek
|i
|iu
|im
|in
|ing
|ip
|it
|ik
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!rowspan=2|Romanization system
!colspan=23|Main vowel
!colspan=2, rowspan=2|[[Syllabic consonant]]
|-
!colspan=7|{{IPAslink|ɔː}}, {{IPAslink|o}}
!colspan=6|{{IPAslink|uː}}, {{IPAslink|ʊ}}
!colspan=4|{{IPAslink|œː}}
!colspan=3|{{IPAslink|ɵ}}
!colspan=3|{{IPAslink|yː}}
|-
!IPA
|{{IPA|ɔː}}
|{{IPA|ɔːi}}
|{{IPA|ou}}
|{{IPA|ɔːn}}
|{{IPA|ɔːŋ}}
|{{IPA|ɔːt}}
|{{IPA|ɔːk}}
|{{IPA|uː}}
|{{IPA|uːi}}
|{{IPA|uːn}}
|{{IPA|ʊŋ}}
|{{IPA|uːt}}
|{{IPA|ʊk}}
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|œː}}'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|œːŋ}}'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|œːt}}'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|œːk}}'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|ɵy}}'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|ɵn}}'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|ɵt}}'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|yː}}'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|yːn}}'''
| style="background:LightYellow" |'''{{IPA|yːt}}'''
|{{IPA|m̩}}
|{{IPA|ŋ̩}}
|-
!Yale
|o
|oi
|ou
|on
|ong
|ot
|ok
|u
|ui
|un
|ung
|ut
|uk
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''eu'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''eung'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''euk'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''eui'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''eun'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''eut'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''yu'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''yun'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''yut'''
|m
|ng
|-
!ILE
|o
|oi
|ou
|on
|ong
|ot
|ok
|u
|ui
|un
|ung
|ut
|uk
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''oe'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''oeng'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''oek'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''oey'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''oen'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''oet'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''y'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''yn'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''yt'''
|m
|ng
|-
!Jyutping
|o
|oi
|ou
|on
|ong
|ot
|ok
|u
|ui
|un
|ung
|ut
|uk
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''oe'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''oeng'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''oet'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''oek'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''eoi'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''eon'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''eot'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''yu'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''yun'''
|style="background:LightYellow"|'''yut'''
|m
|ng
|}

{{NoteFoot|group=finals}}

====Tones====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!rowspan=2|Romanization system
!colspan=9|Tone
|-
!colspan=3|Dark (陰)
!colspan=3|Light (陽)
!colspan=3|[[Checked tone|Checked]] (入聲)
|-
![[Tone letter#Chao tone letters (IPA)|Chao Tone Contour]]
|53, 55
|35
|33
|21, 11
|24, 13
|22
|5
|3
|2
|-
!IPA Tone Letters{{sfnp|Matthews|Yip|1994|p={{page needed|date=September 2021}}}}
|{{IPA|˥˧}}, {{IPA|˥}}
|{{IPA|˧˥}}
|{{IPA|˧}}
|{{IPA|˨˩}}, {{IPA|˩}}
|{{IPA|˨˦}}, {{IPA|˩˧}}
|{{IPA|˨}}
|{{IPA|˥}}
|{{IPA|˧}}
|{{IPA|˨}}
|-
!Yale<ref name=dictionary/>
|à
|á
|a
|àh
|áh
|ah
|āk
|ak
|ahk
|-
!ILE
|1
|2
|3
|4
|5
|6
|7
|8
|9
|-
!Jyutping
|1
|2
|3
|4
|5
|6
|1
|3
|6
|}

== Sample text ==
The following is a sample text in Cantonese of Article 1 of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] with English.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
|-
!Cantonese<ref>{{Cite web |title=OHCHR {{!}} Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Cantonese |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/human-rights/universal-declaration/translations/cantonese |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=OHCHR |language=en}}</ref>
|<big>人人生而自由，喺尊嚴同埋權利上一律平等。佢哋有理性同埋良心，而且應當以兄弟關係嘅精神相對待。</big>
|-
!IPA
|/jɐn˨˩ jɐn˨˩ sɐŋ˥˧ ji:˨˩ tsiː˨ jɐuː˨˩, hɐi˧˥ tsy:n˥˧ jiːm˨˩ tʰʊŋ˨˩ ma:i˨˩ kʰyːn˨˩ lei˨ sœ:ŋ˨ jɐt˥ lɵt˨ pʰɪŋ˨˩ tɐŋ˧˥. kʰɵy˩˧ tei˨ jɐu˩˧ lei˩˧ sɪŋ˧ tʰʊŋ˨˩ ma:i˨˩ lœ:ŋ˨˩ sɐm˥˧, ji:˨˩ tsʰɛ:˧˥ jɪŋ˥ tɔ:ŋ˥˧ ji:˩˧ jy:˩˧ hɪŋ˥˧ tɐi˨ kʷaːn˥˧ hɐi˨ kɛ:˧ tsɪŋ˥˧ sɐn˨˩ sœ:ŋ˥˧ tɵy˧ tɔ:i˨./
|-
!Yale romanisation<ref name=dictionary/>
|yàhnyàhn sàng yìh jihyàuh, hái jyùnyìhm tùhngmàaih kyùhn leih seuhng yātleuht pìhngdáng. kéuihdeih yáuh léihsing tùhngmàaih lèuhngsàm, yìhché yìngdòng yíh hìngdaih gwàanhaih ge jìngsàhn sèung deui doih.
|-
!ILE romanisation
|jan4 jan4 sang1 ji4 dzi6 jau4, hai2 dzyn1 jim4 tung4 maai4 kyn4 lei6 soeng6 jat7 loet9 ping4 dang2. koey5 dei6 jau5 lei5 sing3 tung4 maai4 loeng4 sam1, ji4 tse2 jing1 dong1 ji5 hing1 dai6 gwaan1 hai6 ge3 dzing1 san4 soeng1 doey3 doi6.
|-
!Jyutping romanisation
|jan4 jan4 sang1 ji4 zi6 jau4, hai2 zyun1 jim4 tung4 maai4 kyun4 lei6 soeng6 jat1 leot6 ping4 dang2. keoi5 dei2 jau5 lei5 sing3 tung4 maai4 loeng4 sam1, ji4 ce2 jing1 dong1 ji5 hing1 dai6 gwaan1 hai6 ge3 zing1 san4 soeng1 deoi3 doi6.
|-
!English original:
|"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|China|Taiwan|Hong Kong|Singapore|Language}}
*[[Cantonese grammar]]
*[[Cantonese profanity]]
*[[Cantonese slang]]
*[[Cantonese nationalism]]
*[[Languages of China]]
*[[List of English words of Chinese origin]]
*[[List of varieties of Chinese]]
*[[Protection of the varieties of Chinese]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book
  | title = Modern Cantonese Phonology
  | given1 = Robert S. | surname1 = Bauer
  | given2 = Paul K. | surname2 = Benedict
  | publisher = Walter de Gruyter | year = 1997
  | isbn = 978-3-11-014893-0
  }}
* {{cite journal
  | title = A Brief History of Mandarin
  | given = W. South | surname = Coblin | author-link = Weldon South Coblin
  | journal = Journal of the American Oriental Society
  | volume = 120 | issue = 4 | year = 2000 | pages = 537–552
  | jstor = 606615
  | doi=10.2307/606615
  }}
* {{cite book |last1=Khanh |first1=Tran |title=The Ethnic Chinese and Economic Development in Vietnam |date=1993 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=978-981-3016-66-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E6brAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last=Kwaan|first=Choi Wah|display-authors=et al.|title=English-Cantonese Dictionary 英粵字典: Cantonese in Yale Romanization|date=2004|publisher=New Asia-Yale-in-China Chinese Language Center; The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991; "first copublished edition", The Chinese University Press, The Chinese University of Hong; New Asia-Yale-in-China Language Center, 2000; second printing |isbn=962-201-970-6}}
* {{citation |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=M. Paul |chapter=Indonesia |chapter-url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=ID |title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World |edition=15th |publisher=[[SIL International]] |place=Dallas, T.X. |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-55671-159-6 |access-date=26 January 2010 |postscript=.}}
* {{cite book
  | surname = Li | given = Qingxin
  | others = trans. William W. Wang
  | title = Maritime Silk Road
  | publisher = China Intercontinental Press | year = 2006
  | isbn = 978-7-5085-0932-7
  }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Matthews|first1=Stephen|last2=Yip|first2=Virginia|date=1994|title=Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar |publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=9780203420843 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=czbGJLu59S0C}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Matthews |first1=Stephen |last2=Yip |first2=Virginia |date=2011 |title=Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar |edition=2nd}}
* {{cite book
  | given = S. Robert | surname = Ramsey
  | title= The Languages of China
  | publisher = [[Princeton University Press]] | year = 1987
  | location = [[Princeton, New Jersey]]
  | isbn = 978-0-691-01468-5
  }}
* {{cite book
  | given = Anne Oi-Kan | surname = Yue-Hashimoto
  | title = Studies in Yue Dialects 1: Phonology of Cantonese
  | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1972
  | isbn = 978-0-521-08442-0
  }}
* {{cite book
  | title = Language Policy in the People's Republic of China: Theory and Practice Since 1949
  | editor-given = Minglang | editor-surname = Zhou
  | chapter = Putonghua Education and Language Policy in Postcolonial Hong Kong
  | given1 = Bennan | surname1 = Zhang | given2 = Robin R. | surname2 = Yang
  | publisher = Kluwer Academic Publishers | year = 2004
  | isbn = 978-1-4020-8038-8
  | pages = 143–161
  }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book |last=Benoni |first=Lanctot |url=https://archive.org/details/chineseenglishph00lancrich |title=Chinese and English Phrase Book: With the Chinese Pronunciation Indicated in English |date=1867 |publisher=A. Roman & Company |location=San Francisco |oclc=41220764 |ol=13999723M}}
*{{Cite book |last=Bridgman |first=Elijah Coleman |url=https://archive.org/details/b22012941 |title=A Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect |date=1841 |publisher=S. Wells Williams |location=Macao |oclc=4614795 |ol=6542029M}}
*{{Cite book |last=Matthew |first=W. |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofthousandwo00mattrich |title=The Book of a Thousand Words: Translated, Annotated and Arranged So As to Indicate the Radical Number and Pronunciation (in Mandarin and Cantonese) of Each Character in the Text |publisher=Thomas Stubbs |date=1880 |location=Stawell |ol=13996959M |issue=Issue 2 of Australian series of oriental text books}}
*{{Cite book |last=Morrison |first=Robert |title=Vocabulary of the Canton Dialect: Chinese Words and Phrases |date=1828 |publisher=Steyn |location=Macao |hdl=2027/uc1.b4496041 |oclc=17203540 |author-link=Robert Morrison (missionary)}}
*{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Samuel Wells |url=https://archive.org/details/cyingcwcfanwan00williala |title=Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in The Canton Dialect |date=1856 |publisher=Chinese Repository |location=Canton |oclc=6512080 |ol=14002589M |author-link=Samuel Wells Williams}}
* {{cite JIPA |author=Zee, Eric |title=Chinese (Hong Kong Cantonese) |printdate=1991 June |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=46–48 |soundfiles=no |doi=10.1017/S0025100300006058 |doi-access= }}

== External links ==
* {{Cite web|language=zh|title=Multi-function Chinese Character Database|script-title=zh:漢語多功能字庫|url=http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/|publisher=The Chinese University of Hong Kong}}
* [https://cantonese.dictionary.li/english/ Cantonese-English Online Dictionary]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110522221859/http://www.ogcio.gov.hk/ccli/eng/hkscs/introduction.html Hong Kong Government site on the HK Supplementary Character Set (HKSCS)] (archived 22 May 2011)
* [https://www.cantonesetools.org Cantonese Tools]
* {{cite web |url=https://wordshk.github.io/yue_references |script-title=zh:粵語/廣東話參考資料 Yue References by wordshk – GitHub Pages |website=[[GitHub]]}}

{{sister bar|auto=1|d=Q9186|voy=Cantonese phrasebook|iw=zh-yue}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Articles related to Cantonese
|state =autocollapse
|list =
{{Sino-Tibetan languages}}
{{Chinese language}}
{{Languages of China}}
{{Languages of Macau}}
{{Guangzhou}}
{{Guangdong topics}}
{{Guangxi topics}}
}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cantonese]]
[[Category:Cantonese language| ]]
[[Category:Cantonese culture]]
[[Category:Languages of China]]
[[Category:Languages of Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Languages of Macau]]
[[Category:Languages of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Languages of Malaysia]]
[[Category:Languages of Singapore]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Syllable-timed languages]]