 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
+ \. m9 D8 R9 ?: S" ZInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
' f; P! }, i- H4 Dsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
) Z/ n+ T; z$ ]6 F. x1 Y Dand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial; J, z: A+ h! x7 W1 x. f
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
6 A9 t1 R! [1 pretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).6 ~- I' P3 ^2 p! L
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=9 X0 ^8 N; o9 @. n# Z
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
5 X, x' H8 L* [/ s: s/ \(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
9 a# l7 y, Z; W4 hretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
! \1 A8 `# [3 _/ [9 f$ A7 K. H$ c3 Cpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
/ F) i; b+ B% u( |1 `* p(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two0 J% O2 d" L" e7 `+ s3 \$ ]
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a% Q0 L& m/ w: }$ k- n! {- M1 k
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.8 E( ]( S" [+ Z3 A# G# S7 {3 p6 z5 H
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
& `8 [: }7 w0 q& V! s/ p; J2 scompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,, D+ p! ~0 ` E2 d' Z. {% I
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..5 w' V) d: H; m
( R* T$ X* K9 l% ~9 c(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)) m: }3 m$ \* T+ b
and American speakers of English, |
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