Pronunciation of Hong Kong

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The pronunciation of Hong Kong varies depending upon the language of the native speaker, be it Standard Cantonese or Standard Mandarin. The widespread usage of these languages has created many different ways to pronounce the Chinese characters 香港 (same in both Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese), which mean Hong Kong. There are three main ways to romanise 香港 in Cantonese (Yale, Jyutping, and IPA), and a plethora of others used for Mandarin romanisation.

Some linguists believe that the English name of the territory, Hong Kong (IPA: [hɔŋ kʰɔŋ]), is an approximate transliteration of the Chinese name based upon its Cantonese pronunciation. However, "Hong Kong" sounds only somewhat similar to the Cantonese, and some believe that the term is derived for the Hakka name for the area, which is romanised as hiong1 gong3 (IPA: [hiɔ́ŋ kɔ̖ŋ]). This pronunciation is closer to the standard English version, and is spoken as the first language by the natives of many villages in the New Territories.

[edit] Romanisations

Romanisations of 香港 (Hong Kong)

Cantonese

Hokkien

  • POJ: Hiong-kang

Mandarin

Romanizations of 中華人民共和國香港特別行政區 (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China)

Cantonese listen (help·info)

  • IPA: /tsʊ́ŋ wa̖ː jɐ̖n mɐ̖n kʊ̀ŋ wɔ̖ː kʷɔ̄ːk hœ́ːŋ kɔ̌ːŋ tɐ̀k pìːt hɐ̖ŋ tsɪ̄ŋ kʰɵ́y/
  • Jyutping: zung1 waa4 jan4 man4 gung6 wo4 gwok3 hoeng1 gong2 dak6 bit6 hang4 zing3 keoi1
  • Yale: Jūngwàh Yàhnmàn Guhngwòhgwok Hēunggóng Dahkbiht Hàhngjingkūi

Hokkien

  • POJ: Tiong-hoa Lang-bin Kang-ho-kok Hiong-kang Tek-piat Hang-cheng-khu

Mandarin listen (help·info)

  • IPA: /tʂʊ́ŋ xwǎ ɻə̌n mǐn kʊ̂ŋ xɤ̌ kwǒ ɕjáŋ kàŋ tʰɤ̂ pjɛ̌ ɕǐŋ tʂə̂ŋ tɕʰý/
  • Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Xiānggǎng Tèbié Xíngzhèngqū
  • Wade-Giles: Chung1-hua2 Jen2-min2 Kung4-ho2-kuo2 Hsiang1-kang3 t'e4-pie2 Hsing2-cheng4-ch'ü1

[edit] Hong Kong's full name in simplified Chinese characters

In People's Republic of China some characters for Hong Kong's full name, as it normally written, differ from the traditional: