 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The7 o+ @# D7 |* x
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
p% Z4 N( c! N. y; ksyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,! L; h5 _2 g' t- H! G% D" u
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial$ |/ b5 j/ L0 {0 q" t5 o: K4 V
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
) _" q: a v6 @2 A, kretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
; g l8 z" w2 E0 U& HA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
, l9 I1 U7 }! d5 Y5 S' o4 F[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]1 {, ?5 A6 u5 J
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving; N4 T; z' _& O2 t/ h+ H
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on8 V2 [* S0 W: U( x) v( i/ H5 x' G
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
3 S- X- G+ s% Q' F5 Z(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two$ e1 [- l9 S5 e% S
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a) K! ~8 R) E$ u# y7 Z
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e./ f1 ]$ L# m, E# A+ d
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In8 M2 J9 N) z) y
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element," o; F X1 L6 V% a0 c( ~0 G! }7 f
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
+ p( i3 P( w- ~% z( X$ h; x0 d. {
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)6 K- T$ O/ O! t7 ~" S4 F0 }7 n! C
and American speakers of English, |
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