Learn about final stops
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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Cantonese Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this lesson, we'll focus on final stops in Cantonese. |
| Cantonese is primarily made up of syllables, and each syllable can be broken down into three categories: The initial, final, and tone. |
| The initial refers to the beginning sound in the syllable. |
| The final refers to the ending sound in the syllable. |
| And last we have tone, which denotes the relative, or variation in pitch, of the syllable. |
| In this lesson, we'll only focus on sounds in the final position. |
| We'll also only be looking at 'stops' in the final position. |
| Stops are sounds which are produced when the airway closes momentarily so that no air can escape, the pressure then builds up, and air is released forcefully to create sound. |
| Stops in Cantonese include... |
| b (never used in the final position), p, |
| d (never used in the final position), t, |
| g, k |
| As you can see, we have three pairs of sounds which are quite similar to each other. |
| In this lesson, we'll be looking at the letters P T and K when they're in the final position. |
| Listen to a few examples which have the P in the final position. |
| 十 (sap6) |
| 答 (daap3) |
| 合 (hap6) |
| Do you notice how the P sound appears to be cut off when it's in the final position? Listen to it again. |
| 十 (sap6) |
| Now, compare that to the English word 'stamp'. |
| 十 (sap6) |
| Unlike English, final stops like P are cut off at the end in Cantonese. This is classified as an 'unreleased stop', or a stop with 'no audible release'. |
| To pronounce a final stop, like a P in Cantonese, bring your lips together, but do *not* release the air as you would normally. Try it! |
| 十 (sap6) |
| Next, let's take a look at a few examples which have the T in the final position. |
| 突 (dat6) |
| 七 (cat1) |
| 乞 (hat1) |
| Contact the tip of the tongue with the gums behind the top teeth, but do *not* release the air. It's similar to the T sound in the word 'start'. Try it! |
| 突 (dat6) |
| Finally, let's take a look at examples which have the K in the final position. |
| 食 (sik6) |
| 石 (sek6) |
| 則 (zak1) |
| Contact the back of the tongue with the back part of the roof of your mouth, but do *not* release the air. Try it! |
| 食 (sik6) |
| Now you know how to pronounce final stops in Cantonese! |
| In the next lesson, you'll learn how to produce all the tones in Cantonese! |
| Can you identify any unreleased stops in your language? Please comment and share your thoughts. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Cantonese Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
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