Standard Romanization is a system of romanization for Cantonese developed by Christian missionaries in southern China in 1888, particularly relying upon the work of John Morrison Chalmers.[1] By 1914, it had become well established in Canton and Hong Kong (there being no other system of significance in published literature, and publications using it having been issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society, the China Baptist Publication Society,[2] and the Pakhoi Mission Press[3] from as early as 1906). It is the foundation of the current system of Romanisation used by the Hong Kong Government.
| p pronounced as /[p]/ | p‘ pronounced as /[pʰ]/ | f pronounced as /[f]/ | m pronounced as /[m]/ | |
| t pronounced as /[t]/ | t‘ pronounced as /[tʰ]/ | n pronounced as /[n]/ | ||
| ts pronounced as /[ts]/ | ts‘ pronounced as /[tsʰ]/ | s pronounced as /[s]/ | l pronounced as /[l]/ | |
| ch pronounced as /[tɕ]/ | ch‘ pronounced as /[tɕʰ]/ | sh pronounced as /[ɕ]/ | y pronounced as /[j]/ | |
| k pronounced as /[k]/ | k‘ pronounced as /[kʰ]/ | h pronounced as /[h]/ | ng pronounced as /[ŋ]/ | |
| kw pronounced as /[kw]/ | kw‘ pronounced as /[kʰw]/ | w pronounced as /[w]/ |
Note that the following initials are left unspelt: pronounced as /[j]/ preceding (////) or (/), pronounced as /[w]/ preceding (//), and zero-initial (which only occurs preceding finals other than these just-mentioned ones where the accompanying pronounced as /[j]/ or pronounced as /[w]/ is not written).
| a pronounced as /[aː]/ | aai pronounced as /[aːi]/ | aau pronounced as /[aːu]/ | aam pronounced as /[aːm]/ | aan pronounced as /[aːn]/ | aang pronounced as /[aːŋ]/ | aap pronounced as /[aːp̚]/ | aat pronounced as /[aːt̚]/ | aak pronounced as /[aːk̚]/ | |
| ai pronounced as /[ɐi]/ | au pronounced as /[ɐu]/ | am pronounced as /[ɐm]/ | an pronounced as /[ɐn]/ | ang pronounced as /[ɐŋ]/ | ap pronounced as /[ɐp̚]/ | at pronounced as /[ɐt̚]/ | ak pronounced as /[ɐk̚]/ | ||
| e pronounced as /[ɛː]/ | ei pronounced as /[ei]/ | eng pronounced as /[ɛːŋ]/ | ek pronounced as /[ɛːk̚]/ | ||||||
| i pronounced as /[iː]/ | iu pronounced as /[iːu]/ | im pronounced as /[iːm]/ | in pronounced as /[iːn]/ | ing pronounced as /[eŋ]/ | ip pronounced as /[iːp̚]/ | it pronounced as /[iːt̚]/ | ik pronounced as /[ek̚]/ | ||
| oh pronounced as /[ɔː]/ | oi pronounced as /[ɔːj]/ | o pronounced as /[ou]/ | om pronounced as /[om]/ | on pronounced as /[ɔːn]/ | ong pronounced as /[ɔːŋ]/ | op pronounced as /[op̚]/ | ot pronounced as /[ɔːt̚]/ | ok pronounced as /[ɔːk̚]/ | |
| oo pronounced as /[uː]/ | ooi pronounced as /[uːj]/ | oon pronounced as /[uːn]/ | ung pronounced as /[oŋ]/ | oot pronounced as /[uːt̚]/ | uk pronounced as /[ok̚]/ | ||||
| eu pronounced as /[œː]/ | ui pronounced as /[ɵy]/ | un pronounced as /[ɵn]/ | eung pronounced as /[œːŋ]/ | ut pronounced as /[ɵt̚]/ | euk pronounced as /[œːk̚]/ | ||||
| ue pronounced as /[yː]/ | uen pronounced as /[yːn]/ | uet pronounced as /[yːt̚]/ | |||||||
| z pronounced as /[ɨː]/ | m pronounced as /[m̩]/ | ng pronounced as /[ŋ̩]/ |
Tones are indicated using diacritic marks.
Note: In the following table, “x” stands for whatever letter bears any tonal diacritic, that letter being the syllable’s final vowel or (if no vowel is present, then) its final letter (in the major dictionary of 1965 by Cowles).[5]
the Standard Romanization’s spelling | the equivalent in “Yale-Romanization” | |
|---|---|---|
| x | x̀ | |
| x̄ | x̀ | |
| x́ | x́ | |
| x̆ | x́ | |
| x̀ | x | |
| x̂ | x | |
| x | x̄ | |
| x̄ | x | |
| x̊ | x |
| 廣州 | 广州 | kwóng-chau | |
| 粵語 | 粤语 | uēt-uĕ | |
| 你好 | 你好 | neĭ hó |