<p><strong>Common romanization systems for Cantonese are Jyutping, Cantonese Pinyin, and Yale.</strong></p>

<p>In both <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyutping#Tones" rel="nofollow">Jyutping</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese_Pinyin#Tones" rel="nofollow">Cantonese Pinyin</a>, tones are represented with numbers.</p>

<p>In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_romanization_of_Cantonese#Tones" rel="nofollow">Yale</a>, tones are either indicated with tone marks coupled with -h, or with numbers:</p>

<pre>
1   high-flat   55  sī  sīn     sīk
1   high-fall.  53  sì  sìn
2   mid-rising  35  sí  sín
3   mid-flat    33  si  sin     sik
4   mid-falling 21  sìh sìhn
5   low-rising  13  síh síhn
6   low-flat    22  sih sihn    sihk
</pre>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-12T18:35:26.350Z
Thanks for your excellent explanation. But aren't there supposed to be 7 tones. The link by @leo4jc displays 9 boxes but I cannot hear anything. Could you please clarify.
Jack Maddington
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-12T20:21:21.323Z
@JackMaddington Yale distinguishes the high-level and high-falling (both #1 in all systems) with tone marks (e.g., sī vs sì). Neither of the other systems do. It should be noted that in HK Cantonese, those two tones have merged, and so they don't need to be distinguished in writing.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-12T20:25:08.167Z
@JackMaddington Also, since you seem confused about the "9 tones", I should note that there are 3 other "allotones" for syllables ending in -p,-t,-k. For example, sīk has a different tone contour than sī. Similarly for si and sik and for sih and sihk. However, these tone differences are never contrastive (i.e., if the syllable ends in a stop consonant, then the contour is one way, if they don't, then it's the other way), so all the romanizations I listed don't make the distinction--they treat sihk as the same tone as sih, etc.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-14T07:03:14.467Z
Thank you for yor explanation. It makes clear how the three extra tone sounds can be described with no need for additional notation (and how the first two tones have come to losr their distinction in HK Cantonese).
Jack Maddington
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-12T03:27:32.983Z
2015-07-12T03:27:32.983Z
Stumpy Joe Pete
<p>What is the list of diacritics used to denote the seven Cantonese tones (in pinyin or similar notation)? Is there a standard (or even, more common) convention?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-12T04:02:34.430Z
This is an interactive page you can hear. Note the 9 tones in the flash icons. http://www.rthk.org.hk/elearning/bettercantonese/cantoneseabc_acc.htm
leo4jc
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-12T18:38:10.620Z
Thanks for your link. However I cannot hear anything on my android phone. Why are 9 tones instead of 7 displayed. Do you have an alternate page or what web plugins do I need?
Jack Maddington
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-13T16:39:41.730Z
The site require flash plugin. Try this http://input.foruto.com/ccc/jyt/007.htm or http://input.foruto.com/ccc/jyt/005.htm No comment on the 7 or 9 issue. To me, there really are 9 distinct tones to me! The last three are short ones maybe it got rolled into the others in your system.
leo4jc
<cantonese><tones><transliteration>
Alternative notations for Cantonese tones
# Alternative notations for Cantonese tones

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-07-12)

What is the list of diacritics used to denote the seven Cantonese tones (in pinyin or similar notation)? Is there a standard (or even, more common) convention?

**Tags:** cantonese, tones, transliteration
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This is an interactive page you can hear. Note the 9 tones in the flash icons. http://www.rthk.org.hk/elearning/bettercantonese/cantoneseabc_acc.htm  
> **username_0**: Thanks for your link. However I cannot hear anything on my android phone. Why are 9 tones instead of 7 displayed. Do you have an alternate page or what web plugins do I need?  
> **username_1**: The site require flash plugin. Try this http://input.foruto.com/ccc/jyt/007.htm or http://input.foruto.com/ccc/jyt/005.htm No comment on the 7 or 9 issue. To me, there really are 9 distinct tones to me! The last three are short ones maybe it got rolled into the others in your system.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-07-12. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

Common romanization systems for Cantonese are Jyutping, Cantonese Pinyin, and Yale.
In both Jyutping and Cantonese Pinyin, tones are represented with numbers.
In Yale, tones are either indicated with tone marks coupled with -h, or with numbers:

1   high-flat   55  sī  sīn     sīk
1   high-fall.  53  sì  sìn
2   mid-rising  35  sí  sín
3   mid-flat    33  si  sin     sik
4   mid-falling 21  sìh sìhn
5   low-rising  13  síh síhn
6   low-flat    22  sih sihn    sihk

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for your excellent explanation. But aren't there supposed to be 7 tones. The link by @leo4jc displays 9 boxes but I cannot hear anything. Could you please clarify.  
> **username_2**: @JackMaddington Yale distinguishes the high-level and high-falling (both #1 in all systems) with tone marks (e.g., sī vs sì). Neither of the other systems do. It should be noted that in HK Cantonese, those two tones have merged, and so they don't need to be distinguished in writing.  
> **username_2**: @JackMaddington Also, since you seem confused about the "9 tones", I should note that there are 3 other "allotones" for syllables ending in -p,-t,-k. For example, sīk has a different tone contour than sī. Similarly for si and sik and for sih and sihk. However, these tone differences are never contrastive (i.e., if the syllable ends in a stop consonant, then the contour is one way, if they don't, then it's the other way), so all the romanizations I listed don't make the distinction--they treat sihk as the same tone as sih, etc.  
> **username_0**: Thank you for yor explanation. It makes clear how the three extra tone sounds can be described with no need for additional notation (and how the first two tones have come to losr their distinction in HK Cantonese).  

---

