In traditional Chinese dialectology, Cantonese is widely regarded as the standard variety of the Yuè (粵) dialect group. According to Ethnologue 2025, Yuè Chinese has an estimated 86 million native speakers worldwide. It is predominantly spoken in the southernmost regions of China, including Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, and Nanning, as well as in various overseas communities.

This Handbook, organized into 46 chapters across seven sections, offers a systematic and comprehensive exploration of Cantonese. It delves into a broad spectrum of topics in Cantonese linguistics, such as phonetics and phonology, syntax, semantics, and morphology, alongside extralinguistic aspects like Cantonese teaching and learning, language and society, the history of Cantonese, and its study in the era of big data. The contributors represent a diverse range of regions, including Australia, Canada, Mainland China, the Czech Republic, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Macau, the Netherlands, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

This Handbook serves as an indispensable resource for scholars and students of Chinese and general linguistics. It not only deepens readers’ understanding of the Cantonese language system but also highlights its connections with other languages and academic disciplines.

Andy Chin is Dean and Professor of the School of Education and Languages, Hong Kong Metropolitan University.

Shin Kataoka is a former Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies, the Education University of Hong Kong.

Bit-Chee Kwok is Professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the author of Southern Min: Comparative Phonology and Subgrouping (Routledge, 2018).