<p>You can check out wikipedia's page for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_Cantonese" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Written Cantonese</a> which contains a lot of information like borrowed characters, marked phonetic loans and workarounds but the page I'm guessing you're looking, mostly, for is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_Cantonese#Derived_characters" rel="nofollow noreferrer">derived characters</a> which contains things like:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>冇 móuh (v. not have). Originally 無. Standard written Mandarin: 沒有</p>
<p>係 haih (v. be). Standard written Mandarin: 是</p>
<p>佢 kéuih (pron. he/she/it). Originally 渠. Standard written Mandarin: 他, 她, 它, 牠, 祂</p>
<p>乜 māt (pron. what) often followed by 嘢 to form 乜嘢. Originally 物也. Standard written Mandarin: 什麼</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T16:11:13.650Z
my first question on Chinese SE. Many thanks for your answer @user3306356
Andy K
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T16:12:34.843Z
@AndyK welcome to the site!
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T16:15:15.970Z
cheers @user3306356
Andy K
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T15:44:32.777Z
2017-11-08T15:44:32.777Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Mou某
<p>The national central library of Taiwan has the pdf of "廣東俗語考" by 孔仲南:</p>

<p><a href="http://taiwanebook.ncl.edu.tw/ebkFiles/NCL-002426263/NCL-002426263.PDF" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://taiwanebook.ncl.edu.tw/ebkFiles/NCL-002426263/NCL-002426263.PDF</a></p>

<p>Then, the Hong Kong public library has the book "廣州語本字" by 詹憲慈:</p>

<p><a href="https://webcat.hkpl.gov.hk/lib/item?id=chamo:949958" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://webcat.hkpl.gov.hk/lib/item?id=chamo:949958</a></p>

<p>A simpler one is 廣東俗語正字考 by 彭志銘.</p>

<p><a href="https://webcat.hkpl.gov.hk/lib/item?id=chamo:2987758" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://webcat.hkpl.gov.hk/lib/item?id=chamo:2987758</a></p>

<p>This one is for laymen.</p>

<p>edited.</p>

<p>well, both "廣州語本字" &amp; "廣東俗語考" are kinda "textual research", authors links the cantonese syllables to rare characters in literatures of yore.</p>

<p>the dilemma is: nowadays, cantonese speaking people don't use these rare characters, even there're supporting research findings. well, at least in hong kong, we create new characters to suit the need.</p>

<p>imo, unless you're in academic field, these two books are "very difficult".</p>

<p>here's a page of "廣州語本字", let you have an idea:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/gkaHV.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/gkaHV.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Have fun :)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-09T06:40:12.550Z
hi @水巷孑蠻, what is this taiwanese book about? I'm not that fluent in 中文
Andy K
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-09T07:35:33.580Z
@andy k, answer edited, have a look again :)
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T17:37:11.107Z
2017-11-09T07:33:54.767Z
2017-11-09T07:33:54.767Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>嚟,To Come.</p>
<p>咁,So...</p>
<p>哋,Them/They.</p>
<p>畀,Give or Confer something.</p>
<p>佢,Him/Her/It.</p>
<p>唔,Negation Marker Prefix.</p>
<p>睇,Look or Watch or Read(book) etc.</p>
<p>冇,Have-Not.</p>
<p>Your average Five Year Old in Hong Kong will tend to already know and understand the correct usage of these very commonly used Chinese Characters.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-08T13:17:37.067Z
2020-07-08T13:17:37.067Z
Kai Chung
<p>You can look at this page <a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:%E7%B2%B5%E8%AA%9E%E6%9C%AC%E5%AD%97%E8%A1%A8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">粵語本字表</a> on the Written Cantonese Wikipedia, which listed a number of characters that academics believe what those characters were originally like, and also how people commonly write them nowadays. Note that, people in Guangdong could write them differently.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-10T06:28:33.757Z
hi @user930067, although I'm glad for your answer, I notice that you are not adding much to the previous answers. 

The aim of the site is to provide answers and give a bit of understanding (see User3306356's [answer](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/27474/16176) as an example)
Andy K
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-10T07:54:46.270Z
edited a bit...
user930067
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-10T00:30:46.220Z
2017-11-10T07:53:56.527Z
2017-11-10T07:53:56.527Z
user930067
<p>The characters below belong only to Cantonese:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>嚟, 咁, 哋, 畀, 佢, 唔, 睇 or 冇.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Is there a list on the web where I can find all these characters and their meaning?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T16:05:33.750Z
the hong kong police force have a training material containing these special "cantonese characters" & their usages, an authoritative booklet. you need someone who is willing to take the risk, to get one :(
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T16:21:05.093Z
thanks for the info @水巷孑蠻. Let's see if I know some law enforcement officer may be willing to help in exchange of a ... pint of beer :). Btw, what mean your SE's name?
Andy K
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T16:44:32.857Z
孑 is lonely, 蠻 is barbarian :)
水巷孑蠻
<characters><cantonese><resources>
Is there a list on the web where I can find Cantonese special characters and their meaning?
# Is there a list on the web where I can find Cantonese special characters and their meaning?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-08)

The characters below belong only to Cantonese:

> 嚟, 咁, 哋, 畀, 佢, 唔, 睇 or 冇.

Is there a list on the web where I can find all these characters and their meaning?

**Tags:** characters, cantonese, resources
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: the hong kong police force have a training material containing these special "cantonese characters" & their usages, an authoritative booklet. you need someone who is willing to take the risk, to get one :(  
> **username_0**: thanks for the info @水巷孑蠻. Let's see if I know some law enforcement officer may be willing to help in exchange of a ... pint of beer :). Btw, what mean your SE's name?  
> **username_1**: 孑 is lonely, 蠻 is barbarian :)  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-11-08. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

You can check out wikipedia's page for [Written Cantonese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_Cantonese) which contains a lot of information like borrowed characters, marked phonetic loans and workarounds but the page I'm guessing you're looking, mostly, for is [derived characters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_Cantonese#Derived_characters) which contains things like:

> 冇 móuh (v. not have). Originally 無. Standard written Mandarin: 沒有
>
> 係 haih (v. be). Standard written Mandarin: 是
>
> 佢 kéuih (pron. he/she/it). Originally 渠. Standard written Mandarin: 他, 她, 它, 牠, 祂
>
> 乜 māt (pron. what) often followed by 嘢 to form 乜嘢. Originally 物也. Standard written Mandarin: 什麼

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: my first question on Chinese SE. Many thanks for your answer @user3306356  
> **username_2**: @AndyK welcome to the site!  
> **username_0**: cheers @user3306356  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-11-08. Score: 2

The national central library of Taiwan has the pdf of "廣東俗語考" by 孔仲南:

<http://taiwanebook.ncl.edu.tw/ebkFiles/NCL-002426263/NCL-002426263.PDF>

Then, the Hong Kong public library has the book "廣州語本字" by 詹憲慈:

<https://webcat.hkpl.gov.hk/lib/item?id=chamo:949958>

A simpler one is 廣東俗語正字考 by 彭志銘.

<https://webcat.hkpl.gov.hk/lib/item?id=chamo:2987758>

This one is for laymen.

edited.

well, both "廣州語本字" & "廣東俗語考" are kinda "textual research", authors links the cantonese syllables to rare characters in literatures of yore.

the dilemma is: nowadays, cantonese speaking people don't use these rare characters, even there're supporting research findings. well, at least in hong kong, we create new characters to suit the need.

imo, unless you're in academic field, these two books are "very difficult".

here's a page of "廣州語本字", let you have an idea:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/gkaHV.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/gkaHV.jpg)

Have fun :)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: hi @水巷孑蠻, what is this taiwanese book about? I'm not that fluent in 中文  
> **username_1**: @andy k, answer edited, have a look again :)  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-07-08. Score: 1

嚟,To Come.

咁,So...

哋,Them/They.

畀,Give or Confer something.

佢,Him/Her/It.

唔,Negation Marker Prefix.

睇,Look or Watch or Read(book) etc.

冇,Have-Not.

Your average Five Year Old in Hong Kong will tend to already know and understand the correct usage of these very commonly used Chinese Characters.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-11-10. Score: 1

You can look at this page [粵語本字表](https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:%E7%B2%B5%E8%AA%9E%E6%9C%AC%E5%AD%97%E8%A1%A8) on the Written Cantonese Wikipedia, which listed a number of characters that academics believe what those characters were originally like, and also how people commonly write them nowadays. Note that, people in Guangdong could write them differently.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: hi @user930067, although I'm glad for your answer, I notice that you are not adding much to the previous answers.   The aim of the site is to provide answers and give a bit of understanding (see User3306356's [answer](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/27474/16176) as an example)  
> **username_4**: edited a bit...  

---

