From year 1980s onwards, the proper Cantonese pronunciation has been much promoted in Hong Kong, with the scholar Richard Ho as its iconic campaigner. The very idea of "proper" pronunciation of Cantonese Chinese is very controversial, since there is no such thing as "mispronunciation" in descriptive linguistics.
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Origins and influences
The promotion of "proper" Cantonese Chinese pronunciation is partly a reaction to the so-called "lazy sound" (懶音 laan5 jam1) adopted by the younger generations. The "lazy" pronunciations, or sound changes include:
TV and radio programs, including game shows, have been made to promote the proper pronunciation. The campaign has also influenced the local media. Some news reporters and masters of ceremonies in Hong Kong have adopted the "proper" pronunciations.
Arguments
The "proper" readings promoted by Richard Ho are based on the fanqie spelling of Guangyun, an ancient rime dictionary reflecting the sounds of Middle Chinese. Ho states that, Cantonese Chinese phonology being the descendant of the Guangyun system, there are highly regular correspondences between the sounds of Middle Chinese and those of modern Cantonese Chinese. He also holds that the "flat" (平) and "sharp" (仄) tonal distinction in Middle Chinese is the most important feature from which modern Cantonese Chinese should not deviate, especially when reciting ancient literature (Ho 1995:151). He allows exceptions in some cases of colloquial speech, but not in any cases in reading ancient literature (ibid. 152).
Ho's approach to pronunciation is prescriptive. For instance, talking about the "wrong" pronunciation of final consonants of the youth, he says:
He expresses his attitude towards sound changes, when talking about the gradual merge of [n-] and [l-] initials in Cantonese Chinese:
A major critic of Ho's approach is Wang Tingzhi. He calls Ho's prescriptive pronunciations "demonic". One of his concerns is that Cantonese Chinese comprises six historical strata, not just the one represented by the Guangyun. (Wang 2005)
Media
Ever since the arguments made around the correct way of pronouncing Chinese characters in Cantonese Chinese, different media companies in China have used their own interpretation of the correct pronunciations when broadcasting.
Hong Kong TV stations
In the year of 1981, Hong Kong TV stations followed the majority rule in terms of the correct pronunciation. At the time, the most common pronunciation for "Time" (Chinese: 時間) was to say the last character with the same pronunciation as the word "time rape" (Chinese: 時姦) in China. The shocking effect from this was realized when kindergarten kids started talking about a show "The friends time" as "The friend's rape time" due to slightly different pronunciations. After that incident, the TV stations started to realize the importance of the correct way of pronouncing characters to avoid misinterpretations.
Effects on Cantonese Chinese pronunciation
Hong Kong's Cantonese Chinese pronunciation changes has affected the Cantonese Chinese that was being spoken in other regions: Guangdong (Chinese: 廣東) and Guangxi (Chinese: 廣西) Provinces of China.
Many still argue about the variations in Cantonese Chinese pronunciation across different regions, some are too informal while others have other flaws. It is still a major topic that people discuss to date.