 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
/ S; }7 O5 v( o0 u. DInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
: x' A [1 A' B0 l1 y7 esyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in," d1 l, p2 E6 x5 W7 \9 x% ?, S
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
3 b! U& }- [8 H(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of$ U3 f' Y4 c1 C k
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
7 G0 X2 a: @+ v; ^* R1 K6 h6 b& pA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
( `% Y: {% G+ q2 x[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
R. s2 s" P3 X) ?6 G: t(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
3 Y, k$ d) a0 M0 {, q9 Sretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on- _5 B4 G- k1 K9 |+ r% O. Y1 n
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset% m9 r+ G% @* Q/ C# g3 z; h# {8 {
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
' M/ [/ X# T: j" _$ h0 @' xsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
D; R9 S4 d% x$ qsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
( f' a8 i. ]: L4 l8 W/ K" Qend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
/ Q# S! L8 f7 @compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
" ]9 ^) ?' J) X7 y. [the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..2 _6 H' m1 q, q( N" j2 h
& q0 k7 [# R5 P4 U(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch); G( N0 k' n# L) r3 E
and American speakers of English, |
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