 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The! N0 I8 I; ^% n
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the, q, O0 y/ q8 }7 l8 @( ]
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,% K" [4 V0 P( Y1 w- V: P9 u: x
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial* j0 k+ `' `( c8 _8 G$ W) }# ? T
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of0 `4 a6 b, R; M
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).4 f9 i/ | P7 ? |; e
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
1 ^( @7 n A2 _; S[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
4 w$ s1 L# Q8 |7 O* v(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving$ B* D3 ^ X5 F. h
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on7 H! x9 p F$ l# T; R
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
8 q: S4 i7 t3 ^8 D) M9 d! ^, ]6 Y(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
: T( T! H- Y) c; o" M) n7 r1 v& \segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
- v b: o- }7 \3 h/ _# l: ^& |/ Q$ jsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.8 i: @3 g' ]3 R8 p: ^# V* j
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In" e; `7 k7 ]; _0 l. Z7 X G
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,2 @! J# }, z( N* b7 N
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.." V" J3 K( R d+ E, H! ` ^
4 i0 ^7 ~6 {, l
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
) Q) m, I' M6 w4 }; Z2 C+ r2 Xand American speakers of English, |
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