Meyer-Wempe
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The Meyer-Wempe romanization system was developed by two Catholic missionaries in Hong Kong, Bernhard F. Meyer and Theodore F. Wempe, during the 1920s and 1930s for romanizing Standard Cantonese.
[edit] Initials
p [p] |
p' [pʰ] |
m [m] |
f [f] |
t [t] |
t' [tʰ] |
n [n] |
l [l] |
k [k] |
k' [kʰ] |
ng [ŋ] |
h [h] |
ts [ts] |
ts' [tsʰ] |
s [s] |
|
ch [tɕ] |
ch' [tɕʰ] |
sh [ɕ] |
|
kw [kw] |
k'w [kʰw] |
i, y [j] |
oo, w [w] |
- The distinction between the alveolar sibilants ([ts], [tsʰ], and [s]) and alveolo-palatal sibilants ([tɕ], [tɕʰ], and [ɕ]) has been lost in modern Cantonese, though the distinction still existed at the time this system was devised. See Standard Cantonese for more information.
[edit] Finals
a [ɑː] |
aai [ɑːi] |
aau [ɑːu] |
aam [ɑːm] |
aan [ɑːn] |
aang [ɑːŋ] |
aap [ɑːp] |
aat [ɑːt] |
aak [ɑːk] |
ai [ɐi] |
au [ɐu] |
am, om [ɐm] |
an [ɐn] |
ang [ɐŋ] |
ap, op [ɐp] |
at [ɐt] |
ak [ɐk] |
|
e [ɛː] |
ei [ei] |
eng [ɛːŋ] |
ek [ɛːk] |
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i [iː] |
iu [iːu] |
im [iːm] |
in [iːn] |
ing [ɪŋ] |
ip [iːp] |
it [iːt] |
ik [ɪk] |
|
oh [ɔː] |
oi [ɔːi] |
o [ou] |
on [ɔːn] |
ong [ɔːŋ] |
ot [ɔːt] |
ok [ɔːk] |
||
oo [uː] |
ooi [uːi] |
oon [uːn] |
ung [ʊŋ] |
oot [uːt] |
uk [ʊk] |
|||
oeh [œː] |
ui [ɵy] |
un [ɵn] |
eung [œːŋ] |
ut [ɵt] |
euk [œːk] |
|||
ue [yː] |
uen [yːn] |
uet [yːt] |
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m [m̩] |
ng [ŋ̩] |
- The finals m and ng can only be used as standalone nasal syllables.
[edit] Tones
Unlike most Cantonese romanization systems, Meyer-Wempe indicates the entering tones, for a total of ten tones.
Tone description | Example |
upper even | a |
upper rising | á |
upper going | à |
middle entering | àt |
upper even | a |
upper entering | at |
low even | ā |
lower rising | ǎ |
lower going | â |
lower entering | ât |