 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
9 i0 [9 g e& [7 ]Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
E9 W" L3 e# w! e& i! H: nsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,- l! D) F; o# v7 E. e/ P3 {7 A. J0 ^
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
2 T( }. c I/ {% p1 g. d(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
F& E! m- a% r& V$ bretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
0 r! M! ^) k) n9 `; lA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
8 q; Y/ f2 y# a[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]4 j2 R9 T; H c& Y7 Q4 C
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
/ s ?' ]" `' N8 t2 {retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
2 d) C4 ?, r3 E) @ @* j+ S% zpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
( c# h! {0 F. P. b- \; k+ @2 F(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
, b% \* X# t- D; csegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a" T# t p& E- l6 h
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.1 f; T( V4 W7 k% [. `
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In' Y- f- X6 N8 L7 Y5 ]! \9 m, e' r% L
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
/ x# l4 e z8 n" @) D- F' Q. dthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..# m+ o: H# [* I: N
( [7 ^* q* l7 Z. O(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
& c5 p. c* ?- K* v7 b% ^% @and American speakers of English, |
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