The 20 Initials of Cantonese

Cantonese initials can be categorized into 7 sets, according to how the sounds are made.

While Jyutping & Hanyu Pinyin are similar, some letters (such as ‘h’ & ‘j’) are pronounced differently. What’s more, there are some Cantonese initials (such as /ng-/ & /gw- kw-/) that are not found in Putonghua. When learning Cantonese, we need to pay attention to these differences.

Click on the links below to learn about the different sets of Cantonese initials:

1.1 /b- p- m- f-/

1.2 /d- t- n- l-/

1.3 /z- c- s-/

1.4 /g- k- ng- h-/

1.5 /gw- kw-/

1.6 /w- j-/

1.7 The ‘Null Initial’