10 Interesting Facts about Cantonese

6. Cantonese is more tonal than Mandarin

While all varieties of Chinese are tonal, some boast more tones than others. Cantonese, for example, has six tones, compared to the four in Mandarin. These are the dark flat (陰平), dark rising (陰上), dark departing (陰去), light flat (陽平), light rising (陽上), and light departing (陽去).