The Number System of Cantonese

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The Number System of Cantonese

This page is based on "Express Cantonese" by Eiichi Chishima, published by Hakusuisha.

Cantonese is the strongest dialect of Yue Chinese. It is different from Mandarin, even though they share the same characters.

Cantonese has six tones, and they are given by numbers after syllables. The tone number means: 1 - high level, 2 - high rising, 3 - middle level, 4 - low falling, 5 - low rising, and 6 - low level.

Number	Reading	Meaning
0	ling⁴	0
1	yat¹	1
2	yi⁶	2
3	saam¹	3
4	sei³	4
5	ng⁵	5
6	luk⁶	6
7	chat¹	7
8	baat³	8
9	gau²	9
10	sap⁶	10
11	sap⁶yat¹	10 + 1
12	sap⁶yi⁶	10 + 2
13	sap⁶saam¹	10 + 3
14	sap⁶sei³	10 + 4
15	sap⁶ng⁵	10 + 5
16	sap⁶luk⁶	10 + 6
17	sap⁶chat¹	10 + 7
18	sap⁶baat³	10 + 8
19	sap⁶gau²	10 + 9
20	yi⁶sap⁶	2 × 10
21	yi⁶sap⁶yat¹	2 × 10 + 1
22	yi⁶sap⁶yi⁶	2 × 10 + 2
23	yi⁶sap⁶saam¹	2 × 10 + 3
24	yi⁶sap⁶sei³	2 × 10 + 4
25	yi⁶sap⁶ng⁵	2 × 10 + 5
26	yi⁶sap⁶luk⁶	2 × 10 + 6
27	yi⁶sap⁶chat¹	2 × 10 + 7
28	yi⁶sap⁶baat³	2 × 10 + 8
29	yi⁶sap⁶gau²	2 × 10 + 9
30	saam¹sap⁶	3 × 10
31	saam¹sap⁶yat¹	3 × 10 + 1
32	saam¹sap⁶yi⁶	3 × 10 + 2
33	saam¹sap⁶saam¹	3 × 10 + 3
34	saam¹sap⁶sei³	3 × 10 + 4
35	saam¹sap⁶ng⁵	3 × 10 + 5
36	saam¹sap⁶luk⁶	3 × 10 + 6
37	saam¹sap⁶chat¹	3 × 10 + 7
38	saam¹sap⁶baat³	3 × 10 + 8
39	saam¹sap⁶gau²	3 × 10 + 9
40	sei³sap⁶	4 × 10
41	sei³sap⁶yat¹	4 × 10 + 1
42	sei³sap⁶yi⁶	4 × 10 + 2
43	sei³sap⁶saam¹	4 × 10 + 3
44	sei³sap⁶sei³	4 × 10 + 4
45	sei³sap⁶ng⁵	4 × 10 + 5
46	sei³sap⁶luk⁶	4 × 10 + 6
47	sei³sap⁶chat¹	4 × 10 + 7
48	sei³sap⁶baat³	4 × 10 + 8
49	sei³sap⁶gau²	4 × 10 + 9
50	ng⁵sap⁶	5 × 10
51	ng⁵sap⁶yat¹	5 × 10 + 1
52	ng⁵sap⁶yi⁶	5 × 10 + 2
53	ng⁵sap⁶saam¹	5 × 10 + 3
54	ng⁵sap⁶sei³	5 × 10 + 4
55	ng⁵sap⁶ng⁵	5 × 10 + 5
56	ng⁵sap⁶luk⁶	5 × 10 + 6
57	ng⁵sap⁶chat¹	5 × 10 + 7
58	ng⁵sap⁶baat³	5 × 10 + 8
59	ng⁵sap⁶gau²	5 × 10 + 9
60	luk⁶sap⁶	6 × 10
61	luk⁶sap⁶yat¹	6 × 10 + 1
62	luk⁶sap⁶yi⁶	6 × 10 + 2
63	luk⁶sap⁶saam¹	6 × 10 + 3
64	luk⁶sap⁶sei³	6 × 10 + 4
65	luk⁶sap⁶ng⁵	6 × 10 + 5
66	luk⁶sap⁶luk⁶	6 × 10 + 6
67	luk⁶sap⁶chat¹	6 × 10 + 7
68	luk⁶sap⁶baat³	6 × 10 + 8
69	luk⁶sap⁶gau²	6 × 10 + 9
70	chat¹sap⁶	7 × 10
71	chat¹sap⁶yat¹	7 × 10 + 1
72	chat¹sap⁶yi⁶	7 × 10 + 2
73	chat¹sap⁶saam¹	7 × 10 + 3
74	chat¹sap⁶sei³	7 × 10 + 4
75	chat¹sap⁶ng⁵	7 × 10 + 5
76	chat¹sap⁶luk⁶	7 × 10 + 6
77	chat¹sap⁶chat¹	7 × 10 + 7
78	chat¹sap⁶baat³	7 × 10 + 8
79	chat¹sap⁶gau²	7 × 10 + 9
80	baat³sap⁶	8 × 10
81	baat³sap⁶yat¹	8 × 10 + 1
82	baat³sap⁶yi⁶	8 × 10 + 2
83	baat³sap⁶saam¹	8 × 10 + 3
84	baat³sap⁶sei³	8 × 10 + 4
85	baat³sap⁶ng⁵	8 × 10 + 5
86	baat³sap⁶luk⁶	8 × 10 + 6
87	baat³sap⁶chat¹	8 × 10 + 7
88	baat³sap⁶baat³	8 × 10 + 8
89	baat³sap⁶gau²	8 × 10 + 9
90	gau²sap⁶	9 × 10
91	gau²sap⁶yat¹	9 × 10 + 1
92	gau²sap⁶yi⁶	9 × 10 + 2
93	gau²sap⁶saam¹	9 × 10 + 3
94	gau²sap⁶sei³	9 × 10 + 4
95	gau²sap⁶ng⁵	9 × 10 + 5
96	gau²sap⁶luk⁶	9 × 10 + 6
97	gau²sap⁶chat¹	9 × 10 + 7
98	gau²sap⁶baat³	9 × 10 + 8
99	gau²sap⁶gau²	9 × 10 + 9
100	yat¹baak³	1 × 100

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