What parts of Cantonese Pronunciation are still difficult for you?

Hi William and Cheung Lei,

Thanks for the outstanding explanation. Your effort does help building the community a lot! 😁

Just a point to add, William, you don't have to pay attention to /h/ too much when you speak Cantonese. It does not cause ambiguity 99% of the time if you replace /z/ /c/ /s/ by /zh/ /ch/ /sh/. Cantonese speakers tend not to roll their tongues.

Arnold

Team CantoneseClass101.com

(Following the last comment)

In Cantonese because there is only one series of sibilant phonemes, the actual realization of sibilants can vary without affecting the meaning. So when zou and syu are pronounced with the palato-alveolar version of z and s, native Mandarin speakers may think they are more similar to the sounds that are transcribed as zh and sh in the Pinyin system for Mandarin.

I think I can answer Mr. William Liao’s question. The ‘h’ used in his transcription refers to ‘retroflex-ization’ or ‘palato-alveolar-ization’ of the corresponding sibilant (as is used in the Pinyin system for Mandarin), not a separate ‘h’ sound. This is a question that native Cantonese speakers may find confusing.

In Cantonese there is one series of sibilant(s-colored) phonemes, namely z, c, and s. However in Mandarin, there are three series of sibilant phonemes: (alveolar)z, c, s, (alveolo-palatal)j, q, x, (retroflex)zh, ch, sh, r. This makes native Mandarin speakers more sensitive to sibilants.

(To be continued)

Hi William Liao,

I think it may be related to the speaker's pronunciation issue. It should be no "h" sound in it. 😉

Ada

Team CantoneseClass101.com

Hi,

Then why do I sometimes hear the extra h sound when it is not in the Jyutping?

Thanks, William

Hi William,

Thanks for your question.

No, they are different. It should be just c, s, and z sound. 😉

Ada

Team CantoneseClass101.com

Hi,

Yes, I have a question about the pronunciation of the consonants c, s, and z in Cantonese. In some words such as 'zou6' and 'syu1,' the z and the s sound like zh and sh. So zou6 sounds like zhou6 and syu1 sounds like shyu1. Can c, s, and z be pronounced as ch, sh, and zh? Or am I just hearing the cantonese wrong?

Thanks, William.

Hi Pauline Smith,

Thanks for posting.

Yes, it may confuse Cantonese learners.

Actually, we don't notice that there are tonal changes. We just know that we need to pronounce like that. 😅

Ada

Team CantoneseClass101.com

😞tonal changes!! a big problem - particularly if it changes meaning - are cantonese people understanding?

Hello Connor,

Thank you for your comment. 😇

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

We wish you good luck with your language studies.

Kind regards,

利凡特

Team CantoneseClass101.com

For anyone that is having trouble with speaking it as quickly as Teddy and getting the tones and sounds proper, It took me at least 30 listens on each sentence. Plus I had to record myself on my phone to see if everything sounded similar to her. I'd play her then play myself until I was happy with it.

Hello Kim,

想(soeng2) should be in second tone.

You can take a look of the different lesson and listen to another speaker`s pronunciation. 😄

Food in Hong Kong

https://www.cantoneseclass101.com/lesson/upper-beginner-18-food-in-hong-kong/

Thank you for your hard work.

Siuling

Team CantoneseClass101.com

For the phrase "I want to buy", Teddy pronounced "soeng2" without the rising tone sound and it's more like "soeng3". I tried slowing down the video speed to 0.5x and 0.75x and it was the same. Is the pronounciation for Tone 2 more "relaxed" because it follows a word with Tone 5 (ngo5)??? Really confused....

Hello Jasper,

Thank you for your comment and valuable feedback. Since it is a review lesson so the speed is a bit faster than the speed of the lessons you mentioned. We are sorry that the speed is still too fast for you. We will make a note of the speed problem and thank you so much for your advice especially for the future reference.

Siuling

Team CantoneseClass101.com

Like the others mentioned, the speaking pace is way too fast. There should at least be a slowed down pronunciation along with the fast pace. The previous lessons were done very well for beginners but this one seems out of place. The survival phrases series is better at this type of lesson because the speaker pronounces it both regular and slow paces.

Hi Steven,

I understand how you feel. Just do more practice of the pronunciation and you will see the improvement day by day.

Siuling

Team CantoneseClass101.com

Hi Jeff,

Yes, I think watching TV shows or films in Cantonese is a very good idea for listening practice. You can also check out the Cantoneseclass101.com you tube channel. Lots of fun and useful learning practices for you. :thumbsup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv6wp_h2O4c

Siuling

Team CantoneseClass101.com

I think this lesson series is essential viewing for anyone just starting out with this difficult language. Some of the tones are quiet subtle when listening to the recorded phrases, but I guess it will get easier with more listening practice. I think I need to start watching tv shows/films in Cantonese and that should help a lot.

Hi Emily,

Thank you for your question. I suggest you to check out this link. (The Cantonese tones)

https://www.cantoneseclass101.com/2011/05/03/pronunciation-2-the-cantonese-tones/

It clearly explains the Cantonese 6 tones which is very useful for learning to recognize them. :smile:

Siuling

Team CantoneseClass101.com

The speed at which the phrases were said are very overwhelming in this video and I struggled to pick out the tones / tonal changes. Any tips for learning to recognise them?