introduction to cantonese - I Will Teach You A Language

INTRODUCTION TO
CANTONESE
OLLY RICHARDS
Berlin 2014
OVERVIEW ¡ 
¡ 
¡ 
¡ 
¡ 
What is Cantonese?
History and geography
Cantonese vs Mandarin
Tones
Sample dialogue
WHAT DO YOU ALREADY KNOW?
¡ What is Cantonese exactly?
¡ What’s the role of Hong Kong in the Cantonese
world?
¡ How many people speak Cantonese? And where?
¡ Cantonese and Mandarin – what’s the difference?
¡ How many tones are there?
¡ In the world’s Chinatowns will you hear Cantonese
or Mandarin?
GUANGDONG PROVINCE
HOW MANY PEOPLE SPEAK CANTONESE?
100m Cantonese
98m German
75m Javanese
75m Korean
72m French
.
CANTONESE CULTURE
DO YOU KNOW…?
CANTONESE CULTURE AROUND
THE WORLD
¡ C antonese cuisine
¡ C antoPop
¡ P opular video games
(Resident Evil 6, Grand Thef t Auto IV)
and…
¡ H ong Kong's Cantonese-language cinema
QUESTION
CANTONESE CINEMA IS THE _____
BIGGEST FILM INDUSTRY IN THE
WORLD
FAMOUS CANTONESE FILMS
¡ K ung Fu Hustle
¡ I nfernal Affairs
FAMOUS CANTONESE FILMS
In the mood for love
Enter the dragon
.
SIMPLIFIED VS TRADITIONAL
Simplified
Traditional
听
聽
丰
豐
議
议
(from Hacking Chinese)
THE CHICKEN TALKING TO THE DUCK
CARLOS DOUH
TONES
There are 6 tones in Cantonese
1.  High
2.  High-rising
3.  Mid-level
4.  Low falling
5.  Low rising
6.  Low
傾 - keng1 (to chat - vb.)
玩 - waan2 (interesting - adj.)
再 - joi3 (again - adv.)
遲D - ti4 di1 (later - adv.)
我 - ngoh5 (I - pron.)
右 - yau6 (right - adj.)
MEETING SOMEONE NEW (1)
A: Hi, ngoh5 giu3 Olly aa3. Lei5 le1?
Hi, I’m Olly. And you?
B: Hi, ngoh5 giu3 John aa3.
Hi, I’m John.
MEETING SOMEONE NEW (2)
A:
B:
B:
Go3 conference, dim5 aa3?
How’s the conference?
Hou5 dzeng3 aa3
Gei2 hou5 aa3
Great!
Pretty good
Lei5 waa3 le1?
How about you?
[A: answer]
MEETING SOMEONE NEW (3)
B:
Oh, gum5 aa3. Ti4 di1 joi3 keng1 la1
OK! Let’s talk later.
A:
Hou5 la1. Bye bye!
Sure, see you later!
QUESTIONS?
Follow my progress in Cantonese…
THANK YOU!
ENJOY THE REST OF THE
CONFERENCE!