Hong Kong Cantonese is a dialect of Cantonese spoken primarily in Hong Kong. As the most commonly spoken language in Hong Kong, it shares a recent and direct lineage with the Guangzhou (Canton) dialect of Cantonese.
Due to the colonial heritage of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Cantonese exhibits distinct differences in vocabulary and certain speech patterns. Over the years, Hong Kong Cantonese has also absorbed foreign terminology and developed a large set of Hong Kong-specific terms. Code-switching with English is also common.
As of 2021, 88.2% of Hong Kong's population identified Cantonese as their "usual spoken language," while 93.7% reported being able to speak it.
The specific IETF code for Cantonese written with traditional Han characters as used in Hong Kong is yue-Hant-HK.
Name Hong Kong Cantonese is predominantly referred to as "Cantonese" in English and gwong2 dung1 waa2 (, Guangdong speech) by its native speakers, while the government also officially refers to it as gwong2 zau1 waa2 (, Guangzhou speech).
History
Before the arrival of British settlers in 1842, the inhabitants of Hong Kong mainly spoke the Dongguan-Bao'an (Tungkun–Po'on) and Tanka dialects of Yue, as well as Hakka and Hokkien. These languages and dialects are all remarkably different from Guangzhou Cantonese, and not mutually intelligible.
After the British acquired Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories from the Qing in 1841 (officially 1842) and 1898, many tens of thousands of merchants and workers came to Hong Kong from the city of Canton, the main centre of Cantonese, especially in the wake of the outbreak of the Taiping Rebellion in Canton in 1850 and then the Second Opium War (1856-1860). Thus, Cantonese became the dominant spoken language in Hong Kong. The extensive migration from mainland Cantonese-speaking areas to Hong Kong continued up until 1949, when the Communists took over mainland China.
In 1949, the year that the People's Republic of China was established, Hong Kong saw a large influx of refugees from mainland China, prompting the Hong Kong Government to restrict entry of immigrants at the border under the Immigrants Control Ordinance 1949. Illegal immigration from mainland China into Hong Kong nevertheless continued. During the 1950s, the Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong remained very similar to that in Canton, but the proportion of Cantonese speakers did not surpass 50% of the population in Hong Kong.
Movement, communication and relations between Hong Kong and mainland China became very limited, and consequently the evolution of Cantonese in Hong Kong diverged from that of Guangzhou. In mainland China, the use of Mandarin as the official language and in education was enforced. In Hong Kong, Cantonese was the medium of instruction in schools, along with written English and written Chinese. As such, since the 1970s the percentage of Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong has risen to about 90%.
Because of the long exposure to English during the colonial period, a large number of English words were loaned into Hong Kong Cantonese, e.g. "" (IPA: /páːsǐː/, Cantonese Jyutping: baa1 si2), from the English "bus"; compare this with the equivalent from Standard Mandarin, (). Consequently, the vocabularies of Cantonese in mainland China and Hong Kong substantially differ. Moreover, the pronunciation of Cantonese noticeably changed while the change either did not occur in mainland China or took place much more slowly. For example, merging of initial into and the deletion of were observed.
Phonology
In modern-day Hong Kong, many native speakers no longer distinguish between certain phoneme pairs, leading to instances of sound change through mergers. Although considered non-standard and denounced as "lazy sound" () by purists, the phenomena are widespread and not restricted to Hong Kong. Contrary to impressions, some of these changes are not recent. The loss of the velar nasal () was documented by Williams (1856), and the substitution of the liquid nasal () for the nasal initial () was documented by Cowles (1914).
List of observed shifts: Merging of initial into initial. Merging of initial into null initial. Merging of and initials into and when followed by . Note that is the only glide () in Cantonese. Merging of and codas into and codas respectively, eliminating contrast between these pairs of finals (except after and ): -, -, -, -, - and -. Merging of the two syllabic nasals, into , eliminating the contrast of sounds between (surname Ng) and (not). Merging of the rising tones ( 2nd and 5th).
In educated Hong Kong Cantonese speech, these sound mergers are avoided, and many older speakers still distinguish between those phoneme categories. With the sound changes, the name of Hong Kong's Hang Seng Bank (), Jyutping: , , literally Hong Kong Constant Growth Bank, becomes , sounding like Hon' Kon' itchy body 'un cold (). The name of Cantonese itself (, "Guangdong speech") would be Jyutping: , IPA: without the merger, whereas (sounding like "": "say eastern speech") and (sounding like "" : "chase away eastern speech") are overwhelmingly common in Hong Kong.Together Learn Cantonese, see middle section.
The shift affects the way some Hong Kong people speak other languages as well. This is especially evident in the pronunciation of certain English names: "Nicole" pronounce , "Nancy" pronounce etc. A very common example of the mixing of and is that of the word , meaning "you". Even though the standard pronunciation should be , the word is often pronounced , which is the surname , or the word , meaning theory. The merger of and also affects the choice of characters when the Cantonese media transliterates foreign names.
Prescriptivists who try to correct these "lazy sounds" often end up introducing hypercorrections. For instance, while attempting to ensure that people pronounce the initial , they may introduce it into words which have historically had a null-initial. One common example is that of the word , meaning "love", where even though the standard pronunciation is Jyutping: , IPA: , the word is often pronounced Jyutping: , . A similar phenomenon occurs in various Mandarin dialects (e.g. Southwestern Mandarin).
Unique phrases and expressions
Hong Kong Cantonese has developed a number of phrases and expressions that are unique to the context of Hong Kong. Examples are:
+Table of Colloquial Cantonese Expressions Colloquial Cantonese Expressions(pronunciation) Literally Colloquially Explanation (cyun3) Example:
English: Do you have to be so harsh? skewer/to string/vulgar harsh/extreme bluntness, lack of tact colloquial usage for police handcuffing, broadened to incorporate harsh expression generally; alternatively, by modification of the tone value for "vulgar"
Loanwords Life in Hong Kong is characterised by the blending of southern Chinese with other Asian and Western cultures, as well as the city's position as a major international business centre. In turn, Hong Kong influences have spread widely into other cultures. As a result, a large number of loanwords are created in Hong Kong and then exported to mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan. Some of the loanwords have become even more popular than their Chinese counterparts, in Hong Kong as well as in their destination cultures. Note that some of the loanwords are being used much more frequently in Cantonese-speaking areas in mainland China (e.g. Guangzhou), than in areas speaking other Chinese varieties.
Imported loanwords Selected loanwords are shown below.
From English Hong Kong CantoneseJyutpingEnglishMainland Mandarin (Putonghua)Taiwanese Mandarin (Guoyu)戶口wu6 hau2account帐号帳戶aau3 giu6arguearguments (fights)baak3 gaa1 lok6Baccarat (card game)bo1ballbaa1 leoi4balletbang1 daai2bandagebaa1barbarristerbe1 zau2beerbei2 gin1 nei4bikinibou1 taai1bow tiebou2 ling4bowlingbui1 got3boycottbaak3 gaa1 lei6broccolibaa1 daa2brotherpou6 fei1buffetban6 zyu1 tiu3bungee jumpingbaa1 si2bus///baai1 baai3byekaa1 lou6 lei5caloriegaa3 fe1 jan1caffeinekaat1cardkaa1 tung1cartoongo1 si2 dik1caustic soda/zi1 si2cheesece1 lei4 zi2cherryzyu1 gu1 lik1chocolatesai1 daa2cidersyut3 gaa1cigardaa2 kat1clock inliterally: (to) punch cardkeoi1 lok6 bou6clubgam1 si4clumsyho2 ho2cocoaho2 kaa1cocaho2 kaa1 jan1cocaine/gaa3 fe1coffeekuk1 kei4cookiegu1 lei1cooliehuk6 go1cougargei6 lim4creamkuk1crooked (bent)bend your kneeswinding road aheadzig-zaggaa3 lei1currysaan1 aai1cyanidedaa1 ling2darlingdip6dishdou1 lat1/dung1 lat1doughnut()dam2dump (garbage) (In the dump/dumpster)database dumppile dumpdumped by boy-/girl-friendfei4 lou2fail (failure)fei1 lam2filmfai1fightfight forFanfen1 si2fan (fanatic)fan (machine)de1 di4daddy (father)faat3 tang4frightenedgou1 ji5 fu1 kau4golfgit3 taa1guitargat1 si2guts (courage)encouragefelt like someone just punched you in the guthaa1 lou3HelloHalloweenhon3 bou2 baau1hamburger [calque]aa3 tau2the head ofhang1 lei5honey [calque]jit6 gau2hotdogfu1 laa1 hyun1hula hoopsyut3 gou1ice-cream/jin1 so1insure (insurance)kei4 ji6 gwo2kiwifruit/lip1lift (elevator)ning4 mung1lemonmong1 gwo2mangomai1microphone/mou4 dak6 ji4model/模特儿mo1 dang1modern/mo1 daa2motor/mou1 si2moussemaa1 mi4mummy (mother)nei4 lung4nylonaa1 pin3opiumbaan1 gik1pancakepaak3 ce1parking a vehiclebe1 lei2pearpai1piebing1 bam1 bo1ping-pongbou3 lam1plumbaau3 guk1popcornbou3 din1puddingbam1pumpsaa1 leot2saladsaam1 man4 jyu2salmonsaa3 lam1salutesaam1 man4 zi6sandwichsaa1 din1 jyu2sardinesaa1 si2Sarsaparilla (soft drink) SARSroot beer: SARS: root beer: SARS: song1 naa4saunasi6 gaa1 fu4scarfsyu4 mat1schmucksyut3 lei6 zau2sherrysou1show (performance)si1 daa2sisterso1 daa2 seoi2sodaso1 faa2sofaso1 fu4relaxing (chilling)("soft", antonym of "firm")si6 baa1 naa4spanner (wrench)si6 be1sparesi6 dik1sticksi6 do1storesi6 do1 be1 lei2strawberrysan1 dei2sundaesap6 buk1supportT-ti1 seot1T-shirttaap3 lo4 paai2tarotdik1 si2taxi("" = rental car)taai1tietaai1tire (tyre)do1 si2toastto1 fei2 tong2toffeetan1 naa4 jyu2tunawai4 taa1 ming6vitaminwai1 faa3 (being2)wafer biscuit wafer (electronics)wafer biscuit: wafer (electronics): wafer biscuit: wafer (electronics): wai1 si6 gei2whiskyjau4 teng5yachting (yacht)jyu4 gaa1yogajyu5 lok6yogurt("" = cheese)
From French Chinese CharactersJyutpingFrenchEnglishMainland ChineseMandarinTaiwaneseMandarinso1 fu4 lei2soufflésoufflégu2 lung4 (seoi2)cologneperfumelaang1 (saam1)laineyarn
From Japanese Chinese CharactersJyutpingJapaneseJapanese RōmajiEnglishMainland ChineseMandarinTaiwaneseMandarinkaa1 laa1 ou1 kei1karaokekaraoke OKOKlou5 sai3setainushichief (CEO)the Head (of a company)bossgaan1 baa1 de1ganbatteKeep up! (studying)Come on! (cheering)fong3 tai4tabe hōdaibuffetlong6 maan6rōmanromantic
Exported loanwords
Into English
EnglishChinese CharactersJyutpingadd oilgaa1 jau2bok choybaak6 coi3chop chop (hurry up)cuk1 cuk1chop sueyzaap6 seoi3ketchupke2 zap1kowtowkau3 tau4kwai mukkwai3 muk6typhoontoi4 fung1
Into Mainland Chinese Mandarin MandarinCantoneseJyutpingEnglishMandarin synonymsmaai4 daan1(Can we please have the) bill?paak3 dong3partner (in ownership and business) (in dancing)daap3 dik1 si2to ride a taxi, corruption of mou4 lei4 tau4nonsensical humour (see mo lei tau)newbie who knows nothing/leng3 zai2handsome boy (in China only)paak3 to1datinghou2 zeng3(colloquial) awesome; perfect; just right/gaau2 dim6Is it done yet? (It's) Done!It has been taken care of!
Into Taiwanese Mandarin Taiwanese MandarinHanyu PinyinCantoneseJyutpingEnglish(hóu) sāiléihou2 sai1 lei6(very) impressivehòu zhùhou1 zyu6hold onhang tight (hang in there)
Into Japanese Japanese Kana (Kanji)Japanese RōmajiChinese CharactersJyutpingEnglish ()yamuchajam2 caa4yum cha ()chāshūcaa1 siu1char siu ()chāhancaau2 faan6fried rice
Code-switching and loanword adaptation