 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
# q& _8 T3 { Z5 B4 KInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
% l* F* Z4 l& o6 o- `" {5 R, hsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
2 @7 p5 U8 J( s, ]$ x6 Vand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial$ W1 k+ _+ L% W, J- O V
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of0 b% O5 I8 O6 {& R4 u# [2 {3 h
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).* K- m7 i; [$ Q2 h. O
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
7 a- l5 r+ I& {+ q[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
/ ^) d/ n9 [9 c q2 ^+ H(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
* Z7 g. D- U) \, z8 uretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
t8 `4 l- A: a; q+ Gpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
1 T7 O# m: ~* N! G(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
" j6 k' |- ]6 O+ H! osegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a) b7 d8 n; t7 Q5 D
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
% w4 l' S7 K, l8 w; t7 @$ u8 bend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
( A% s1 S8 Z# C$ Z: n. wcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
) }& z3 p' b! |+ lthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.. [) A( W h% |% Y& W2 y
- c: f5 n, G1 q
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
3 A. M4 L: W- j7 j7 Oand American speakers of English, |
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