Learn about Cantonese consonants
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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Cantonese Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn 8 Cantonese consonants. |
| f, h, j, g-/-k, k, gw, kw, l |
| These consonant sounds are identical to the ones in English, so they should already be familiar to you. But there are some sounds that are further distinguished in Cantonese, so you'll have to isolate them from particular English words. |
| Are you ready? Then let's get started! |
| The first consonant is... |
| f |
| 化 (faa3) |
| 課 (fo3) |
| 啡 (fei1) |
| Like the F in the word 'find'. |
| f, f (slowly) |
| f, f (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| h |
| 河 (ho4) |
| 靴 (hoe1) |
| 好 (hou2) |
| Like the H in the word 'house'. |
| h, h (slowly) |
| h, h (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| j |
| 日 (jat6) |
| 約 (joek3) |
| 也 (jaa5) |
| This sound is represented by the letter J but it sounds like the Y in the word 'you'. |
| j, j (slowly) |
| j, j (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| g-, -k |
| 嫁 (gaa3) |
| 故 (gu3) |
| 落 (lok6) |
| This sound is represented by the letter G in the initial position, or the letter K in the final position. It sounds like the K in the word 'ski'. |
| Be careful though, because it isn't like the K in 'kite'. Place your hand in front of your mouth and pronounce 'ski' and 'kite'. Compare the K sounds in both of these words. Notice how there's a burst of air in 'kite', but none in 'ski'. There should not be a burst of air when you pronounce this sound. Listen to (host name). |
| g-, -k, g-, -k (slowly) |
| g-, -k, g-, -k (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| k |
| 卡 (kaa1) |
| 箍 (ku1) |
| 契 (kai3) |
| This sound is represented by the letter K. It sounds like the K in 'kite'. Ensure that there's a burst of air when you pronounce this sound. Listen to (host name). |
| k, k (slowly) |
| k, k (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| gw |
| 卦 (gwaa3) |
| 過 (gwo3) |
| 貴 (gwai3) |
| This is like a KW type sound. It's very similar to the sound the letters QU make in the words 'square' or 'squeak'. There should not be a burst of air when you pronounce this sound. Listen to (host name). |
| gw, gw (slowly) |
| gw, gw (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| kw |
| 誇 (kwaa1) |
| 規 (kwai1) |
| 葵 (kwai4) |
| This is similar to the previous sound, but you *should* release a burst of air when you pronounce this sound. It's very similar to the sound the letters QU makes in words like 'quiet' or 'quaint'. |
| kw, kw (slowly) |
| kw, kw (slowly) |
| And the final consonant sound for this lesson is... |
| l |
| 老 (lou5) |
| 罅 (laa3) |
| 羅 (lo4) |
| Like the L in the word 'let'. |
| l, l (slowly) |
| l, l (slowly) |
| Well done! You just learned your first 8 consonants in Cantonese. |
| f, h, j, g-/-k, k, gw, kw, l |
| In the next lesson, you'll learn another 8 consonant sounds in Cantonese. |
| Was seeing the pronunciation illustrations helpful? Please comment and share your thoughts. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Cantonese Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
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