Proper Cantonese pronunciation

Template:Short description Template:More footnotes Template:Cantonese language Proper Cantonese pronunciation (Template:Zh) is a campaign in Hong Kong started from the 1980s and led by scholar Richard Ho () to promote the "proper pronunciation" in the Cantonese language. The prescriptive nature of the campaign has led to controversies.

Origins and influences

The very idea of proper pronunciation of Cantonese is controversial, since the concept of labeling native speakers' usage and speech in terms of correctness is not generally supported by linguistics. Law et al. (2001) point out that the phrase laan5 jam1 "lazy sounds," most commonly discussed in relation to phonetic changes in Hong Kong Cantonese, implies that the speaker is unwilling to put forth sufficient effort to articulate the standard pronunciation.

The promotion of proper Cantonese pronunciation is partly in reaction to sound changes found in younger people's speech. These include:

1. merge of initial n- and l-, for example, pronouncing (naam4) as (laam4)
2. merge of initial ng- and dark-toned null/glottal onsets, for example, pronouncing (oi3) as ngoi3
3. loss of initial ng- on light-toned words, for example, pronouncing (ngo5) as o5
4. omission of the labialization -w- of gw- or kw-, for example, pronouncing (gwok3) as (gok3)
5. confusing the final consonants -k and -t, for example, pronouncing (sak1) as (sat1).
6. confusing the final consonants -n and -ng, for example, pronouncing (laang5) as (laan5)
7. confusing the syllabic consonants m and ng, for example, pronouncing (ng4) as (m4)

The nine attested phonetic sound changes in Hong Kong Cantonese, or "lazy sounds", in the format of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) can be tracked in the following table:

Context	Sound change or phonetic variation	Examples	Origins
Syllable-initial position	1. Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	"boy" Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	First appeared in speech in the early 1940s when it was found that there was a new (non-standard) pronunciation for original syllable-initial Template:Ipa. This became increasingly common in the 1970s.
	2. Template:Ipa > ∅-	"cow" Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	H.N. Cheung discovered that Template:Ipa can be added in syllable-initial positions preceding syllable-initial vowels Template:Ipa in standard Cantonese. This became overused and preferred for words which originally had either syllable-initial Template:Ipa or syllable-initial ∅- until at least the early 1970s.
	3. ∅- > Template:Ipa	"house" Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa
Before /ɔ/	4. Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa OR Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	"fruit" Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	This phenomenon of the disappearing process of labialization in a syllable-initial environment and preceding the vowel Template:Ipa was first mentioned and studied by H.N. Cheung in the 1970s.
Individual syllable	5. Syllabic Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	"five" Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	Syllabic Template:Ipa was suggested to have originated from the syllable Template:Ipa, while Template:Ipa was found in colloquial forms of dialects. This change remained intact in the first half of the twentieth century.
Syllable-final position	6. Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	"banana" Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	First appeared in R.S. Bauer's 1979 study presenting the discovery of alveolarization (or fronting) in syllable-final Template:Ipa that becomes Template:Ipa. The phenomenon of alveolarization started to grow in the 1950s.
	7. Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	"dry" Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	The phenomenon of velarization was only found in the 1970s.
	8. Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	"foot" Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa
	9. Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	"thirsty" Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa

To, Mcleod and Cheung delve deeper into these sound changes in contemporary Hong Kong Cantonese, and focus in particular on the four syllable-final consonants: Template:Ipa, Template:Ipa, Template:Ipa, and Template:Ipa. After conducting original research on the pronunciation of words containing these syllable-final phonetic changes, To et al. argue that syllable-final environment sound changes occur due to the tongue position at the preceding vowel, as it opts for maximum ease. Thus, their argument attests for two process: alveolarization (occurring in Template:Ipa > Template:Ipatransitions and Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa transitions) and velarization (occurring in Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa transitions and Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa transitions).

The following table shows the environments where the processes of alveolarization and velarization tend to occur:

Sound change	Environment	Description
Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa and Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	/ {Template:Ipa, Template:Ipa, Template:Ipa, Template:Ipa}___#	Alveolarization is facilitated by a preceding mid-front/central vowel.
Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa and Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa	/ Template:Ipa___#	Velarization may occur when preceded by mid-back vowel Template:Ipa.
Template:Ipa (no change) and Template:Ipa (no change)	/ {Template:Ipa, Template:Ipa}___#	The originally attested syllable-final velar consonants are not alveolarized when preceded by the high, front, lax vowel Template:Ipa and the near-close near-back rounded vowel Template:Ipa.

Alveolarization tends to occur when there is a preceding mid-front or central vowel, and velarization tends to occur when the attested preceding mid-back vowel [ɔ] is present. The last example in table 2 indicates that the attested [ɪŋ] sequence does not change, as the position of the tongue for the high, lax, front vowel is already in close proximity to the position needed to make the velar consonants.

To et al.'s research presents that the process of co-articulation accounts for the birth of lazy sounds. In Hong Kong Cantonese at present, alveolarization is a more popular phenomenon than velarization, and the syllable-final alveolar consonants Template:Ipa and Template:Ipa tend to be preserved even when the preceding vowels prompt a tongue position that is further back. An example would be “dry” Template:Ipa. It is rare for people to pronounce this with a syllable-final Template:Ipa, although it still occurs, as 7.1% of adults tested by To et al. do this.

This result is presented alongside a ranking of attested preceding vowels of the Template:Ipa~Template:Ipa pair that demonstrate the process of alveolarization, from least likely to have a succeeding alveolarized consonant, to most likely: Template:Ipa = Template:Ipa > Template:Ipa < Template:Ipa < Template:Ipa < Template:Ipa < Template:Ipa. The vowels Template:Ipa and Template:Ipa share the same percentage of alveolarization, resulting in a 0.0% chance of sound change, while the highest ranking vowel, Template:Ipa, resulted in a 37.5% chance of sound change.

TV and radio programs, including game shows, have been made to promote proper pronunciation. The campaign has also influenced the local media. Some news reporters and masters of ceremonies in Hong Kong have adopted the proper pronunciations.

Arguments

The proper readings promoted by Richard Ho are based on the fanqie spelling of Guangyun, an ancient rime dictionary reflecting the sounds of Middle Chinese. Ho states that, Cantonese phonology being the descendant of the Guangyun system, there are highly regular correspondences between the sounds of Middle Chinese and those of modern Cantonese. He also holds that the flat () and sharp () tonal distinction in Middle Chinese is the most important feature from which modern Cantonese should not deviate, especially when reciting ancient literature. He allows exceptions in some cases of colloquial speech, but not in any cases in reading ancient literature.

Ho's approach to pronunciation is prescriptive. For instance, talking about the wrong pronunciation of final consonants of the youth, he says:

In general, today's youth pronounces the final consonants in the wrong way because they have, since childhood, unconsciously imitated the wrong pronunciations of the broadcasters and artists, and those of their seniors and friends. Fortunately, there are still some families which insist on proper pronunciation. Therefore, the wrong pronunciations have not spread to the whole society, and there is still a ray of hope to right the wrongs. (Ho 2001:33)

He expresses his attitude towards sound changes, when talking about the gradual merge of [n-] and [l-] initials in Cantonese:

Regarding sound changes, we can study them objectively. When the changes are fixed, there is no need to restore them. Now if [n-] and [l-] have already merged, a change is impossible. But the fact is [n-] has yet to disappear in Cantonese. More and more people are pronouncing [n-] as [l-] only because of the bad influences of some language teachers and broadcasters, who inadvertently made the mistake. We still can, and should, correct the error. (Ho 1995:154–155)

A major critic of Ho's approach is Wong Ting Tze. He calls Ho's prescriptive pronunciations demonic. One of his concerns is that Cantonese comprises six historical strata, not just the one represented by the Guangyun.

Media

Ever since the arguments made around the correct way of pronouncing Chinese characters in Cantonese, different media companies in China have used their own interpretation of the correct pronunciations when broadcasting.

Effects outside Hong Kong

Changes in pronunciation in Hong Kong Cantonese have affected the Cantonese spoken in other regions such as Guangdong and Guangxi provinces.

Variations in Cantonese pronunciation across different regions are still a major topic of discussion. Some are seen as too informal while others are seen as having other flaws.

See also

• Cantonese phonology

References

1. To, Carol K.S., Sharynne Mcleod and Pamela S.P. Cheung (2015), “Phonetic variations and sound changes in Hong Kong Cantonese”, Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, Vol. 29, No. 5. Taylor & Francis, 2015, pp. 333–353.
2. Ho, Richard (1995), (Records of Teaching Cantonese Pronunciation), Hong Kong: T. T. Ng Chinese Language Research Centre.
3. _____ (2001), (An Outline for Self-study of Cantonese Pronunciation), Hong Kong: Hong Kong Education Publishing Company.
4. Wang, Tingzhi (2005), (‘Please Don't Murder Cantonese’), Wen Wei Po, October 21, 2005.

External links

• Template:In lang Cantonese Culture Promotion Society, an anti-proper pronunciation organization, with related articles criticizing the idea of proper pronunciation
• Template:In lang The Association for the Promotion of Proper Cantonese Pronunciation
• Template:In lang A TV show of TVB promoting the proper pronunciation and the proper characters
• A Chinese Syllabary Pronounced According to the Dialect of Canton ^[1] by Wong Shik Ling, a pronunciation guide of Cantonese championed by Richard Ho