Each syllable is divided into three parts: the initial consonant, the rime (vowel and any final consonant), and the tone. For example, 盤, pun4 is written ⟨⠯⠮⠄⟩, with initial p, final un and tone 4.^[1] (See Cantonese phonology.) Among initials, aspirated consonants (p t ts k kw = p' t' ts' k' kw') are derived by adding dots to the unaspirated consonants (b d dz g gw = p t ts k kw):

• M and ng may also be used as rimes (syllabic nasals), in which case they are followed directly by the tone.
• When i or u (but not y) begins a syllable, a dummy consonant j or w is prefixed.^{[citation needed]}

† represents the symbol was abolished in the revised version in 1990.

The rimes eu, em, ep do not exist in braille.

High tone (tones 1 and 7) is not transcribed. Otherwise tone is written after the rime, as follows:

In numerical order, the cells are as follows:

Punctuation edit

Some of the punctuation marks are distinguished from the onset or rime of a syllable by the strategic use of the ⠀ space. The spaces are therefore included in the table below, though they are not technically part of the punctuation mark.

The emphasis marks, ⠷⠻ are equivalent to running dots alongside the characters in print, while proper names are marked in print by an underline or overline.

• Cantonese
• Chinese Braille

• UNESCO (2013) World Braille Usage Archived 2014-09-08 at the Wayback Machine, 3rd edition.