鋼琴 / 钢琴
gong³ kam⁴
The English phrase "piano" is translated into Cantonese as 鋼琴 / 钢琴 (gong³ kam⁴).
The term refers to the keyboard musical instrument.
Meaning: a keyboard musical instrument (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The word 鋼琴 is composed of the characters for "steel/iron" (鋼) and "musical instrument" (琴).
Is it said differently in some regions?
The form 鋼琴 is used in Hong Kong and Macau, where Traditional Chinese characters are standard. The form 钢琴 is used in Mainland China, where Simplified Chinese characters are standard.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is gong³ kam⁴.
Did you know?
- The character 琴 in 鋼琴 refers to a wide family of string instruments. In ancient China, it originally described the guqin, a seven-stringed zither that is played horizontally on a table.
- The term 琴 is so versatile that it appears in Cantonese idioms about harmony. The phrase 琴瑟和鳴 describes a happy marriage by imagining the sounds of two different string instruments playing together.
- In Hong Kong culture, learning the 鋼琴 is often viewed as a primary marker of a middle-class upbringing. It is one of the most common extracurricular activities for children in the city.
Examples in context
- 我喺度練習鋼琴嘅時候，感受到無窮嘅快樂。I feel infinite joy when I practice the piano.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “piano” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
