See Cantonese phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Cantonese. Please note that English equivalents given in this page may only represent very approximate sounds to the original pronunciations.
Syllables may begin with any non-syllabic consonant except [p̚, t̚, k̚], but some speakers do not have initial [n, ŋ].[4] The six non-syllabic consonants [p̚, t̚, k̚, m, n, ŋ] may end a syllable.[5]
^Non-syllabic initial [ŋ] is not pronounced in Hong Kong Cantonese by younger speakers, who replace it with a glottal stop [ʔ] before a, e, o. Also, initial [n] may be replaced by [l].
^Non-syllabic final [ŋ] may be replaced by [n] in Hong Kong Cantonese except after [e, o]. [i, u] in diphthongs are equivalent to a final /j, w/. After rounded vowels, an i becomes [y].
^Syllable-initial yu is [jo] before k or ng, and [jyː] otherwise.
^The high level and high falling tones have merged to high level in Hong Kong Cantonese for most words.
Bibliography
Zee, Eric (1999), "Chinese (Hong Kong Cantonese)"(PDF), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-65236-7
