<p>The preferred phonetic input method (like <em>pinyin</em>) for Cantonese is <em>Jyutping</em> (粤拼/jyut6ping3/yue4pin1 in Mandarin).  </p>

<p>In GNU/Linux, both SCIM and (the now preferred?) IBus have packages available that add Jyutping support. 
They are available for Debian, but might be hard to find for other systems. At least I have only found .deb and .rpm for ibus-jyutping, and no source.  </p>

<p>Here's a <a href="http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/read.php?2,90241,90241">forum thread</a> about getting compound words to work when using Jyutping in SCIM.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-03T16:32:42.010Z
Thanks for the input and for the forum link.  If it's just for being able to easily input characters it might be worth learning Jyutping, but I'd really love to be able to use Yale to input characters as that's the romanization I'm familiar with and find more intuitive.
Zann Anderson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-24T15:12:53.637Z
Jyutping for Mac OS X exists also. I have been using it for years http://rescomp.stanford.edu/~domingo2/Chinese.html And my Blackberry from Peoples (中國移動香港) comes preloaded with jyutping input too.
dda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-03T06:48:09.000Z
2012-02-03T06:48:09.000Z
Toerndev
<p>If you don't want to install a Cantonese IME, the Cantonese specific characters are included in cangjie (倉頡), using the same stroke decomposing rules. Here are some examples:</p>

<ul>
<li>冇 = 大月</li>
<li>哋 = 口土心木</li>
<li>睇 = 月山金弓竹</li>
</ul>

<p>Another useful resource is <a href="http://www.cantoneseinput.com/">http://www.cantoneseinput.com/</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-08T22:34:46.633Z
Yes, Cangjie is the way to go.  
You can even use it for free online without any installation. 
Version 5: http://chinesecj.com/ime/cj5.php
Version 3: https://www.cangjieinput.com/
冇 xkb 哋 rgpd 睇 bucnh  係 ohvf 唔 xrmmr
Once you're familar with a character, you just think 'm goi' and your fingers type it from muscle memory (唔該 xrmmr yryvo )．
YQ002lc2
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-14T20:36:18.680Z
2011-12-14T20:36:18.680Z
chiuki
<p>There is a great system that has been created to do Cantonese Romanization to Traditional or Simplified Characters input, it is a program called NJ Star Chinese Word Processor. You can change the language to Cantonese Romanization and the output to either Traditional or Simplified and then write in the romanization and it will give you character options to choose from. The program is free and can be found <a href="http://www.njstar.com/cms/njstar-chinese-word-processor" rel="nofollow">here</a> and is a great help to me.</p>

<p>I havent found a character that I need that I cannot find in there.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-12-11T22:13:54.453Z
2012-12-11T22:13:54.453Z
Chris
<p>Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe all Cantonese characters (theoretically) have pinyin representations. Examples:</p>

<ul>
<li>冇 <em>(have not)</em> / Yale: mou5 / Pinyin: mao3</li>
<li>佢哋 <em>(they)</em> / Yale: keui5 dei6 / Pinyin: qu2 di4</li>
<li>咗 <em>(similar to 了)</em> / Yale: jo2 / Pinyin: zuo3</li>
<li>嘢 <em>(thing)</em> / Yale: ye5 / Pinyin: ye3</li>
</ul>

<p>But in my experience, using a Standard Chinese Pinyin IME to enter Cantonese characters is just not <em>natural</em>. Sometimes characters are missing. Some commonly used characters are way down the list.</p>

<p>One solution is to use a Cantonese IME like <a href="http://cpime.hk/">this one</a>. There are even <a href="http://www.cantoneseinput.com/">online tools to input Cantonese</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-14T20:52:00.623Z
+1 for using other IMEs to enter Cantonese feeling unnatural.  I'd even prefer to write Traditional Chinese with a Cantonese IME if I could, just because that's where I'm more comfortable.
Zann Anderson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-14T20:27:53.237Z
2011-12-14T20:36:27.217Z
2011-12-14T20:36:27.217Z
Orion
<p>Although traditionally Cantonese speakers just use standard Chinese (mostly Traditional in my experience) for writing and reading, written Cantonese does exist as you can read about in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_Cantonese">this Wikipedia article</a>.  I'm curious as to whether there exists any input system for this written Cantonese.  I specifically use Windows, but I'd be interested to know about systems for Mac and Linux as well.</p>

<p>If not, do most or all the characters used for written Cantonese exist in other Chinese input libraries?  I ask this realizing that many of the characters in written Cantonese are simply re-purposed, but I also know that many of them are other characters with the addition of a leading 口 character and I don't know whether those exist outside of written Cantonese or not.  Please enlighten me!</p>

<writing><cantonese>
Written Cantonese input?
# Written Cantonese input?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-12-14)

Although traditionally Cantonese speakers just use standard Chinese (mostly Traditional in my experience) for writing and reading, written Cantonese does exist as you can read about in [this Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_Cantonese). I'm curious as to whether there exists any input system for this written Cantonese. I specifically use Windows, but I'd be interested to know about systems for Mac and Linux as well.

If not, do most or all the characters used for written Cantonese exist in other Chinese input libraries? I ask this realizing that many of the characters in written Cantonese are simply re-purposed, but I also know that many of them are other characters with the addition of a leading 口 character and I don't know whether those exist outside of written Cantonese or not. Please enlighten me!

**Tags:** writing, cantonese


---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2011-12-14. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe all Cantonese characters (theoretically) have pinyin representations. Examples:

* 冇 *(have not)* / Yale: mou5 / Pinyin: mao3
* 佢哋 *(they)* / Yale: keui5 dei6 / Pinyin: qu2 di4
* 咗 *(similar to 了)* / Yale: jo2 / Pinyin: zuo3
* 嘢 *(thing)* / Yale: ye5 / Pinyin: ye3

But in my experience, using a Standard Chinese Pinyin IME to enter Cantonese characters is just not *natural*. Sometimes characters are missing. Some commonly used characters are way down the list.

One solution is to use a Cantonese IME like [this one](http://cpime.hk/). There are even [online tools to input Cantonese](http://www.cantoneseinput.com/).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: +1 for using other IMEs to enter Cantonese feeling unnatural.  I'd even prefer to write Traditional Chinese with a Cantonese IME if I could, just because that's where I'm more comfortable.  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2012-02-03. Score: 5

The preferred phonetic input method (like *pinyin*) for Cantonese is *Jyutping* (粤拼/jyut6ping3/yue4pin1 in Mandarin).

In GNU/Linux, both SCIM and (the now preferred?) IBus have packages available that add Jyutping support.
They are available for Debian, but might be hard to find for other systems. At least I have only found .deb and .rpm for ibus-jyutping, and no source.

Here's a [forum thread](http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/read.php?2,90241,90241) about getting compound words to work when using Jyutping in SCIM.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for the input and for the forum link.  If it's just for being able to easily input characters it might be worth learning Jyutping, but I'd really love to be able to use Yale to input characters as that's the romanization I'm familiar with and find more intuitive.  
> **username_2**: Jyutping for Mac OS X exists also. I have been using it for years http://rescomp.stanford.edu/~domingo2/Chinese.html And my Blackberry from Peoples (中國移動香港) comes preloaded with jyutping input too.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2011-12-14. Score: 4

If you don't want to install a Cantonese IME, the Cantonese specific characters are included in cangjie (倉頡), using the same stroke decomposing rules. Here are some examples:

* 冇 = 大月
* 哋 = 口土心木
* 睇 = 月山金弓竹

Another useful resource is <http://www.cantoneseinput.com/>

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Yes, Cangjie is the way to go.   You can even use it for free online without any installation.  Version 5: http://chinesecj.com/ime/cj5.php Version 3: https://www.cangjieinput.com/ 冇 xkb 哋 rgpd 睇 bucnh  係 ohvf 唔 xrmmr Once you're familar with a character, you just think 'm goi' and your fingers type it from muscle memory (唔該 xrmmr yryvo )．  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2012-12-11. Score: 1

There is a great system that has been created to do Cantonese Romanization to Traditional or Simplified Characters input, it is a program called NJ Star Chinese Word Processor. You can change the language to Cantonese Romanization and the output to either Traditional or Simplified and then write in the romanization and it will give you character options to choose from. The program is free and can be found [here](http://www.njstar.com/cms/njstar-chinese-word-processor) and is a great help to me.

I havent found a character that I need that I cannot find in there.


---

