 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
; P" m& ?3 ]8 i9 OInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the% Z) U6 u3 h3 J
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,; x8 E$ n1 u3 O( |* O
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
+ l- W7 ]( A6 d& F& g8 ?2 s(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of6 x% U0 C, U' X5 D* ^$ U
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).- B3 h0 f: ^, V& T
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
, B9 z5 A/ k' N, p& U& c[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]: u4 Z" ^; u9 [6 p
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving( R; l0 d, j, J0 V2 G" A T
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on3 C3 C) a0 }9 S
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset* e! c! [5 k$ g, o+ D( Z1 O
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
" J, @; A5 m! ]* _6 h5 _% _% tsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a" c- y3 o8 o4 y& ^
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
. g; `! p w6 a2 dend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
5 _$ c9 \+ X! W4 m5 w/ gcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,9 Q9 ^+ [7 J+ d* i
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..$ H. Y) N+ h* Q
7 f9 Z7 u8 b- `; m; I- ^
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)/ A% ?7 h4 n6 Z0 _* R
and American speakers of English, |
|