User:Felix Wan/Draft/Cantonese (linguistics)

Variations of Cantonese

Cantonese is usually classified into these dialect groups:

• Yuehai division
  • Guangzhou dialect
  • Nanhai-Panyu-Shunde dialect
  • Dongguan dialect
  • Hong Kong dialect (modern)
• Siyi division
• Gaoyang division
• Guinan division
• Wuchuan
• Dengjia (boat people)

Guangzhou dialect

Guangzhou dialect is considered the standard of Cantonese. However, the dialect at Guangzhou is changing. Before 1949, vocabulary used in Guangzhou is more classic and has less influence from Mandarin. A characteristic of Guangzhou dialect is that 四 and 死 are pronounced as [sz] but not [sei]. (But a prominent linguist has rebuked that. Let me find the reference.)

Nanhai-Panyu-Shunde dialect

Guangzhou is historically formed from Panyu and Nanhai, and therefore the Guangzhou dialect may be counted as a special case of the group. Dialects of Guangzhou, Panyu and Nanhai are very similar among each other, but many words are pronounced differently in Shunde. For example: 凹 is not pronounced as [lap] but [nip]. To eat a meal is not called "sik faan" but "yaak faan".

Dialect at Zhongshan

The Shiqi dialect is used in Shiqi district, the urban area of Zhongshan. It is mutually intelligible with the Guangzhou dialect, but they are not identical. There are special ways of speaking by Shiqi people. The Shiqi people can speak Guangzhou dialect, but people of Guangzhou and Hong Kong may not understand Shiqi dialect.

(Skipped examples that may not be of interest to the English speakers.)

Hong Kong Dialect

Before 1949, Hakka people consists of a large proportion of Hong Kong. So the dialect was heavily influenced by Hakka accents. A typical dialect is the one around Kam Tin (Jintian).

After 1949, many people immigrated to Hong Kong