A comparison of the Cantonese pronunciations recorded in Guangzhouhua zhengyin zidian and Yueyin zhengdu zihui = "Guangzhou hua zheng yin zi dian" yu "Yue yin zheng du zi hui" Yue yu zhu yin bi jiao yan jiu

Abstract

Cantonese is not only a lingua franca in Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau but also a dialect that is widely used by overseas Chinese communities around the world. Being the most prestigious Yue dialect, Cantonese is definitely an important dialect that is worth investigating. In the past few decades, over a dozen dictionaries on Cantonese have been compiled. Among them, the Guangzhouhua zhengyin zidian 《廣州話正音字典》and Yueyin zhengdu zihui 《粵音正讀字彙》are both widely used and thus influential standards on Cantonese. Despite their importance, systematic studies on the Cantonese pronunciations given in the two dictionaries are few and far between. The present thesis is the first attempt to study the subject.

The present dissertation attempts to analyze the differences between the two dictionaries so that a comprehensive list of their differences can be obtained. The analysis is conducted with reference to the number of pronunciations given to each character; the order of listing the pronunciations; tone change; and the listing of commonly used pronunciations. The present thesis also tries to examine the differences between the two editions of Guangzhouhua zhengyin zidian and among the three editions of Yueyin zhengdu zihui. Possible reasons for such differences would also be investigated.

It is not surprising to find that many Chinese characters are given different pronunciations in the two dictionaries as the two dictionaries use two different approaches to determine the correct Cantonese pronunciations. The pronunciations recorded in the Guangzhouhua zhengyin zidian are the Cantonese pronunciations commonly used in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau, whilst those recorded in the Yueyin zhengdu zihui are mainly based on the fanqie（反切） recorded in the Guangyun《廣韻》and the Jiyun《集韻》, which were both published in Song Dynasty. Significant differences regarding the criteria of determining the correct Cantonese pronunciations are found in the 3 editions of the Yueyin zhengdu zihui. It is surprising that a tendency of giving more emphasis to the pronunciations commonly used is found in the 2nd and 3rd editions.