Additional: Basic Cantonese Sound System – Caretaker Phrasebook with Cantonese translation

How Cantonese Sounds Work (Yale Romanization)

In Yale Cantonese, each syllable has three parts:
Initial (beginning sound of the syllable) + Final (ending sound of the syllable) + Tone (pitch).

1. Syllable = Initial + Final + Tone

Example: séuhng (“up”)
– s- is the initial, -euhng is the final, and the mark on the vowel shows the tone.

2. The 6 Cantonese tones (Yale marks)

Cantonese has 6 tones. In Yale, tones are shown with small marks on the first vowel, or an h after the vowel for the low tones.
Use the English “feeling” words below as a rough pitch guide.

Tone	Name	Yale mark	Mnemonic words	Example
1	High level	sī	high flat (like “he”)	詩 “poem”
2	High rising	sí	starts mid, rises (like “then?”)	史 “history”
3	Mid level	si	mid flat (like “you”)	試 “to try”
4	Low falling	sìh	low, falling a bit (like “Tracy”)	時 “time”
5	Low rising	síh	low then slightly up (like “see”)	市 “market”
6	Low level	sih	low flat (like “in”)	事 “matter”

*Tone mark goes on the first vowel of the syllable. For low tones (4–6), an h is written after the vowel.

3. Initials – starting sounds

Cantonese has about 19 initials (starting consonants).

Initial	Approx. English	Example (Yale)	Meaning
b	like “b” in boy	bā	巴(士) – “bus”
d	like “d” in dark	dā	打 – “to hit / dozen”
g	like “ga” in guard	gā	家 – “family”
gw	gwa – similar to guava	gwā	瓜 – “melon”
j	like “ja” in jar	jā	渣 – “residue / dregs”
p	like “pa” in park	pā	趴 – “to lie face-down”
t	like “t” in tart	tā	他 – “he”
k	like “ka” in kart	kā	卡 – “card”
kw	like “kwa” in quick	kwā	誇 – “to boast”
ch	like “cha” in charge	chā	差 – “inferior / difference”
f	like “fa” in fast	fā	花 – “flower”
h	like “ha” in hack	hā	蝦 – “shrimp”
s	like “sa” in sand	sā	沙 – “sand”
m	like “ma” in mummy	mā	媽 – “mother”
n	like “na” in name	ná	拿 – “to take / fetch”
l	like “la” in lag	lā	啦 – particle
ng	ng similar to the “ark”	ngàh	牙 – “tooth”
w	like “w” in way	wā	蛙 – “frog”
y	like “y” in yes	yáh	也 – “also”

4. Finals – Examples for some syllables

	aa	a	e	i	o	u	eu	yu
	fā flower 花		chē car 車	jī know 知	gō song 歌	kū hoop 箍	hēu boot 靴	syū book 書
i	tāai tie 呔	gāi chicken 雞	fēi fly 飛		tōi embryo 胎	fūi grey 灰	sēui bad 衰
u	bāau bun 包	nāu angry 嬲		bīu a watch 錶	gōu tall 高
m	sāam three 三	sām heart 心		jīm sharp 尖
n	fāan back 返	mān dollar 蚊		chīn thousand 千	gōn dry 乾	būn move 搬	jēun bottle 樽	syūn sour 酸
ng	jāang owe 押	jāng hate 憎	tēng listen 聽	bīng ice 冰	bōng help 幫	fūng wind 風	chēung window 窗
p	taap tower 塔	jāp juice 汁		līp lift 䢂
t	sāat ML kill 殺	chāt seven 七		mīt pinch 搣	gōt ML cut 割	wuht LL alive 活	chēut out 出
k	jāak ML arrow 箭	dāk okay 得	lēk smart 叻	sīk color 色	gok ML corner 角	luhk LL six 六	dēuk chop 啄	syut ML snow 雪

Credit: http://www.clc.com.hk