 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
0 k- I/ J% o4 x; k5 n6 ]* A; F! P8 jInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the5 ~* S( i; K; C* l. G4 E3 H3 `
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,0 f: \- G/ L8 ~& y. C0 `: F
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial+ R5 A/ h' p; Y& D" _) K( J
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of; g" K9 U/ l) m4 p+ t
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
- T/ F' M% ^) H: F3 V, iA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=( e; u$ A0 J1 W, e. d- V. l
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]/ x! ?6 t& `' S5 k' G" K
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
% B) g6 v0 e" u3 w2 bretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
, I, V3 t; Z8 m: P7 |possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset! R7 E3 }& ~% c
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two1 S; _1 o; ~/ O1 P; y" Q# ]
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
5 G9 t" p0 i* T8 J0 f6 tsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
& c' f' `+ K: ~" pend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
: q6 d9 l& U: X) acompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,9 |. h! S' E$ h2 k4 |
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..4 S$ T% t# t. ^0 Y3 }8 m$ \ X
8 p9 `" T6 M: ^% M3 s* z
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
! R& s2 b. P5 N4 K1 o# _ Cand American speakers of English, |
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