FromCanton +‎-ese.

• (UK)IPA^(key):/kæn.təˈniːz/
• (US)IPA^(key):/kæn.təˈniz/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-iːz

Cantonese (notcomparable)

1. Relating to the city ofGuangzhou (Canton) or the province ofGuangdong.
2. Relating to Cantonese people.
3. Relating to Cantonese language.
4. Relating to Cantonese food/cuisine.

Cantonese (countable anduncountable,pluralCantonese)

1. (uncountable) A Sinitic language mainly spoken in the south-eastern part of Mainland China,Guangdong (Canton),Hong Kong,Macau, by the Chinese minorities inSoutheast Asia and by many overseas Chinese worldwide.
   • 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, inJournal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development,→DOI, page10:

     As a mainland China national, the counter for our trial was fluent in English, Putonghua, and the Sichuan dialect, and was familiar with a number of other major Chinese languages such asCantonese and Hakka.

2. (uncountable) A dialect of the Cantonese language, spoken inGuangzhou (Canton),Hong Kong,Macau, and treated as the standard dialect of the Cantonese language.
3. (countable, chiefly in theplural) An inhabitant of Canton; a person ofCanton descent.
   • 2000,Stella Dong,Shanghai The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City‎^[1],HarperCollins, page85:

     The alliance was headed by a mustachedCantonese with a broad face, piercing eyes, and a great sympathy for the poor and downtrodden, a man who reveled in "action at all costs and whatever the risks." This was Sun Yat-sen, a visionary who lacked practical political skills but nonetheless became the hallowed "Father of the Republic" upon his death.

• As with other terms for people formed with-ese, the countable singular noun in reference to a person (as in "I am a Cantonese", "writing about Cantonese cuisine as a Cantonese") is uncommon and often taken as incorrect. In its place, the adjective is used, by itself (as in "I am Cantonese") or before a noun likeperson,man, orwoman ("writing about Cantonese cuisine as a Cantonese person"). See also-ish, which is similarly only used primarily as an adjective or as a plural noun.

• (language):Yue Chinese,Yue, Cantonese language, Cantonese dialect
• (dialect): Cantonese dialect, Cantonese language

(language):

• Cantonese, Cantonese dialect(the dialect of Cantonese language treated as standard)
• Hoisanese/Toisanese/Taishanese(the Cantonese subdialect spoken in the Greater Hoi San area, with subsubdialects)
• Hong Kong Cantonese(the dialect spoken in Hong Kong and Macau)

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Cantonese terms
• Appendix:Cantonese Swadesh list for aSwadesh list of basic vocabulary words in Cantonese
• Guangdong
• Guangzhou
• Guangzhouese,Guangzhounese

• ISO 639-3 codeyue(SIL)
• Ethnologue entry for Yue,yue ⁠

• Caen stone