 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The' u8 h4 E9 X6 q: `6 ]
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
1 D" v: {+ B, c" _syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
7 Z+ n3 S# i [7 t1 _, Qand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
$ {5 K% R+ i8 Q' }2 m+ d) l(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
0 M$ R. T2 p* I# q7 L/ t# Q" g0 hretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
) l' J; D3 c1 V2 EA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
" _# |1 M% ~1 T {7 Z) g8 n[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
% `7 @# t4 v6 l; V R! }- t# h(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
9 a' C9 n+ F( b0 ?# kretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
2 P+ m5 h0 {# n4 ]possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset( i* _) R& t5 u( c( ]( ?$ m! J: l
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
# A7 E* d- X" e9 D' j: |segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
; |! `% @7 j3 Q# asemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
# X. o3 z1 ]4 y4 V$ \# @4 e$ fend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In( R1 \4 o1 L z/ w
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
5 f1 {6 H6 \8 S! O7 o# ]' p8 }the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
3 p, [5 P4 Q+ Q. w3 f
% Y; N. Y) P8 ?8 ~) f& k(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
% n! _ r m/ S6 _" v$ x' Fand American speakers of English, |
|