Jyutping is the romanization system for Cantonese. It uses initials, finals, and 6 tones.
Syllable Structure#
Every Jyutping syllable follows this pattern:
[initial] + [final] + [tone number]- initial - the opening consonant:
g,s,ng, etc. - final - the vowel nucleus plus any closing consonant:
aa,aam,ik, etc. - tone number - a digit 1-6 appended at the end
For example: g + aau + 3 =
Note
The initial is optional but the final is required. Syllables can begin directly with a vowel. For example: aa3
Tones#
Initials#
| Initial | Sounds like |
|---|---|
| b | bar |
| p | pit |
| m | man |
| f | fan |
| d | dot |
| t | top |
| n | now |
| l | love |
| g | garden |
| k | kite |
| ng | sing |
| h | hat |
| gw | squash |
| kw | queen |
| w | wet |
| z | kids |
| c | cats |
| s | sun |
| j | yes |
Finals#
| ∅ | -i | -u | -m | -n | -ng | -p | -t | -k | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| aa | aa /aː/ | aai /aːi̯/ | aau /aːu̯/ | aam /aːm/ | aan /aːn/ | aang /aːŋ/ | aap /aːp̚/ | aat /aːt̚/ | aak /aːk̚/ |
| a | a /ɐ/ | ai /ɐi̯/ | au /ɐu̯/ | am /ɐm/ | an /ɐn/ | ang /ɐŋ/ | ap /ɐp̚/ | at /ɐt̚/ | ak /ɐk̚/ |
| e | e /ɛː/ | ei /ei̯/ | eu /ɛːu̯/ | em /ɛːm/ | en | eng /ɛːŋ/ | ep /ɛːp̚/ | et /ɛːt̚/ | ek /ɛːk̚/ |
| i | i /iː/ | iu /iːu̯/ | im /iːm/ | in /iːn/ | ing /ɪŋ/ | ip /iːp̚/ | it /iːt̚/ | ik /ɪk/ | |
| o | o /ɔː/ | oi /ɔːy̯/ | ou /ou̯/ | on /ɔːn/ | ong /ɔːŋ/ | ot /ɔːt̚/ | ok /ɔːk̚/ | ||
| u | u /uː/ | ui /uːi/ | un /uːn/ | ung /ʊŋ/ | ut /uːt̚/ | uk /ʊk/ | |||
| oe | oe /œː/ | oeng /œːŋ/ | oet /œːt̚/ | oek /œːk̚/ | |||||
| eo | eoi /ɵy̯/ | eon /ɵn/ | eot /ɵt̚/ | ||||||
| yu | yu /yː/ | yun /yːn/ | yut /yːt̚/ | ||||||
| nasal tone | m /m̩/ | ng /ŋ̍/ |
Vowels#
| Vowel | Sounds like |
|---|---|
| aa | father - long, open |
| a | cup - short, central |
| e | bed |
| i | see |
| o | law |
| u | moon |
| oe | her |
| eo | bird (British English) |
| yu | you - round lips |
Final consonants#
| Consonants | Sounds like |
|---|---|
| -i | boy |
| -u | cow |
| -m | calm - lips close fully |
| -n | can |
| -ng | song |
| -p | stop - unreleased, lips stay closed |
| -t | cat - unreleased, tongue stays up |
| -k | back - unreleased, throat stays closed |
Practice#
Type jyutping below to see tones...