1. Retain a large number of ancient Chinese elements
Standard Cantonese/Cantonese Cantonese retains many ancient pronunciations. Cantonese retains many ancient words, ancient meanings, and elegant wording, and Cantonese Many words, including modal particles, can be found directly in ancient Chinese classics. In northern Chinese dialects, these ancient words have been abandoned or rarely used.
Cantonese retains grammatical items such as postpositioning and inversion of modifying elements. Moreover, modern Cantonese still has a high tendency to use monosyllabic words that were dominant in ancient Chinese. Some words and expressions that are considered popular by Cantonese speakers can find their origins in ancient books. Guangdong, which is located in a corner, has rarely seen wars and has not been affected by many wars. Therefore, it has always retained the language and culture of the Han and Tang Dynasties.
2. There are elements of the ancient South Vietnamese language left over
The Central Plains people and the ancient Yue people who came to Lingnan to guard the border and farm in the Qin and Han Dynasties have lived together for a long time, and their languages, cultures, customs and other aspects have penetrated each other. Modern Cantonese still contains elements of South Vietnamese, reflected in vocabulary and some grammatical remains. Modern Cantonese and modern Zhuang have many common words that are close to or the same in daily language.
Are these words the source of ancient Chinese, or are they remnants of ancient Vietnamese vocabulary, or are other minority languages ??simply borrowing these inherent words from ancient Chinese, leading people to think that these words in Cantonese are The origin of the ancient Baiyue language cannot be verified. At present, there are about 20% of Cantonese words that have not been recorded in ancient Chinese documents. The proportion is not large but the frequency of use is relatively high.
3. Absorbing foreign words
Cantonese loanwords mainly come from English. Foreign words have appeared in Guangzhou since the Qing Dynasty, and during the colonial period of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Cantonese (Hong Kong-style Cantonese) absorbed a lot of foreign words, affecting the Cantonese-speaking area in Guangdong. Many of these foreign words have not been absorbed by Mandarin (Northern dialect).
For example, "store" (si? 22 t? 55), which is "tuck shop"; some are absorbed but the translation is different, such as "salad" in Cantonese is "salad" (saa1 loet6).
Extended information
Modern Cantonese generally uses the modern vernacular writing system that emerged in the early 20th century in formal situations, and can be used in all Chinese, that is, universal writing in all Chinese. Because Cantonese is a part of Chinese, Cantonese writing and general writing can keep pace with each other in terms of written expression.
The grammar, vocabulary and terminology of this general written language are quite different from Cantonese written language. However, people seem to have basically become accustomed to this difference and do not feel it is a big inconvenience. But when people read common written words in Cantonese, they usually don’t read them literally. Readers are accustomed to adjusting the literal sentences according to Cantonese grammar, vocabulary and idioms, and retelling them in Cantonese.
In order to be close to the public, the mass media will add a large number of Cantonese-specific vocabulary from time to time. Some magazines will use another set of their own Cantonese writing system, which is written largely according to Cantonese grammar and idioms. It is difficult for Chinese users who do not understand Cantonese to understand this Cantonese vernacular. Newspapers will adopt an eclectic approach, with the main text written in common writing, but in dialogue and introductions, Cantonese will be used. These Cantonese-dialogue Bering articles are more vivid, more expressive, more direct to the heart, and avoid distortion when translated into common writing.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Cantonese (a language under the Chinese family of the Sino-Tibetan language family)