The Hong Kong Government uses an unpublished system of Romanisation of Cantonese for public purposes which is based on the 1888 standard described by Roy T Cowles in 1914 as Standard Romanisation.[1]: iv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.
Currently, government departments, particularly the Survey and Mapping Office of the Lands Department, consult the Chinese Language Department[clarification needed] 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 ForceSpecial 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 is often used instead of a romanisation (e.g., "Street" and "Road" in place of "Kai" and "Lo"). Nevertheless, exceptions are not uncommon (for example, "Fong" in "Lan Kwai Fong", meaning "Square" if translated). "Wan" for "Bay" and "Tsuen" (or "Chuen") for "Estate" (or "Village") are also common. There are also many instances of surviving pre-1888 Romanisation, such as "Kowloon" and "Un Chau Street", which would be "Kau Lung" and "Yuen Chau" under this system, respectively.
Romanisation of names is mandatory in government identification documents such as identity cards issued by the Registration of Persons Office. This standard is used by the office by default though individuals are at liberty to choose their own spelling or another romanisation system.[citation needed]
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]; meaning "to issue") and Fat (佛, [fɐt]; meaning "Buddha").
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.
The following table of geographical names illustrates the standard.
^ 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.
^Cowles, Roy T (1914). Cowles' Pocket Dictionary of Cantonese. Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh Ltd.
^"Map of Hong Kong with British Kowloon". Hongkong Almanack. 1888.
External links
粵語拼盤: Learning the Phonetic System of Cantonese
Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK)
Jyutping Pronunciation Guide
January 06, 2023
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This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet IPA For an introductory guide on IPA symbols see Help IPA For the distinction between and see IPA Brackets and transcription delimiters 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 Contents 1 Method 2 Typical features 3 Spelling 3 1 Consonants 3 2 Vowels diphthongs and syllabic consonants 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksMethod EditCurrently government departments particularly the Survey and Mapping Office of the Lands Department consult the Chinese Language Department clarification needed 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 EditFor place names the type of the place in English is often used instead of a romanisation e g Street and Road in place of Kai and Lo Nevertheless exceptions are not uncommon for example Fong in Lan Kwai Fong meaning Square if translated Wan for Bay and Tsuen or Chuen for Estate or Village are also common There are also many instances of surviving pre 1888 Romanisation such as Kowloon and Un Chau Street which would be Kau Lung and Yuen Chau under this system respectively Romanisation of names is mandatory in government identification documents such as identity cards issued by the Registration of Persons Office This standard is used by the office by default though individuals are at liberty to choose their own spelling or another romanisation system citation needed Spelling EditAll 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 meaning to issue and Fat 佛 fɐt meaning Buddha 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 The following table of geographical names illustrates the standard Consonants Edit Initials IPA Yale HKG Example in Chinesepʰ 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ɕ s 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tɕʰ ch ch Heng Fa Chuen 杏花邨tsʰ ts 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 Edit IPA Yale HKG Example in Chineseaː 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 Chek Lap Kok 赤鱲角iː ɪ 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 o Wo Che 禾輋uː ʊ u u Che Kung Miu 車公廟wu 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aːi aai ai Chai Wan 柴灣ɐi ai ai Mai Po 米埔aːu aau au Shau Kei Wan 筲箕灣ɐu au au Sau Mau Ping 秀茂坪ei 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iːu iu iu Siu Sai Wan 小西灣ɔːy oi oi Choi Hung Estate 彩虹邨oy Choy Yee Bridge 蔡意橋uːy ui ui Pui O 貝澳ɵy eui ui Ma Liu Shui 馬料水ou ou o Tai Mo Shan 大帽山m mŋ ng ng Ng Fan Chau 五分州 1 The standard pronunciation of 五 is ŋ However a more common pronunciation in Hong Kong is m and many ŋ words are merging with it The only word that was originally pronounced as m is 唔 not and it is not used in place names See also EditList of common Chinese surnames shows how they are romanised in this scheme References Edit Cowles Roy T 1914 Cowles Pocket Dictionary of Cantonese Hong Kong Kelly amp Walsh Ltd Map of Hong Kong with British Kowloon Hongkong Almanack 1888 External links Edit粵語拼盤 Learning the Phonetic System of Cantonese Linguistic Society of Hong Kong LSHK Jyutping Pronunciation Guide Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hong Kong Government Cantonese Romanisation amp oldid 1070541736, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
