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Glite Dictionary
Cantonese

Cantonese

1 5.2
A form of Chinese spoken in Guangdong, Hong Kong and many communities around the world
  • noun
  • /ˌkæn.təˈniːz/
translation icon : cantonés
  • I learned Cantonese to communicate better with my friends from Guangdong province.
  • Cantonese roast duck
  • Cantonese roast

All right, which Chinese food literally translates from Cantonese as touch heart?

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Examples

  • Cantonese-speaking children in Hong Kong do not use a Romanization system for character learning.

    Academic text (2013)

  • So I didn't speak Cantonese when I was growing up.

  • So Cantonese is my first language because that's the dialect that we just speak about.

  • You can find these waffles, also known as gaidan Jai or little chicken eggs, in Cantonese in Hong Kong.

  • Many people in Hong Kong speak Cantonese as their primary language.

  • Watching films in Cantonese has helped me improve my language skills.

Synonyms

Cantonese dialect
vsCantonese
7.1

A kind of Chinese spoken in Guangdong, Hong Kong and many overseas Chinese communities

is the same variety but uses a different label
Yue dialect
vsCantonese
9.8

A type of Chinese like Cantonese spoken in Guangdong and Hong Kong

is the specific regional form rather than a broader group
Yue
vsCantonese
9.9

A group of Chinese dialects, including Cantonese, spoken in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and nearby areas

is one specific dialect within that larger group

Compounds

Cantonese dialect
7.1

A kind of Chinese spoken in Guangdong, Hong Kong and many overseas Chinese communities

Surface Forms

Cantonese singular
Cantonese plural

Morphology

Cantonese = Canton (transparent) = Canton + ese

Clearly formed from the place-name 'Canton' plus the productive demonym/language suffix '-ese', so the meaning 'language/demonym of Canton' is directly derivable.

Etymology

Cantonese comes from the old English name Canton for the city now called Guangzhou, plus the ending -ese which means 'from a place', like in Chinese. So Cantonese literally means the language 'from Canton', which is why it is the main speech in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and many overseas Chinese communities.