Sidney Lau romanisation

Sidney Lau is a system of romanisation for Cantonese, developed by Sidney Lau for teaching Cantonese. It was developed for use in Cantonese radio, and is essentially an adaptation of the Meyer-Wempe romanisation.

Initials

b [p]	p [pʰ]	m [m]	f [f]
d [t]	t [tʰ]	n [n]		l [l]
g [k]	k [kʰ]	ng [ŋ]	h [h]
gw [kw]	kw [kʰw]			w [w]
j [ts]	ch [tsʰ]		s [s]	y [j]

Finals

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

Tones

Seven tones are indicated using superscripted numbers.

Tone description	Marking
high falling 1	$a^1$
middle rising 2	$a^2$
middle level 3	$a^3$
high level 1^0	$a^{1^0}$
low falling 4	$a^4$
low rising 5	$a^5$
low level 6	$a^6$

External links

• Explanation of Sidney Lau's Cantonese Romanization System
• Cantonese writing, with information on Sidney Lau romanisation
• Cukda Cantonese IME