Learn about Cantonese vowels
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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Cantonese Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn all the Cantonese vowels and their variant vowel sounds. |
| aa |
| e |
| i |
| o |
| u |
| oe |
| yu |
| With these sounds, you can pronounce any vowel that could possibly appear in Cantonese! |
| Some vowels may be hard to distinguish, especially for English speakers, so make sure you listen carefully! |
| Remember that memorizing and reproducing the sound is the goal. Don't get too frustrated if you forget when to use the variant sounds, because that'll come naturally later. |
| Are you ready? |
| Then let's get started! |
| The first vowel is... |
| aa |
| 沙 (saa1) |
| 巴 (baa1) |
| 生 (saang1) |
| This is almost identical to the A sound in the word 'far'. |
| aa, aa (slowly) |
| aa, aa (slowly) |
| The next vowel is... |
| e |
| 啤 (be1) |
| 啡 (fe1) |
| 遮 (ze1) |
| This is similar to the E in 'bear'. |
| e, e (slowly) |
| e, e (slowly) |
| The next vowel is... |
| i |
| 試 (si3) |
| 翅 (ci3) |
| 至 (zi3) |
| It's identical to the I in 'ski'. |
| i, i (slowly) |
| i, i (slowly) |
| The next vowel is... |
| o |
| 播 (bo3) |
| 火 (fo2) |
| 佐 (zo3) |
| It's identical to the O in 'ore'. However, there should be more of a vibration at the base of your throat. |
| o, o (slowly) |
| o, o (slowly) |
| The next vowel is... |
| u |
| 呼 (fu1) |
| 姑 (gu1) |
| 箍 (ku1) |
| It's identical to the U in the word 'true'. |
| u, u (slowly) |
| u, u (slowly) |
| The next vowel is... oe |
| 靴 (hoe1) |
| 朵 (doe2) |
| 鋸 (goe3) |
| This sound doesn't exist in English, but it's very similar to the U in the word 'fur'. Be sure to compress your lips. |
| oe, oe (slowly) |
| oe, oe (slowly) |
| The final vowel sound is... |
| yu |
| 注 (zyu3) |
| 處 (cyu2) |
| 恕 (syu3) |
| This sound doesn't exist in English, but it's similar to the U in the word 'menu'. First, try saying an 'ee' like 'see'. Now try rounding your lips while pronouncing this sound. Listen to (host name). |
| yu, yu (slowly) |
| yu, yu (slowly) |
| Well done! You've just learned all the vowel sounds in Cantonese. |
| In the next lesson, you'll start learning consonant sounds. |
| Which vowel sound was the most difficult for you to learn? Please comment and share your thoughts. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Cantonese Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
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