Pronunciation of Hong Kong
The
pronunciation of Hong Kong varies depending upon the language of the native speaker, be it
Cantonese or
Standard Mandarin. The widespread usage of these languages has created many different ways to pronounce the
Chinese characters 香港, which mean
Hong Kong. The lack of a standard Cantonese
romanisation standard has created different ways to romanise 香港 based upon the pronunciation in Cantonese.
Some linguists believe that the
English name of the territory, Hong Kong, is an approximate transliteration of the Chinese name based upon its Cantonese pronunciation. However, "Hong Kong" only sounds 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: ). 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.
Romanisations of 香港 (Hong Kong)Cantonese*
IPA:
*
Jyutping: hoeng1 gong2
*
Yale: heūng góng
Mandarin*
IPA:
*
Pinyin: Xiānggǎng
*
Wade-Giles: Hsiang-kang
;Romanizations of 中華人民共'國香港特別行"區 (
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China)Cantonese
*IPA: ;
*Jyutping: zung1 waa4 jan4 man4 gung6 wo4 gwok3 hoeng1 gong2 tak6 bit6 hang4 zing3 keoi1;
*Yale: jūng wàh yàhn màn guhng wòh gwok h"ung góng tahk biht hàhng jing kūi;
Mandarin
*IPA: ;
*Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Xiānggǎng tèbié Xíngzhèngqū;
*Wade-Giles: Chung1-hua2 Jen2-min2 Kung4-ho2-kuo2 Hsiang1-kang3 t'e4-pie2 Hsing2-cheng4-chü1
