 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
/ w& d3 S6 S. L6 L0 m# NInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
+ Z2 z) a6 Q0 K8 \" @+ U9 Esyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,5 s8 G! u& u7 C
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
9 _; V/ [3 X' G; H/ d% s(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
: {2 S5 B/ \) G! W7 hretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).! R- i- D# e" u
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=3 J. ?) K! ]5 G* W
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
$ ?( D- E2 `1 a" b# c+ g(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
5 O. r5 R/ z" v8 Pretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on* c0 N' ]' G0 `7 f" ?4 w- q8 {
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset$ k$ z& y# r8 U( ^* m/ f
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two' {# @- \- X7 Q2 X) Z
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a) ?, t% ~/ {4 c8 X; G/ ^* r
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e., Z* u/ d8 f; c* }
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In" K, `3 o S8 a; D# ~
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,( x1 a/ L0 i/ j7 }( h0 ~
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..: s6 O# m+ {3 P. `
7 ^ m* \1 }+ [, P( a4 i0 P
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)3 z2 l3 q4 n% ~/ z* |8 y) e
and American speakers of English, |
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