Jyutping (Traditional Chinese: 粵拼; Simplified Chinese: 粤拼; pinyin: yuèpīn; Yale: yuhtpīng; sometimes spelled Jyutpin) is a romanization system for Standard Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK) in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme. The LSHK promotes the use of this romanization system.

The name Jyutping is a shorthand consisting of the first characters of the terms yuèyǔ (粵語; Cantonese) and pīnyīn (拼音; romanization).

Differences with Yale Romanization

Jyutping and the Yale romanization system represent Cantonese pronunciations with the same letters with the following exceptions:

• The vowels eo and oe represent and [œː], respectively, in Jyutping while the eu represents both vowels in Yale.
• The initial j represents [j] in Jyutping while y is used instead in Yale.
• The initial z represents [ts] in Jyutping while j is used instead in Yale.
• The initial c represents [tsʰ] in Jyutping while ch is used instead in Yale.
• In Jyutping, if no consonant precedes the vowel yu, then the initial j is appended before the vowel. In Yale, the corresponding initial y is never appended before yu under any circumstances.
• Jyutping defines three finals not in Yale or the other romanization schemes: eu [ɛːu], em [ɛːm], and ep [ɛːp]. These three finals are used in colloquial Cantonese words, such as deu6 ("to throw away"), lem2 ("to lick"), and gep6 ("to be wedged between something").
• To represent tones, only tone numbers are used in Jyutping while Yale originally uses tone marks together with the letter h (though tone numbers can be used in Yale as well).

Initials

Finals

• The finals m and ng can only be used as standalone nasal syllables.

Tones

1. high level or high falling
2. mid rising
3. mid level
4. low falling
5. low rising
6. low level

Examples

External links

• LSHK Cantonese Romanization Scheme
• Jyutping Pronunciation Guide
• MDBG free online Chinese-English dictionary (supports both Jyutping and Yale romanization)