Wiktionary:About Chinese/Cantonese/Taishanese

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Wiktionary uses the following system to transcribe the Taicheng dialect of Taishanese.

The IPA column and Wiktionary romanization was based on the Taicheng dialect data at Hanyu Gujinyin Ziliaoku.

Other romanizations described here are:

  • The method used by Stephen Li at his Taishanese Language Home;
  • The method used by Gene Chin in the Hoisanva English Dictionary;
  • The method used in a publication by the Defense Language Institute;
  • The method used by Deng Jun (邓钧) in the Taishan Fangyan Zidian (台山方音字典, 2016).

Initials

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IPA Transcription Stephen Li Gene Chin DLI Deng Jun Example Notes
/p/ b b b p b
/pʰ/ p p p p’ p
/ᵐb/ m m m m m
/f/ f f f f f
/v/ v v v w v
/t/ d d d t d
/tʰ/ t t t t’ t
/ⁿd/ n n n n n
/l/ l l l l l
/ɬ/ lh ɬ x lh lh
/k/ g g g k g
/kʰ/ k k k k’ k
/ᵑɡ/ ng ŋ ng ng ng
/t͡s/ z dz j ch z
j(i)
/t͡sʰ/ c ts ch ch’ c
q(i)
/j/ y y y y y
/s/ s s s s s
x(i)
/h/ h h h h h

Rhymes

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IPA Transcription Stephen Li Gene Chin DLI Deng Jun Example Notes
/a/ a a a a a
/ai/ ai ai ai aai ai
/au/ au ɔu ao aau ao
/am/ am am am aam am
/an/ an an an aan an
/aŋ/ ang ang aang ang
/ap̚/ ap ap ap aap ab
/at̚/ at at at aat ad
/ak̚/ ak ak ak aak ag
/i/ i i i i i
/iu/ iu iu iu iu iu
/im/ im im im im im
/in/ in in in in in
/ip̚/ ip ip ip ip ib
/it̚/ it it it it id
/iɛ/ ie ia eh e ie
/iau/ iau iau el iau ieu
/iam/ iam iam em iem iem
/iaŋ/ iang iaŋ eng iang ieng
/iap̚/ iap iap ep iep ieb
/iak̚/ iak iak ek iak ieg
/u/ u u u oo u
/ui/ ui ui ui ooi ui
/un/ un un un oon un
/ut̚/ ut ut ut oot ud
/ə/ e e
/ei/ ei i i i ei [1]
/eu/ eu ǝu eo aau eu
/em/ em ǝm eim ? em
/en/ en ein en, ein ien en
/ep̚/ ep ǝp eip ? eb 𢱕
/et̚/ et ɛt et, eik ? ed
/ɵŋ/ uung ǝŋ ung ung ung
/ɵt̚/ uut ut ut oot ud
/ɵk̚/ uuk ǝk uk uk ug
/ᵘɔ/ o ɔ o o uo
/ᵘɔi/ oi ɔi oi oi oi
/ᵘɔn/ on ɔn on on on
/ɔŋ/ ong ɔŋ ong ong ong
/ᵘɔt̚/ ot ɔt ot ot od
/ɔk̚/ ok ɔk ok ok og
/m̩/ m m m m ng (m)
except m* 唔

Tones

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Tone Transcription Tone numerals / Stephen Li Gene Chin DLI Deng Jun Example Category
Mid level 1 33 ä à a' 陰平/陰去/下陰入
High level 2 55 ā a a- 陰上/上陰入
Low level 3 22 ã ā a* 陽平
Low falling 4 21 â ạ̄ a> 陽上/下陽入
Mid falling 5 32 à â a` 陽去/上陽入

Changed tones

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Tone Transcription Tone numerals / Stephen Li Gene Chin DLI Deng Jun Example
Mid level > Mid rising 1* 335 ä/ à* a'-
Low level > Low rising 3* 225 ã/ ā* a*-
Low falling > Low dipping 4* 215 â/ ạ̄* a>-
Mid falling > Mid dipping 5* 325 à/ â* a`- 台山

There are two types of tone changes in Taishanese:

  • The rising tone change () is indicated using an asterisk * after the original tone, e.g. (hong3*, candy).
  • The dipping tone change (to the fourth tone ˨˩) is indicated using -4 after the original tone, e.g. (nguuk5-4, meat)

These two can be combined, e.g. (cat1-4*, a brush).

Notes

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  1. ^ Does not occur with /ts/, /tsʰ/, /s/ or /j/. Some speakers may pronounce this as /i/. See this page for details.