Jyutping

Foundations

Jyutping (粵拼) is the official standard romanization system for Cantonese. It transcribes spoken Cantonese sounds using standard Latin letters and plain numbers from 1 to 6 to represent lexical tones.

How It Works

What is Jyutping?
Jyutping (粵拼, jyut6 ping3) was established in 1993 by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK). It provides a precise, standardized spelling system for Cantonese using standard Latin letters and numbers.

Syllable Structure
Every Cantonese syllable requires a Final and a Tone, while an Initial consonant is optional (such as in words starting with a vowel or syllabic nasals like m and ng):
1. Initial (Optional): The starting consonant sound (e.g., g, h, m, j).
2. Final (Required): The core vowel sound and optional coda ending (e.g., aa, ong, ik).
3. Tone Number (Required): A digit from 1 to 6 placed directly at the end of the syllable.

Key Pronunciation Rules

  • The letter 'j' sounds like English 'y': In Jyutping, j is always pronounced like the 'y' in 'yes' (e.g., jan4 人 is pronounced like 'yan').
  • The letter 'z' is unaspirated: It sounds like the 'ts' in 'cats' or 'ds' in 'reads'.
  • The letter 'c' is aspirated: It sounds like the 'ch' in 'cheat'.
  • Numbers 1–6 represent tones: Cantonese relies on 6 distinct pitch levels. For a complete breakdown, explore Tones.

Why Learn Jyutping?
Unlike Mandarin which uses Hanyu Pinyin, Cantonese relies on Jyutping in modern dictionaries (such as words.hk), Cantonese learning tools, and digital input methods on standard keyboards.

Examples (3)

  1. 你好嗎？

    How are you?

    Word by Word: you good [question]

    Written in Jyutping as 'nei5 hou2 maa1?'. Each character corresponds to one syllable with a tone number.

  2. 我想學廣東話。

    I want to learn Cantonese.

    Word by Word: I want learn Canton speech

    Written in Jyutping as 'ngo5 soeng2 hok6 gwong1 dung1 waa2.'.

  3. 今日天氣好好。

    The weather is very good today.

    Word by Word: today sky weather very good

    Written in Jyutping as 'gam1 jat6 tin1 hei3 hou2 hou2.'.

Common Mistakes

  • Pronouncing the Jyutping letter 'j' as an English 'j' sound (as in 'jump')

    人 (jan4) pronounced like English 'Jan'
    人 (jan4) pronounced like English 'Yan'

    In Jyutping, 'j' represents the English 'y' sound. For example, jan4 (person) is pronounced like 'yan', and jat6 (day) is pronounced like 'yat'.

  • Assuming Cantonese requires 9 separate tone numbers in Jyutping

    食 (sik9)
    食 (sik6)

    Although traditional rhyme tables count short entering tones ending in -p, -t, or -k as tones 7, 8, and 9, phonetically their pitch levels match tones 1, 3, and 6. Jyutping exclusively uses tone numbers 1 through 6.

How It Connects

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JyutpingFoundations

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