廣東話普及學院
Consonant
Cantonese has a total of 19 initial consonants (聲母).
They can be classified by place of articulation as follows:
Labial sounds (b, m, p, f, w), Alveolar sounds (d, t, n, l), Velar sounds (g, k, gw, kw, ng)
Alveolo-palatal sounds (z, c, s), Glottal sound (h), Palatal sound (j)
When learning initial consonants, it is recommended to observe mouth shape and tongue position during pronunciation, with special attention to the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds. Mastering initials is the essential first step to speaking authentic Hong Kong Cantonese, making your pronunciation clearer and more natural.
b
Like an unaspirated voiceless consonant "b"
p
Like an aspirated voiceless consonant "p"
m
Same as consonant "m" in English
f
Same as consonant "f" in English
w
Same as consonant "w" in English
d
Like an unaspirated voiceless "d"
t
Like an aspirated voiceless "t"
n
Same as consonant "n" in English
lSame as consonant "l" in English
g
Like an unaspirated voiceless consonant "g"
k
Like an aspirated voiceless consonant "k"
gw
Pronounced Cantonese consonant "g" with the English consonant "w" glide blended in at the same time
kw
Pronounced like Cantonese consonant "k" with the English consonant "w" glide blended in at the same time
ng
Like the “ng” in English “sing” or “king”
z
Like an unaspirated voiceless consomant "ts"
c
Like an aspirated voiceless consomant "ts"
s
Same as consonant "s" in English
h
Same as consonant "h" in English
j
Same as consonant "y" in English "yes"
Click the button to listen to the native pronunciation of each consonant and imitate the mouth shape
(Every consonant is paired with the vowel "aa" for examples)