 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The1 M" s W0 H7 S- J
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
, R. G# G0 s }/ z( @) c9 E# s6 Zsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
. Y# K. I `1 Y& c1 L; fand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial3 a* h4 A, W4 u W4 L5 I) m( @' j+ Y6 K6 u
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
1 y+ ] @8 t6 `3 |! @retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).1 m6 [* M: N5 N6 t5 `4 Z" Z1 X# P
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
) N: Y% J% _1 A5 ]) U4 J! N[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
g b% b+ H( h' y( U; X(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
8 |+ E$ K# O. E0 }" Dretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
! t; ` z& m# q+ ^possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset# Q% l8 p7 U$ `! E* }% @
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two9 r- a2 T t. \5 Z: n
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a+ G$ F) q+ |" u f( t
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.7 z9 T0 y [" O+ v- B
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
; W5 J' H. {$ j$ \( i( dcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,7 E. v5 T1 E% z2 a
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..; W9 b% U$ }7 D1 e, ]% Y+ P, N& n
4 H7 I2 i, T! x(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)! ]3 d1 T" Z- ]- g# s% V: G4 L
and American speakers of English, |
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