 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The. d$ m+ ?* s& U- H% T* w" |
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the1 p' l0 ~ L b; Y( F! C
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
3 m9 H0 C( j9 Z0 `% Aand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial' \! ]& n3 Y# O, K* R. [+ z
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
% _7 t1 T9 t* Yretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).- M, o1 [0 I7 X# [2 |- r) z
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=1 j3 L- [+ g$ h) W. J1 }
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]7 B0 F L; m1 l
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving& q3 i( e$ {2 o+ |/ r6 j" ]) ]
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
6 I/ m4 s. Q+ x% j) m9 }8 spossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
6 l, Y+ O9 p t) C/ e(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
% k- z5 w8 T# @7 }" c8 e' e! v. csegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
* f! W: \% h& N/ z$ g4 Msemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
+ |" r! t+ ~7 j4 ^end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In+ k* c3 O( V" L. ?' H
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
( @" u) d. l; O/ P& W7 @+ Cthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..2 m7 @9 x5 T2 W$ D' J7 S- W
# \2 u( \& H& S1 a; ]4 x% p(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)! C, M$ t, m4 z
and American speakers of English, |
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