 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The5 L$ R7 e2 `; q4 h( o
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the! |0 j2 O/ {' S
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
. v! q/ U: e9 r+ q+ Y4 oand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
7 o. D" m. N! a# T, ?4 ] p(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
" Z& {& c7 g9 `1 v* ^0 R1 B6 xretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
7 m& E- P& c }6 B: oA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=% v' O3 _+ F7 D
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
; |# W! D/ {! F0 n: j(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving: W& ]# W3 E+ i: ]( [
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on( z% Q6 ]* k# |# e% ]5 U8 S
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset4 g q, L3 ?* n( c/ S
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
0 y2 }: A# k' k4 Ksegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
% Z$ y" ^) Y: V wsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.. R% ~; K% m; |! ]% r/ a: _# ]
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
) i; P$ M: t& Y( b. |. J" V' y9 Xcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
( @0 M( a+ n3 lthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
9 i% H0 r$ x2 `1 i4 q2 P: j3 f; Q2 C% _; r
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch); r% D' u. k- j
and American speakers of English, |
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