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Written Cantonese
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Written Cantonese
Written Cantonese is the most complete written form of a Chinese language after that for Mandarin Chinese and Classical Chinese. Classical Chinese was the main literary language of China until the 19th century. Written vernacular Chinese first appeared in the 17th century[citation needed], and a written form of Mandarin became standard throughout China in the early 20th century. Cantonese is a common language in places like Hong Kong and Macau. While the Mandarin form can to some extent be read and spoken word for word in other Chinese varieties, its intelligibility to non-Mandarin speakers is poor to incomprehensible because of differences in idioms, grammar and usage. Modern Cantonese speakers have therefore developed new characters for words that do not have characters for them and have retained others that have been lost in standard Chinese.
With the advent of the computer and standardization of character sets specifically for Cantonese, many printed materials in predominantly Cantonese-speaking areas of the world are written to cater to their population with these written Cantonese characters.
Before the 20th century, the standard written language of China was Classical Chinese, with a grammar and vocabulary based on the Old Chinese of the Spring and Autumn period, of the 8th to the 5th century BCE. While this written standard remained essentially static for over two thousand years, the actual spoken language diverged ever further. The formation of Yue Chinese occurring among the Han population in the Pearl River Delta across many centuries, with the main linguistic influences being the Middle Chinese of the tenth century CE, corresponding to the end of the Tang dynasty, and that of the thirteenth century CE or late Song dynasty, as well as the Tai-Kadai substrate and some influence from pre-Tang Sinitic varieties.
The first Cantonese writings belong to a literary form specific to Canton, called mukjyusyu (木魚書, Jyutping: muk6 jyu4 syu1, Hanyu Pinyin: mùyúshū, lit. 'wooden fish book'), that supposedly has its roots in Buddhist chants accompanied by wooden fish. Mukjyu texts were popular light reading, their primary audience were women, as female (and overall) literacy was unusually high in that region. The mukjyus were intended to be sung, similar to other genres such as naamyam, although without musical instruments.
The earliest known mukjyusyu work with elements of written Cantonese, Faazin Gei (花箋記, Jyutping: Faa1zin1 Gei3, Hanyu Pinyin: Huājiān Jì, lit. 'The Flowery Paper'), was composed by an unknown author during the late Ming dynasty; its oldest extant edition is dated to 1713. The Faazin Gei is an example of the "scholar and beauty" genre popular at the time, with its story set in Suzhou. Its text, while still being close to Literary Chinese, contains a lot of specific Cantonese wording and even Cantonese vernacular characters, especially in the dialogue sentences, but also in the narrative text. Other such renowned early works include Ji-Hofaa Si (二荷花史, Jyutping: Ji6 Ho4faa1 Si2, "The Two Lotus Flowers") and Gamso-Jyunjoeng Saanwusin Gei (金鎖鴛鴦珊瑚扇記, Jyutping: Gam1so2 Jyun1joeng1 Saan1wu4sin3 Gei3, "Coral Fan and Golden-lock Mandarin-ducks Pendant").
The naamyam (南音; Jyutping: naam4 jam1, Hanyu Pinyin: nányīn, literally "southern songs"), a genre of song that flourished from the late Ming dynasty and frequently sung in Canton's brothels with accompanying string instruments, possessed language that was generally very literary, with only occasional instances of colloquial Cantonese words. The purpose of such inclusions is debated; they were likely added purely for rhythmic purposes. An example of such practice is Haaktou Cauhan (客途秋恨, Jyutping: Haak3tou4 Cau1han6, "The Traveler's Autumn Regrets") written in the first decade of 1800s, which is considered one of the most outstanding examples of the naamyam genre.
Written Cantonese vocabulary was used much more extensively in the lungzau (龍舟, Jyutping: lung4zau1, "Dragon boat") songs, performed mainly by beggars on the streets. These songs were considered the least prestigious genre and were rarely published, and then only after careful editing to make them less vernacular in style.
An important landmark in the history of written Cantonese was the publication of Jyut-au (粵謳, Jyutping: jyut6au1, Hanyu Pinyin: yuè'ōu, literally: "Cantonese love songs") by Zhao Ziyong (招子庸, Jyutping: Ziu1 Zi2jung4, Hanyu Pinyin: Zhāo Zǐyōng) in 1828, marking the beginning of an extremely popular genre. Being an educated juren, Zhao Ziyong earned some prestige and respect for the previously rejected "heavy" vernacular literature.
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Written Cantonese
Written Cantonese is the most complete written form of a Chinese language after that for Mandarin Chinese and Classical Chinese. Classical Chinese was the main literary language of China until the 19th century. Written vernacular Chinese first appeared in the 17th century[citation needed], and a written form of Mandarin became standard throughout China in the early 20th century. Cantonese is a common language in places like Hong Kong and Macau. While the Mandarin form can to some extent be read and spoken word for word in other Chinese varieties, its intelligibility to non-Mandarin speakers is poor to incomprehensible because of differences in idioms, grammar and usage. Modern Cantonese speakers have therefore developed new characters for words that do not have characters for them and have retained others that have been lost in standard Chinese.
With the advent of the computer and standardization of character sets specifically for Cantonese, many printed materials in predominantly Cantonese-speaking areas of the world are written to cater to their population with these written Cantonese characters.
Before the 20th century, the standard written language of China was Classical Chinese, with a grammar and vocabulary based on the Old Chinese of the Spring and Autumn period, of the 8th to the 5th century BCE. While this written standard remained essentially static for over two thousand years, the actual spoken language diverged ever further. The formation of Yue Chinese occurring among the Han population in the Pearl River Delta across many centuries, with the main linguistic influences being the Middle Chinese of the tenth century CE, corresponding to the end of the Tang dynasty, and that of the thirteenth century CE or late Song dynasty, as well as the Tai-Kadai substrate and some influence from pre-Tang Sinitic varieties.
The first Cantonese writings belong to a literary form specific to Canton, called mukjyusyu (木魚書, Jyutping: muk6 jyu4 syu1, Hanyu Pinyin: mùyúshū, lit. 'wooden fish book'), that supposedly has its roots in Buddhist chants accompanied by wooden fish. Mukjyu texts were popular light reading, their primary audience were women, as female (and overall) literacy was unusually high in that region. The mukjyus were intended to be sung, similar to other genres such as naamyam, although without musical instruments.
The earliest known mukjyusyu work with elements of written Cantonese, Faazin Gei (花箋記, Jyutping: Faa1zin1 Gei3, Hanyu Pinyin: Huājiān Jì, lit. 'The Flowery Paper'), was composed by an unknown author during the late Ming dynasty; its oldest extant edition is dated to 1713. The Faazin Gei is an example of the "scholar and beauty" genre popular at the time, with its story set in Suzhou. Its text, while still being close to Literary Chinese, contains a lot of specific Cantonese wording and even Cantonese vernacular characters, especially in the dialogue sentences, but also in the narrative text. Other such renowned early works include Ji-Hofaa Si (二荷花史, Jyutping: Ji6 Ho4faa1 Si2, "The Two Lotus Flowers") and Gamso-Jyunjoeng Saanwusin Gei (金鎖鴛鴦珊瑚扇記, Jyutping: Gam1so2 Jyun1joeng1 Saan1wu4sin3 Gei3, "Coral Fan and Golden-lock Mandarin-ducks Pendant").
The naamyam (南音; Jyutping: naam4 jam1, Hanyu Pinyin: nányīn, literally "southern songs"), a genre of song that flourished from the late Ming dynasty and frequently sung in Canton's brothels with accompanying string instruments, possessed language that was generally very literary, with only occasional instances of colloquial Cantonese words. The purpose of such inclusions is debated; they were likely added purely for rhythmic purposes. An example of such practice is Haaktou Cauhan (客途秋恨, Jyutping: Haak3tou4 Cau1han6, "The Traveler's Autumn Regrets") written in the first decade of 1800s, which is considered one of the most outstanding examples of the naamyam genre.
Written Cantonese vocabulary was used much more extensively in the lungzau (龍舟, Jyutping: lung4zau1, "Dragon boat") songs, performed mainly by beggars on the streets. These songs were considered the least prestigious genre and were rarely published, and then only after careful editing to make them less vernacular in style.
An important landmark in the history of written Cantonese was the publication of Jyut-au (粵謳, Jyutping: jyut6au1, Hanyu Pinyin: yuè'ōu, literally: "Cantonese love songs") by Zhao Ziyong (招子庸, Jyutping: Ziu1 Zi2jung4, Hanyu Pinyin: Zhāo Zǐyōng) in 1828, marking the beginning of an extremely popular genre. Being an educated juren, Zhao Ziyong earned some prestige and respect for the previously rejected "heavy" vernacular literature.
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