 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
; e5 u$ s+ Z3 HInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
; t- o, R( I3 S. ]: n0 l" m0 Wsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,/ F% R: H; Q( A7 G7 ?
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial- v" F( S! J; U
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
$ }1 N9 K3 z; `% @0 y3 Z! Bretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).' G. k2 `0 o+ ?) d
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
( {8 j6 s; L3 H* A* H6 R: C* E[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]9 k C- g. a, r- q8 M. E" ~: ~; M
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving* W! K$ j& U" w ] L- p( P% i' g
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
" p) N- ?; B# A% v- qpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset- P o2 x' o4 E% F
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
' V. T0 y- Z1 psegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a9 u0 G% l8 F# E) X
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
- C/ f; ]% i2 d, Dend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In) N- w6 P/ _8 u) }4 H( a, O2 N* s. I
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,$ g7 E9 M" d6 o& }; q
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..8 Y h. x/ M" Y
8 w4 A5 s _+ C# q7 a0 g8 s$ ]! W(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)! Y! P7 q: R4 Y8 g) y
and American speakers of English, |
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