Return to Answer

• Cantonese has lost the Middle Chinese retroflex consonants, which are preserved in Beijing Mandarin.

• For what would become sets of coronal affricates in Later Chinese, Early Middle Chinese makes a four-way distinction. It distinguished between retroflex stops, retroflex affricates/fricatives, postalveolar affricates/fricatives, and alveolar affricates/fricatives. All four sets collapsed into one in Guangzhou Cantonese, while Beijing Mandarin still preserves a two way distinction, largely the first three groups with the last.

• Cantonese, like most Southern Chinese dialects, have shifted its MC */ɑ/ completely to */ɔ/. This is only seen in Mandarin for MC syllables with nucleus */ɑ/ and no coda. About the largest set of words in MC had */ɑ/, so this is pretty significant.

• The second and third largest vowel class in MC were */e/ and */ə/. Both Cantonese and Mandarin have messed around with */e/, but MC */ə/ stays /ə/ in Mandarin while it has become a more open /ɐ/ in Cantonese, which sounds like British English (traditional Received Pronunciation) sound uh in cut, instead of the first vowel in the English word about.

• Since MC */i/, the fourth most common vowel, merged with */ə/ in both Cantonese and Mandarin when there is a coda, and in particular Cantonese does not retain the medial (MC */i/ > Mandarin /iə/ when there is coda), its effects are also not insignificant. i.e. MC */i/ > Cantonese /ɐ/ whenever there is a coda.

  • This can be compared with Mandarin, where /iə/ is [i] unless there is no coda (so MC */i/ > Mandarin [i] anyway)

• Cantonese diphthongized its original high vowels /i/ /u/ /y/ in the 19th century, so they are now /ei/ /ou/ /œy/ (stay, know, stay with rounded lips).

• The MC onset */kʰ/ (English k) have become /h/ in Cantonese irregularly in large numbers.

• The earlier Cantonese sequence */hw-/ became f in Modern Cantonese. Coupled with the change above you get pronunciations that do not appear to be regular but actually basically are: 科 MC */kʰuɑ1/ Cantonese fo1 /fɔː1/, 阔 MC */kʰuɑt1/ Cantonese fut3 /fuːt3/,

• Cantonese has lost the Middle Chinese retroflex consonants, which are preserved in Beijing Mandarin.

• For what would become sets of coronal affricates in Later Chinese, Early Middle Chinese makes a four-way distinction. It distinguished between retroflex stops, retroflex affricates/fricatives, postalveolar affricates/fricatives, and alveolar affricates/fricatives. All four sets collapsed into one in Guangzhou Cantonese, while Beijing Mandarin still preserves a two way distinction, largely the first three groups with the last.

• Cantonese, like most Southern Chinese dialects, have shifted its MC */ɑ/ completely to */ɔ/. This is only seen in Mandarin for MC syllables with nucleus */ɑ/ and no coda. About the largest set of words in MC had */ɑ/, so this is pretty significant.

• The second and third largest vowel class in MC were */e/ and */ə/. Both Cantonese and Mandarin have messed around with */e/, but MC */ə/ stays /ə/ in Mandarin while it has become a more open /ɐ/ in Cantonese, which sounds like British English (traditional Received Pronunciation) sound uh in cut, instead of the first vowel in the English word about.

• Since MC */i/, the fourth most common vowel, merged with */ə/ in both Cantonese and Mandarin when there is a coda, and in particular Cantonese does not retain the medial (MC */i/ > Mandarin /iə/ when there is coda), its effects are also not insignificant. i.e. MC */i/ > Cantonese /ɐ/ whenever there is a coda.

  • This can be compared with Mandarin, where /iə/ is [i] unless there is no coda (so MC */i/ > Mandarin [i] anyway)

• Cantonese diphthongized its original high vowels /iː/ /uː/ /yː/ in the 19th century, so they are now /ei/ /ou/ /œy/ (stay, know, stay with rounded lips).

• Further, older Cantonese */uiː/ has now become /(w)ɐi/ (North American English (w)ife). */uiː/ and */iː/ differ only by a medial and have the same final, so they used to rhyme like in MC, but now they no longer do.

• The MC onset */kʰ/ (English k) have become /h/ in Cantonese irregularly in large numbers.

• The earlier Cantonese sequence */hw-/ became f in Modern Cantonese. Coupled with the change above you get pronunciations that do not appear to be regular but actually basically are: 科 MC */kʰuɑ1/ Cantonese fo1 /fɔː1/, 阔 MC */kʰuɑt1/ Cantonese fut3 /fuːt3/,

One thing that has further happened to Guangzhou Cantonese, however, is that, except when it began the syllable, *i disappeared completely. For some finals, *i simply disappeared with no traces left, So GZC no longer distinguishes words like 九 (GZC gau2 MC */kiəu2/ BJM jiou3) and 狗 (GZC gau2 MC */kəu2/ BJM gou3), or words like 菊 (GZC guk1 MC */kiuk/ BJM ju2) and 谷 (GZC guk1 MC */kuk/ BJM gu3). For others, which is most finals, the *i medial merged with the nucleus, resulting in different vowel qualities.

Middle Chinese */-iɑŋ/ and */-ɑŋ/ -> GZC oeng /-œŋ/ and ong /-ɔŋ/ and BJM iang /-iɑŋ/ and ang /-ɑŋ/

Here there is another major thing in Cantonese: many finals split after dorsal/labial onsets (k, p, h, f...) and coronal onsets (t, d, s, l, n...), making them even no longer rhyme.

GZC {aan /-an/ after coronals, on /-ɔn/ otherwise} and {yun /-yn/ after coronals, un /-un/ otherwise

BJM an /-an/ and uan /-uan/;

Middle Chinese */-iɛn/ and */-yɛn/ ->

GZC in /in/ and yun /-yn/

BJM ian /-iɛn/ and yuan /-yɛn/ if non-retroflex, and an /-an/ and uan /-uan/ after retroflex;

GZC u /-u/ after k g f and word initially, disappears after ng, and ou /-ou/ otherwise

• Cantonese has lost the Middle Chinese retroflex consonants, which are preserved in Beijing Mandarin.

• For what would become sets of coronal affricates in Later Chinese, Early Middle Chinese makes a four-way distinction. It distinguished between retroflex stops, retroflex affricates/fricatives, postalveolar affricates/fricatives, and alveolar affricates/fricatives. All four sets collapsed into one in Guangzhou Cantonese, while Beijing Mandarin still preserves a two way distinction, largely the first three groups with the last.

• Cantonese, like most Southern Chinese dialects, have shifted its MC */ɑ/ completely to */ɔ/. This is only seen in Mandarin for MC syllables with nucleus */ɑ/ and no coda. About the largest set of words in MC had */ɑ/, so this is pretty significant.

• The second and third largest vowel class in MC were */e/ and */ə/. Both Cantonese and Mandarin have messed around with */e/, but MC */ə/ stays /ə/ in Mandarin while it has become a more open /ɐ/ in Cantonese, which sounds like British English (traditional Received Pronunciation) sound uh in cut, instead of the first vowel in the English word about.

• Since MC */i/, the fourth most common vowel, merged with */ə/ in both Cantonese and Mandarin when there is a coda, and in particular Cantonese does not retain the medial (MC */i/ > Mandarin /iə/ when there is coda), its effects are also not insignificant. i.e. MC */i/ > Cantonese /ɐ/

• Cantonese diphthongized its original high vowels /i/ /u/ /y/ in the 19th century, so they are now /ei/ /ou/ /œy/ (stay, know, stay with rounded lips)

In short, as said at the beginning, every dialect has its own numerous innovations (=deviations) and accordingly preservations. The innovations of each dialect happen in different aspects and different directions, so all dialects preserve its own part of Middle Chinese while having lost its own parts of the Middle Chinese traits. No dialect preserves "objectively the closest" sound system and correspondence to Middle Chinese, because in this reality it does not make sense to speak of this single, unitary "closeness" dimension relative to Middle Chinese.

床前明月光 疑是地上霜 举头望明月 低头思故乡

Here again, in Cantonese this does not rhyme because it converted MC *iɑŋ to oeng, but MC *(u)ɑŋ to (w)ong. In Mandarin this does rhyme; the MC *ɑŋ final is simply preserved. In MC 霜 had the *iɑŋ rhyme, which in Mandarin was converted to uang after retroflex onsets.

One thing that has further happened to Guangzhou Cantonese, however, is that, except when it began the syllable, *i disappeared completely. For some finals, *i simply disappeared with no traces left, So GZC no longer distinguishes words like 九 (GZC gau2 MC */kiəu2/ BJM jiou3) and 狗 (GZC gau2 MC */kəu2/ BJM gou3), or words like 菊 (GZC guk1 MC */kiuk/ BJM ju2) and 谷 (GZC guk1 MC */kuk/ BJM gu3). For others, which is most finals, the *i medial merged with the nucleus, resulting in different vowel qualities. For example:

Middle Chinese */-iɛn/ and */-yɛn/ -> GZC in /-iːn/ and yun /-yːn/, and BJM ian /-iɛn/ and yuan /-yɛn/ if non-retroflex, and an /-an/ and uan /-uan/ after retroflex;

Middle Chinese */-iɑŋ/ and */-ɑŋ/ -> GZC oeng /-œːŋ/ and ong /-ɔːŋ/ and BJM iang /-iɑŋ/ and ang /-ɑŋ/

Here there is another major thing in Cantonese: many finals split after dorsal/labial onsets (g, h, ng, p, f, m, ...) and coronal onsets (t, d, s, l, n...), making them even no longer rhyme.

GZC {aan /-aːn/ after coronals, on /-ɔːn/ otherwise} and {yun /-yːn/ after coronals, un /-uːn/ otherwise}

BJM an /-an/ and uan /-uan/;

GZC u /-uː/ after k g f and word initially, disappears after ng, and ou /-ou/ otherwise

• Cantonese has lost the Middle Chinese retroflex consonants, which are preserved in Beijing Mandarin.

• For what would become sets of coronal affricates in Later Chinese, Early Middle Chinese makes a four-way distinction. It distinguished between retroflex stops, retroflex affricates/fricatives, postalveolar affricates/fricatives, and alveolar affricates/fricatives. All four sets collapsed into one in Guangzhou Cantonese, while Beijing Mandarin still preserves a two way distinction, largely the first three groups with the last.

• Cantonese, like most Southern Chinese dialects, have shifted its MC */ɑ/ completely to */ɔ/. This is only seen in Mandarin for MC syllables with nucleus */ɑ/ and no coda. About the largest set of words in MC had */ɑ/, so this is pretty significant.

• The second and third largest vowel class in MC were */e/ and */ə/. Both Cantonese and Mandarin have messed around with */e/, but MC */ə/ stays /ə/ in Mandarin while it has become a more open /ɐ/ in Cantonese, which sounds like British English (traditional Received Pronunciation) sound uh in cut, instead of the first vowel in the English word about.

• Since MC */i/, the fourth most common vowel, merged with */ə/ in both Cantonese and Mandarin when there is a coda, and in particular Cantonese does not retain the medial (MC */i/ > Mandarin /iə/ when there is coda), its effects are also not insignificant. i.e. MC */i/ > Cantonese /ɐ/ whenever there is a coda.

  • This can be compared with Mandarin, where /iə/ is [i] unless there is no coda (so MC */i/ > Mandarin [i] anyway)

• Cantonese diphthongized its original high vowels /i/ /u/ /y/ in the 19th century, so they are now /ei/ /ou/ /œy/ (stay, know, stay with rounded lips).

• The MC onset */kʰ/ (English k) have become /h/ in Cantonese irregularly in large numbers.

• The earlier Cantonese sequence */hw-/ became f in Modern Cantonese. Coupled with the change above you get pronunciations that do not appear to be regular but actually basically are: 科 MC */kʰuɑ1/ Cantonese fo1 /fɔː1/, 阔 MC */kʰuɑt1/ Cantonese fut3 /fuːt3/,

In short, as said at the beginning, every dialect has its own numerous innovations (=deviations) and accordingly preservations. The innovations of each dialect happen in different aspects and different directions, so every dialect preserves its own parts of Middle Chinese while having lost its own parts of the Middle Chinese traits. No dialect preserves "objectively the closest" sound system and correspondence to Middle Chinese, because in this reality it does not make sense to speak of this single, unitary "closeness" dimension relative to Middle Chinese.

床前明月光，

疑是地上霜。

举头望明月，

低头思故乡。

Here again, in Cantonese this does not rhyme because it converted MC *iɑŋ to oeng, but MC *uɑŋ to (w)ong. In Mandarin this does rhyme; the MC *ɑŋ final is simply preserved. In MC 霜 had the *iɑŋ rhyme, which in Mandarin was converted to uang after retroflex onsets. Cantonese actually went through this sound change as well; 霜's pronunciation of soeng1 is actually irregular, and would have been song1 if it were regular.

One thing that has further happened to Guangzhou Cantonese, however, is that, except when it began the syllable, *i disappeared completely. For some finals, *i simply disappeared with no traces left, So GZC no longer distinguishes words like 九 (GZC gau2 MC */kiəu2/ BJM jiou3) and 狗 (GZC gau2 MC *kəu2 BJM gou3), or words like 菊 (GZC guk1 MC */kiuk/ BJM ju2) and 谷 (GZC guk1 MC *kuk BJM gu3). For others, which is most finals, the *i medial merged with the nucleus, resulting in different vowel qualities.

One thing that has further happened to Guangzhou Cantonese, however, is that, except when it began the syllable, *i disappeared completely. For some finals, *i simply disappeared with no traces left, So GZC no longer distinguishes words like 九 (GZC gau2 MC */kiəu2/ BJM jiou3) and 狗 (GZC gau2 MC */kəu2/ BJM gou3), or words like 菊 (GZC guk1 MC */kiuk/ BJM ju2) and 谷 (GZC guk1 MC */kuk/ BJM gu3). For others, which is most finals, the *i medial merged with the nucleus, resulting in different vowel qualities.

Another example, the arguably single best known Tang poem, by 李白, titled 静夜思:

床前明月光 疑是地上霜 举头望明月 低头思故乡

In Mandarin:

chuang2 qian2 ming2 yue4 guang1
yi2 shi4 di4 shang4 shuang1
ju3 tou2 wang4 ming2 yue4
di1 tou2 si1 gu4 xiang1

While in Cantonese:

cong4 cin4 ming4 jyut6 gwong1
ji4 si6 dei6 soeng6 soeng1
geoi2 tau4 mong6 ming4 jyut6
dai1 tau4 si1 gu3 hoeng1

Here again, in Cantonese this does not rhyme because it converted MC *iɑŋ to oeng, but MC *(u)ɑŋ to (w)ong. In Mandarin this does rhyme; the MC *ɑŋ final is simply preserved. In MC 霜 had the *iɑŋ rhyme, which in Mandarin was converted to uang after retroflex onsets.