The generic forms of Hong Kong place names are mainly Cantonese, Hakka and British English, although other languages also contribute to Hong Kong place names.
Some indicators of ordering and direction could be as prefixes, for example, Tai Pai (大白, lit.
It is common practice in Cantonese communities to change and swap Chinese characters of similar pronunciations because of misinterpretation by different ruling governments over time or visitors from foreign villages and cities, illiteracy of local villages before the economic boom, seeking of good fortune and to replace 'bad sounding' words by using characters with a more positive meaning.
Most common Chinese translation in brackets.
Most common Chinese translation in brackets.