1)Let’s continue to compare Cantonese and Mandarin pronunciation
B)There are some Cantonese sounds that do not exist in Mandarin.
e.g. Sounds with the ending ‘m’: saam1 三(three)/衫(clothes) caam3 杉(fir) sim4禅(Zen)
In Mandarin, they are pronounced as: san1三 shan1衫(clothes)/杉(fir) chan2禅(Zen)
From the above, you know that the different characters with the same pronunciation with the same tone in Cantonese may pronounced very different in Mandarin and vice versa. This causes mistakes for Cantonese and Mandarin-speakers trying to speak the other language.
By mistake, Mandarin-speakers may say saan1 ger3 instead of saam1 go3 for 三个(three items)
and Cantonese-speakers may say cen4san1 instead of chen4shan1 for 衬衫 (shirt).
In many of the cases, these Northern and Southern accents can be understood.
Sometimes, it causes lots of misunderstanding or discomfort for the listeners.
Note that we do not have zh、ch、sh、r、x in Cantonese while
in Mandarin there are no ending m (aam, am) p, t, k or initials m and ng or the following finals (added initial g, s, f to make examples):
goe鋸 soeng商 soek削 seoi需 seon詢 seot摔 syu書 syun孫 syut雪, fui 灰(no. It is not the same as ‘ui’ in Pinyin for Mandarin)
Some may want to say the Cantonese Jyutping ‘s’ is the same as ‘x’ in Pinyin. No, there is a little difference.
e.g. The Cantonese syun1孫(grandson) is not the same as xun1熏(smoked) in Mandarin
The Cantonese si1gwaa1丝瓜(Luffa) is not the same as xi1gua1西瓜(water melon) in Mandarin
Maybe the subtle difference is hardly noticed for beginners.
Any feedback or correction is welcome.
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We use Jyutping for all examples of Cantonese words, and Pinyin for Mandarin.