Sidney Lau Cantonese Romanization System
Pronunciation Guide – Finals

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Cantonese Final Sounds:

Each row of the Final Sounds table contains:

the Sidney Lau System representation of a Cantonese Final sound,
its quick (and sometimes dirty) equivalent sound in English (for beginners),
a more accurate equivalent sound (if any) in English/French/German (for language experts),
a Cantonese example word containing that sound,
the Cantonese character for the Cantonese example word,
the meaning of the Cantonese example word.

Final Sound	Quick English Approximation	Advanced Sound Explanation	Example Word	Example Character	Example Meaning
The a in the following sounds rhyme – The a sound is short.
ai	light	cup + it	gai¹	雞	chicken
ak	duck	k is unaspirated	bak¹	北	north
am	sum		sam¹	心	heart
an	gun		san¹	新	new
ang	rung		dang¹	燈	lamp
ap	cup	p is unaspirated	jap¹	汁	sauce
at	but	t is unaspirated	bat¹	不	not
au	shout		sau¹	收	receive
The a/aa in the following sounds rhyme – The a/aa sound is long.
a	car		ga¹	家	family
aai	car + it		gaai¹	街	street
aak	ark	k is unaspirated	baak³	白	white
aam	arm		saam¹	三	three
aan	aunt		chaan¹	餐	meal
aang	car + ng		haang¹	坑	drain
aap	harp	p is unaspirated	daap¹	搭	catch
aat	art	t is unaspirated	baat³	八	eight
aau	cow		baau¹	包	package
The e in the following sounds rhyme.
e	cherry		che¹	車	car
ek	neck	k is unaspirated	lek¹	叻	wear
eng	length		teng¹	聽	listen
The ei sound is unique.
ei	day		fei¹	飛	fly
The eu in the following sounds rhyme. The h is silent.
euh	her		heuh¹	靴	boot
euk	perk	k is unaspirated	jeuk³	穿	wear
eung	her + ng		jeung¹	張	piece
The i in the following sounds rhyme – The i sound is medium length, i.e. halfway between the English sit and seat.
i	see		si¹	司	manage
iu	hit + would		siu¹	燒	roast
ik	sick	k is unaspirated	sik¹	色	colour
im	him		him¹	謙	modest
in	bin		bin¹	邊	which
ing	sing		bing¹	冰	ice
ip	tip	p is unaspirated	jip³	接	accept
it	hit	t is unaspirated	tit³	鐵	iron
The terminating o sound is unique.
o	go		go¹	高	high
The o in the following sounds rhyme. The h is silent.
oh	law		goh¹	歌	song
oi	toy		hoi¹	開	open
on	fawn		gon¹	乾	dry
ot	bought	t is unaspirated	hot³	渴	thirsty
The o in the following sounds rhyme.
ok	lock	k is unaspirated	lok⁶	落	fall
ong	long		long⁶	浪	wave
The oo in the following sounds rhyme.
oo	could		foo¹	褲	pants
ooi	could + it		booi¹	杯	cup
oon	could + n		gwoon¹	官	official
oot	could + t	t is unaspirated	foot³	寬	wide
The ue in the following sounds rhyme.
ue	sue	dessus (French)	sue¹	書	book
uen	soon	une (French)	suen¹	酸	sour
uet	sue + t	chute (French), t is unaspirated	suet³	雪	snow
The u in the following sounds rhyme.
ui	her + it	Deuil (French)	tui¹	推	push
un	fashion		jun¹	樽	bottle
ut	mallet	t is unaspirated	jut¹	卒	finish
The u in the following sounds rhyme.
uk	book	k is unaspirated	uk¹	屋	house
ung	book + ng	achtung (German)	tung¹	通	through
These sounds rhyme.
m	mmm		m⁴	唔	not
ng	sing		ng⁵	五	five

	Section:	Initials Finals Tones
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Copyright © 2009 Andrew White	Created: 19 Jan 2009
Page authored by Andrew White	Updated: 14 Jan 2012

Sidney Lau Cantonese Romanization SystemPronunciation Guide – Finals

Cantonese Final Sounds:

Sidney Lau Cantonese Romanization System
Pronunciation Guide – Finals