 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The! v8 T) m, l' E$ z0 p& m! J: L
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
) p8 P- j; T% tsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,2 r/ F; V1 \- A; o" k
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
; D: U9 ]* |. p' g(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of. d- W3 ^$ H4 Y" \
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).+ V" ~' }0 p3 ]! M) `
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=$ p# V6 F# W# E0 P
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
5 j3 I, y) w; O7 E(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving' P2 l) x# \& v* P) P5 K, B
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on1 L6 K, N, s3 k
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset, C: K8 D: Z, N' K9 g. ?6 m. i
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
4 K) ?. x# p. c) z0 P% ]segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a9 A7 ?2 C \$ b5 N
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
0 E. I4 ?3 h/ x8 z% m q$ s, jend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In6 N% p& G3 n- q" Y$ g
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element," S. K) J E! o8 d) R+ R- m
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
+ |/ V( @" M2 L1 b4 Y4 ?0 c* p9 @; U- y0 M; p% Q
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)4 z$ Z: a7 |, m& m0 `0 W
and American speakers of English, |
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