 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
1 p/ _. |4 h$ {2 r+ GInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the4 F+ |' ?) _! s8 M- b
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,8 G" `) a5 [5 s5 t/ o1 n& J
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
& q# P! e) }& A& K/ K(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
! \3 p7 Z8 e$ _retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
: J( @9 \- }/ h4 A; |* x+ n% l8 ZA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
7 |0 a- A4 ^( b" S4 W( q% e[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]: q6 k9 ?1 f& y: T4 s
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving) j) G5 W7 ?0 H/ p
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
; k& ~, A) `" v+ X& ~) p3 n: dpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset- y% @* O- S! n: h- O: S: E- L
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two- P: D# B, X( Z* O
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
" M% m7 l0 V. p6 }( Fsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
' h% V; W8 c2 H4 w: _end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
. N. \9 R( i2 F: n( qcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,& o; T) |* T/ }* M e+ X" r
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
% I. P. V y' O6 q; a+ z$ y" ^7 ^# c0 p; W/ L
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)4 i; \& F# f, a0 U1 W. {1 P q
and American speakers of English, |
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