An A-B-C Guide For Complete Beginners

An A-B-C Guide For Complete An A-B-C Guide For Complete BeginnersBeginners

Brief Brief Sketch Of CantoneseSketch Of Cantonese

IntroductionIntroductionIntroduction

••Cantonese is a language that has a Cantonese is a language that has a wide sphere of influencewide sphere of influence••Places spoken include:Places spoken include:Canton(Guangdong)Canton(Guangdong)Hong Kong & MacauHong Kong & MacauSouth East AsiaSouth East AsiaChinatowns of many Western Chinatowns of many Western countries like United States, countries like United States, Canada,etcCanada,etc

Map of Canton and Neighbouring Areas

Map of South East Asia

••Cantonese is the most widely known and Cantonese is the most widely known and influential variety of Chinese other than Mandarininfluential variety of Chinese other than Mandarin••Role of Cantonese is increasing due to the Role of Cantonese is increasing due to the economic development of Canton and Hong Kongeconomic development of Canton and Hong Kong••A tonal language, with up of 6 tones (Yale)A tonal language, with up of 6 tones (Yale)••Grammatical structure is very similar to that of Grammatical structure is very similar to that of MandarinMandarin••However, analysis from English's perspectiveHowever, analysis from English's perspective shows otherwise.shows otherwise.

AgendaAgendaAgenda

1.1. PhonologyPhonology2.2. Cantonese ConversationCantonese Conversation3.3. MorphologyMorphology4.4. Parts of speechParts of speech5.5. Word OrderWord Order6.6. ConclusionConclusion

PhonologyPhonology

• Various transcriptions out there• Used Yale system developed by Parker

Huang & Gerald Kok• Modified to make system easier to use• Rising, falling accents on vowels

representing rising, falling tones• Arbitrary ‘h’ representing low-register

tones

ModificationsModifications

1) Merger of non-distinctive high-level & high-falling tones

2) Hyphens to show division of words3) Classifiers & verbal particles written

separately4) Apostrophes for reduced forms

Short Intro to Sound SystemShort Intro to Sound System

• Tone-contour language, 6 tones (Yale)

• 16 initial consonants, 6 final consonants, 8 vowels (Yale)

• Variation - individual, social or age

Initial ConsonantsInitial Consonants

chjAffricates

kwgwLabiovelar

nghkgVelar / glottal

n / lstdDental / alveolar

mfpbBilabial

Nasal / LiquidFricativeAspirated(voiceless)

Unaspirated(voiceless)

Initial ConsonantsInitial Consonants• gw & kw are coarticulated stops, i.e. the velar

sound g or k is articulated simultaneously with the bilabial w

• However, a tendency to simplify gw to g & kw to k

• “ng”• j, ch, s may be palatalized or partially

palatalized by yu or eu• 2 semivowels, y & w

Final consonantsFinal consonants

• -p, -t, -k, -m, -n, -ng• Unreleased (-p, -t, -k), Nasal (-m, -

n, -ng)• Phenomenon of merger of –k to –t,

paralleling –ng to –n (velar to alveolar)

VowelsVowels

a, aaLowoeueMiduyuiHigh

BackCentralFront

• i & u lower before velar final consonants k & ng

• eu realized as [œ] by itself & before velar consonants, [ø] before t, n, i (yu)

VowelsVowels• Length contrast is present in long ‘aa’

or short ‘a’• Depends on situation• No distinctive contrast when appears at

end of syllable• Diphthongs

– ai, aai, au, aau, ei, eui (euy), iu, ou, oi, ui

Syllable StructureSyllable Structure• (C)V(V)(C)• only –m, -n, -ng, -p, -t, -k allowed at end

of syllable• not all combinations exist, e.g. *-eup• in onomatopoeic sounds, -em & -up can

occur, e.g. lém-lém-leih = lick-lick-tongue, bùhp-búp tiu = ‘bop-bop jump’

TonesTones

• 6 distinctive tones– high level: yāu ‘worry’– high rising: yáu ‘paint’– mid level: yau ‘thin’– low falling: yàuh ‘oil’– low rising: yáuh ‘have’– low level: yauh ‘again’

TonesTones

– high level: yāu ‘worry’– high rising: yáu ‘paint’– mid level: yau ‘thin’– low falling: yàuh ‘oil’– low rising: yáuh ‘have’– low level: yauh ‘again’

Tone Level

5

4

3

2

1

High Level 55

Mid Level 33

Low Level 22Low Falling 21

Low Rising 23High

Risi

ng 35

Tone ChangeTone Change

• Compounds, Reduplication• jó yauh jó-yáu (‘approximately’)• sòh sòh-só-déi (‘rather silly’)

Morphology

• 3 main ways by which words are formed in Cantonese

• 1) Affixation (prefixes and suffixes)• 2) Reduplication (doubling of words or

syllables)• 3) Compounding (combination of

independent forms to form a complex word)

1) Affixation Prefixes:‘a’ is a prefix used with names and

kinship terms, showing familiarityE.g: a-màh ‘grandmother’ a- gō ‘brother’ a- yī ‘aunt’ a- faat ‘Fatt’s name in Cantonese’

Suffixes deih is the plural suffix forming pronoun, with the

exception of yàhn.

Ngóh –deih kéuih - deihI + deih = ‘we’ he/she/it + deih = ‘they’

Léih – deih yàhn -----deih You + deih = ‘you’ (plural) person + deih = ‘people’ or person yàhn deih can be singular

Fa – verbal suffix, forms verbs from nouns and adjectives

Fa with nouns: • Dihnlóuh- fa

Computer + fa (ize) = ‘computerize’ • Fa with adjectives Yihndoih – fa

Modern + fa (ify) = ‘ modernize’

2) Reduplication – the doubling of a word or syllable, many word classes can be reduplicated

sòh – silly (adj)Sòh + só (reduplicate) + déi = ‘rather silly’

Yī- aunt (noun) Yī + yī (reduplicate) = ‘auntie’

(usually in baby talk)

Sīk – know (verb) Sīk + sīk (reduplicate) + déi = ‘to know a little

• Reduplication can occur in onomatopoeic, often with tone change of the second syllable expressions

• Gohk Gohk + gók (reduplicated) + sēng knock + knock + sound ‘knocking sound’

3) Compounding

The combination of two or more independent morphemes to form a single new word, the meaning often being not predictable.

Compound nouns: • Jáu – dim Wine-shop ‘hotel’

Compound Verbs: jáu- tòhng hōi - dōu Leave- lesson open - knife‘skip classes’ ‘carry out an operation’

Compound adjectives

a) Adjective + noun = adjective hāk (black) + sām (heart) = malicious

b) Adjective + adjective = adjective gōu (high) + sām (deep) = profound

Parts of speech

• The noun Phrase• Consists of a noun and those items

which change or accompany it• Order of the noun phrase: demonstrative- numeral-classifier-

adjective-(ge) – noun ge- linking particle

Definiteness and demonstratives

• Cantonese has no articles having the equal meaning of ‘a’ or ‘the’

• ‘yāt’ is used as an indefinte article, refers to an indefinte object or person

• E.g: yāt ga chē one- CL- car (CL – classifer)

Demonstratives ‘nī’ and ‘gó’• ‘nī’ – ‘this’ and ‘gó’- that• E.gs: nī – go - leuhsī this – Cl – lawyer ‘gó’ – deui – fūfúh that – CL- couple • Both can be used to refer to time• Other examples of demonstratives eg: dī (yàhn), tìuh (yú).

Classifers – measure words

‘jek’ and ‘ga’– follows a numeral or quantifier

E.g : léuhng –jek- dáan two - CL- eggs nī - ga – chē this – CL- car

More classifiers…

• Collective classifiers ( similar to English collective nouns)

E.gs: bāan – group/bunch nī bāan yàhn – this group of people

Container classifiers – denote commodities and products eg: food and drinks.

Būi – cup eg: bei ngóh būi chàh ‘give me a cup of tea’

Generic classifiers- means ‘types’ and ‘kinds’Júng – ‘kind’ eg: nī júhng fā this kind of flower

The Verb phrase

• Types of verbs • Copular verb : haih - ‘be’• Stative verb: jūngyi – ‘like’, sīk-

‘know’• Action verbs: jouh- ‘do’, heui- ‘go”• Auxiliary verb: wúih –’will/would’

Copula verb: haih – ‘be’ (am,are,were)

Main function is to join two noun phrases together Eg: gó dī yàhn haih ngóh ge pàhngyáuh that CL people are my LP friend.

In most cases, haih can be ommited.Eg: Nī bun syū (haih) ngóh ge. This CL book (is) my LP

Serial Verb construction in verb phrases A serial verb construction is one of

the most prominent feature in Cantonese, it refers to a concentration of verbs

This resembles constructions like “come eat with me”, “go catch a movie” in English.

Examples of serial verbs….

Ngóh heui tái heiI go watch show.‘ I go and watch a show.’

Kéuideih yuhng dī chín heui máih láu.They use CL money go buy flat.‘They are buying the flat with the money.”

Serial verb constructions express many relationships which are expressed by prepositions in English.

Adjectives Adjectives are usually preceded by hóu – ‘very’ Eg: hóu sau (thin), hóu gēng (afraid)

Adjectives may undergo reduplication, modifying their meaning Eg: gōu-gōu-sau-sau (tall and thin)

Adjectives may take comparative constructions such as dī and gwo

Eg: Nīdouh jihng dī here quiet a-bit

Modification of adjectives

Géi – ‘quite’ eg: géi chūngmìhng ‘quite smart’Fēisèuhng – ‘extremely’ Gam- ‘so’ eg: gam hou ‘so good’

Adjectives and reduplication: A-B-B Egs: chī- lahp – lahp glue-stick-stick A-B-B form of reduplication typically produces

perceptual adjectives, describing how things feel, look or smell.

Parts of Speech….

Cantonese Verbs and adjectives• Hard to differentiate between them

in certain cases• Verbs and adjectives can behave

alike• They can take aspect markers

Example: Béi (v) & sau (adj)

béi (v) : give (v) béj (v) + jó = Given

sau (adj) : thin (adj)Sau (adj) + jó = have become thinner

Jó – Perfective marker (in English, only verbs take aspect markers, not the case in Cantonese)

Cantonese prepositions and verbs

Unclear distinction between prepositions and verbs in some cases

‘coverb’- a term for words that have both the characteristics of prepositions and verb

E.g of a coverb: tùhng

‘Tùhng’ in sentence construction

Ngóh tùhng ngóh pàhng yáu góng gán wá. ‘ I am talking to/with my friend’góng gán- talking ‘gán’ – progressive markerTùhng corresponds to the preposition ‘to/with’

Ngóh tùhng gán ngóh pàhng yáu góng wá ‘ I am talking to/with my friend.’ ‘gan’ – progressive marker in verbs‘tùhng’ is acting like a verb here because it

takes on a progressive marker

WORD ORDER IN CANTONESE

WORD ORDER IN WORD ORDER IN CANTONESECANTONESE

Basic Concepts • Heavy reliance on word order

• Basic word order (Subject-Verb-Object)

• Can be said as a SVO language

Exceptions

• Deviation from the SVO order

• A) Subject-Object-Verb order • B) Subject-Verb Inversion • C) Right Dislocation • D) Topicalization

S-0-V Word Order• Ex: Ngóh Yīnggwok meih heui-gwo I England havent go P S O V

-> I havent been to England -> P: Perfective Aspect Marker

Subject-Verb Inversion

• Subject appears after the verb • Happens to certain intransitive verbs

• Ex: Gāmyaht làih-jó yāt go yàhn Today come P one C person InV S

-> A person came today -> P : Perfective Aspect Marker C: Noun Classifier

• Jj

Right Dislocation

• Noun/Pronoun (subject of a clause)• Appearing at the end of a sentence

(dislocated position)

• Ex: Hóu lēk wo, léih ! So smart P You S

-> You are so smart ! -> P: Particle

Topicalization • An important typological feature of

Cantonese• Placement of a word or phrase at the

beginning of a sentence or clause • Making it the sentence topic • Topic and Comment

Topicalization (Cont’)

• Topic -> A word/phrase which the comment says something about

-> A word/phrase that explains the spatial and temporal context of the sentence -> Need not be the subject and need not have any grammatical relation to the comment

Topicalization (Cont’)• Chao (1968) • Chinese sentence structure consists

not of subject-predicate , but of topic-comment

• Topic-Comment : The approach to study Cantonese syntax

Topicalization (Cont’)• Compared to English • English :Subject-Predicate• Subject- a grammatical requirement• “It” – dummy subject is used when the

notional subject is absent • “It is forbidden to smoke”

Topicalization (Cont’)• In Cantonese , many sentences lack an

overt subject and it is still grammatical

• No dummy subject is used when the notional subject is absent

Topicalization (Cont’)• Yìhgā ge tīnhei yùhngyih sēung-fūng now P weather easy catch a cold

-> It’s easy to catch a cold in this weather-> P: Particle

Topicalization (Cont’)• Yìhgā ge tīnhei yùhngyih sēung-fūng now P weather easy catch a cold(It’s easy to catch a cold in this weather)

-> “Yìhgā ge tīnhei ” -> this weather -> It is not the subject of any action -> It is rather a topic that indicates the

circumstance (this weather) and sets a context for the comment

-> There is no overt subject in the sentence

ConclusionConclusionConclusion

••Use by non-native speakersUse by non-native speakersSpeculation: more interaction Speculation: more interaction between mandarin and Cantonesebetween mandarin and Cantonese

Due to increasing popularity of films, Due to increasing popularity of films, songs,etc produced in Hong Kongsongs,etc produced in Hong Kong

• Presence of Mandarin and English influence, eg, ‘fēi’(ticket) came from ‘fare’ in English

Constantly evolving Cantonese to accommodate global terms, so as to become a ‘global’ language

English of Cantonese native speakers following intonation and stress of Cantonese

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