Table 10.

Cantonese coda and rime phonotactics.

Coda: (C2)

C2 can be filled by any of /m n ŋ p t k/

The combination of a nucleus and a coda is restricted in Cantonese in the rime inventory (see Table 11)

Rime: V1 (X2)

V1 in an open syllable can be filled by any member of the set /i e y œ aː o u/, but not the short vowel a

All eight vowels in V1 can combine with a non-identical high back vowel, either i or u, in X2 position to form one of 11 diphthongs (see below), but these diphthongs cannot occur with a coda consonant, which also occupies X2

Vowels can sometimes be reduced to schwa ə due to the casual speech phenomenon

V1 can be filled by two syllabic consonants, ŋ and m, which cannot combine with a coda consonant (i.e., the syllabic consonants fill the entire rime)

Vowels in V1 do not freely combine with all possible coda consonants in X2 position, as illustrated in Table 11

Tone:

Each syllable carries one tone (see legal tones in 4.2)

So-called checked syllables ending in unreleased /p t k/ cannot carry a contour tone (i.e., tones 53 23 21)

Tone 53 is licit for speakers with 53 ~ 55 free variation (generally true of older speakers), and illicit otherwise