<p>There is actually no /pak/ in Cantonese. At all. There are a few characters that are pronounced /paak/ [long a:], 拍, 啪, 泊, 帕, 魄, 珀, 舶, 檗, 蘗, 汃, but that's about it.</p>

<p>As others have mentioned, romanization != pronunciation. 北 (which is, by the way, the only character pronounced /bak/), is always /bak/, and nothing else. 北角, 北京, 北潭涌, 北海, it's all /bak/. If you hear anything else, you need to listen again.</p>

<p>Same goes for 白 (and 百, 伯, 迫, 柏, 蔔, 佰, 舶, 帛, 匐, 菔, 踣). The only (but important) difference is that it's a long [a:].</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-21T21:10:17.200Z
This would probably just confuse the OP more, but the IPA for a Cantonese p is [pʰ] and for a Cantonese b, it's [p]. There aren't any truly voiced stops (e.g., IPA [b]) in Cantonese at all.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-21T22:24:46.177Z
OP isn’t confused, OP is Happy their question is answered
udidosa
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-21T09:54:57.433Z
2018-02-21T13:14:31.277Z
2018-02-21T13:14:31.277Z
dda
<p>The /b/ in Cantonese and /b/ in IPA are not the same sound. Cantonese /b/ is more like an unaspirated IPA /p/ or if you want, an unvoiced IPA /b/. The 北 in 北京 and 北角 are exactly the same sound. 白 is /baak6/, same /b/ sound as in 北 , unvoiced and unaspirated bilabial stop.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-21T06:08:40.663Z
2018-02-21T06:08:40.663Z
monalisa
<blockquote>
<p>However, I have seen instances where it is pronounced as 'pak' as in 北潭涌 (Pak Tam Chung- a place in Hong Kong).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Pak Tam Chung in Cantonese <strong>is</strong> pronounced as (bak1 taam4 cung1), when Cantonese is romanised, b is usually turned into p. For example, 白田 (place in Hong Kong) is romanised as &quot;Pak Tin&quot; while the pronunciation is baak6 tin4 and 寶達 (another place in Hong Kong) is romanised as &quot;Po Tat&quot; while the pronunciation is bou2 daat6.</p>
<p>Remember, the romanisation is not the pronunciation!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-02-21T09:25:04.863Z
2020-10-11T10:49:30.160Z
2020-10-11T10:49:30.160Z
paper1111
<p><a href="http://cccanto.org/search.php?q=%E5%8C%97" rel="nofollow noreferrer">北</a> is definitely bak1. </p>

<p><a href="http://cccanto.org/search.php?q=%E7%99%BD" rel="nofollow noreferrer">白</a> is baak6. </p>

<p>I believe this b/p issue is probably just a romanization problem. Remember 北京 was Peking in times past. </p>

<p>Words that start with <code>b</code> are usually represented by letter [p] in IPA and that is how many romanizations started, from IPA.</p>

<p>The Meyer–Wempe Cantonese romanization system is one such pinyin that does write the IPA initial [p] as <code>p</code> and not <code>b</code>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-21T05:01:30.160Z
Got it, but how about the pronunciation of these letters though?  In Hong Kong, 北京 is pronounced more like pak ging while  北角 is pronounced more like bak gok. There are subtle differences in the 'p' and 'b' and I wonder how these came to be, especially since the pinyin states it should be 'b'
udidosa
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-21T05:46:19.723Z
@Urvil I think your ears may be playing tricks on you. If you check out 北角 on https://forvo.com/word/%E5%8C%97%E8%A7%92/#yue and then listen to 北京 https://forvo.com/word/%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC/#yue I think you will find they are both predominantly pronounced with an opening b sound or [p] in IPA. If not, what you might be hearing is 方言 and not "官话".
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-21T05:46:53.393Z
@Urvil I pronounce 北京 and 北角's 北 as bak1. Never heard anybody pronounce 北京 as pak1 before.
paper1111
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-21T03:23:26.427Z
2018-02-21T03:30:19.380Z
2018-02-21T03:30:19.380Z
Mou某
<p>Referring to Cantonese Sheik, 北 is normally pronounced as 'bak', as in <a href="http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/9276/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">北角</a> (bak gok - a train station in Hong Kong). However, I have seen instances where it is pronounced as 'pak' as in  <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pak_Tam_Chung" rel="nofollow noreferrer">北潭涌</a> (Pak Tam Chung- a place in Hong Kong).</p>

<p>So, is 北 officially pronounced as '<strong>b</strong>ak'? or as '<strong>p</strong>ak'?</p>

<p>PS: I want to know for 白 as well, is it <strong>p</strong>aak? (as in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pak_Nai" rel="nofollow noreferrer">白泥</a>- a place in Hong Kong) or '<strong>b</strong>aak' as in <a href="http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/112/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">白色</a>(baak sik - white color)?</p>

<p>Can <strong>b</strong> and <strong>p</strong> be used interchangeably or is there an official pronunciation?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-21T05:27:25.570Z
It is similar to Bay vs. Buy
lxg
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-21T06:10:23.493Z
@ lxg Not sure what you mean by this. Can you clarify?
monalisa
<pronunciation><cantonese><place-names>
Correct pronunciation for 北, 白 in Cantonese?
# Correct pronunciation for 北, 白 in Cantonese?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-02-21)

Referring to Cantonese Sheik, 北 is normally pronounced as 'bak', as in [北角](http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/9276/) (bak gok - a train station in Hong Kong). However, I have seen instances where it is pronounced as 'pak' as in [北潭涌](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pak_Tam_Chung) (Pak Tam Chung- a place in Hong Kong).

So, is 北 officially pronounced as '**b**ak'? or as '**p**ak'?

PS: I want to know for 白 as well, is it **p**aak? (as in [白泥](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pak_Nai)- a place in Hong Kong) or '**b**aak' as in [白色](http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/112/)(baak sik - white color)?

Can **b** and **p** be used interchangeably or is there an official pronunciation?

**Tags:** pronunciation, cantonese, place-names

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It is similar to Bay vs. Buy  
> **username_2**: @ lxg Not sure what you mean by this. Can you clarify?  

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## 4 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2018-02-21. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

[北](http://cccanto.org/search.php?q=%E5%8C%97) is definitely bak1.

[白](http://cccanto.org/search.php?q=%E7%99%BD) is baak6.

I believe this b/p issue is probably just a romanization problem. Remember 北京 was Peking in times past.

Words that start with `b` are usually represented by letter [p] in IPA and that is how many romanizations started, from IPA.

The Meyer–Wempe Cantonese romanization system is one such pinyin that does write the IPA initial [p] as `p` and not `b`.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Got it, but how about the pronunciation of these letters though?  In Hong Kong, 北京 is pronounced more like pak ging while  北角 is pronounced more like bak gok. There are subtle differences in the 'p' and 'b' and I wonder how these came to be, especially since the pinyin states it should be 'b'  
> **username_6**: @Urvil I think your ears may be playing tricks on you. If you check out 北角 on https://forvo.com/word/%E5%8C%97%E8%A7%92/#yue and then listen to 北京 https://forvo.com/word/%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC/#yue I think you will find they are both predominantly pronounced with an opening b sound or [p] in IPA. If not, what you might be hearing is 方言 and not "官话".  
> **username_5**: @Urvil I pronounce 北京 and 北角's 北 as bak1. Never heard anybody pronounce 北京 as pak1 before.  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2018-02-21. Score: 3

There is actually no /pak/ in Cantonese. At all. There are a few characters that are pronounced /paak/ [long a:], 拍, 啪, 泊, 帕, 魄, 珀, 舶, 檗, 蘗, 汃, but that's about it.

As others have mentioned, romanization != pronunciation. 北 (which is, by the way, the only character pronounced /bak/), is always /bak/, and nothing else. 北角, 北京, 北潭涌, 北海, it's all /bak/. If you hear anything else, you need to listen again.

Same goes for 白 (and 百, 伯, 迫, 柏, 蔔, 佰, 舶, 帛, 匐, 菔, 踣). The only (but important) difference is that it's a long [a:].

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: This would probably just confuse the OP more, but the IPA for a Cantonese p is [pʰ] and for a Cantonese b, it's [p]. There aren't any truly voiced stops (e.g., IPA [b]) in Cantonese at all.  
> **username_0**: OP isn’t confused, OP is Happy their question is answered  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-02-21. Score: 3

The /b/ in Cantonese and /b/ in IPA are not the same sound. Cantonese /b/ is more like an unaspirated IPA /p/ or if you want, an unvoiced IPA /b/. The 北 in 北京 and 北角 are exactly the same sound. 白 is /baak6/, same /b/ sound as in 北 , unvoiced and unaspirated bilabial stop.


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### Answer by username_5 on 2018-02-21. Score: 3

> However, I have seen instances where it is pronounced as 'pak' as in 北潭涌 (Pak Tam Chung- a place in Hong Kong).

Pak Tam Chung in Cantonese **is** pronounced as (bak1 taam4 cung1), when Cantonese is romanised, b is usually turned into p. For example, 白田 (place in Hong Kong) is romanised as "Pak Tin" while the pronunciation is baak6 tin4 and 寶達 (another place in Hong Kong) is romanised as "Po Tat" while the pronunciation is bou2 daat6.

Remember, the romanisation is not the pronunciation!


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