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Written Cantonese
Script type
Logographic
Time period
1910s (or earlier) to present
Languages
Yue Chinese
Related scripts
Sister systems
Written Hokkien
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
This article is part of the series on the
Cantonese language
Yue Chinese
Grammar
Measure words
Pronouns
Orthography
Transcription
Fanchit
Braille
Bopomofo
Pinyin
Yale
Jyutping
Phonology
Nasal-stop alternation
Changed tone
IPA
v
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Written Cantonese is the most complete written form of a Chinese language after that for Mandarin Chinese and Classical Chinese. Written Chinese was the main literary language of China until the 19th century. Written vernacular Chinese first appeared in the 17th century, and a written form of Mandarin became standard throughout China in the early 20th century.[1] Cantonese is a common language in places like Hong Kong and Macau. While the Mandarin form can to some extent be read and spoken word for word in other Chinese varieties, its intelligibility to non-Mandarin speakers is poor to incomprehensible because of differences in idioms, grammar and usage. Modern Cantonese speakers have therefore developed new characters for words that do not exist and have retained others that have been lost in standard Chinese.
With the advent of the computer and standardization of character sets specifically for Cantonese, many printed materials in predominantly Cantonese-speaking areas of the world are written to cater to their population with these written Cantonese characters.
Written Cantonese on the packaging of Hong Kong beverage brand Vitasoy
^Mair, Victor. "How to Forget Your Mother Tongue and Remember Your National Language".
WrittenCantonese is the most complete written form of a Chinese language after that for Mandarin Chinese and Classical Chinese. Written Chinese was the...
Cantonese (traditional Chinese: 廣東話; simplified Chinese: 广东话; Jyutping: gwong2 dung1 waa2; Cantonese Yale: Gwóngdùng wá) is a language within the Chinese...
The five most common Cantonese profanities, vulgar words in the Cantonese language are diu (屌/𨳒), gau (鳩/㞗/𨳊), lan (撚/𨶙), tsat (柒/杘/𨳍) and hai (屄/閪)...
are written with colloquial Cantonese characters. Cantonese has relatively simple syllable structure when compared to other languages. A Cantonese syllable...
of Chinese is "written language" (書面語), in contrast to the "spoken language" (口語), i.e. Cantonese. While, like other varieties of Written Chinese, it is...
chi (凸字, dat6zi6) 'raised characters'. Although Cantonese is written in Chinese characters, Cantonese Braille is purely phonetic, with punctuation, digits...
Cantonese culture, or Lingnan culture, refers to the regional Chinese culture of the region of Lingnan: twin provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi, the names...
Chinese are not written, there are traditions of writtenCantonese, written Shanghainese and written Hokkien, among others. Written Chinese is not based...
phonology. There is also a written language based on the vocabulary and grammar of spoken Cantonese known as writtenCantonese. Although the "biliterate...
Malaysian Cantonese (Chinese: 馬來西亞廣東話; Jyutping: Maa5loi4sai1aa3 Gwong2dung1waa2; Cantonese Yale: Máhlòihsāia Gwóngdūngwá) is a local variety of Cantonese spoken...
Written Chinese or Modern Written Chinese to distinguish it from spoken vernaculars and other written vernaculars, like writtenCantonese and written...
The Cantonese people (廣府人; 广府人; gwong fu jan; Gwóngfú Yàhn) or Yue people (粵人; 粤人; jyut jan; Yuht Yàhn), are a Han Chinese subgroup originating from or...
Hong Kong Cantonese is a dialect of the Cantonese language of the Sino-Tibetan family. Although Hongkongers refer to the language as "Cantonese" (廣東話),...
spoken language in China. But spoken Cantonese has had an increasing influence on the written language of Cantonese speakers. One example is 咗 (jo2), which...
Yue (Cantonese pronunciation: [jyːt̚˨]) is a branch of the Sinitic languages primarily spoken in Southern China, particularly in the provinces of Guangdong...
for Cantonese, many printed materials in predominantly Cantonese speaking areas of the world cater to their population using these writtenCantonese characters...
comparison with the well-developed written forms of Cantonese and Vernacular Chinese (Mandarin). In Taiwan, a standard for Written Hokkien has been developed...
pinyin: Táishān huà; Jyutping: toi4 saan1 waa2), alternatively romanized in Cantonese as Toishanese or Toisanese, in local dialect as Hoisanese or Hoisan-wa...
Cantonese is an analytic language in which the arrangement of words in a sentence is important to its meaning. A basic sentence is in the form of SVO...
been employed in writing Cantonese as an alphabetic language—in effect, elevating Jyutping from its assistive status to a written language. The Jyutping...
transcription delimiters. Cantonese Pinyin (Chinese: 常用字廣州話讀音表:拼音方案, also known as 教院式拼音方案) is a romanization system for Cantonese developed by the Rev. Yu...
are written. With the aid of Cantonese characters invented by Hong Kongers, the Cantonese language can now be written verbatim, and writtenCantonese have...
Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China's Guangdong Province. It is popular in Guangdong, Guangxi...
non-Standard Chinese orthography is WrittenCantonese, which is used in tabloids and on the internet among Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong and elsewhere...
Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") is a genre of pop music written in standard Chinese and sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer...
Cantonese poetry (Cantonese Jyutping: Jyut6 si1; Traditional Chinese: 粵詩) is poetry performed and composed primarily by Cantonese people. Most of this...
Cantonese slang is a type of slang used in areas where the Cantonese language is spoken. It is commonly spoken in Guangdong, Guangxi, Macao and Hong Kong...
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