Locale Zh Hk

Reference data for the Chinese (Traditional, Hong Kong) locale — endonym 繁體中文 (香港), written in the Han (Traditional) script, left-to-right (LTR).

Identifiers

• BCP 47 tag: zh-HK
• ISO 639-1: zh
• ISO 639-3: cmn
• Script: Hant (Han (Traditional))
• Region: HK (Hong Kong)
• Text direction: ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

Speakers (approximate)

• L1 (native): 6,600,000
• L2 (additional): 410,000
• L1+L2 (total): 7,000,000

Base locale

This is a regional variant of Locale Zh 001 (Chinese), the base/macro locale for this language.

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: other (1 form).

• other — everything else (e.g. 0~15, 100, 1000, 10000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Apply Locale Zh 001 with Hong Kong conventions (Traditional Chinese, Hong Kong). Hong Kong writing follows Standard Written Chinese with Cantonese-influenced vocabulary, while spoken Cantonese is the daily language and is sometimes written (with characters such as 嘅, 咗, 係) in informal contexts only.

• Script and standard: Traditional characters with the Hong Kong Supplementary Character Set (HKSCS) for names and Cantonese characters. Use zh-Hant-HK.
• Vocabulary: HK tech terms often differ from both Taiwan and the Mainland: 軟件 (software), 網絡 (network), 電腦 (computer), 檔案 (file), 短訊 (SMS), 預設 (default). Check the HK Government's and Microsoft's terminology.
• Punctuation: 「 」 and 『 』 are common; “ ” is also used in HK publications; follow the project style.
• Bilingualism: English is co-official and many brand and product names stay in English; present Chinese and English side by side as the client does.
• Currency and formats: Hong Kong dollar (HK$, 港元); day/month/year in bilingual notices; 24-hour clock.
• Formal writing: formal HK documents use Written Chinese, not Cantonese colloquial; informal social copy may use Cantonese words if the brand does.

Common pitfalls

• Writing Cantonese colloquialisms in formal copy.
• Using Taiwan or Mainland tech terms without checking HK usage.
• The general pitfalls in Locale Zh 001 also apply.

Learn more

• Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
• Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
• Hong Kong Supplementary Character Set (HKSCS), Government of the HKSAR
• Microsoft Localization Style Guide, Chinese (Traditional) (https://aka.ms/chinese-traditional-styleguide)