Hong Kong Government Cantonese Romanisation
Transliteration of Chinese |
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Mandarin |
Wu |
Yue |
Min |
Gan |
Hakka |
Xiang |
Polylectal |
See also |
The Hong Kong Government uses an unpublished system of Romanisation of Cantonese for public purposes which is based on the 1888 standard described by Roy T Cowles in 1914 as Standard Romanisation.[1]: iv The primary need for Romanisation of Cantonese by the Hong Kong Government is in the assigning of names to new streets and places. It has not formally or publicly disclosed its method for determining the appropriate Romanisation in any given instance.
Method
Currently, government departments, particularly the Survey and Mapping Office of the Lands Department, consult the Chinese Language Department of the Civil Service Bureau before gazetting names and the latter vet proposed names using the Three Way Chinese Commercial/Telegraphic Code Book, originally published by the Royal Hong Kong Police Force Special Branch for internal government use in 1971. The code book system is devoid of any tone indications and, being grossly simplified, is susceptible to confusion.
Although the code book has only been available for several decades, the Romanisation approach for place names in Hong Kong has been broadly consistent since before 1888. This can be seen in maps of the period[2] and in the government's publication A Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories of 1960.
Typical features
For place names, the type of the place in English (e.g., "Street" and "Road") are often used instead of a romanisation (which would have been "Kai" and "Lo" in the previous example), with just a handful of rare exceptions (for example, the "Fong" in "Lan Kwai Fong", which would have been a "Square" if a translation were used). "Wan" and "Bay", "Tsuen" (or "Chuen") and "Estate" (or "Village"), are, however, equally common. Some places, such as "Un Long", was later renamed as "Yuen Long" according to this standard, with the exception "Un Chau Estate" / "Un Chau Street Estate". Nonetheless, the names "Hong Kong" and "Kowloon" are not transliterated based on this system, as they were already named as such prior to the founding of the colony.
Spelling
All tones are omitted as are distinctions between aspirated and unaspirated stops. The distinctions between the long vowel [a] and the short vowel [ɐ] are omitted like Fat (發, [fat]) and Fat (佛, [fɐt]).
Some of the inconsistencies are due to a distinction that has been lost historically (a distinction between palatal and alveolar sounds, viz. ch versus ts, sh versus s, and j versus z). These consonants are no longer distinguished in present-day speech.
Under the following table, geographical names are used to illustrate. (Biographical names are not used as people have the right to decide how their names be romanised, although the same rule usually applies.)
Consonants
Initials
IPA | Yale | HKG | Example | in Chinese |
pʰ | p | p | Sai Ying Pun | 西營盤 |
p | b | p | Po Lam | 寶琳 |
tʰ | t | t | Tuen Mun | 屯門 |
t | d | t | Tai O | 大澳 |
kʰ | k | k | Kai Tak | 啟德 |
k | g | k | Tai Kok Tsui | 大角咀 |
kʰw | kw | kw | Kwai Chung | 葵涌 |
kw | gw | kw | Cha Kwo Ling | 茶果嶺 |
m | m | m | Yau Ma Tei | 油麻地 |
n | n | n | Nam Cheong | 南昌 |
ŋ | ng | ng | Ngau Tau Kok | 牛頭角 |
l | l | l | Lam Tin | 藍田 |
f | f | f | Fo Tan | 火炭 |
s | s | s | So Kon Po | 掃捍埔 |
sh | Shau Kei Wan | 筲箕灣 | ||
h | h | h | Hang Hau | 坑口 |
j | y | y | Yau Tong | 油塘 |
w | w | w | Wong Tai Sin | 黃大仙 |
tsʰ | ch | ch | Heng Fa Chuen | 杏花邨 |
ts | Yau Yat Tsuen | 又一村 | ||
ts | j | ts | Tsim Sha Tsui | 尖沙咀 |
Finals
IPA | Yale | HKG | Example | in Chinese |
-p | -p | -p | Ap Lei Chau | 鴨脷洲 |
-t | -t | -t | Tsat Tsz Mui | 七姊妹 |
-k | -k | -k | Shek O | 石澳 |
-m | -m | -m | Sham Shui Po | 深水埗 |
-n | -n | -n | Tsuen Wan | 荃灣 |
-ŋ | -ng | -ng | Tsing Yi | 青衣 |
Vowels, diphthongs, and syllabic consonants
IPA | Yale | HKG | Example | in Chinese |
aː | aa | a | Ma Tau Wai | 馬頭圍 |
ah | Wah Fu Estate | 華富邨 | ||
ɐ | a | a | Tsz Wan Shan | 慈雲山 |
o | Hung Hom | 紅磡 | ||
u | Sham Chun River | 深圳河 | ||
ɛː/e | e | e | Che Kung Miu | 車公廟 |
iː/e | i | i | Lai Chi Kok | 荔枝角 |
ze | Sheung Sze Wan | 相思灣 | ||
z | Tung Tsz | 洞梓 | ||
ee | Tat Chee Avenue | 達之路 | ||
ɔː/o | o | Wo Che | 禾輋 | |
uː/o | u | u | Kwu Tung | 古洞 |
oo | Mei Foo | 美孚 | ||
œː | eu | eu | Sheung Wan | 上環 |
eo | Nam Cheong Street | 南昌街 | ||
ɵ | eu | u | Shun Lee Estate | 順利邨 |
yː | yu | yu | Yu Chau Street | 汝州街 |
u | Kau U Fong | 九如坊 | ||
ue | Yung Shue Wan | 榕樹灣 | ||
aːj | aai | ai | Chai Wan | 柴灣 |
ɐj | ai | ai | Mai Po | 米埔 |
aːw | aau | au | Shau Kei Wan | 筲箕灣 |
ɐw | au | au | Sau Mau Ping | 秀茂坪 |
ej | ei | ei | Lei Yue Mun | 鯉魚門 |
ee | Lee On | 利安 | ||
ay | Kam Hay Court | 錦禧苑 | ||
ai | Shui Hau Sai Ngan Ma | 水口四眼馬 | ||
i | To Li Terrace | 桃李台 | ||
iːw | iu | iu | Siu Sai Wan | 小西灣 |
ɔːj | oi | oi | Choi Hung Estate | 彩虹邨 |
oy | Choy Yee Bridge | 蔡意橋 | ||
uːj | ui | ui | Pui O | 貝澳 |
ɵj | eui | ui | Ma Liu Shui | 馬料水 |
ow | ou | o | Tai Mo Shan | 大帽山 |
m̩ | m | |||
ŋ̩ | ng | ng | Ng Fan Chau | 五分州[1] |
- ^ The standard pronunciation of 五 is [ŋ̩]. However, a more common pronunciation in Hong Kong is [m̩] and many [ŋ̩] words are merging with it. The only word that was originally pronounced as m̩ is "唔" (not) and it is not used in place names.
References
- ^ Cowles, Roy T (1914). Cowles' Pocket Dictionary of Cantonese. Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh Ltd.
- ^ "Map of Hong Kong with British Kowloon". Hongkong Almanack. 1888.
See also
- List of common Chinese surnames shows how they are romanised in this scheme.
External links
- 粵語拼盤: Learning the Phonetic System of Cantonese
- Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK)
- Jyutping Pronunciation Guide