/e/ in Cantonese

Shimizu, Shigeru

According to S. Egerod's system, the most simplified phonemic writing at the present, there are eight vowels in Cantonese : /aa/, /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /φ/, /u/ and /y/. Of these, /e/ is subdivided according to origin. One type comes from [*i], and the other from [*a]. /e/ combined with the three finals /eq/ [є:ŋ] and /ek/ [є:k] belongs to the former, and /e/+/zero/ [є:] to the latter. It is evident that most /eq/ words (tzu 字) may also be pronounced as /iq/ [eŋ], and a half of /ek/ words may similarly be pronundced as /ik/ [ek]; and /iq/ or /eq/ as the first word of a compound consisting to two words, is more often pronounced as [eŋ], whereas as the second, or as a single word it is more apt to be pronounced as [є:ŋ] ; and sometimes [eŋ] and [є:ŋ] are used without clear distinction. From this fact, we may say [є:ŋ] is the emphatic pronounciation of [eŋ] in the same phoneme /iq/. And [є:k] is similarly the emphatic form of /ik/ [ek], although in this case the problem is not as simple as with /iq/. /e/+/zero/ may be explained as /a/+/zero/, because /a/ is the only phoneme without an ending /zero/. Thus if /y/ is identified with /u/, as in Dr. Y. R. Chao's "Cantonese Primer", and /e/ is identified with /i/ or /a/ as proposed in this paper, phonemic vowels in Cantonese could be simplified into six : /aa/(/a/ better), /a/(/e/ better), /i/, /o/, /φ/ and /u/.

/e/ in Cantonese

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