Yue () is a branch of the Sinitic languages primarily spoken in Southern China, particularly in the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi (collectively known as Liangguang).

The term Cantonese is often used to refer to the whole branch, but linguists prefer to reserve the name Cantonese for the variety used in Guangzhou (Canton), Wuzhou (Ngchow), Hong Kong and Macau, which is the prestige dialect of the group. Taishanese, from the coastal area of Jiangmen (Kongmoon) located southwest of Guangzhou, was the language of most of the 19th-century emigrants from Guangdong to Southeast Asia and North America. Most later migrants have been speakers of Cantonese.

Yue languages are not mutually intelligible with each other or with other Chinese languages outside the branch. They are among the most conservative varieties with regard to the final consonants and tonal categories of Middle Chinese, but have lost several distinctions in the initial consonants and medial glides that other Chinese varieties have retained.

Terminology

Cantonese is prototypically used in English to refer to the variety of Yue in Guangzhou, but it is also used to refer to Yue as a whole. To avoid confusion, academic texts may refer to the larger branch as "Yue", following the pinyin system based on Standard Chinese, and either restrict "Cantonese" to the Guangzhou variety, or avoid the term altogether, distinguishing Yue from its Guangzhou dialect. Some linguists such as Anne Yue and Norbert Francis designate Yue Chinese itself as a language.

People from Hong Kong and Macau, as well as Cantonese immigrants abroad, generally refer to their language as . In Guangdong and Guangxi, people also use the terms and (plain/colloquial speech) ; for example, the expression means 'Nanning colloquial speech'.

History

The area of China south of the Nanling Mountains, known as the Lingnan (roughly modern Guangxi and Guangdong), was originally home to peoples known to the Chinese as the Hundred Yue (or Baiyue). Large-scale Han Chinese migration to the area began after the Qin conquest of the region in 214 BC. Successive waves of immigration followed at times of upheaval in Northern and Central China, such as the collapse of the Han, Tang and Song dynasties. The most popular route was via the Xiang River, which the Qin had connected to the Li River by the Lingqu Canal, and then into the valley of the Xi Jiang. A secondary route followed the Gan River and then the Bei Jiang into eastern Guangdong. Yue-speakers were later joined by Hakka speakers following the North River route, and Min speakers arriving by sea.

After the fall of Qin, the Lingnan area was part of the independent state of Nanyue for about a century, before being incorporated into the Han empire in 111 BC. After the Tang dynasty collapsed, much of the area became part of the state of Southern Han, one of the longest-lived states of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, between 917 and 971.

Large waves of Chinese migration throughout succeeding Chinese dynasties assimilated huge numbers of Yue aborigines, with the result that today's Southern Han Chinese Yue-speaking population is descended from both groups. The colloquial layers of Yue varieties contain elements influenced by the Tai languages formerly spoken widely in the area and still spoken by people such as the Zhuang and Dong.

Rise of Cantonese

The port city of Guangzhou lies in the middle of Pearl River Delta, with access to the interior via the Xi, Bei, and Dong rivers, which all converge at the delta. It has been the economic centre of the Lingnan region since Qin times, when it was an important shipbuilding centre. By 660, it was the largest port in China, part of a trade network stretching as far as Arabia. During the Southern Song, it also became the cultural centre of the region. Like many other Chinese varieties it developed a distinct literary layer associated with the local tradition of reading the classics. The Guangzhou dialect (Cantonese) was used in the popular Yuè'ōu, Mùyú and Nányīn folksong genres, as well as Cantonese opera, written with Chinese characters extended with a number of colloquial characters for Cantonese words.

Guangzhou became the centre of rapidly expanding foreign trade after the maritime ban was lifted, with the British East India Company establishing a chamber of commerce in the city in 1715. The ancestors of most of the Han Chinese population of Hong Kong came from Guangzhou after the territory was ceded to Britain in 1842. As a result, Hong Kong Cantonese, the most widely spoken language in Hong Kong and Macau, is an offshoot of the Guangzhou dialect. Other migrations of Yue speakers during the nineteenth century, including west along the Guangdong and Guangxi coasts, brought Cantonese and other Yue varieties to southeast Asia. The popularity of Cantonese-language media, Cantopop and the cinema of Hong Kong has since led to substantial exposure of Cantonese to China and the rest of Asia.

On the mainland, the national policy is to promote Standard Chinese, which is also the medium of instruction in schools. The place of local Cantonese language and culture remains contentious. In 2010, a controversial proposal to switch some programming on Guangzhou local television from Cantonese to Mandarin was abandoned following widespread backlash accompanied by public protests.

Influence of Foreign Languages on Cantonese

English

Cantonese has absorbed a substantial number of English loanwords, particularly in Hong Kong, where over a century of British colonial rule created sustained linguistic contact. These borrowings are typically phonetic transliterations: Chinese characters are chosen for their approximate sound rather than meaning. Well‑known examples include:

  • 巴士 (baa1 si6) — “bus”
  • 的士 (dik1 si6) — “taxi”
  • 芝士 (zi1 si6) — “cheese”
  • 曲奇 (kuk1 kei4) — “cookie”
  • 士多啤梨 (si6 do1 be1 lei4) — “strawberry”
  • 三文治 (saam1 man4 zi6) — “sandwich”

In contemporary Hong Kong Cantonese, code‑mixing with English is extremely common. Speakers often insert English words directly into Cantonese grammar, especially in casual or workplace contexts. Examples include:

  • 幫我check下 (bong1 ngo5 check haa5) — “help me check”
  • 開OT (hoi1 OT) — “work overtime”

This hybrid usage has become a defining feature of modern urban Cantonese.

Japanese

Japanese influence on Cantonese generally falls into two main categories.

The first consists of modern slang and pop‑culture terms that entered Cantonese through media, entertainment, and youth culture. Examples include:

  • 放題 (fong3 tai4) — “all‑you‑can‑eat,” from Japanese 食べ放題 (tabehōdai)
  • 人氣 (jan4 hei3) — “popularity,” from Japanese 人気 (ninki)

The second involves wasei‑kango—Sino‑Japanese words coined in Japan using Chinese morphemes, which were later adopted back into Chinese varieties, including Cantonese. Examples include:

  • 革命 (gaak3ming6) — “revolution," from Japanese 革命 (Kakumei)
  • 民主 (man4zyu2) — “democracy," from Japanese 民主 (minshu)
  • 社會 (se5wui2) — “society," from Japanese 社会 (shakai)
  • 經濟 (ging1zai3) — “economy," from Japanese 経済 (keizai)

These terms illustrate how Japanese has shaped modern Cantonese vocabulary, especially in domains such as dining, entertainment, and pop culture.

Influence of Cantonese on English

While Cantonese is heavily influenced by English, the exchange is mutual. Cantonese has significantly impacted English through direct loanwords, calques (literal translations), and the development of Hong Kong English. Well‑known examples include:

  • 白菜 (baak6 coi3), literally "white vegetable".
  • 鑊 (wok6), the traditional round-bottomed cooking pot.
  • 叉燒 (caa1 siu1), barbecued pork.
  • 點心 (dim2 sam1), literally "to touch the heart".
  • 雲吞 (wan4 tan1), a type of dumpling.

Geographic distribution

Yue languages are spoken in the southern provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi, an area long dominated culturally and economically by the city of Guangzhou at the delta of the Pearl River. Cantonese, also spoken in Hong Kong and Macau, is the prestige variety of Yue. Yue varieties are not totally mutually intelligible with one another.

The influence of Guangzhou has spread westward along the Pearl River system, so that, for example, the speech of the city of Wuzhou some upstream in Guangxi is much more similar to that of Guangzhou than dialects of coastal districts that are closer but separated from the city of Guangzhou by hilly terrain. One of these coastal languages, Taishanese, is the most common Yue variety among overseas communities. However, many such Chinatowns have been historically dominated by varieties closer to a more standard Cantonese; among these are those of Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Vancouver, and London.

Yue is also the most widespread Sinitic language in Guangxi, spoken by slightly more than a half of its Han population. The other half is almost equally divided between the Southwestern Mandarin, Hakka, and Pinghua; there is also a considerable Xiang-speaking population and a small Hokkien-speaking minority. Yue Chinese is spoken by 35% of the total population of Guangxi, being one of the two largest languages in that province, along with Zhuang.