 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
& ?, ]' P! S9 r8 n' Y. g$ x! tInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the' D S- L: ?" W7 L1 \ s3 ^9 s# Y
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in," B& l3 [2 T8 B9 f6 D8 X x8 J% N/ k
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial+ a' Q$ I4 K/ i3 g
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
6 s+ f; |4 V* K" l/ lretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).. D0 g0 X( V: V- g9 T9 q- C
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
% a; }, _6 ^; n/ l$ w, u# @[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]8 p4 q6 n2 v" [3 Z G& J& D
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
! Z8 a" g& ` `retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on' V/ K& H' Q% B0 b) r A
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
0 c0 M: l9 ?6 ^/ N9 U- j" v8 H, ^& B(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
. f3 s1 X7 X. O% m9 ~* Csegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
) k) _) O( J2 C4 {! I0 _semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e., {! ]/ f; q& L4 z7 V( P
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
4 k1 [" p4 L, W5 i/ g$ _compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,. C6 d3 l; E. l+ H% U
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
i8 `% G% ]: f! q% ^! T$ A9 {2 M+ [/ k
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
6 s/ I& m. [" K; v# j" band American speakers of English, |
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