 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
; H$ w) ?5 X0 i! P+ u3 bInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the+ I! [; m; P: B4 A/ @/ I
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
6 g% L3 B+ Z/ S* dand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
4 w" I9 [- H; k$ t" E8 ?(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of' ~$ U' ~; |4 t( _3 F+ T0 H O
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).; i5 Y. J* Z( t
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=" _+ p0 u1 v* F# r* ~* ]
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
1 O! `, m. t' C& Q; i0 h2 x6 Z% A(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
# H2 Q" ^$ C' nretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
# p. t) x! D' O3 f2 Q6 f& `possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset- ^/ _. H" o8 k" c" |/ u
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two; W1 g- D r7 G
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a9 \% Z9 B. V2 o v$ v
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
3 Z; u. [3 A7 \; [' [8 D; Dend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In& f+ `$ o2 h: w+ y0 r4 u
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,7 t* a$ A7 O8 m8 K% k! w8 y$ {
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.., ~7 y `9 t: H5 ^+ C3 I+ I2 X5 N
( @6 \& k( E4 S7 ^& k% M; G
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)8 G6 [. a, b7 i7 L
and American speakers of English, |
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