Meyer–Wempe

Meyer–Wempe romanization was the system used by two Roman Catholic missionaries in Hong Kong, Bernard F. Meyer and Theodore F. Wempe, for romanizing Cantonese in their Student's Cantonese English Dictionary published in 1935.^[1]

Provenance

Although some ^[2] attribute development of the system to them, there was nothing new in it^[1]^{: Explanatory Notes} as their entire schema followed the system devised in the last decade of the 19th century known as Standard Romanization (SR), which, in turn, was almost identical to John Chalmers' system of 1870.^[3] Chalmers' system was significant in that it was the first system to virtually do away with diacritics entirely, the sole survivor being his final ö, which is eu in the Standard Romanization while being in this one oeh.

Initials

p [p]	p' [pʰ]	m [m]	f [f]
t [t]	t' [tʰ]	n [n]		l [l]
k [k]	k' [kʰ]	ng [ŋ]	h [h]
kw [kw]	k'w [kʰw]			oo, w [w]
ts [ts]	ts' [tsʰ]		s [s]	i, y [j]
ch [tɕ]	ch' [tɕʰ]		sh [ɕ]

The distinction between the alveolar sibilants ([ts], [tsʰ], and [s]) and alveolo-palatal sibilants ([tɕ], [tɕʰ], and [ɕ]) has been lost in modern Cantonese, though the distinction still existed at the time this system was devised. See Cantonese phonology for more information.

Finals

a [aː]	aai [aːi]	aau [aːu]	aam [aːm]	aan [aːn]	aang [aːŋ]	aap [aːp]	aat [aːt]	aak [aːk]
	ai [ɐi]	au [ɐu]	am, om [ɐm]	an [ɐn]	ang [ɐŋ]	ap, op [ɐp]	at [ɐt]	ak [ɐk]
e [ɛː]	ei [ei]				eng [ɛːŋ]			ek [ɛːk]
i [iː]		iu [iːu]	im [iːm]	in [iːn]	ing [eŋ]	ip [iːp]	it [iːt]	ik [ek]
oh [ɔː]	oi [ɔːy]	o [ou]		on [ɔːn]	ong [ɔːŋ]		ot [ɔːt]	ok [ɔːk]
oo [uː]	ooi [uːy]			oon [uːn]	ung [oŋ]		oot [uːt]	uk [ok]
oeh [œː]	ui [ɵy]			un [ɵn]	eung [œːŋ]		ut [ɵt]	euk [œːk]
ue [yː]				uen [yːn]			uet [yːt]
			m [m̩]		ng [ŋ̩]

The finals m and ng can only be used as standalone nasal syllables.

Tones

Diacritics are used to mark the six tones of Cantonese.^[4] The tone mark should be placed above the first letter of the final.

No.	Description	Contour	Tone mark	Example
1	high flat/high falling	55 / 53	No mark	ma
2	high rising	35	Acute accent ( ´ )	má
3	mid flat	33	Grave accent ( ` )	mà
4	low falling	21	Circumflex ( ˆ )	mâ
5	low rising	23	Breve ( ˘ )	mă
6	low flat	22	Macron( ¯ )	mā

References

^ ^a ^b Meyer, Bernard F; Wempe, Theodore F (1935). The Student's Cantonese-English Dictionary. Hong Kong: St Louis Industrial School.
^ English-Cantonese Dictionary, Cantonese in Yale Romanization. Hong Kong: New-Asia-Yale-in-China Chinese Language Center, Chinese University of Hong Kong. 1991. p. 8. ISBN 9627141186.
^ Kataoka, Shin; Lee, Cream (2008). "A System without a System: Cantonese Romanization Used in Hong Kong Place and Personal Names". Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics: 82.
^ Huang, Parker; Kok, Gerard P. (1973). Speak Cantonese - Book 1 3rd Edition. Far Eastern Publications, Yale University. p. 15. ISBN 978-0887100949.

English-Cantonese dictionary: Cantonese in Yale romanization. Chinese University Press. 2000. pp. 7–11. ISBN 962-201-970-6.

[Dictionary-1] Meyer, Bernard F; Wempe, Theodore F (1935). The Student's Cantonese-English Dictionary. Hong Kong: St Louis Industrial School.

[2] English-Cantonese Dictionary, Cantonese in Yale Romanization. Hong Kong: New-Asia-Yale-in-China Chinese Language Center, Chinese University of Hong Kong. 1991. p. 8. ISBN 9627141186.

[3] Kataoka, Shin; Lee, Cream (2008). "A System without a System: Cantonese Romanization Used in Hong Kong Place and Personal Names". Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics: 82.

[4] Huang, Parker; Kok, Gerard P. (1973). Speak Cantonese - Book 1 3rd Edition. Far Eastern Publications, Yale University. p. 15. ISBN 978-0887100949.

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