Altair Posted April 17, 2004 at 02:32 AM Report Share Posted April 17, 2004 at 02:32 AM I have noticed that many times Cantonese S’s are translitered informally into English with Sh’s where none of my Cantonese tapes show this pronunciation. I recall this specifically with respect to place names. Does this reflect a change in the language, a question of local dialect, or something else. An example I think I recall is the word “Toih4saan1” (“Toishan”/“Platform Mountain?”). Who pronounces this with an “sh” sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted April 18, 2004 at 03:05 AM Report Share Posted April 18, 2004 at 03:05 AM There's no "sh" sound in Cantonese, period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rathpy Posted May 31, 2004 at 04:58 AM Report Share Posted May 31, 2004 at 04:58 AM The 'sh' sound is no longer present in the most prestegious standards of Cantonese, namely Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Apparently, 'sh' was present in some regions as late as the first half of the twentieth century, but then merged with the 's' sound . Some of the dictionaries of these times specifically note characters having 's' vs. 'sh' initials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shibo77 Posted May 31, 2004 at 03:09 PM Report Share Posted May 31, 2004 at 03:09 PM zh,ch,sh and z,c,s are merging in 官Mandarin as well. -Shibo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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